Chereads / Sing The Song of Death / Chapter 4 - Death and Skills

Chapter 4 - Death and Skills

CRASH

Half of Jehiel's body was caught under the truck.

The truck slid a couple of meters before coming to a halt. While it slid, Jehiel's lower body was smeared on the pavement.

Jehiel was staring at the baby blue sky, laying down in his own pool of blood. Bone fragments and muscle fiber were spread out all over the floor.

The sight was horrific to bystanders.

"CALL AN AMBULANCE NOW!"

'How could someone have so much blood?' some people thought.

'Fuck… it hurts!' as the pain of missing half of his body clouded most of his thoughts.

'My sister…'

He turned his head to the side and saw his co-workers holding his sister by the waist as she screamed, trying to break through the grip of 3 men with tears running down her smooth skin.

'At least she's safe...' the thought crossed his mind.

Bystanders surrounded the site of the accident. Most heads turned away as they only saw the upper half of a young man while the rest was crushed under the delivery truck.

He still held his ammo crate and gun case in his hands in this situation.

Muffled screaming was all Jehiel could hear. 'Still as annoying as ever...'

Only gurgling could be heard from Jehiels mouth, he choked on his own blood as his throat was filled with it.

A single tear fell from his eye and rolled down his bloodied face, thus turning the teardrop red.

Coldness wrapped his entire body, the life slowly fading away.

Unimportant thoughts clouded his mind.

His vision darkened as pitch-black swallowed his vision.

His lifeless body lying on the ground, eyes turned to his sister.

A tune played in his head, his favorite song. Only a part of it, before his consciousness faded, the song played its last words in his mind, 'never... shall we... die'.

...

*DING DING*

[SYSTEM] Your items have been stored in your inventory

[SYSTEM] Please choose 5 skills to proceed

Jehiel let out a long exhale as the monotone voice in his head resounded, then suddenly his eyes then snapped open with realization while his body jolted up, remembering that he had just been spread out like jelly on the pavement by a delivery truck.

"Wh-What?! What's going on?! W-Where am I?" Jehiel started patting his body everywhere while checking for damage.

Surprisingly to him, there was none… which shocked him greatly.

'I guess this is heaven?' he thought to himself.

*DING DING*

[SYSTEM] Please choose 5 skills to proceed

"What? Skills?"

Jehiel's mind was full of questions, staring blankly at the screen in front of his face. He was looking around at the darkness surrounding him, then...

*DING DING*

[SYSTEM] Select one skill from each category to proceed

A row of glowing white text appeared in front of his face and his eyes squinted in confusion.

"Eh? System?" Jehiel thought out loud and tilted his head to the side, confused, as he scratched the back of his head.

As he said of the words 'System', a different row of information clouded his vision.

[Interface]

[Inventory]

[Additional Info]

"Hah! What is this?"

"It's like the novels I read in high school!"

"Let me try this…"

"Interface." his interface popped up out of nowhere.

[System Interface]

System Level: 1

Name: JL (Simplified)

Race: Human

Class(s): None

Height: 5'11in (180 cm)

Weight: 189 Lbs (84 Kg)

Level: 1

XP: (0/250)

Skills | (None)

Passive | (None)

Stat Points | (10)

Inventory | (2)

"Holy shit, it actually worked!" Jehiel leaned in closer and stroked his imaginary beard, still surprised at the text in front of his face.

"It looks like I have unassigned stat points, but why is my name simplified?"

"Sick! I have an inventory too!" he exclaimed excitedly without seeing that there were items inside.

"Well... whatever, I guess I should accept the fact that I'm not alive on Earth anymore," Jehiel said out loud. This thought brought him down, but he still had to keep living.

"I guess I'll go with the name JL too since it's easier to spell if I talk to people."

"Speaking of which, where is everyone, and why am I stuck here?" JL asked aloud calmly, trying to figure out what was happening to him.

[SYSTEM] Welcome JL, as a level 1 system, I am unable to answer difficult questions.

[SYSTEM] Once reaching level 5, I will level up to level 2. As for where we are and why you are here, I am unable to answer that.

[SYSTEM] To proceed, please choose your skills and assign your stat points.

[SYSTEM] It is mandatory to select your skills, as stat points can be assigned at any time.

"Hmm, sounds interesting," JL said while tapping his chin.

"Stats!" he exclaimed, as a different screen popped up.

[--- STATS ---]

< Health Points> HP- 400/400

STR-13

AGI-16

VIT-20

STA-21

INT-83

DEX-19

PRE-115

CHA-11

[Additional Information]

"Charm is only 11? Isn't that pretty low?" he sighed and looked over the other stats.

"Strength seems pretty low… I should at least have 20," he said to himself while assigning the stat points.

20

24

Stat Points | (0)

JL nodded in satisfaction after finally assigning his stat points.

*DING DING*

[SYSTEM] Select one skill from each category

(Common) 80+ Skills Available

(Uncommon) 60+ Skills Available

(Rare) 40+ Skills Available

(Epic) 20+Skills Available

(LEGENDARY) 1 Skill Available - Class Related

(?LOCKED?)

(?LOCKED?)

(?LOCKED?)

'Skills huh? This is the most important part… I should choose wisely.' he thought with a serious face.

*Tap*

(Common)

A high number of glowing white skill cards floated around him.

Every single one was different, but he noticed a specific one that stood out to him the most.

He reached out his hand and tapped the floating card with a metallic outline.

*Tap*

[C](Silent Casting) -Passive Type-

Desc: With a clear mind, vivid imagination, and high concentration, the user is able to achieve silent casting.

Mana Cost: 0

[SYSTEM] Do you wish to learn the skill (Silent Casting)?

A prompt appeared in front of his face beside the information on the skill.

*Tap*

His finger reached out and press 'Yes'.

"Sounds interesting enough, although basic fire magic sounded cool too…" he whispered to himself.

"At least it's a passive skill that doesn't cost me anything…"

He imagined (Silent Casting) to be useful later on, and continued to choose his skills.

*Tap*

(Uncommon)

Less cards appeared and this time they glowed a deep green color.

"Many options to choose from but I'll go with this one!"

*Tap*

[UC](Nimble Feet) -Passive Type-

Desc: Increased speed by %10. Increased stamina by 10%. The user will feel less tired journeying across the world.

Mana Cost: 0

[SYSTEM] Do you wish to learn the skill (Nimble Feet)?

Another prompt appeared in front of his face.

*Tap*

"I should spend more time choosing my skills from now on."

"Next up, Rare!" He exclaimed as he tapped the 'Rare' tab.

A light hue of blue appeared around the skill cards this time.

JL pondered for 5 minutes until finally coming to a decision.

[R](One with the Dark) -Stealth Type-

Desc: You are one with the dark. Enhanced vision in the dark. Damage x1.5 in the dark. You are less likely to be detected in the shadows.

Mana Cost: 5 per min

[SYSTEM] Do you wish to learn the skill (One with the Dark)?

"Hmm, this once chips away at my mana every minute."

"I really like the damage buff though." he said as he quickly pressed 'Yes' and continued to (Epic).

*Tap*

Browsing the cards that emitted a purple hue, 3 of them caught his eyes.

(Sens8)

(Elemental Mastery)

(Death is my Friend)

"Huuuh, this is hard.." JL sighed outwardly.

"One gives me enhanced senses on a different level, another gives me access to learn magic, and finally, a devouring skill..."

After sitting on the floor for 30 minutes, he decided to choose (Death is my Friend).

[E](Death is my friend*) -Devour Type-

Desc: Those who die by your hand will not proceed to the afterlife. You will be able to absorb part of their soul to gain stats. On rare occasions, you will be able to steal skills.

Mana Cost: ???

[SYSTEM] Do you wish to learn the skill (Death is my Friend)?

"Why are there question marks for the mana cost?" JL placed his fingers on his temples, seeing if he should choose a better skill."

"Fuck it." he said as he tapped 'Yes".

It was finally time for the Legendary skill. JL breathed out slowly and tapped 'Legendary' to see what skill he got.

[SYSTEM] Calculating the most suitable Legendary skill based on your skill choices.

"WHAT!? I would've chosen differently if I knew that! So unfair..." he shook his head anxiously waiting for the system to finish.

[SYSTEM] Suitable skill found, [Mythical](Sing the Song of Death). Chosen skills have opened the pathway to [Mythical] ranked skill. Legendary ranked skill empty.

"M-Mythical?!?! Isn't that better than Legendary?!" There was a slight pause as JL was rereading the texts in front of his eyes as the voice played in his mind.

After a slight pause, the system continued to speak.

[SYSTEM] Error! Legendary ranked skill empty. Creating a skill based on host compatibility.

[SYSTEM] Legendary ranked skill created.

Generating...

Generating...

"You've gotta be kidding right?"

"I get a Legendary too?!" JL was dumbfounded at his luck.

If only he knew how rare this occurrence was.