The Hero Who Can't Level

Chapter 8. Maggot Soul

"Ken! Hurry up and check what ability you got!" Emma asked impatiently as we sat at a park bench.

"Stop rushing me Emma. I am praying to the RNG Gods to let this be an op skill." I replied, while closing my eyes and prayed that I don't get a shit skill.

After gaining 3 skills, of course we have noticed somewhat of a pattern. Sure, slime is the weakest monster that only has 1 att and will do 0 damage to anyone with 2 defense.

They also have maxed out physical defense and it's only thanks to the Hero's Mark which is a skill everyone gets the moment the chip is implanted so that we beginners could even do physical damage to those fuckers.

All Hero's Mark does is make sure the attack we use does at least 1 damage ignoring any defense or magic defense while obviously those poor monsters don't have that sort of bonus and slimes will literally do 0 damage to anyone who has an item that adds defense or gained 1 defense from leveling.

Gaining +255 on defense from killing high defense slimes, shitty total stats and dagger mastery from shitty goblins that's overwhelming average at everything and pikachu with the speed and lightning skill. The pattern is pretty obvious that the "soul" I am gaining represents the monsters I am slaying and the stronger and more unique the monster, the better the skill I would gain. At least that's the conclusion we have come to. Who the fuck knows if it will hold true.

So now, you might be asking. Ken. If that's true, why are you out here killing maggots that seem like they do nothing and won't give you any good stats, why don't you go kill a dragon or behemoth? Well, If I could fucking kill 100k behemoth, I will already be one of the fucking elite 50s.

The obvious reason I am out here killing fucking maggots and goblins is because of my low damage and no useful skills. But it's fine, only with 3 months left until the exam for Tokyo Academy. I got Emma to buy me a sword with +49 att, +45 crit and +34 str.

Since all of the stats are under 50, it was a weapon that dropped in a Level C dungeon, making it much more affordable compared to a weapon that would drop from Level B and above dungeons.

But since weapons is the single most important item when it comes down to damage and the ability to kill monsters, it costed her 50,000 gold to buy the fucking thing. 500 US dollars! I don't even make 65,000 Yen in 2 weeks!

Anyways, enough off topic rumbling from me when my blondie is waiting impatiently for me to open the window to see what I have gained and based on the shitty weakass lards I have been killing, the future looks bleak.

"Passive skill acquired. Maggot Soul. Passive bonus(Always Active), +10 to vit, +10 to poison resistance, additional bonus skill, Passive Skill(Always Active), Poison Laced." I read out, disappointed with the meager stats gained until the bonus passive that piqued my interest.

"What does poison laced mean!" Emma asked while shaking me in excitement.

Please my sweet Emma, if you don't move further away from me soon, that stalker hidden poorly behind the tree will jump at me again. Like why the fuck is he even hiding? It's not like I can't see half of his body from behind the fucking tree and it's not like he doesn't just sit in my room whenever Emma is over visiting anyways

"KEN!" Emma shouted, snapping me out of my protagonist's monologue.

"I am getting there, relax! Poison Laced - adds poison(Damage over Time) to all damage types, baseline damage(Poison) 80 over 4 seconds, 2% damage/duration boost per matt, 2.5% damage/duration boost per int. crit does not apply to passive." I read the skill to Emma while trying to dissect what I just gained.

"That is insane Ken! A passive DOT that permanently adds magic damage to all of your hits?" Emma shouted excitedly while hugging me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Albert charging at us from behind the tree.