He gritted his teeth and smiled as he said, "Mother, I'll be home soon". The plant slammed forward and swallowed Jordan whole as he closed his eyes ready to embrace death.
And then…its mouth closed shut.
Jordan kept hugging the sword with a mellow expression on his face and his eyes shut tight, trying to embrace death to the fullest…or so he thought.
[Jordan]
[Jordan]
[JORDAN] The system shouted as its feminine voice sounded in his head.
"huh" Jordan voiced in surprise as his head jerked back and he opened his eyes.
[You're not dead. At least not yet. I don't know how long you'll last with your injuries.]
Jordan tried to look around and failed due to his broken spine. Scanning his environment from what he could see, Jordan found himself floating amid the acid-like substance in what he assumed was the vine-like tendril's stomach.
There appeared to be milky-colored energy surrounding him, keeping him protected from the acid. Jordan also noticed that the source of this milky glow seemed to come from his little abnormal-shaped rock.
Suddenly the glow began to intensify, and the rock began to shine. As Jordan squinted his eyes wondering what was happening, the seemingly abnormal-looking rock began to crack as the gray rock layer began to turn into little dust particles and crumble away.
What was revealed underneath was a black blade with flaming purple streaks all along its edge and a golden gem embedded at the bottom.
The golden glow shone even more as the blade became fully exposed. At this point Jordan had his eyes shut tightly due to the brightness.
Jordan felt the blade leave his grasp and unfortunately, he could do nothing about it as he was both blinded by the light and paralyzed by his injuries.
Suddenly Jordan felt a searing hot pain burning into the center of his back along his spine, almost as if someone was currently branding him with a hot piece of steel.
[Artifact Acquired. Analyzing properties…]
Suddenly the robotic version of the system's voice sounded off in Jordan's head.
[Analyzing complete]
[New Quest Acquired], the system's robotic voice continued to speak.
Just as the continuous messages came to a stop, Jordan heard a whistling sound and then more, and more after. A white crack spread above Jordan as he opened his eyes, and suddenly it was as though everything had come to a pause.
The vine-like tendril creature released a harrowing screech and then…
Wooooosh
The creature burst open, pieces of its flesh flying in every direction and its acid-like blood pattering the ground and surrounding tree roots like rain.
Jordan fell out of the air and landed on the ground groaning in pain as he coughed up blood. The golden glow persisted around him protecting him from the acidic rain until it finally came to a stop.
[Level 55 Carnivorous Vine killed 15,000 exp gained]
[Hidden Quest completed]
[Kill a creature 10 levels higher completed: 5,000 exp gained]
[Kill a creature 20 levels higher completed: 10,000 exp gained]
[Kill a creature 40 levels higher completed: 40,000 exp gained]
[Achievement attained "Overcome the Insurmountable": All attributes +5; 1 Random ability unlocked; All abilities level up +5]
The system's robotic voice continued in Jordan's head non-stop.
[Host's body appears to be in critical condition. 60,000 experience points being converted to heal Hosts body.]
Jordan suddenly felt a cool and soothing sensation weld up in his chest area and extend to the rest of his body. The feeling lasted about three minutes before it faded.
Jordan sat up and looked at his hands and body, he clenched his fists a few times before hopping to his feet and jumping up and down.
"Wow, not only do I feel better now, but I also even feel stronger than I've ever felt in my life" Jordan voiced out in exhilaration.
[Well of course you do. Did you not read the system's prompts?] the system asked rhetorically as it resumed using its mature feminine voice.
'System why does your voice sometimes alternate between being robotic and the voice you're using now.' Jordan inquired.
[Well, that's because although the system is my power, now that I've fused with you, the system is connected to the laws of the world making it somewhat automatic. While my current voice is my actual voice. So basically, I can influence the system although I do not have full control of it after the binding. I'm here to guide you and help you as you learn to harness its power] The system explained.
'I think I understand a bit' Jordan replied to the system internally. Jordan looked around at his environment and noticed that since the death of the giant Carnivorous Vine, all the others seemed to retreat and were keeping their distance.
'Hey System, can you bring up all those stat stuffs your robotic voice was talking about for me?' Jordan asked.
[You only need to think the words system interface and it will be revealed] the system responded.
'System interface' Jordan thought as a screen suddenly appeared in his line of sight. Jordan skipped over all the notifications and went straight to his stats and attributes.
[Host Status]
Name: Jordan Damaleus
Age:18
Lvl:7
Exp:2800/7,200
HP:105/105
MP:60/60
Class: N/L
Sub-Class: N/L
[Host Attributes]
Strength:8
Endurance:10
Dexterity:9
Intelligence:0
Perception:6
Vitality:9
Charisma:0
Available Attribute Points:21
[Host Abilities]
Regeneration - Lvl 6(Passive)
Passively heals host from any injuries acquired, level determines the speed at which host heals.
[Quests list]
Collect missing parts and restore legendary artifact. Found parts 1/4
Reward: Acquire Legendary Dragon Slayer Physique, Acquire Dragon Slayer Sword, Acquire 1 Deified tier ability
[Artifacts]
Dragon Slayer Sword - Tier Legendary (Incomplete)
[Crafting-locked], [Shop-locked]
Jordan stared at his status page in complete astonishment. He had acquired a passive ability that did not need him to actively use mana points to activate.
He also acquired a legendary tier artifact and a quest that promised him a deified level ability. Jordan was unsure how the tiers worked but knew that with a title like legendary or deified, it could not be anything weak.
Jordan looked at his level and improvements and concluded that each level up gave him 10 hp and 10 mp, along with 3 free attribute points.
Jordan pondered his attributes before deciding to question the system first.