"I need to use the bathroom. I'll be right back." Arcus said as he got up from his chair. Jack quietly nodded as Arcus hurriedly walked off to the washroom.
"KILL HIM! HE TRIED TO POISON YOU! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" Fenrir's voice rang inside his head. "Shut up Fenrir! I'm trying to think here!" Arcus screamed back.
"THINK?! You're scared, aren't you? You coward! My powers are being wasted on you!"
"He might have done what he did for a reason! I just can't figure out why he did it though and we can't kill him. Plus, I thought you sensed the World Serpent's soul energy in him?"
"So what?! He tried to poison you! It's clear that he's not a friend!"
"But the poison wasn't lethal and if I remember right, the World Serpent, isn't he your brother or something? I remember reading about it in the cybercafé the other day."
"Does any of that matter if he's trying to kill you? Don't be dumb. Odin might have brought him over to his side and they might be working together right now. I say we defeat him, torture him for information and dispose of him."
"Ok listen, first off, we're not killing anyone. I'll try talking to him and if that doesn't work, we'll capture him."
"And then we kill him." Fenrir added.
Arcus shook his head as he opened the door of the washroom and stepped out. The next second a large snake had fallen on his shoulders and had coiled itself around his neck as it stated to squeeze his neck. Arcus tried to pull the snake away from his neck as he struggled to breathe.
"Transform, you fool!" Fenrir yelled.
Post haste Arcus had turned into a large wolf. His claws dug into the snake's hide, loosening the grip around his neck. Arcus took the chance to set himself free from the snake's grasp.
"Now pin him down with your claws and bite!" Fenrir directed.
Arcus did as Fenrir told, as he held the 2 meter snake down with his claws and sunk his teeth into the snake's body. The snake writhed in pain as it tried to free itself from the wolf's clutches. Arcus dug his claws deeper into the snake's body as he proceeded to rip a chunk out of the snake with his jaws and gulped it down. The snake stopped moving and transformed back into Jack. Jack now had a portion of his shoulder missing and was bleeding profusely.
The battle had reached a conclusion within a matter of few seconds and Arcus had reverted to his original form. Arcus was left stunned by what had happened. He had never intended to swallow the chunk of meat he had ripped off. For a second, he had lost control over his actions and his mind was taken over by something.
"I should be more cautious with that transformation." Arcus thought to himself when the screen popped up with a message in front of him.
[You have consumed ??? meat.]
[Portion eaten not enough to be converted into stats.]
[Eat a bigger portion to receive stat points.]
"The World Serpent's meat. Boy, I say we at least eat a part of him if you're completely against the idea of killing him. You'll gain a tremendous amount of stats. You might not get another chance to do so. He was incredibly weak now but he won't stay the same for too long if left alone. The World Serpent had an even faster growth rate than me. So take this opportunity to grow so that you won't be left behind."
"He's bleeding, can't you see?! He'll die at this rate. Forget eating him, we have to save him first!"
"He is the World Serpent. He was born to die fighting Odin's firstborn, the God of Thunder. He won't die from getting his shoulder bit off. Also, he probably has the same or a skill similar to your Perfect Condition. His body should heal soon, there's nothing to worry about. So at least eat a bit of him if you're not going to kill him."
Arcus lost the strength in his legs as he slumped to the floor. The pool of blood on the floor kept him from making a sound decision and Fenrir was only making it worse. All this should have taken a larger toll on his mind but something had kept him sane which Arcus decided was probably the effect of the skill, Perfect Condition.
As he sat next to Jack's unconscious body trying to come up with solutions, he noticed that the bleeding had stopped. "It's only been over a minute and the bleeding has stopped? Is that normal? Unless he does have a similar skill..." Arcus thought
"Screen, how much more meat is needed to get those points?"
[A minimum of 5% meat is required to be eaten.]
[Current amount consumed = 1%]
"Is it possible for my arm to regenerate if it was cut off? Could you tell me how it works?"
[Yes.]
[Regeneration is a part of the skill Perfect Condition. It's a passive skill that does not consume any SP. Although lost body parts can be regenerated with enough time, the recovery rate directly depends on the remaining amount of HP. Regeneration does not recover lost HP.]
"I remember having an Appraisal skill. Do you think I could use that to check someone's skills?"
[Current user level too low to appraise skills.]
"Then the condition and HP maybe?"
Suddenly a few words and numbers appeared above Jack's head.
[HP: 3/10]
[Condition: Unconscious, recovering]
Arcus suddenly had an idea. He immediately began looking around for a first-aid kit. He managed to find one almost immediately. He had found what he was looking for. He took out a flask that was inside the kit with a label that read "Low Grade Health Potion". He poured half the contents of the flask into Jack's mouth and transformed again. He tore away Jack's arm and gobbled it up in a flash. He wanted to go in for another bite but he resisted the temptation and held himself back from doing so.
"I don't like this.. I'm barely in control after I transform. I have to do something about it really soon." Arcus thought. "Appraise" Arcus said looking at Jack's body which showed his current condition again.
[HP: 1/10]
[Condition: Unconscious, Bleeding: Target loses 1 HP per minute]
Arcus immediately poured the rest of the Health potion into Jack's mouth. He didn't want to think about what would happen if someone's HP reached 0.
[HP: 2/10]
[Condition: Unconscious, Recovering]
Arcus stood astonished by what he saw. Jack's body was healing at an abnormally fast rate. Suddenly the 'recovering' condition was swapped with 'bleeding'. Arcus took out another recovery flask with the same label and poured it into Jack's mouth till the 'bleeding' was once again replaced with 'recovering'. This cycle repeated for 2 more times till it finally stopped. The second flask was completely drained as well. Arcus was glad that it had finally stopped as there was no third flask in the kit. That's when the screen once again appeared in front of him.
[You have consumed World Serpent's meat]
[Rank of meat consumed: ???]
[20 stat points available for distribution.]
"20 stat points?! So I can divide them however I want?" Then allot 5 points to every stat."
[Warning!]
[In doing so, host will temporarily enter a state of hibernation for 12 hours. So, that the body can undergo the necessary changes to keep up with the increase in stats.]
"Wait! Don't allot the stats yet. How often do I have to undergo this transformation?"
[The transformation is triggered every time all of the host's stats reach multiples of 10 till 60.]
[A particular stat alone cannot be more than a multiple of 10 if the other stats are below that multiple of 10.]
"So that means, I'll undergo changes every 10 stats? Then allot 5 points to every stat except agility and allot 3 points to agility instead."
He immediately felt a power surge inside him. He was definitely several times stronger than he was before. Now all he had to do was wait till Jack recovered.
.
Amy was on her way to the café as usual. The sun had yet to rise, the weather was frosty and the cold air stung her face. She came to a halt a few meters away from the café. "The fool didn't even close down the shop properly, he left the lights on! Where's dad's favourite now?" she said to herself before she continued walking. "But it's unlike Jack to make such mistakes. Should I call dad?" she thought as she neared the entrance. Amy wasn't much of a fighter. She had an ability called Synthesis. It was the ability to breakdown a component into its original materials or fuse raw materials to produce a new compound. She usually used this to make coffee decoctions for the café. The only way for her to protect herself were her stats. She grew more cautious by the second.
"Urgh." a dull groan sounded from inside the café. She was able to hear the sound only because her surroundings were extremely quiet. She immediately recognized the voice that had made the sound. Her fear was replaced with a sense of concern as she hurriedly brought out the keys to the building, opened the door and ran towards the room that had the lights on.
"Oh. Good morning princess!" a tired looking Jack greeted her, with one arm slung over Arcus's shoulder, his other arm wrapped in bandages.