Zach heard the ancient voice in his head annoucing the completion of his quest.
[Ding ! Quest completed, host shall claim his reward]
'Claim.' Zach said in his head.
[Ding ! Random skill attributed : Host gained the |Death from the shadows| skill.]
'What does this skill do system ?' Zach inquired.
[|Death from the shadows| : As death lurks in the shadows you are now able to use your shadow to store suff and hide them from the other. Warning host can't put something bigger than host's shadows.]
'The name is misleading, at first I thought it could allow me to melt in the shadows, I will just consider it as my inventory.' Zach was a bit confused about his new skill's name.
'I will not use this skill for now and keep it hidden for now, I will have trouble explaining how I got it and I do not know why but I feel like there is someone spying on us.' Zach was a bit disturbed.
The two men who were observing them from the shadow on the border of the plain were having a heated talk. "How the fuck did they neutralized them so easily even if the bandits were only a mid rank 1 and two low rank 1. And how in hell did the one with the scythe was so calm when he slayed the bandits ?!" The first exclaimed.
"Yeah it's ... interesting ... in fact he could not have done any better in this fight, as for the other two they held their ground well against the two low rank 1 bandits until the girl got distracted. When we got this mission from the captain I was thinking it was more like babysitting but they are doing well." The second replied.
"Let's go, we don't have time to waste so close to those corpse, if someone find us we will have troubles explaining this." Zach pointed out and seized this opportunity to collect their souls.
[Soul +2]
"You are right." Arnold added.
Like this after they put the corpses on the side, they resumed their journey toward the pygma forest the rest of their travel went smoothly and after another hour they got there.
The sun was setting and the light was slowly fading of this dense forest, the forest's trees were rather tall with an average height of 25 meters, tree barks of a light grey, it reminded Zach of the birch's tree bark back on earth and a lush foliage of deep dark green leaves.
"Ok, I think we should set up our camp here, night will be there soon and we are tired of today figth and a night hunt won't do any good to us. I will take the first turn of nightwatch." Arnold said when they got near a recess of a mound of rock.
"Yes, that's a good idea, I will take the second turn, especially you Zach you need some rest, you are the most tired of us." Jess added, knowing he was at the end of his rope, struggling to maintain his awarenes.
"You are right, let's set up the camp." Zach muttered absent-mindely, he was focus on not falling from exhaustion and keeping an eye on the surroundings.
Once they set up 2 tents, Zach entered one and fell directly on his mattres, made of some straws and leaves, instantaneously he fell in a deep sleep. As for Jess she got in the second tent and laid on her mattres, made of the same things than Zach's one, and she slowly fell asleep too.
Arnold on the other hand sat on a tree trunk with his back facing the tents and lit up a fire and cooked the raw meat which the bandits had on them, he made enough to all of them and when he ate to satisfaction he put the remaining meat on a covered plate between the tents.
After 2 hours and a half so far no problem presented itself, Arnold got up and walked to Jess' tent, he open it and just stayed there admiring her, he then leaned above her head sniff her hair and slowly caress her cheek "Jess, it's your turn" he finally called her while shaking her to wake her.
"Already ... I get it" Jess said while still being half asleep, she had no idea what Arnold had just done, luckily for him because she would have vomit in disgust and then try to kill him. Just like she got out of her tent, close the entrance behind her and sat on the same trunk Arnold was she then ate her fill while doing her turn.
Arnold laid on the mattress sniffing the place where Jess' head was, he then slide his hand in his pants and as discreetly as he could he started to jerk off while thinking of Jess, after about 15 seconds he ejaculated, after this he laid on his back and slowly fell asleep.
Arnold was a pervert and had a twisted mind but this night no one discovered it even though he was next to Jess and they were monitored.
Jess' turn went as smoothly as Arnold's one, she was rubbing her sleepy eyes. Zach quietly exited his tent and sat next to Jess. "Not too tired from your turn Jess ?" "I am fine, nothing out of the ordinary." She replied. She slipped her hand toward Zach's one and interlinked their fingers. She then leaned her head on Zach's shoulder, her silver hair falling on his back slowly falling asleep on him.
Unbeknownst to them Arnold was peeping through his tent seeing all of what was happening between Zach and Jess. When he saw that a huge jealousy and anger boiled inside him.
He was utterly furious from this situation, laid back on his bed 'She is mine and mine only, if we can't be together one day I will make her pay.' Arnold was fuming in his head and slowly went back to the world of dreams.
'She is beautiful sleeping like this.' Zach thought while looking at Jess on her shoulder. After 30 minutes Jess woke up and returned to her tent to grab some sleep more comfortably. Zach was as good as new and on high alert, he suddenly felt some beasts not too far from their camp.
He stood up and climbed up in the tree branches and he moved towards those beasts, he finally reach them, he watched them from above, there was 5 wolves, Zach could more or less feel their level each of them should be a low rank 1 beast.
Even if Zach won in a figth with a mid rank 2 it was a one versus one and his enemy was the lowest possible among mid rank 1, he was now in a thougher situation, alone against 5 beast.
The 5 wolves smelt Zach but they didn't know exactly where but they were on their guard growling. Zach readied himself to go on one them to execute it instantaneously, he gripped his scythe and jump from the branche he was on, he dove like an eagle on his prey, he sliced the head of the wolf which was the most forward.
Zach heard a notification from the sytem but didn't mind it for now. The head of the wolf rolled on the ground it made the other four step back in fear. After a second they came back to their senses and pounced on Zach all at once from his left and right.
Zach rushed toward the two at his right slided under them on the ground and eviscerated one of them, his guts falling on the ground with a large amount of blood.
The other three wolves came back on him, Zach shifted his body in the midst of the wolves claws but it was too much for Zach and one of the wolf clawed rather deeply in his back's flesh. Zach gritted his teeth turned around and pierced its skull with his scythe killing it on the spot.
He flipped the wolf's corpse over still pierced by his scythe with great difficulty on another one and like the one still on his scythe Zach also pierce its skull.
The last jumped on Zach trying to bite off his neck, Zach put his scythe's handle in it's maw struggling to regain the advantage and not be bitten to death.
He bended his legs and pushed with all his might on the wolf's belly, the wolf was thorwn to the ground with Zach's scythe. Zach reacted quickly, he could not retrieve his scythe before the wolf ripped him off, he pounced on the wolf and he mustered all the strength he could and punched its head.
His fist ended in its skull covered in brain matter and blood, though his fist was in pain because a low rank 1 being had a pretty tough skull.
'It was a pretty exciting fight.' Zach thought he did not forget to collect the souls. Zach's body was sore so he was rather slow when going back to their encampment, he sat on the trunk and now took a look at the notifications.
[Ding ! Low rank 1 being eliminated : + 10 EXP]
[Ding ! Low rank 1 being eliminated : + 10 EXP]
[Ding ! Low rank 1 being eliminated : + 10 EXP]
[Ding ! Host leveled up]
[Ding ! Low rank 1 being eliminated : + 10 EXP]
[Ding ! Low rank 1 being eliminated : + 10 EXP]
[Soul +5]
He opened his status :
[Host status:
Level : 1 (peak of the human stage)
EXP : 20/200
Title : none
HP : 150/150
Mana : 100/100
Strengh : 10
Speed : 10
Stamina : 10
Spirit : 10
Intelligence : 10
Charisma : 15
Skills : |Death from the shadows| level 1
System points : 6
Souls : 8]
'I will delve on those system points after I treated myself.' Zach still didn't know what use they had and what each stat represented.
Zach bandaged the area which was clawed on his back and finally rested. It's now time for Zach to inquire the system about the system points and stats.