HAAAH… HUFF… HA… HUFF.

  Khal breathed heavily. Bam. Khal dropped on his behind, tilting his head up to the sky, visibly exhausted.

  “I did it… I defeated a monster… with no stats, no less.”

  Khal sat up straight, looking at the status window before him. “System, bring up my adaptation history.”

  [Accelerated Cognition lvl 1] ?4/10 2/10 ?[ 1 lvl Neural boost]

  I’ve made huge progress, even obtaining two more abilities… But it’s still not enough. Khal thought, clenching his teeth.

  The feeling of being easily oppressed is still there. I can’t get complacent now. It took everything out of me to just defeat one of these beasts, and I still have 14 more to go.

  Khal stretched his hand out; a bright blue light shone above his palm. Tap. A spear fell in his hand.

  “Fights should atleast be a little less difficult now that I have this.”

  “Shit… The spear is quite good for a bronze-grade weapon, but for someone like me who has no stats, items that give stat bonuses like this are useless to me, not to mention the level requirement. I can’t even level up, so how am I supposed to use this?

  Khal placed his hand under his chin, reading the information with a curious look on his face.

  A feature like this is exactly what I need. Khal took a deep breath before sighing.

  Though I still am a little bummed out that items won’t be able to increase my overall power…

  “Just how many adaptive points would I need to remove the level restriction?”

  “Yes.”

  Bright silver chains appeared around the spear, rotating around it, and with a creak. The chains snapped.

  Khal stood up, casually swinging the spear around.

  “With this, my overall combat ability has increased.”

  Khal walked over to the greyhound wolf. Standing over it with a curious look on his face.

  I should be able to find a vitality core inside it, but then again, this isn’t the real world so it might be a long shot…

  Khal stood over him for a while… Sigh.

  “I shouldn’t waste time on that right now, not like it’s of any use to me.”

  Khal walked off, trekking deeper into the forest.

  I still have fourteen more greyhounds I need to kill; the best course of action would be to go after the isolated ones, and prolong a fight for as long as possible to increase my skills level.

  5 Minutes later…

  Khal stood hiding behind a tree, watching a greyhound wolf trekking through the forest.

  It doesn’t look like he got any friends with him. Are they all alone? Regardless, that only stands to benefit me.

  Khal jumped from behind the tree. The greyhound wolf, surprised by the noise, quickly turned around, growling.

  Khal swung his spear around, taking a defensive stance.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “We’re going to be playing around for awhile so do me a favor and take good care of me.” Khal taunted.

  FWOOSH!

  The beast charges at khal.

  “Third time’s the charm.” Khal held the spear up with both his hands, guarding against the beast.

  CLUNG!

  The beast bit down on the spear's staff, pushing khal back. Khal stood his ground, clenching his teeth, pushing back with all his might.

  “Get...back!”

  With a powerful push, Khal flung the beast back, quickly resuming to his previous stance. The greyhound growled softly, slowly circling around khal.

  Khal followed it’s movements, ensuring it didn’t get behind him.

  FWOOSH!

  The beast pounced.

  Dodge! Khal thought.

  Khal quickly moved his body to the left, dodging the beast’s fangs.

  BAM!

  With his spear he struck the beast on it’s back. Yelp! The beast cried, landing back on its feet.

  Khal quickly retreated back, the beast preparing once again to charge. Khal gave it a taunting smile.

  “We’re going to be here for a while so be a good little dog and be fodder for my growth.”

  25 Minutes later…

  [Accelerated Cognition lvl 2] 7/20 3/20 [lvl 2 Neural Increase]

  [Vitality increase lvl 1] 8/10 2/10 [Cellular Regeneration]

  Khal stood over the beast's dead body, staring at the system window, his uniform torn up and scratches all over his body.

  “This guy lasted longer than I expected, and thankfully so; most of my adaptations have leveled up. Adaptation mastery is now level four, and I’ve adapted a healing and stamina-increasing skill, which will help me greatly in future battles.”

  Khal took off his torn-up shirt and jacket, throwing them on the ground. I’ve also learnt two things from my time fighting that beast…

  Firstly, the higher my adaptation mastery level is, the easier it is for me to gain more adaptations and for my adaptations to level up.

  Secondly, the stronger I get, the harder it is for certain adaptations level to increase, since my risk of dying or getting injured decreases the stronger I get. Which means repeating the same struggle too many times will make it ineffective.

  Since fighting one greyhound doesn’t work for me now, im gonna have to step up my game.

  FWOOSH

  Khal ran off, moving quickly through the forest, scoping out the area.

  When I was looking for a lone wolf earlier, I ran into a cave at the foot of a mountain; of course, I didn’t dare go inside, but now that I’m a bit stronger, I might as well try my luck.

  After a few minutes of looking, khal found the cave.

  Khal slowly walked towards the cave entrance, scoping around the area.

  I don’t think it’s worth the risk of me blindly entering a dark cave… I have to think of something else.

  Khal took up a nearby rock, throwing it inside the cave, and with a Thud, the rock fell onto the rocky ground.

  After a few moments, footsteps and a low growl could be heard from inside the cave, coming closer and closer towards him.

  Khal stood his ground, taking a fighting stance, his expression firm.

  A tall, dark shadow could be seen coming from inside the cave, its beastlike head opening it’s mouth, revealing it’s fangs.

  Khal stepped back, confused. Wait, that’s not a greyhound wolf; what the hell is that?

  BAM!

  A huge, human-like hand hit an invisible red barrier in front of the cave, it’s furry black fur and tall claws scraping against the barrier. Its full form couldn’t be seen but it’s bright red eyes stared at khal with extreme bloodlust.

  Khal stared back nervously. Well… At least I know what I'll be fighting in stage two.

  CREAK!

  The sound of a broken branch came from behind Khal. He quickly turned around, scoping for where the noise came from.

  Rustle Rustle Rustle.

  Four greyhound wolves started to pop out from the trees, growing.

  Srrrk

  Another came from behind a tree, dragging the dead body of another wolf, releasing it front of the other wolves before standing beside them.

  The dead wolf had a stick pierced through its mouth; it was the wolf from before.

  Tch! Khal clicked his tongue.

  Shit… I have such bad luck… Just how long have they been hunting me?

  “What, want to take revenge for your little buddy?” Khal taunted, pointing his spear at them.

  The beast growled, one in particular, pacing around the other four.

  Five on one, my chances aren’t very high… But then again… the lower my chances… The easier it is for me to grow stronger.

  HOWLLLL!

  The leading wolf howled.

  FWOOSH!

  The other wolves charged, their jaws wide, ready to take a bite of him.

  Since coming into the tutorial, I’ve only been on the defensive… Not anymore.

  WHOOSH!

  Khal charged forward, holding his spear in front of him. One of the wolves pounced, aiming at his neck.

  Khal tightened the grip on his spear, his expression resolute, and with a powerful thrust.

  SPLEECH!

  YELP!

  Khal’s spear pierced through the wolf’s stomach, blood pouring all over him, startling the other

  Wolves.

  With the beast being distracted, he quickly swung his spear.

  WHOOSH!

  Throwing the wolf from the spear, colliding into another.

  FWOOSH!

  He charged once more, swinging the spear, with a quick swing.

  SWISH!

  Another fell, it’s head decapitated.

  The remaining three looked at Khal in despair. Slowly backing away.

  “Don’t bother.” Khal spoke, resting the spear on his shoulder. “I hold nothing against you; it just so happens that I need to get rid of you.

  Khal slowly started walking towards them, the wolves backing away.

  “Hope you understand.”

  Khal stood over the dead corpses of the greyhound wolves, looking at his status window.

  None of my adaptations level increased even after i took on five at once… I need more pressure.

  BAM!

  A loud banging noise came from behind Khal; he quickly turned around to see what it was.

  It was the beast inside the cave, it’s hand folded in a fist, it’s red eyes glaring at khal.

  A small grin crept onto khal’s face; he walked over to the cave entrance, standing front of the beast, only the barrier keeping them apart.

  Khal looked up at the beast’s towering physique, his expression becoming cold.

  “No need to be anxious.” Khal taunted. I’m going to hunt down every single greyhound i can find, and when I come back…

  The beast stooped down onto khal’s level, staring him in the face. Khal stared back, not backing down.

  “We can have some fun.”

  Side Note: Vitality stones are the cores of monsters. All monsters possess a vitality stone. Vitality stones can be absorbed by the awakened for EXP; the stronger the monster, the more experience.

  New chapters drop every Saturday at 5PM EST — steady, heavy, and worth the wait.

  Stay sharp, and remember: adaptation is survival.