Shadow parasite

'What?!' Looking in her eyes, one could tell that she was dead serious. Gorn was trying his best not to show his bewilderment.

Elisa's smile returned quickly as she was caressing Gorn.

"What do you think, would that be too much?" asked Elisa while looking at the stars through the glassy walls.

"Hard to say..."

She glanced at him with an approving look. A few more moments of silence followed.

"Who is the lass with the red hair? Is she your girlfriend?"

Gorn sighed.

Elisa waited patiently for him to speak.

"Well, things are like this..."

He then started to tell her everything that happened between them, as well as some of his thoughts.

Elisa smiled widely, almost laughing: "Why would you even date a girl that used to beat you up? Are you into that weird stuff or?"

Gorn's face became red almost instantly: "No, of course not!"

Elisa raised one of her eyebrows, clearly not believing what he was saying.

"I was just kidding. What you did was reasonable, so you don't have to feel bad."

She gave him a few more pieces of advice on the matter, helping him alleviate some of his bad feelings.

"These days must have been hard on you as well," said Gorn feeling a little responsible.

Elisa sighed: "I'm fine, but as you have said previously, these changes are a little stressful. Don't get me wrong, reaching this point is a dream come true."

After talking for a few more moments, both of them went to sleep.

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The next day.

While the girls explored the surrounding area, getting accustomed to their new home, Gorn decided to earn some money.

"Status!"

Name: Gorn

Talent: Low

Auto farming system (Lvl1): 10/10 targets.

Power level: 1000

Abilities: Regeneration(lLvl2); Blink(Lvl3); Fireball(Lvl2); Fire control (Lvl2); Warrior (Lvl2); Fast learner (Lvl2); Control(Lvl2);

Equipment: Black sword; Leather armor;

Shop (Lvl1)

Inventory: 10 cubic meters

Current Gold: 521.000

Current Missions: System upgrade mission: 6/1000 creatures killed

"The next skill I plan on replacing is that warrior skill."

Walking towards the Mercenary Guild Gorn thought about a few possible changes he could make to improve his overall power. In the end, the best solution for that was raw power and special abilities like his 'blink'.

Entering the guild's main area, Gorn went directly to the missions zone. For half an hour he scanned through everything. There were different types of missions, ranging from collecting certain herbs to fetching body parts from certain monsters, excavating special stones, and many more.

After some consideration, Gorn made a mental note of a few of them. There were also a few missions more important than others. Those were highlighted, and additional information about them was given.

Hunt Reapers: In the last few months more and more reapers started to appear closer to the city. Their arrival as well as their behavior is extremely dangerous towards every living creature. To avoid creating an imbalance in the surrounding area, hunt as many of them as possible. Take note of their special ability that increases their power, and the fact that they are usually pack creatures.

1 set of reaper claws=10 contribution points

Contribution points were on par with monster cores as a form of currency. If you weren't a mercenary then obtaining them wasn't possible under normal conditions. One contribution point was equivalent to one low-level monster core. The mission was dangerous, but the reward for it was very generous.

There was quite the activity all around him. Various groups were being formed to provide maximum safety and efficacy during a mission.

With the help of his 'blink' skill, Gorn was confident about going alone yet again. Making a few more trips, he bought all the miscellaneous things required.

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"Please be careful!" said Elisa while looking at him with great affection, and worry.

The twins and the little girl offered a few encouraging words of their own. No one tried to stop him for they knew deep down that doing such a thing was necessary.

Gorn blinked out.

In a matter of minutes, he was very far away already. With his previous experience, things proceeded a lot more smoothly. In a short period, a small group of reapers was encountered. Gorn was the first one to notice them. Using this to his advantage he killed the strongest one between them from afar with a fireball. As for the rest, he used the black sword to cut them up.

It wasn't exactly clean, but the results were nonetheless the same. Taking his spoils, Gorn resumed the hunt. His plan was simple. Go from his position all around the city in a circle while maintaining a safe distance.

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After a few days, Gorn killed numerous reapers, as well as gathered a few edible fruits, known as a sort of delicacy inside the city.

"Ella will love these."

The more he killed, the better he became at it. Gorn also encountered a few other groups of adventurers but avoided them. Joining such a group wouldn't bring him any benefit except the fact that he could maybe sleep a little. Another exception would be if the other people were as strong as him, and had special abilities, which wasn't the case at this particular moment. The inventory was indispensable and extremely useful. Just imagining carrying so many things brought him a headache.

'What is that?!'

Gorn was currently a little deeper inside the forest, at a higher altitude. He was basically at the base of a gigantic mountain range that started from that place. With his peripheral vision, Gorn noticed something bizarre. When turning around he saw a fox the size of a full-grown male wolf. The bizarre part was that the creature had two tails, and it was walking in the air, towards a nearby enormous tree. The distance was a little too big. Gorn weighed the pros and the cons of the situation and decided to risk by teleporting in the proximity of the creature. The enormous fox froze in mid-air, clearly surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Select!"

Race: Monster

Bloodline: Epic

Power level: 820

Abilities: Fire manipulation(Lvl4); Air steps (Lvl4); Fire resistance (Lvl5)

Loot: 820 gold; Fire manipulation(Lvl4); Air steps (Lvl4); Fire resistance (Lvl5)

Confirm target? Yes No

'So that's how it is...'

Gorn quickly filled all ten of his available slots while falling towards the ground. The fox looked at him while at the same time emanating strong heat from its entire body. This was a special type of animal found only in the deeper parts of the wilderness. It was extremely smart, and one of the strongest creatures recorded in the bestiary.

What was in front of him was a very young specimen with only two tails. Not wanting to disturb or provoke the fox anymore Gorn disappeared into the distance.

His face was all smiles.

"Nice! Very nice!"

A skill that would allow him to walk on air just like that fox was a heaven-sent match to his 'blink' ability.

'Now, I won't need to experience free-falling every time I teleport in the air, and I will be able to enjoy the scenery in a calm, unrushed manner,' thought Gorn with a lot of excitement.

It was in a way very similar to being able to fly. Thus, having both abilities would be an overkill. The other two skills were also very good. For the first time, Gorn felt uncomfortable about how to choose and sort out his abilities.