Essence Code

The triumphant feeling was only dramatized once he read the stats. 

To explain simply:

1 was the lowest, weakest possible.

It was akin to a baby's strength.

5 was your run-of-the-mill human.

10 was the apex of human limits.

The stats were categorized into physical and mental. The letter next to it, while ultimately unknown, so far, the letter explained what type of beast it was.

B = Brute. Mainly a tank of sorts, damage and durability.

S = Speed. A speedster specializing in speed and dexterity.

M = Mage. Can utilize essence.

H = Hybrid. A creature who specializes in 1 half of two types. For example, a beast with high speed, but instead of dexterity, it has high durability.

T = Tank. Durability focused.

F = Fighter. Strength and Speed focused.

There were most likely countless others, but this is what they have encountered so far.

However, Cale didn't care much about its stats; his focus was entirely on something else.

[Absorbtion Available]

[Compatibility: C]

[Yes] [No]

[Odds:]

[9% = /4 Strength]

[%6.77 = /4 Durability]

[RARE: %6.14 = /2 Sense]

[%5.61 = /5 Dexterity]

[%3.43 = /3 Speed]

[%0.041 = /1 Essence] 

Only around a 24% chance to attain any sort of stat at the expense of immense pain. He sighed. The trade-off was beneficial no matter what. To become stronger through pain was normal, albeit highly unbearable pain. However, without any return and just pain, it was genuinely harrowing. 

The odds were similar to previous times. However, this beast contained essence.

As far as he knew, it was magic of sorts Or at least a mana counterpart. Essence is a conduit for spells, the energy that conjures and travels through your body.

As for attaining it, for now, it could only be through absorption.

Something far from what he could have imagined happened, too. Sense, which was only very scarcely high among beasts, was a stat he could attain. 

Thinking about it, Cale soon realized it was probably because it was a wolf, and they possessed extremely potent scent tracking. 

Of course, for a human, it would be odd to possess, but such a powerful nose was good to hunt.

Cale sighed and chose an option. 

[Option {Yes} Selected.]

[Commencing Absorbtion.]

Immediately, a surge of dull pain sprung to life in his muscles, all the way from his head to his toes.

He fell to his side, the pain too much to bear, resulting in his body becoming uncontrollable.

The pain gradually intensified as simultaneous notifications rang out. Cale rolled and jerked around, anything to withstand the pain any bit more.

[Strength Absorption: Success]

[Speed Absorption: Success]

[Dexterity Absorption: Fail]

[Durability Absorption: Success]

[Essence Absorption: Fail]

[Sense Absorption: Fail] 

The pain subsided as soon as the notifications finished popping up, replaced by the gratifying feeling of new, immense power flourishing through his being.

On more than just a microscopic scale, his muscles tore themselves apart. They rebuilt themselves instantly, slowly forging into something more significant. His bones and tendons also experienced this similar change, slowly but indeed becoming stronger, allowing him to withstand more damage in future battles.

Although the feeling of enhancing strength wasn't as euphoric as before, the sensation was nonetheless empowering, figuratively and literally.

To his dismay, he failed to attain any [Sense] or [Essence], but he managed to absorb 3 other stats, which was better than anything he could've hoped for.

The / dictated how much he did attain, however. 

Knowledge gained from previous absorptions, the enemy's stat count was divided by the number following the /.

For instance, 14/5 was 3 rounded up. Luckily, it didn't round up or down, and he did gain all of it, although the decimal points weren't visible.

He gained 2.8 Strength, 2.6 Speed, and 4 Durability. This was game-changing, as now his strength reached a fantastic 7.5, his speed 8, and his durability a staggering 9, which was excellent for someone like him.

[Cale Green]

[Rank: Admired]

[Class: Human]

[Evolution Path: Humanoid]

[Type: {A}] 

[Physicality {F-}:

[7 Strength]

[8 Speed]

[4 Dexterity]

[9 Durability]

He sat up and slowly made his way to his feet, stretching out his newly strengthened body.

Peeking at his stats piqued his interest as he received an {A} type designation.

He pondered for a bit before concluding that {A} meant all-around. He was well-rounded and didn't excel in any particular stats, excluding dexterity.

He looked around to fully intake the situation before laying his eyes on the corpse of the beast.

The beast was nearly eight feet long, and the amount of meat it possessed would have been tremendous.

However, its weight was also substantial, making Cale mentally sigh.

It would be an exhausting but rewarding trip back.

He knelt down to the beast and grabbed his sword.

Carefully, he cut off the paws of the beast. 

The reasoning was that the paws possessed no edible meat, meaning it was just dead weight he needed to remove. 

Afterward, he hung the body upside down after decapitating the corpse. Like the paws, it contained barely any good meat and served as a way to drain the blood. After some idle downtime to recuperate, he slung the slightly lighter carcass over his shoulder. He began taking heavy steps back to the camp.

His mind was stale as there were no other worries to think of. 

He was not ambushed, and he didn't see any other beast marks in the area, so for the most part, he was fine. 

Even then, if there was a creature in the area, he would far long be aware of its existence before it could ambush him.

Of course, on the off chance, it was something more sly like a monkey or snake.

Nimble and sneaky beasts that can effortlessly catch you off-guard.

Keeping an eye out, he slowly made his way back.

Night fell, bathing the forest in a graceful darkness and an uneasy silence. His steps became erythematic and heavy. While he wasn't entirely exhausted, it was nonetheless tiring to carry a corpse, probably four times his body weight.

If not for the strength he gained beforehand, he would've had to sacrifice some meat to have a more manageable carry load. 

He slowly dragged on, covering nearly three-quarters of the distance back to camp before setting the beast down and laying against a gigantic tree. He inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth.

He wasn't out of breath, but the constant strain his body was withstanding was great, so to rejuvenate himself, he decided to take a small break.

But such a simple act would pull him into far more trouble than he wished to be in.

Before seeing anything, he heard the cracking of a whip and the sound of something tearing through the air at incredible speeds.

Without trying to see where it came from, he flexed his torso, planting his hands against the tree and pushing off, causing his body to propel itself into the ground. As unfortunate as it seemed fortunate, the projectile was not targeted for him, but rather the corpse of the beast. 

His eyes widened in shock as he witnessed the corpse get dragged into the woods, a lengthy string affixed to a hook embedded into the skin of it.

He quickly grasped his sword and jumped to his feet, utilizing his newly attained speed to hastily dash toward the person. 

However, he seemed out-witted as an irregularly long spike was thrown from the trees.

Cale quickly leaned his upper body backward, barely evading the spike that whistled past his head. From the shadows, a boy only a few years older than him with a bandage swathed around his mouth peeked out. A woman in similar attire stood back to his side, her emerald pupils staring into Cale's being.

And from the corner of his eye, another person stepped out, a long rope connected to a spike being rotated in a circle, ready to be launched at Cale.

He stepped backward, his sword in front of him to defend himself against head-on attacks. One on Three was nearly impossible to win, and Cale knew that. 

He hadn't fought against humans before, so he didn't know a typical attack pattern.

Even if he did, he knew he would not win unless they were far inferior to him in terms of stats. After a second of thinking, he realized that even then, they still attained the stats of an average person of their gender and age. The boy appeared to be around 16, so he was initially stronger than Cale without absorption. 

However, to assume he hasn't absorbed any stats was naive of Cale, and he knew that.

Suddenly, he swung behind him, his sharp edge whistling through the air. A split-second later, the shaft of an arrow blasted into smithereens, and the metallic tip of the arrow, affected by the force of his attack, fell harmlessly into the mud below.

 Before Cale could continue, the cordial sound of a blade cutting through the air resounded from behind him.

The attack was initiated from too close, and damage was inevitable. Cale grimaced, and his heart beat like thunder as he attempted to sidestep it.

Despite his speed buff, it was not enough. The blade cut through his shoulder, traveling cleanly all the way through without any problem.

Cale stumbled backward, instantly clutching his shoulder. He gritted his teeth, an instant stream of blood unleashing from the open wound as his eyes reflected a cold, hateful glint towards the treeline. Cale heavily exhaled, peered at the wound and assessed it was nothing lethal. But he was an untrained 13-year-old; the pain nagged at his mind, and the ache slowly pulsated toward the rest of his body.

 In his peripheral vision, there were 3 attackers and an additional one behind the tree line.

The situation was unsalvagable; They were far more experienced and equipped. Cale had no armor, no ranged weaponry, or comrades.

He was also worried about the problems this would entice in the future.

Less food.

Animals with strong noses could catch a whiff of his blood and, in turn, track him back to the camp.

His thoughts raced faster and faster. 'How long have they been following me? Since I killed the Hybrid? Since I left camp?' 

The myriad of complications this implied was a heavy burden. Still, his adolescent mind pushed them aside and focused on living first. 

The boy unhurriedly withdrew into the trees with the carcass, and the other man followed.