Approximately 10 minutes later, Sachel came back soaked in blood. In her hands were the wand, dripping with gooey unknown substance.
"Better?" I asked.
Sachel responded with a silent nod. It seems she was thinking of other things.
I didn't dwell much longer. Seeing Sachel's alright is enough for me.
"Wha-!!!" Suddenly, I felt a warm hug from behind. I can feel the blood, staining my clothes.
"Yor... If I lost against that woman, would you willingly be her slave?"
"Huh!?" I was startled, not sure if I heard that right.
I turned around, facing her directly. There's a trace of worry and anger, lingering in her eyes.
"What kind of idiot would want to be someone else's slave? At the very least, I will fight back at her" I answered truthfully.
I don't know why she was asking that kind of question. We barely knew each other yet, I feel tremendous amounts of affection from her.
"Of course you will not! After all-..." She muttered silently. I didn't even hear the last part of what she said.
She then held my free hand, and teleported me elsewhere.
After teleporting countless times, we ended up in front of a house. A dome shaped barrier is visible from the outside. There were also wards and seals nearby, making the house invisible to a naked eye.
"Get In!" Sachel said hoarsely.
I wanted to refuse at first, but when I saw her huffing frame, I made a choice.
***
The house itself is a small one, perfect for accommodating 2 people. Inside is also very ordinary and dusty, looks like she isn't here very often.
Sachel already went to bed, she invited me inside her room but I refused. It's very rude to rest in a girl's private room. She then didn't persuade me further and told me the couch is big.
As for why I am still awake, I was waiting for the Challenge to end. There's still a couple of minutes before the time limit and I'm excited about it.
---------------------------
[First Challenge: Kill Or Be Killed]
Mission Objective: Kill at least ten Dreads. Any forms of indirect killing will not count. Killing more will increase the reward proportionally.
Mission Progress: 34/10 Dreads killed (340%)
Time Limit: 2:13
Mission Penalty: Death.
---------------------------
"34, I went a little overboard didn't I?"
34 may sound low, but at this time, humans struggle to kill even a single one. They had no information about their unknown enemy and the amount of weapons they had were trash.
Once the challenge is over, many people will die. Whether it is because of cowardly or lack of time, the ones above won't care.
Those who'd the first challenge will also be the foundation of the braves. Once they understand that they can fight back, the mortality rate will go down drastically.
[The First Challenge has been ended]
[Penalty will be applied briefly]
[Rewards will be delivered briefly]
[You cleared the First Challenge. Penalty will not be applied]
[You cleared the First Challenge. Rewards will been delivered]
[You cleared the First Challenge with 340% completion rate. Bonus rewards will be delivered]
[The Second Challenge will appear within the next 12 hours]
[Creatures of the Dark has been strengthened]
[Additional Creature...]
I swept through the notifications and directly went to the reward section.
[Completion Rewards: 2 random skills, status function, 100SP]
[Bonus Completion Rewards: 1 skill of choice, Material Synthesis function, 100SP]
"Draw random skills"
[Generating a random skill....]
[Generating a random skill....]
[Skill obtained: Same Side of a Coin (★★☆☆☆)]
[Skill obtained: Glacial Curls (★★★☆☆)]
"Huh?"
I was struck, these skills sound unfamiliar. It is also very weird to see three starred skills on a random draw. Usually high rank skills are found in Skill Stones on Ruins.
[Please state a skill of choice]
"Death Bat"
[Generating skill: Death Bat...]
[Skill obtained: Death Bat (★★★★☆)]
[Status Function has been opened]
[Material Synthesis Function has been opened]
[Same Side of a Coin (★★☆☆☆)]
Type: Active
Function: After activation, a Life Tread will attach to the nearest entity, linking the caster and target. Caster and target will take double damage and double effect duration.
[Glacial Curls (★★★☆☆)]
Type: Passive
Function: Upon taking any damage, an icy blue strand of hair will grow. For every 5 strands, gain 10% effectiveness to 'Ice-based' creations. An incomplete skill.
[Death Bat (★★★★☆)]
Type: Active
Function: Release a blazing bat in a direction. All living entities touched by Death Bat will be disintegrated by Eternal Flame. Can pass through non-living entities and objects.
***
"As expected"
Based on the skill descriptions, I may have made a good decision on taking 'Death Bat' as my first expensive skill. Though I didn't expect good, the random skills given this time are almost useless at my current state.
Especially that ice-type skill, I don't even use ice related skills let alone had experience before.
Besides, the one I am excited about is the 'Status Function'. Now that it is unlocked, I can fully use my potential.
'Status'
---------------------------
Name: Yorui Ferhuen Al
Class: None
Title(s): None
Vitality: 15
Power: 11
Speed: 11
Density: 10
Luck: 5
SP:200
---------------------------
'Numbers?' I was in shock.
The status window I knew used characters not numbers to indicate the strength of oneself. A bizarre feeling crept my skin.
Is this really the past?
To ease my suspicion, I find what else is different from the time I was from. And it didn't take long.
Opening the Material Synthesis window, the change is very evident. Compared to the last time I used it, the materials needed to synthesize an object decreased by two.
That may sound like a big steal to the newly awakened humans, fewer slots you fill means more objects can be synthesized. But this alteration deeply affects an old timer like me, who knew that the more slots filled meant big changes to the new object.
From the historical records and the words of Grans, nothing had changed to the system ever since the beginning. The thing I was experiencing right now is definitely far from the things I knew.
Something is not right, is it the 'cocoon' effect of me being here?
I close the screen window, letting out the stress building in me.
"I've only been here for less than a day yet..."
My fragile body, strained and fatigued, fell down. It forcefully closed my eyes and my mind from working.
***
"r!"
"or!"
"Yor!!!"
"Who died-!!!" I was momentarily shocked.
Sachel was holding my hands tightly, I don't know why.
"Sach, what happened? It's early in the morning *yawn!*"
"Exactly! It's early in the morning, but why is it still dark outside!? The sun is supposed to shine!"
"The sun you knew is no more..."
"What!?"