"Blood Swipe!" Quinn yelled, swiping his hand to release the line of red aura.
However, Quinn had underestimated the speed and responsiveness of the Rattaclaw.
It had learned from its previous attempt, and had this time jumped to the side to avoid the Blood Swipe.
A System screen then popped up in front of Quinn.
[-1 HP. HP: 23/25]
'Damn it!' Quinn thought bitterly.
The Rattaclaw then dashed forwards, jumping out at Quinn.
Just in time, Quinn managed to shove his Black-Horned Gauntlets into the mouth of the Beast as it went for a bite.
As its sharp teeth bit down hard onto the gauntlet, he heard a creaking noise.
As it did, Quinn felt his strength weakening, leaving him.
Instantly, a System message popped up in front of Quinn.
[Durability of the Basic-Tier Black-Horned Gauntlets has been compromised. Stat Boosts have decreased. -1 Strength. -1 Defense. Strength: 13 [+2]. Defense: 1. ]
Quinn grit his teeth in annoyance.
"You little crap, get off of me!" Quinn shouted, as he began swinging his arm wildly, trying to throw the Rattaclaw off.
But the Beast had chomped down, and wasn't letting go.
With the Beast clamped down on his hand, it was too dangerous to use the Blood Swipe, and too close for him to perform the Hammer Strike.
Quinn's eye began to twitch, him now quite annoyed.
He clenched his unoccupied hand into a fist, and smashed it down onto the head of the Rattaclaw.
The Beast let out a scream, but refused to let go.
Quinn then proceeded to smash his fist into the Beast's head over and over again.
With each blow, black blood would gush out of the Beast.
Due to Quinn's superhuman strength, the blows were powerful, and damaged the Beast.
With each consecutive blow, the Rattaclaw's grip on Quinn began to loosen.
"Stupid Beast!" Quinn shouted, as he continued to pound the Rattaclaw's head in. "If you had just stayed away, you could have lived!"
Finally, the Rattaclaw's grip had come loose, and it fell to the ground, dead.
Quinn took in a few deep breaths.
He looked like he had just come off of the set for a horror movie, his hand and clothes now completely covered in the Rattaclaw's black blood that had splattered out.
However, Quinn didn't care.
The next second, a set of two overlapping System messages popped up in front of him.
[You have killed a Basic-Tier Rattaclaw. 100 Exp received. First Time Killing a Basic-Tier Beast. 200 Bonus Exp received. First Time Killing a Rattaclaw. First-Time Kill Bonus: 100 Exp received. Exp: 1195/800.
You have Leveled Up. You are now Level 5. Exp: 395/1600.
You have received 1 Stat Point.
A new Skill has been unlocked.
New Skill Blood Spray - Level 1 has been acquired.]
[Blood Spray: The user releases a spray of Blood Bullets from their open palm that covers a wide area like a shotgun. The closer the target, the more damage is dealt. -5 HP per use.]
Quinn looked at the System messages in shock.
Beasts seemed like a gold mine to his System.
While defeating Humans only gave him 50 Exp, fighting justBasic-Tier Beasts gave him 100 Exp.
Plus it seemed like he got bonus Exp each time he fought a different kind of Beast for the first time.
Seeing that he had received another Stat Point, Quinn brought up his Status Window.
[Name Quinn Talen
Race Halfling
Level 5
XP 395/1600
Title —
__________________
HP 30/30
__________________
Strength 13 [+2]
Stamina 11
Agility 16
[Stat Points: 1] ]
Seeing the reduction in his Strength Stat due to the Basic-Tier Black-Horned Gauntlets being damaged, Quinn grit his teeth.
"Guess I'll just have to switch to my other set of Gauntlets." Quinn muttered, as he reached over his right shoulder to grab his bag.
However, he felt nothing but air.
Instantly, Quinn's eyes widened.
Instantly, he snapped his head back to look over his shoulder.
He saw nothing but the back of his shirt.
"My bag!" Quinn gasped. "Where'd my bag go?! I know I had it on me when we left the Beast Weapon Hall!"
Tsukuru's eyes widened, as his mind flashed back to right before he fell through the Portal.
He remembered feeling a slight weight loosen itself from his right shoulder, but it had been the least of his concerns at the time.
"My bag…is my bag…back in the school?!" Quinn gasped.
Quinn stood there, stunned for a moment.
Then, his fists tightened in anger, and he grit his teeth.
"Damn it, Peter!" Quinn muttered. "Not only am I stranded on a Beast Planet, but I'm stuck with a broken set of Beast Gear!"
With this new information in mind, Quinn decided to put his free Stat Point into Strength.
As he did, he saw the number on his Status Window tick up from "13" to "14".
The reason for this was because his Hammer Strike Skill required him to have a Strength Stat of "15", and while he had the gauntlets on they had given him an extra "+3" to Strength.
But now that his gauntlets were compromised, the Strength boost had dropped to only "+2".
If the gauntlets were to be destroyed, he would be unable to use the Hammer Fist unless he increased his base Strength.
Quinn then turned his attention to his new Skill.
Seeing it, a slight smirk crept across his face.
"I knew it." He muttered.
Just as he had assumed, he had gained a new Skill when he reached Level 5, just like how Tsukuru had.
Quinn's eyes narrowed, as he read the description.
"'Like a shotgun', huh?" He muttered.
Quinn remembered watching shotguns in old movies, where the small pellets would spread out, hitting multiple targets.
In the real world, firearms had been pretty much defunct for decades.
Long ago, the military had passed a law called the "Lethal Weapons Act" which had banned the use of firearms.
And the creation of Beast Gear firearms was both impractical, and a waste of Beast Crystals.
Just to create a simple revolver, you would need separate Beast Crystals for the gun, as well as the six individual bullets.
And seeing as how it took three Beast Crystals to make a single piece of Beast Gear, that would be eighteen Beast Crystals down the drain, as bullets couldn't be reused like how arrows could.
However, the real problem with the Skill was the cost.
While Quinn could get away with using the Blood Swipe to fight Beasts, the Blood Spray was a different story.
It cost him 5 HP per use.
Sure, he had 30 HP now, but if he started using the Blood Spray, he would burn through that fast.
Plus, the longer he was stuck here, the sooner he would need to drink blood again.
And once his Blood Bank was expended, he would revert back to how he was after he became a Halfling.
He would be overcome with hunger, and lose 1 HP every hour.
And he had no idea what would happen when he reached 0 HP.
Quinn gulped.
He realized that he'd have to use the Skill very sparingly, and be very careful when using it.
However, on the plus side, he could hit multiple targets with the Skill.
If he was lucky, he could take out a whole group with a single Blood Spray.
If Quinn had Tsukuru or Layla around, he would have loved to test out the Blood Spray Skill.
But he had no idea how long he would be stuck here, so it'd be best to conserve his HP as much as possible.
Quinn then walked up to the dead Rattaclaw on the ground.
He had punched it so much that it's skull had caved in, and the black blood was leaking everywhere.
Looking at the black blood didn't seem appetizing to Quinn at all.
He wasn't drawn to it the same way he was drawn to human blood, and it didn't give off the same sweet fragrance, either.
Still, there might come a time where Quinn would be forced to drink it, so he needed to test it out.
Therefore, Quinn used his Inspect Skill to examine the blood.
[Name: Rattaclaw Beast Blood
Blood of the Basic-Tier Rattaclaw.
Poisonous to the body. You will lose 1 HP for each milliliter consumed.]
Seeing the information, Quinn let out a sigh.
"I thought as much…" He muttered.
It was as expected.
The signs were a dead giveaway, as if his body was telling him to stay away.
Quinn then continued to stare at the blood for a minute.
"I wonder why my body only accepts human blood." He muttered.