Skill Creation in the Fantasy World

"Oh, it's just you Felix!"

The punch came to a stop just a few centimetres away from Felix's forehead.

Graham, who had his one eye widened in agitation calmed down as he pulled his hand away, but the boy on the other hand was sweating buckets as he closed his eyes in terror.

After hearing Sir Graham's voice that didn't contain any killing intent, he opened his trembling eyes and dropped down to the ground while taking deep breaths.

"Haaa....Haaaa..."

Felix felt his muscles loosen up from the sudden shock he felt when the fist had almost hit him.

He looked up, scared and confused as he was a few moments away from death just now.

"W-Why did you d-do that!?", he shouted with an exhausted face.

Sir Graham had a guilty face as he rubbed his temples in frustration.

"This...I didn't mean to do it. It was a mistake."

"M-Mistake? But I could've died there you know!!", Felix replied angrily.

Graham sighed as he looked straight into the boy's eyes and bowed his head a little with a genuine feeling.

"I'm sorry, Felix. I've always been hunting alone until now, so I'm alert and have my guard up whenever I'm hunting."

"Having someone accompany me is new, and with my injured eye affecting my vision, I couldn't clearly see your approach from the side."

Seeing the man sincerely apologising to him, Felix felt taken aback that such a strong person was bowing his head to him.

He quickly got up and held Sir Graham back from doing that as he replied.

"Umm I understand now, Sir Graham. You don't have to bow to me. It was also kind of my fault to have approached you when you had just finished an intense battle."

Felix forgave him and didn't hold a grudge anymore but he was still a bit frustrated.

"But I hope you won't put me in any dangerous position again. The only reason I've come this deep inside the forest is because I trust you to keep me safe, so if you kill me by mistake then it wouldn't make any sense.", he joked a bit to ease the situation.

Graham patted the boy's shoulder and promised with a wry smile.

"Alright, I'll guarantee your safety."

He felt guilty of bringing the boy and putting him in danger, so he thought of an idea.

"How about this? On behalf of my mistake of almost killing you, why don't you ask me for any request that I'll do for you under normal limits?"

Felix pondered about his idea and nodded with a satisfied grin as he asked him for the first thing that came up in his mind.

"If that's so, then can you help me kill a Rank 4 monster?"

His words almost choked Sir Graham who coughed speechlessly.

"Y-You...What happened to not putting you in dangerous situations?"

Felix just rubbed his head awkwardly but waited for his reply with anticipation written on his face.

"Sigh...Felix, I don't think you're ready to face the might of a Rank 4 being. Remember you're only at the Rank 1 now, and it's nigh impossible for you to defeat a Rank 4 even with my help because they're not any random monsters anymore."

Sir Graham warned as he turned serious.

"After advancing to the Rank 4, which is the starting of the Transcendent Realm, every being will have the same intelligence as that of a human and they'll have a stronger desire to survive compared to the weaker monsters. So there's a lot of danger if you come near even a Rank 4 monster that's nearing its death."

Seeing that his request was rejected, Felix pondered about it as he remembered the strength of the Rank 4 Forest Giant.

It was true that he wouldn't be able to move in its presence even with his skill Equanimity, which showed that he was not yet ready to defeat a Rank 4 being, but that only lowered his target.

"If not a Rank 4, then a Rank 3 monster is fine. I just want to see what my limits are and how strong the monsters at that higher Ranks are."

He showed a determined face and lied without any change on his face when he just wanted the skill points from killing a Rank 3 being.

It didn't matter whether the one who fought was him or Sir Graham, because the only thing in this world that could make him powerful were skill points.

"Hmm, that's not impossible. We'll have to look for a lone Rank 3 monster then, for it to be safe for you."

Gramam agreed to it and pointed towards a different direction as he started walking away.

"Let's go there. I've got a hunch we'll find what we're looking for in that direction."

Felix chased behind him with an excited face to find a suitable monster for him to kill.

*****

As the sun disappeared, the three moons peeked through the clouds, casting a serene light over the forest.

After searching throughout the forest for the lone monster that they were looking for, Felix and Graham were now hiding behind a tree while peeking at it in the dark.

"That's a Rank 3 Ogre, they're larger in size compared to Orcs but less intelligent. They're strong but slow, use no fatal weapons except for clubs and thus, should be a good opponent for you."

Graham explained while pointing at the monster which stood 4 meters tall with dark brown warty skin on its bulging muscular body.

Felix eyed the Ogre as he placed his hand over his shortsword, ready to battle it, and took a few steps forward.

"Wait- where are you going? You can't handle that monster alone!", Graham held the boy back before he could rush onwards.

"Huh? Aren't you going to help me?", Felix asked in doubt as it seemed a bit different from what he had in mind.

Graham slapped his forehead and replied matter-of-factly.

"Of course I am, but you need to have a plan before engaging it in battle. Don't forget that monster is two ranks higher than you, and even if you could defeat Rank 2 monsters easily, it doesn't mean the same with Rank 3 monsters."

Felix frowned as he asked while looking at the Ogre.

"Alright then, what's the plan?"

Graham twitched his lips but refrained from scolding the battle maniac who reminded him of himself when he was younger.

"The plan huh, let's do it this way then. I'll attack the Ogre with my long-ranged attacks from different directions, while you'll try to attack it from its blindspots at close range."

Felix thought over the plan and nodded as he agreed.

"That's fine, here I go then!"

He activated his Silent Steps skill and rushed to his right side, giving way for the man to use his attacks.

Graham saw the boy go and waved his hands, summoning a dozen small orbs of lightning which he threw towards the Ogre.

"Lightning Spheres!"

In the dark forest, the orbs of lightning radiated light and sparks as they flew from the distance at a shocking speed and hit the unsuspecting Ogre on its back.

"WRAAHH!!"

The Ogre felt electricity run throughout its body as it groaned around in pain and numbness.

But that was not all as a boy with silver hair suddenly appeared on its side with a wide smile on his face.

KSCCHH!

Felix slashed his shortsword at the Ogre's torso, inflicting a wound that didn't stab deeper because of its hard skin.

'Shit! My sword is not strong enough to cut into it...'

He quickly used an Agility Burst and retreated backwards, dodging an incoming attack from the angry Ogre.

Boom!

The earth caved in where the Ogre hit it with its club, sending rocks and sand which blasted over and grazed Felix who was just a few meters away.

"Ughh!", he blocked his head from the debris but he got a few scratches on his body as his robe got torn here and there.

"Felix! Duck!"

Graham shouted from behind as he sent another of his attacks.

"Huh, where?", muttered Felix in confusion before he felt a bright light coming from the corner of his eyes.

He quickly bent down on the ground as a spear of lightning whizzed past his hair, buzzing off his ears, and pierced into the Ogre's chest.

"Holy sh*t!"

The Ogre took a few steps back as it grunted in pain, a small hole visible on its chest with blood leaking down onto the ground.

"Chance!"

Felix had his eyes lit up as he used one of his skills to attack the Ogre.

"Earth Spikes!"

The injured Ogre stood still to recover from the wound when the earth around it fluctuated as a few sharp spikes sprang up and struck its lower body.

The Ogre's eyes turned red in craziness as it swung its club and destroyed all the earth spikes as blood spurted out from all of its wounds.

It stared at the small human who had attacked it in wrath and jumped ahead while raising its club to crush it's enemy.

"WRAHH!!"

Felix watched the Ogre arrive before him as his legs slowly sunk into the ground to hide from it, but his skill seemed to work a bit slow.

"Dust Blast!"

He used another skill and sent a mini storm of debris towards the Ogre.

Sadly, it didn't have any effect on the frenzied monster who ignored the small rocks attacking it and brought down the club on Felix.

Just when the heavy club was about to make contact with boy's head, a voice shouted from afar.

"Lightning Spheres!"

In a flash, small orbs of electricity travelled at the speed of sound and attacked the front of the Ogre who had its guard down against any attacks.

Felix who was half sunken into the ground decided to not waste the opportunity as he quickly glided over from between the Ogre's legs.

He reached behind the Ogre and jumped meters above before grabbing his shortsword with both of his hands and stabbing into the Ogre's large neck.

KRRIKK!

The Ogre felt a sharp pain as a weapon pierced its spinal cord and it moved its arm to grab the hateful boy.

"Corrosion!!"

But it suddenly stopped moving as a terrible baleful energy spread through its body starting from its neck.

"KREWAHH!!"

The Ogre found it hard to breath as the cursed energy was concentrated near its head, harming its insides while it could only twitch in pain.

Felix swayed on the Ogre's back as it danced in terrible pain and waved its arms around to hit him.

He tightened his hold on his shortsword and raised his legs towards the Ogre's neck, before sitting on its broad shoulders.

Titghtly locking his legs on its neck, Felix increased the intensity of his Corrosion skill as he felt a terrible headache suddenly hitting him.

"Aaghhhh!!..."

Graham was dumbfounded as he stared in shock at the spectacle.

It reminded him of the first battle he had witnessed of the boy with the drugged goon of the dark guilds.

"This kid sure is clingy to his enemy..."

After a few seconds of struggle with the crazy Ogre, Felix felt tired as all of the energy from his body got sucked away.

But he didn't stop even when blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

"GYAHHH!!"

Finally, the Ogre seemed to have given up as it gave a loud groan with a twisted face before it fell down on its knees.

The light in the Ogre's eyes vanished as its body collapsed down onto the ground along with the exhausted Felix.

[You have killed a being higher than your own rank.]

[You have gained 1000 skill points.]