Run.
A simple word.
But once initiated, it had a lot, a lot of meaning.
Run. Run from responsibilities, run from boredom, run from danger… or maybe just run for some exercise?
Yeah, Theo was just doing some exercise.
He was not running for his life, while being chased by a three-headed horned centipede.
He was just doing some exercise by running like his life depended on it.
Blip!
More dots appeared on the map and his suit vibrated as well.
It wasn't just the centipede, there was a lot more.
Two-headed beetles, giant slugs, massive bats with teeth sticking out like spears… yeah, he was definitely not running for his life.
"What did I ever deserve to anyone to do this!?" His speech had also taken a hit, so he wasn't making much sense.
The ground was mostly solid and kind of plain- so running wasn't that hard. Yet, he almost tripped half a dozen times.
And they were catching up…
Theo had his plasma gun, and a knife but- but he knew with numbers like those, he didn't stand a chance.
But he was getting tired, and sooner or later, he was going to have to fight them.
And then- his vision went red for a second time.
[FQ- Kill the three-headed Roudian centipede]
He made an abrupt stop, a hand on his gun.
'You want me dead that badly!'
He knew he couldn't avoid this one, but he also knew things weren't looking great.
Kill it?
How?
[Suggested skill- Charm and charge]
This thing was suddenly starting to care for him and giving him hints? If it wanted him to prosper that badly, why the hell did it even bring him to this place in the first place?
Theo wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
But instead, he just took his gun in one hand and- 'Charm! Charge!' A familiar scent spread. It was almost as though time slowed- or so his senses conveyed. This was the first time he used Charge- and sure enough, he felt more than just charged. He could swear he was glowing with a slight bluish aura.
[Strength and intelligence doubled!]
Theo was surrounded by all kinds of things, but they were staying away as the centipede was speeding toward him.
Any second now-
Were they afraid of the centipede or perhaps this one was their leader- or?
He didn't have time to think- it was here.
A black, three-headed, horned centipede. one of its heads was busy chewing on a large mouse while the other two heads were glaring awfully sweetly.
The centipede was just above him- almost about to bite his head off but it stopped or more like froze.
Theo reacted fast- really fast.
Bang! Bang!
Theo fired three shots, his hand making trails.
Balls of plasma raced through the air- making perfect hits.
Two blasted off the centipede's heads while one blew off the poor thing's chest.
The centipede screeched with its last remaining head and gradually (with dramatic movements) fell on the ground, with a massive thud. Green blood was everywhere.
Dead- it was.
'Are you telling me, this damn spell works on animals, too?'
Theo's sweat poured; breathing erratic.
[FQ reward- charm would now stagger males for three seconds. Bonus rewards- 10000 exp]
The bugs in the distance, stayed in the distance, not daring to leap forward.
Meanwhile, Theo just stood there with a blank expression. 'What in the actual fuc*'
For the first time ever, he actually regretted getting this system.
'So, you're just training me?'
There were no answers, no.
'A LITTLE LATE, DON'T YOU THINK!!?'
***
Theo received various quests as he walked north.
Kill this- kill that, collect this, destroy that; mostly just bats and centipedes though. Almost all of them involved some ability and almost all of them gave him multiple rewards. The potions and some materials were being auto-added to his inventory. He didn't even know he had one- and when he looked into it- apparently the system was just using his plasma bag as inventory.
The killing part got gradually harder and harder. Killing one centipede with the help of his skills wasn't that hard. But killing two without his skills proved to be very challenging- enough so that he had to put all his stat points to speed, so he didn't end up being devoured before he could even react.
But that wasn't just all. He had to kill bats that zigzagged and attacked his eardrums. Of course, he didn't give up- or rather he just didn't have the option to. He had to fight.
Bang!
Shot!
He had to survive.
Pant! Pant!
'Did someone switch difficulty from normal to nightmare or something!?' His bottom touched the hard black ground, as he stared at the sky. The sky was kind of dark- so he concluded it was already night. Since he didn't bring his glasses, his suit didn't update the time either. 'Why am I so dumb?' Not once, not twice, but he made this same mistake thrice.
He'd got hurt over and over again but his suit and high spirit stat was keeping him alive.
With a sigh, Theo just got up and started walking again. The foliage was scarce and very dark. It was almost as though he was walking through a wasteland of sorts, but just with no light.
His suit was healing him gradually and his spirit was aiding in that matter as well. The more spirit he had, the faster his body could heal- however, with increased spirit, came increased pain. So he wasn't really keen on investing in spirit.
By the time he covered half of the distance, he'd already amassed 123700 exp, +4 strength, +7 spirit, +4 speed, +3 stamina, and +2 intelligence. He'd also gained one new ability- Examine. And his Charm and Charge abilities now had a cooldown period of 12 hours instead of 24.
All this time he thought he'd get those by leveling up- but turns out, he could also gain certain attributes by doing certain things. The more he'd fight, the more chances he had of increasing his strength and speed. And the more he got hit, increased the chances of his stamina or spirit increasing. But the chances were low and he had to constantly improve- in order to get new points.
'Who even came up with this damn thing?'
Unlike his other skills, examine had no usage limit other than being able to use it once in a minute. When he tried it using on the bugs around him- he saw various attributes of the bugs in plain numbers; almost all the numbers were vastly lower than his, in the high single digits. Two were supposedly new attributes- one being Life and the other being Mana. There were no such attributes in his system. 'So-' He tried using the skill on himself and sure enough, he saw less than what his menu showed up- nothing significant. And there definitely wasn't anything related to Life or Mana.