Chapter 26- Nocturnal Overseer
The moment Akio saw them, he felt something change in his body. A moment ago, he was exhausted, breathing heavily, and quite agitated from the sheer shock of his first actual monster kill.
However, all of that came to a halt as his body weirdly calmed down in one single moment. His exhaustion vanished and his breathing returned to its normal rhythm. Even his heart that didn't stop beating loudly for a while now was instantly back to a calm, stable state.
"What…?" Noticing this weird change, Akio looked down and checked his body.
On the outside, nothing much changed, he was still the same if not as sickly-looking as he usually does. However, on the inside was a different matter, Akio felt as if his body had somehow become more durable. He couldn't quite describe it precisely as the feeling was new.
'So, this is what stamina does. I can feel more energy in my body. This is really amazing! It's like a miracle!' Nodding with a satisfied look, Akio quickly checked his stats. His stamina had gone from 6 to 10 in one single sweep. The change was palpable.
By Akio's standards that he set for the system stats, he should now have the same stamina as a normal, average human.
'Average people have this level of stamina? This is amazing. I feel like I can run for a long time and not feel exhausted.'
Finally, Akio turned to the last one, the leveling up. He had been curious about what could be the effect of such an event happening. However, that doubt is now gone. When he leveled up, two things happened. The first one is linked to when he used Death Paths.
At that time, he didn't give much attention to this detail but now that he looked back, it was indeed quite crucial. When the stigma was activated, he felt as if some kind of power was drained from his body. This power wasn't his physical capabilities and instead a mysterious energy that coursed through his body without him noticing it, just like how blood ran through his veins without him feeling it.
This power was most likely 'Holem Spirit'.
'So if I use a stigma, it consumes Holem Spirit. When I activated it, hmm… I used 12 points?' Realizing that he somehow had the exact amount of Holem Spirit he used to activate the Stigma itched into his head, made him raise an eyebrow.
'Maybe because this mysterious power is linked to my mind. Well, it's convenient anyway.' He theorized.
This is where he noticed something else connected to his Holem Spirit, when he leveled up, his Holem Spirit pool was recharged completely. It was most likely some kind of refresh for his current state to allow him to understand what to do. This can be really convenient for when he is in a very dangerous fight as it's almost like a second chance.
Shrugging his shoulders, he moved on to the second thing that changed. He obtained two free points to allocate however he wanted.
This was by far the most useful thing he received after the Death Paths Stigma. Not only was this an absolutely amazing feature, but it can also be his lifeline in cases of absolute emergency. The human body wasn't something that could gain power instantly and so having this amazing ability to obtain instant strength, ability, stamina, etc is really impressive.
'I won't use them for the time being. No one knows what I can face further inside this hole.'
But, the time for his idle fun and analysis, if he was accurate, the prisoners will start appearing here soon. Getting up, he squinted a little bit as he felt the stinging pain from his side. The injury wasn't dangerous but still annoying when trying to run or move.
Lifting his torch, Akio continued walking deeper and deeper into the Serenity Abyss. The place had been completely quiet for a while, blinding darkness was scary and unnerving even for the most courageous of people so it was only normal that Akio would still feel tense while walking.
That's when he found his next target, or in this case… his two new targets.
Right in front of him, two lizardmen came walking in his direction. They didn't have any particular differences from the other one he just killed.
Without hesitation, Akio activated Death Paths as he used 12 points of Holem Spirit again. Although he didn't know what's the cost-to-effect of this stigma yet, he couldn't risk not using it to its full potential merely because he was fearful that his Holem Spirit would be completely emptied. The more future paths he can see, the more his chances of killing these two monsters increased.
Besides, if he dies here, he won't have time to regret doing such a thing as wasting Holem Spirit.
The moment the Stigma was activated, the same phenomenon happened as before. Three Akios appeared and dashed toward the two monsters.
Akio was quite intrigued to see how his clones would deal with two Lizardmen instead of one. However, what he saw completely shocked him.
*Swish*
An instant passed and the world returned to normal. At that moment, the two Holem creatures attacked at the same time. The two tongues flew right to ward the motionless boy. However, at the last second, the latter simply crouched and then used his torch to burn the tips with the fire. This was the path he chose out of the three ones he saw as it was quite unpredictable and efficient.
The moment the flames made contact with the fragile yet also sharp tongues, the two monsters flinched visibly as they quickly pulled back their weapons. The sound of their moans of pain could be heard clearly even from afar.
Then, without wasting any time, he quickly dashed toward the two at his fastest speed. Usually, running suddenly like this would put a toll on his legs and muscles as they were very malnourished and weak. However, because of the increase in his stamina and strength, Akio felt like a new person.
Crossing the distance quickly, he replicated what he saw in the Death Paths vision exactly as it was. Even though technique-wise, Akio was basically as clueless as a newborn child, he was still a very great observant. So, he can at least replicate a very rough simulation of what he saw even if it wasn't 100% perfect.
Because their tongues were burned by the torch, the two creatures couldn't redo the attack instantly. That margin of time was enough for Akio to do whatever he wanted.
Reaching his targets, he bent down and did a slide tackle to both of them. Because he wasn't really that strong even with the new increase in strength he gained he felt some pain in his calve and thigh.
Fortunately, though, the two creatures were swiped out of their balance quite easily and fell to the ground. Using that opportunity, Akio picked up his torch and with the pointy end of it, stabbed toward the monster's eye.
*Pop*
Then, with a quick motion kicked the other monster in the face, knocking him down before he could recuperate. After that, he used the torch and pierced his skull.
[You have killed a level 3 Lizardman.]
[You have gained +2 strength.]
[You have killed a level 3 Lizardman.]
[You have gained +1 agility.]
[You have leveled up to level 3.]
[You have gained +2 points to allocate freely.]
"Hmm? Did the stat increase become lower?" Akio murmured.
When he first killed one of them, he gained +4 stamina, but now when he killed the third one, he only gained +1 in Agility only.
'Hmm, wait, maybe because I killed multiple of the same kind of creature that it kept depleting. Yeah, that sounds plausible.'
If he thought about it, this was very logical as if Holem allowed for someone to kill the same creature again and again and again and still get the same number of stats, they could easily break the whole system.
Nodding his head, Akio closed the windows and then looked ahead of him, that's when he noticed it. Something shiny could be seen near one of the Lizardmen he had killed. Because of the nature of this place, even the smallest origin of light will appear very bright and eye-catching.
Bending down, he picked it up and examined it. In his hand was a shiny piece of paper, akin to a scroll or a letter of some sort. The type of paper used for it was very thin and also somehow could generate visible light.
'What is…'
Before he could even finish that thought, the piece of paper suddenly exploded into small particles and vanished from his hand. Then, a notification appeared in front of him.
[You have acquired a new stigma: Nocturnal Overseer (Level 1).]
[Nocturnal Overseer (Level 1): Darkness is the world of everything unknown and atrocious. No matter where you look, darkness is a veil that can cover everything, good or bad. Using this stigma, your vision in dark places is enhanced. The more this stigma levels up, the more powerful your eyes will become in dim areas.]
"Oh?" Akio couldn't stop himself from making a weird sound as he felt something change in his eyes.
His pupils started convulsing and morphing. The sensation was bizarre but by no means uncomfortable. A few seconds later, when this weird behavior of his eyes stopped, the place around him completely changed.
(A//N: Thank you everyone for supporting the book with power stones, golden tickets, and comments. I'm deeply grateful. Let's all keep it up :) )