The Hero System - Chapter 14: First Kill: Podu

Jonah opened the panel with excitement.

[Side-Quest: Kill monsters. Reward: 2 Upgrade Points for each first stage monster. Due: One Day. Difficulty: Normal.]

‘YES! FINALLY!’ Jonah was overjoyed. Even though he needs to kill, he has already firmed his heart to do so. With these Upgrade Points, Jonah would be able to increase his spirit to breakthrough.

Jonah then checked his stats.

[Name: Jonah Regon]

[Age: 16]

[Level: 2]

[Cultivation: Energy Condensing (First Stage)]

[Spirit Points: 10/10]

[Experience points: 3/20]

[Upgrade Points: 0]

[Vitality: 19]

[Stamina: 17]

[Strength: 16]

[Agility: 21]

[Resistance: 15]

[Intelligence: 19]

[Charm: 12]

[Spirit: 30]

Jonah frowned. His stats are getting harder to raise as he cultivated. He realized that it’s harder to get stronger the more you reach a bottleneck in cultivating. Maybe that would change after he breaks through his bottleneck? However, he still has the Upgrade Points to help.

Jonah decided to sleep. He couldn’t cultivate further as he was too mentally drained. He looked at the clock and found it was 22:34 PM. He then went to bed to sleep.

Leo went down the stairs after a whole night of cultivation. Luckily, he cultivated for two hours before being able to break through to the First Level of Energy Condensing Stage. He was quite happy and cultivated for the whole night.

Leo could hear humming as he approached the kitchen. He walked in and saw Jonah humming as he prepared breakfast.

“You seem happy?” Leo said as he sat at the table.

“Oh well, I broke through!” Jonah said. He was actually happy about his new quest.

“Same here!” Leo said with surprise. He didn’t know Jonah was also close to breaking through. He thought it would take more time since Jonah awakened after him.

“Congratulations! Here, let me treat you to breakfast.” Jonah as he handed over a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs.

“Well, to you too!” Leo laughed as he took the plate.

“So what are you doing today?” Jonah asked as he prepared his share.

“I’m cultivating more.”

“Oh I’ll be going to the Trainee Forest hunting.”

“Trainee Forest?” Leo was confused.

“The rest said that it was a forest where only First Level Energy Condensing Stage roamed in it. That’s why Spirit Trainees go there to train!”

“I see. However, isn’t that dangerous?” Leo asked with concern. He thought that Jonah might rush into doing something risky.

“No worries! I can handle it.” Jonah said reassuringly. Seeing his determined and composed friend, Leo had nothing to say but wish him luck.

Since Leo is staying home cultivating, Jonah had to go by himself. Even though he was excited, he was also quite nervous. However, Upgrade Points were too tempting.

Jonah took his spear and called for a Spirit Vehicle. He needs to take one to reach the city walls. Five minutes after he called, a vehicle arrived near E5 district. Jonah boarded and saw two other youths, a girl, and a guy, sitting there.

Apparently, this vehicle had a fixed destination, the city gates. However, it can change its route if someone called for a vehicle.

The fee was one credit point, so Jonah had 28 points left. He also spent one point for grocery. He ordered some and a vehicle swiftly delivered them in 5 minutes.

The vehicle soon stopped and Jonah looked through the window. He was amazed at seeing the dense forests, wide rivers, and high mountains. Many birds filled the sky but they were quite colorful that made the scene even more magical.

Jonah got off the vehicle and headed to Trainee Forest with the other two youths. Jonah concluded that these two were also trainees and their first time here. Because, just like him, they were fascinated by everything.

The forest wasn’t far. There were only empty grass fields separating it from the city. Once the three went inside, each one went in their own direction. They didn’t want their prey to get stolen.

Jonah also dashed deep into the forest. After reaching 21 in agility, he was quite fast. He didn’t forget to use Spiritual Sense too. Since he decided to hunt, he needs to make sure that he doesn’t end up being the hunted. Thus, he spread his spiritual energy to stay alert.

Jonah ran for five minutes before seeing a monster. He hid behind a bush nearby and observed the monster. However, Jonah was dumbstruck.

The monster was a short fluffy creature that was about a meter tall. If he needs to describe it, he’d use only one word. Cute.

The monster had two short legs and walked on two. It had big black eyes and the rest of his face was covered with fur.

Jonah decided to leave it alone since it looked harmless. However, he saw it follow something. When he tried to look closer, he saw the monster following a horned rabbit. Jonah was curious so he decided to see what it was going to do.

The monster tried to not alert the rabbit and stealthily walked behind some trees. The rabbit was oblivious till the monster was only 3 meters away. Then, the fluffy monster pounced toward the rabbit!

Jonah felt a chill run down his spine when he saw what happened next. The monster’s mouth opened revealing sharp teeth. The mouth took almost half of its head when it was fully opened, a soccer ball can probably fit.

The rabbit was caught off guard and tried to run. However, it was torn apart by the sharp teeth before it can get away. The monster starting feasting on the rabbit.

Jonah couldn’t help but sigh in relief. If he underestimated this monster and approached, he would probably be the one dead. This monster can easily bite off an adult’s head off!

Jonah tightened his hand on his spear and started to slowly walk toward the monster. The monster was distracted by its prey and the munching sounds he made covered the sound of Jonah’s footsteps.

Jonah was about 3 meters away when he raised his spear and thrust toward the monster!

The monster sensed the danger and swiftly rolled over. However, the thrust managed to injure one of its short limbs.

Guuuaaaaaa

The monster started screeching and rushed toward Jonah. Jonah, who was quite venerable, was about to get bitten.

The good thing about the spear is its good range and thrusting power. However, once the opponent is close, the spear user is at a disadvantage.

However, that what most people think. Jonah, using his Spear Arts skill, used the shaft to hit the monster. Jonah was holding the spear with his left hand near the head of the spear, and the right hand near the end of the shaft. Thus, when the monster attacked from the right side, Jonah pulled his left hand and pushed the shaft with his right. The monster was hit in the abdomen and was sent flying.

Jonah didn’t allow it to stabilize his body. Before the monster can get up, Jonah thrust again and pierced the Monster’s back. Blue colored blood gushed out and the monster howled in pain before falling dead.

[Ding! Monster killed. +2 Experience Points. Upgrade Points will be rewarded after the quest is completed.] The system said.

Jonah finally relaxed his body. He was about to vomit but he held back. He knew the first kill was always the hardest.

After resting for a while, Jonah dragged the monster back to the entrance of the forest. There was a checkpoint were trainees can sell their prey.

Jonah walked into the shop and saw a young woman at the counter. Jonah handed the monster over. He learned that the monster’s name was Podu. It sounded like Tofu, so Jonah thought it was a reasonable name giving the monster’s appearance.

“That would be 5 credit points. You should have received it.” The young woman said after checking the body and purchasing it. Jonah opened his bracelet and found out that it was 39 now.

“Big sister, can I turn these credit points into money?”

“Yes. You can do that in any Portal Station.”

“How much does one credit point cost?” Jonah asked.

“One credit equals about 100 dollars.”

Jonah was momentarily stunned. He couldn’t have imagined that he can earn 500 dollars by killing one monster! He didn’t even spend half an hour hunting this monster!

With such a motivation, Jonah went back into the forest. It was good that the Spirit Organization prepared a shop near the forest.

Jonah found out that there were spatial items being sold around. However, they were super expensive! The lowest grade can be around 10000 credit points! That means 1000000 dollars! A million!

However, a million is rather cheap. Such a heaven-defying item should cost more, but the Spirit Organization is trying to make it easier for its members. That’s why you need to be at least a C rank to purchase it!

Jonah started looking around and found another Podu. He killed it like the one before earning another 2 Experience and 2 Upgrade Points.

Jonah went on a killing spree. For his third, fourth, and fifth kill, he killed a different monster. It was something like a raccoon but with two horns and scales. Furthermore, it was bigger than a raccoon and Pudo. When he sold it, he learned its name was Armored Raccoon.