Nero, the Legendary Hunter

Chapter 56: Moving up to Level 3

The smell of the pig and bear being roasted made Big Blue and Luna drool. The smell was strong and attractive enough to attract other monsters.

"The bear is ready; the pig will take a while. Eat the bear with Big Blue and then share some with her." Nero stood up, picked up the dagger and cut a bear's thigh and tossed it at Luna, who chewed with pleasure.

The rest she took from the bone skewer that was made from the bones of the bear's spine and tossed the roasted bear in the direction of Big Blue.

"Choko, help me take care of these monsters," Nero said, putting the dagger away and taking a sword from the inventory.

Choko took her red gauntlet from within the Hunter Card and nodded. "Of course I will help."

"But before that, I have something to say." Nero looked at Choko.

"You can talk." Choko finished using the red gauntlet and looked at Nero.

"Mm... I forgot what I was going to say." Nero forced a smile, frowning trying to remember, but failed. "It must not be something important."

"Okay, I think..." Choko was confused, but seeing that Nero couldn't remember what she meant, she ran towards the monsters that had just appeared.

"You two can continue to eat." Nero said before kicking the ground and running very fast towards a brown bear at level 5.

The sword in her hand was enveloped by a dark aura when it made a cutting sound. It seemed that the sword was emitting black smoke.

*Whoosh!*

With a single slash, one leg of the bear was gone. Having lost the support of one of its legs, the bear tilted to the right, falling. Nero took advantage when the bear's head was within reach and cut with her sword from top to bottom.

*Whoosh!*

[Critical hit!]

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You defeated the Earth Monster: [Brown Bear] Rank F: Level 5.

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Meanwhile, Choko attacked a kangaroo with a large amount of simultaneous punches and made the kangaroo fly away and fall to the floor with the sound of *Thud!*

Nero did not use <Plunder> on the monster she had killed. She stored the Brown Bear's body in her inventory, and continued to kill the monsters.

Nero and Choko only needed to kill two of them to scare the rest of the monsters. They didn't come in packs of the same species; each was a monster out only for itself, so they weren't brave enough to stay there.

"Since we killed the strongest among them, the rest of the monsters decided to flee." Choko dragged the kangaroo's body close to the fire.

"Yes, anyway, I think I'm going to start using <Plunder> on the bodies. They have a lot already." Nero was going to wait for Choko to sleep, but her inventory was almost full, and she just needed to cover it up a little while using <Plunder>.

"Okay, you said that when you do it, it gives you a better result. You can go ahead and do all of it yourself, and just give me a reward that you believe is fair," Choko said with a charming smile.

"Okay, I will." Nero nodded and went to the kangaroo that Choko killed and used <Plunder>. First she disguised it a little, pretending she was using her Hunter Card - only then did she use the system to use <Plunder>.

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Would you like to use <Plunder> on the Earth Monster: [Boxing Kangaroo] Rank F: Level 5?

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[Yes] - Nero clicked.

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1 [Rank F Monster Core - Level 5] has been added to your inventory.

1 Rare [Boxing Kangaroo Gauntlet] +1 agility and +15 strength - added to your inventory.

68 [Essence Currency] have been added to your inventory.

_ _

"Wow!" Nero was surprised to have received an item.

"What's up, did something good show up?" Choko asked, curious.

"Yes, a gauntlet. See for yourself." Nero pretended to take it out of her Hunter Card. It was a pair of large, brown gloves.

"Wow! It is better than mine! Nero, you are very lucky." Choko was pleasantly surprised.

"Seriously? Then that's great, keep it," Nero said with a smile.

"Can I really keep this? They should be at least worth 10,000 [Essence Coin]." Choko wanted to but was reluctant to accept, as it seemed that she was taking advantage of Nero's kindness.

"Of course you can have them. This is nothing. Even if it is as expensive as you say, we can make more money later. Just accept it and get stronger." Nero didn't seem to mind giving Choko something so expensive.

"Seriously, thank you. I'm going to really enjoy these!" Choko smiled brightly. She tried on the pair of gauntlets and they fit very well on her hands. She delivered a few blows in the air and saw that the attack speed also increased a little.

Nero took the bear out of her inventory and also used <Plunder> on it.

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Would you like to use <Plunder> on the Earth Monster: [Brown Bear] Rank F: Level 5?

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[Yes] - Nero clicked.

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1 [Rank F Monster Core - Level 5] has been added to your inventory.

1 [Elunium Ore F] - Medium quality has been added to your inventory.

66 [Essence Currency] have been added to your inventory.

_ _

While Choko was entertained using the new pair of gauntlets, Nero busied herself using <Plunder> on all the monster corpses that she and Choko had killed so far.

'6 Monster Cores of level 5, 11 of level 4, and 24 of level 3... I need 9 of at least level 3 to level up.' Nero opened the inventory after using <Plunder> on all of the monsters and had now decided to evolve.

"Choko, there is very little left for me to level up. Is it okay if I do it now?" Nero asked.

"Yes, I will protect you, while you level yourself." Choko said in a serious tone.

"Thank you." Nero smiled and sat on the floor. She took 9 level 3 Monster Cores and pretended to absorb them just like Choko had done.

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Absorb 9 [Monster Core] Level 3 - Yes / No?

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[Yes] - Nero clicked.

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You have increased 0.75 Points from Extra Points.

...

[Congratulations! You have moved up to level 3.]

You have increased 5 energy points.

You have increased 5 strength points.

You have increased 5 Agility Points.

[Ability to Tame Monster Up to Level 3]

_ _

A pink and black aura stayed around Nero until it finally disappeared and Nero opened her eyes and saw the information that appeared on the holographic screen.

Nero liked the feeling of increasing her power. Streams of energy flowed through her body, strengthening her body and energy. She then opened her status.

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Nero Diaz

Breed: Hybrid

Class: Uneven

Subclass: Enchantress

Rank F - Level 3: (0/100 Monster Core Rank F Level 4+)

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Attributes

[Energy] (Mana): 105 + 19

[Strength] (Hybrid): 105 + 8

[Agility] (Hybrid): 105 + 10

6.77 Points for Extra Points.

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"Congratulations, Nero!" Choko saw that Nero finished leveling up and went to her, but before she could hug Nero, Nero threw up something brown with a rotten smell.

"What a bad smell..." Choko couldn't help it and ended up muttering. The smell was unbearable.

Luckily, Nero was a little further away when she did this. She threw a lot of dirt over the vomit and walked away.

"How are you feeling?" Choko asked, concerned when she saw that Nero had just vomited.

"I'm fine. After throwing up I feel best," Nero said. She felt that her body had become lighter, and she also felt that her affinity for mana was greater than before. Now, she moved even easier using her body.

"That's great. I was worried." Choko sighed, relieved.

"It's not a big deal. It must be the residual impurities in my body, just like the last time," Nero said with a soft smile.

"Yes, you are right. Although not as much as before, I noticed that you have become more beautiful, and your hair has more pink strands," Choko evaluated.

"Seriously?" Nero brought her hair in front of her face and saw that there were actually more pink strands. 'Strange...' she thought.

Knowing that as much as she was trying to guess why her hair was turning pink, Nero took out 15 level 3 Monster Cores and handed them to Choko. "Absorb the energy from these Monster Cores and see if you can level up."

Choko was stunned again. She noticed that the energy Nero had in this level 3 Monster Cores was higher than the level 4 she hunted for herself and the energy inside them was very pure.

"Thank you, I will try my best to be able to level up!" Choko was motivated.

Choko distanced herself a little from the fire and sat on the floor. She then began to absorb the energy of the Monster Cores.

As time passed, Choko finished absorbing all the energy of the Monster Cores. Luna and Big Blue also finished eating the bear meat and were looking at the pork.

Nero took just a piece of the pork rib for herself and saved a piece for Choko, and shared the pork between Big Blue and Luna. Of course, this time, Big Blue only had two legs of the pig while Luna took the rest.

After doing this, Nero watched Choko and saw that she had her eyes closed. Nero removed the 11 level 4 Monster Cores and absorbed them.

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Absorb 11 [Monster Core] Level 4 - Yes / No?

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[Yes] - Nero clicked.

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You have increased 0.16 Strength Points.