Leveling Up My Bow In The Apocalypse

Not that it mattered at the moment. What mattered now were the levels. For the first time since entering the tutorial, I felt free, as if the entire world was open for me to explore. Well, the "entire world" at the moment was just this tutorial area.

However, I soon realized that there was a problem. The beasts here were scarce. To find more, I decided to run to the center of the tutorial area. After half an hour of running, where I only encountered a group of low-level badgers, I finally reached a large clearing with a water well in the middle.

Around the water, I counted five deer, and among them, one stood out. It had a huge crown of antlers and seemed to radiate power. The antlers, it seemed, were not natural, but glowed with a faint light that reflected on the water's surface.

I wasted no time and used Identify, curious about the level of this creature. I was surprised.

["? – level 13"]

It was stronger than the boar. Even before using Identify, I already felt that it was more powerful. And those antlers? Surely, the beast had some magical ability. I was level 7, and a part of me wondered if trying to face this group would be a smart move.

The other deer around it were also between levels 8 and 9. I was confident I could take down a few of them before they got close to me, if I used the right positioning. But if they caught me… well, I wouldn't be able to beat them. Four legs will always be faster than two.

The boar was also only level 10, and it took all my arrows without even flinching. That didn't even kill it. Though I doubted the deer would be as resistant as the boar, despite its higher level, the fact that it probably had magic was a sufficient deterrent.

So, I decided to ignore them for now. After reaching another level in my class, my race would also level up, granting me a bit more power. Until then, I could consider trying again. Although waiting for my level 10 ability was probably the wiser choice.

I quickly moved away from the clearing and continued on my way in search of other prey. It didn't take long before I found another group of beasts.

This group seemed like a mix between giant chickens and ostriches. A type of bird incapable of flying, judging by their wings being too small and their bulky builds. From their long legs, I also assumed they could run at high speeds.

They had long necks that stretched to tiny heads. What made them remind me of chickens was the fact that I could hear them clucking. However, they didn't peck at plants or insects, but at a dead badger.

Are there only carnivores in this damn place? I thought. It seemed like a messed-up and inefficient ecosystem, one that frankly made no sense. There were plants and trees all over, yet no animals ate them. Or maybe the docile birds ate them. Damn weird birds.

I tried to take one of them down several times, but whenever I tried, they dodged my arrow like it was nothing. I couldn't identify them, so I had no idea if they were secretly super-beasts. But whatever they were, they seemed to have no concerns beyond making noise in the forest with their chirping.

But back to the ostriches, which I decided to just call ostriches. I used Identify on them, one by one, finding that all three were level 8.

They were good prey. Their necks were incredibly exposed and moved constantly while they ate, which made them difficult but not impossible targets.

Without hesitation, I raised my bow and shot an arrow, already pulling another before the first even hit. It struck one of the ostriches and went straight through its neck, embedding itself into the tree behind it. The animals that weren't hit raised their heads from the badger they were pecking at and spotted me when another arrow came. The ostrich I hit made a guttural noise as it spasmed on the ground.

Disappointingly, my next arrow missed, as the giant birds managed to avoid it. It wasn't intentional, though; they were just moving their legs to adjust their posture, maybe preparing to attack.

Like all the other beasts, the ostriches attacked as soon as they saw me. I managed to shoot another arrow, hitting one in the chest, but it only caused minor damage since their reaction was weak. They reached me in seconds. I tossed the bow aside and drew my two daggers.

The fighting style of the ostriches was centered around quick pecks with their beaks, like a snake trying to bite, along with powerful kicks. Without my heightened sense of danger, I would have been pecked to death in seconds.

Their fighting style's flaw was how exposed their necks were when they lunged forward. With a quick strike, I managed to sink one of my daggers into the neck of the one I had previously wounded. However, this left me vulnerable as the other one kicked me. I barely managed to raise my arm to block when its foot slammed into me with force.

The impact sent me flying several meters through the air, and I felt my shoulder dislocate. I barely managed to roll to the side as the beast was again on top of me.

I had lost both daggers at that point, as I dropped the one that wasn't stuck in the ostrich's neck when I was kicked. I knew where they were thanks to my sphere, but the beast didn't seem to want to give me time to retrieve them. Not to mention, it was practically standing on one of them.

The beast attacked again, and I managed to dodge once more, biting back the pain in my shoulder as my arm hung uselessly by my side. Dodging was easy enough with only one enemy left and my lineage ability always present. The ostrich finally slipped while trying to peck me but ended up smashing its head against a tree.

I was reminded once again of the power of their beak when I saw it penetrate the tree. The power, this time, working against it, as it couldn't pull it out of the tough bark, becoming stuck. I took the opportunity, grabbed an arrow from my quiver, and drove it into the exposed, motionless neck of the creature.

The beast struggled a bit before falling as well, dying from blood loss. I quickly checked my notification but was soon disappointed with the lack of levels.

["You killed [Ostrich – level 8] – Bonus experience obtained for killing an enemy above your level. 128 CP gained"]

["You killed [Ostrich – level 8] – Bonus experience obtained for killing an enemy above your level. 128 CP gained"]

["You killed [Ostrich – level 8] – Bonus experience obtained for killing an enemy above your level. 128 CP gained"]

I was still completely unsure how the hell the system decided the names of these creatures. Most of them seemed to be just "generic animal," even if they weren't exactly the same as the animals I knew. And then there was the big pig, which for some reason was called Irontusk Boar. The tusks weren't even made of iron!

Shaking my head, I wondered once again why I was wasting so much time reflecting on meaningless issues, which in itself was already a meaningless issue.

I looked to my side and inspected my shoulder, which was clearly dislocated. Though I knew I could "pop it" back into place, it wasn't something I had done before or even tried. I had seen some videos on the internet about the process, and it seemed easy enough…

What followed was me spending over half an hour positioning my arm in strange ways, slamming my shoulder against trees and making odd movements, trying to get it back in place. The pain was excruciating, and I cursed myself for not drinking a healing potion or something like that.

I decided to take a break from the self-inflicted torture and sat on a rock while my shoulder sent waves of pain throughout my body. While I tried to figure out how the hell to fix it, I suddenly felt my arm move slightly when it finally popped back into place.

It seems my body would heal itself from something like a dislocated shoulder if I just gave it some time. The wonders of vitality, it seemed. So, those thirty minutes were basically an act of masochism for no reason. I'm even sure one of those damn birds gave me a condescending look.

I cursed myself once again as I gathered my things. I grabbed the bow I had dropped earlier, along with the two daggers. I needed to vent my frustration on something and quickly found another group of ostriches. This time, there were only two: one level 8 and one level 9.

This fight was much easier. I took down the level 9 immediately and wounded the level 8 with two arrows before it could even hit me.

Instead of trying to flee, I lured it into pecking a tree, followed by a quick decapitation with a precise strike from my knife.

["You killed [Ostrich – level 9] – Bonus experience obtained for killing an enemy above your level. 256 CP gained"]

["You killed [Ostrich – level 8] – Bonus experience obtained for killing an enemy above your level. 128 CP gained"]

["'DING!' Class: [fatal shot] reached level 8 – Status points allocated, +1 free point"]

["'DING!' Race: [Human (0)] reached level 4 – Stat points allocated, +1 free point"]

This fight got me the levels I wanted. I briefly considered going back to the deer but decided against it. The ostriches reminded me that a beast could easily catch me by surprise, and it would be very stupid to be instantly killed by some mega magical horn beam.

Instead, I started hunting more beasts in the area. I mainly found lower-level deer and badgers, but any kill was worth it. I took a few scratches here and there, the worst being when I faced a group of four low-level badgers, all below level 4.

....

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