An energy orb shot out of the skeleton with a blinding intensity and a radiant burst of white light.
[You have killed a Lv. 1 mutated skeleton. ]
[You have absorbed a mutated skeleton. Perception +1 ]
Bittu heard notifications as he felt a subtle warmth enter his body, tingling with an otherworldly energy.
[Congratulations, you have learned your first ability. ]
[Ability: Torment techniques (active)
Rating: B
Description: A malevolent skill that inflicts physical and mental anguish upon the target. Harnessing the essence of torment, this ability turns its owner into the victim's worst nightmare with its techniques. ]
The moment Bittu saw this notification, he felt as if his soul was gently being fed a bunch of informations foreign to him. Bittu instinctively closed his eyes to savor this feeling. This information gradually got inside his head.
Only after a while did he open his eyes as he took a deep breath and said, "What an amazing and bloody but mysterious feeling. "
[Your status has been updated. ]
[Bittu sah–Lv.1
[Soul power: 5/75]
Race: Half-Human (Partial zombie)
Class: Jocker
Bloodline: None
Strength-> E
Agility-> F
Stamina-> E
Constitution-> D
Perception-> G -> F
Spirit-> F
Unassigned stat: 0
Abilities: Torment techniques]
"Now, let's see the ability. "
'What–A torture techniques skill! '
''Is this what the skeleton had learned after torturing me? '', Bittu thought in surprise with a hint of amusement.
While Bittu was busy looking at his new ability, two skeletal hands suddenly emerged from the cold, damp earth. Slowly, bone by bone, the skeletons clawed their way to the surface.
In the dim light of the dungeon, the skeletons made their way towards Bittu.
'A torture skill, huh? It will come handy in the future. '
'Let's see what technique this ability gave–'
Bittu's thoughts came to a sudden stop because he felt a strange sensation. He felt as if he could sense two things, whatever they were, were coming his way from an unknown direction. Bittu was a bit baffled by this new and unknown sensation. But, He still took it seriously as he looked around for anyone or anything that was suspicious.
He didn't have to search, though. The moment he turned around, he saw two skeletons coming his way, probably about five meters away from him.
"Skeletons? Again?! "
Bittu's cold face immediately changed into a bloodthirsty...no, instead a bonethirsty one when he saw the two skeletons. He instantly made his way towards them.
"Not that I am complaining. "
Even though his eyes were full of madness, his mind was thinking seriously.
'How come I didn't hear any sound this time?'
'And what was that sensation? '
He arrived before the two skeletons and stepped to his right, avoiding the punch from them both, and delivered a kick at the one closest to him on its shoulder, pushing it away. He then turned around and delivered a round kick to the skull of the other skeleton, killing it.
[You have killed a Lv. 1 skeleton. ]
Not giving any chance to the fallen skeleton, he crushed its skull by stumping his legs on its head.
[You have killed a Lv. 1 skeleton. ]
Not giving these bones any attention, he thought, '.... Maybe I didn't hear the sound because I was talking to myself and not checking my surrounding. '
'... Then what about that sensation? '
'Where did that originate from? '
Unable to come up with an answer, he tried to check the notifications. Maybe he could find some answers their.
".... Right, I should also check the notifications that I got after entering the dungeon.", he muttered to himself as he proceeded to do as decided.
"Hmm... The latest change in the status is the increase of the perception stat."
"Maybe this is the reason for that strange sensation that almost seemed like the sixth sense."
Bittu checked the other notifications before he stumbled upon notifications that baffled him.
'Card manipulation?!'
'When did I have such a skill? ', Bittu was truly confused.
Bittu thought for a while but still couldn't remember how he got it. Unable to get an answer, Bittu decided to let it be since it was good for him to have skills than not. But when he read its description, he was taken aback.
'Can manipulate cards?!'
'What bullsh*t? Why would I need to manipulate cards?' he cursed in annoyance.
'Am I supposed to show tricks to my enemies and make them laugh till they die? ', he thought in sarcasm.
From his thoughts, it was impossible to associate him with the one that was tortured till one's spirit would rather die than be alive. The torture that would make people scream till they can't but they still had to.
While in his thoughts, he failed to notice that four skeletons were now making their way towards him, just like the ones from before.
Bittu suddenly felt the same sensation, he felt four things coming his way, just like before. He didn't know which way, but they were indeed coming.
Bittu raised his head and saw those four. Without hesitation, he immediately jumped towards them.
*crack*
He kicked the skeleton nearest to him, who, fortunately, reacted in time, and raised its hand, resulting in its now broken state.
Bittu, not being surprised, did a back kick this time, aimed right at the skeleton's neck, breaking it in contact.
He then sidestepped to avoid the attack from a skeleton that has just arrived. Doing a back flip, he kicked it right on top of its skull, crushing it and killing it.
[You have killed a Lv. 1 skeleton. ]
[You have killed a Lv. 1 skeleton. ]
Standing straight, he looked coldly at the two incoming skeletons. He ran towards them and just when he was about a meter away from them. He did a butterfly kick, aimed at the skeleton's neck.
*crack*
The strength in his leg broke the skeleton's neck, killing it. He then used the momentum from the kick to deliver a round kick at the skeleton's forehead.
*crack*
[You have killed a Lv. 1 skeleton. ]
[You have killed a Lv. 1 skeleton. ]
After killing them, Bittu had a thought.
'First, one. Then two and now four. '
'Is this a pattern? '
'Will the number of skeletons the next time be eight? '
As if to prove his guess. A moment later, he felt eight things come into his perception, invoking the same sensation as before.
Bittu became sure when he saw those eight skeletons from his eyes the next moment. His eyes suddenly became sharp as he calculated the distance he could feel in his perception.
'One.... Two.... Three.... Four..... Five.... '
'Five meters, it is. '
Before he could think further, a skeleton had arrived before him. He side stepped to his right and hit the skeleton right on its skull with his elbow, crushing it with his strength.
'In this distance, I can feel it when someone enters with that strange sensation. '
He then moved his head to avoid a hit from a skeleton and, using the chance, delivered a punch of his own on the skeleton's skull.
'Since when did I get this sensation?'
'Right, it was after my perception went up. '
He then did a front flip in a way that both his kicks landed on the two skeletons chest before him, breaking all their bones.
[You have killed a Lv. 1 skeleton. ]
[You have killed a Lv. 1 skeleton. ]
'Then, I should use my–'
"What?!" Bittu let out a surprised yell.
"They can be killed just like this, even when their head is intact?" He continued in his amazement.
"Then why was I–"
"Right, I must have done it because of the zombies. When speaking about zombies, Bittu's voice carried unconcealed anger because he despised this race deeply and would... definitely will wipe them from the face of the world.
With this sudden anger, Bittu clutched the skeleton's head that was near him. Forcefully pinned it on the ground with his hand, raised his body and stumped his right leg on its skull, crushing it as he said with clenched teeth.
*crack*
"Since zombies won't be dead until their head is crushed. "
Unable to control his anger, Bittu stumped on the skull once again and used the impact to gain momentum as he did a butterfly kick once again. This time the hit landed on three skeletons skull, smashing them into bits.
*crack* *crack* *crack*
Sensing his anger, his trait activated as it helped him calm down from his rising anger, but his heart had other plans.
His hatred for the zombies was so much that the flame of Warth kept on burning in his heart and mind, unable to be calmed.
"Ahhhhhhh", He roared, unable to control this growing anger. His emotions were stirred because of the zombies.
Blinded by his anger, Bittu decided to seek the skeletons himself rather than waiting for them. He ran towards the place the skeletons emerged from and a moment later he arrived their only to see bones upon bones trying to come out from the ground.
Bittu, without waiting, grabbed one of the skeleton's hand and used his strength to pull the hand out of the ground. With a bit of difficulty, he freed it.
*Boom*
Bittu then used one of its hand to punch the skeleton. The force in the punch was so much that the skeleton's bones scattered on impact.
[You have killed a Lv. 1 skeleton. ]
Not bothered by the notifications, he did the same with the next one. He grabbed its hand and pulled it out, only to kill it with his most powerful punch aimed right at its throat or as least at the place where it was supposed to be.
This continued until the fifteenth skeleton was crushed. On the sixteenth one, Bittu leaned his body to grab the skeleton's arm when suddenly a skeleton's arm came out from the ground and punched him right in between his gut and chest.
"... Argh"
Bittu did not expect an attack, thus unable to defend, was thrown a meter away from where he was as he let out a muffled cry of pain.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh"
Bittu let out another sharp cry just like the time he was tortured because the skeleton had hit a place that was Bittu's weak spot that was unknown to him too till this moment.
Experiencing the same agony as before, feeling as if a thousand ants were biting him near his gut, he found himself paralyzed by the sudden and intense pain.