Level Eater Chapter 3

"A huge, HUGE caterpillar!"

"Does it look like its coming to our direction? Ah, it's disgusting!"

　Looking at the intruder of the conversation, its total length was over 50 cm, the colour was green and white and black, and the head had a T-shaped bright red touching antenna that moved.

They were terrified of this creature as they have never seen one before on earth, meanwhile as the caterpillars were rushing to their position.

"Ai, go and kill it, you might be able to level up!"

"No, I don't want to touch it, it looks disgusting..."

"Right.. then let's run."

"I agree!"

Looking back, there were five caterpillars. Ai lost her words and squeezed the hem of Tatsuro's jersey. When Tatsuro wondered what they could do, he saw the stone on the floor.

"Ai, it's a stone! With you, we'll be able to beat it with just throwing this stone!"

"OH! That's right!"

They were able to beat it without making direct contact, while there was a high chance that they would level up. Motivated by these thoughts, Ai squatted down and grabbed the stone and threw it out.

《Skill: Throw Lv.1 has been acquired. 》

BANG

　It was a deadly blow that n.o.body would think a girl with lean and skinny arms could ever throw. That was if it hit the target. The stone thrown by Ai pa.s.sed a mere three meters above the caterpillar, with a piercing sound as it flew through the air.

　In fact, she possesses athletic abilities much higher than a normal human being would, but her original athletics skills were quite bad. In high school, she was invited to the handball athletics club by a friend but stayed on the bench for three years as she did not play in any game or tournament.

There was no reason that she had the ability to hit the target, though having enormous power and strength. Tatsuro expected this result, so he wasn't particularly surprised.

"A LARGE VIOLENT THROW!!"

"That was loud, it's ok, just try again!"

《Skill: Throw Lv. 2 Acquired》

BANGGGG

She did not hit this time either but the shot landed in front of the caterpillar closest to them and had the force that blasted it back.

"Okay, that's alright. Hit the back one!!"

"Me? Can I beat it with the weak stats I have?"

"It's not that fast, and it seems pretty weak and just disgusting. You can just try out your skills and test your abilities on it."

《Skill: Throw Lv. 3 Acquired》

BOOOOOM---

"Close!!"

"Actually, it does seem ok. Then lemme try to beat it."

Tatsuro headed to the first caterpillar, admiring the increasing accuracy of Ai's stoning technique.

To begin with, Tatsuro quickly used the help b.u.t.ton to find out how to use his skills. He learned that, if he was conscious of using his acquired skills, he would've understood how to use them the same way he understood things using the help b.u.t.ton. Tatsuro decided to use his unknown skill 'Level Eater'. His body began to move as if he knew how to use it already.

"Ah"

When he opened his mouth and sighed, black spots gradually appeared in his mouth and expended to the size of a marble. Then the black sphere that was formed was fired towards the caterpillar with something like a squirt.

Though the walking speed of the caterpillar increased, it did not notice the presence of the black sphere and came straight to Tatsuro. This was because only Tatsuro was able to see the black marble.

Eventually. the caterpillar touched the black marble as if it was plunging into something and was sucked into it. When the process was over, the information of the caterpillar came directly into Tatsuro's head. He understood how the skill 'Level Eater' Worked after the marble entered his body.

　Level: 5

　Skills: < body="" contact="" lv.2="">> < threading="" lv.3="">> < biting="" lv.3="">>

(Hmm, how do I understand the skill?)

Once he asked the sudden question, he noticed that he needed to focus on the caterpillar's level.

"Ha"

When he opened his mouth again, something like black smoke came out of the caterpillar and flowed towards Tatsuro's mouth, forming a black sphere.

　Level: 1

　Skills: < body="" contact="" lv.2="">> < threading="" lv.3="">> < biting="" lv.3="">>

He checked the status of the caterpillar and swallowed it. Then, the touch of his chest gradually became warm and he understood with a sense that the level of the opponent just became his food. The caterpillar was now at level one and all of its level was sucked by him.

(Huh? My level isn't going up though it should have worked? Is the conversion efficiency bad or my required experience value higher? )

Though he had more questions, everything till now had gone smoothly.

At this point, Tatsuro thought. Certainly, the opponent should have been weakened as its level went down. However, it still is not defeated yet. The caterpillar crawled up and had beak-like teeth suddenly popping out.

No matter how weak it was from the shift of levels, they were the same. It took a lot of courage to confront the monster with empty hands and just fists.

And here came the problem...

"How do you beat that?"