It had not been two minutes since Alex had shut his eyes when he heard a deep "grring" noise behind him.
He turned around to locate the source of the noise.
"Hello no". the words involuntarily escaped his mouth which had gone dry.
Behind him, perched on a rotten log was a gigantic eagle, twice the size of an elephant. Its beak and feathers were radiating a pale purple light. What differentiated it from a normal eagle was its eyes. All three of the blank eyeballs were glowing a much darker shade of purple.
It was fiercely gazing right into Alex's eyes, with a hungry gaze.
Alex's mind had gone numb. He could not think of any reasonable way out of this shitty situation. His body started reacting reflexively and he tried to make a run for it.
Suddenly, the eagle revealed its majestic wings, initiating a shock wave. The strong gust of wind hit Alex squarely in his solar plexus. Harder than he had expected it to be. He was knocked off 20 feet and he vomited a mouthful of blood midair. His eyes were bulging out of their sockets. He had never felt pain so intense. It was crushing.
The creature gently perched right in front of him.
Alex coughed up some more blood onto the ground as he tried to stand. He was done. He was going to die now. Right here. In a goddamn simulated world.
He closed his eyes. This scenario was out of his bounds. He couldn't do shit about it.
But seconds later, images of his dead friends raced back to his mind. They were both standing beside his fallen mortal body.
Marty put an arm around him and said "Get up mate, you came here to get that monster, how can this teensy little bird scare the shit out of you ?"
Winky ,standing on his other side, said "You can be better than this, you can be much more powerful".
Alex opened his eyes, facing the monster fearlessly. He had made up his mind.
Even if I die here, I would take this goddamn bastard with me.
[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE REQUIREMENTS!]
In what felt like literal days, the dialog had at last popped in front of him.
Met the requirements for frickin' what ?
The symbol engraved on his wrist was starting to glow a bright green. The words KHURD FLA'EN was still resolutely dark. The green light enveloped his hands to form a glove-like glowing figure.
The screen popped another message,
[YOU HAVE BEEN REWARDED WITH "PERSONAL AURA"! YOU HAVE LEVELED DOWN TO -1!]
Personal aura ? What does it mean that I have leveled down ? Shouldn't I be leveling up ?
Though Alex had millions of questions, presently, he was running out of time.
He painfully helped himself up on his legs. Contracting his glowing hand into a fist, he charged forward at the beast. With all of his strength, he punched it in the torso.
Expecting to have dealt some damage, he looked up at the eagle's face. To his horror, the eagle was unfazed.
In an instant, it swiped out its claws, ripping away his right arm from his body. Blood was spilling at a rapid rate covering the dark soil in a pool of crimson liquid.
It took a second for him to realize that he was missing a limb. Wide-eyed, he waved his left hand along the right half of his body. He couldn't feel anything.
Screaming at the top of his voice, he charged again at the beast.
Now, he had lost a leg. He lost balance and fell at the foot of the eagle. The extreme loss of blood was now taking control over his mind. He was feeling hazy. His breathing had become extremely ragged and eyes bloodshot. The beast was still gazing at him fiercely. Somehow, it didn't seem like its intention was to kill him...
Darkness enveloped him. He could not see anything...
[THE PLAYER HAS DIED! ]
[PERSONAL AURA HAS BEEN ACTIVATED! YOUR BODY WILL NOW BE REGENERATED AND RESTORED TO ITS EARLIER STATE]
[YOU CANNOT USE YOUR AURA AGAIN TILL YOU HAVE KILLED 1000 BEASTS FROM THIS WORLD.]
...
Alex found himself respawned in some sort of 'Another world' forest.
His temper had risen to the extreme point.
"WHY THE HECK DO I HAVE TO GET KNOCKED OUT EVERY GODDAMN TIME ?", he screamed to no one. His voice reverberated throughout the forest.
"I need a frickin' weapon or some sort ! Would you give that to me or not !"
[KILL A BEAST TO GAIN A WEAPON]
"Doesn't this game have a shop or something which allows us to buy weapons ?", asked Alex.
[...]
[KILL A BEAST TO GAIN A WEAPON]
The screen repeated its previous message.
"What beast ?...", Alex stopped mid-sentence. He noticed what appeared to him was a wolf, though the tips of its fur was glowing bright orange.
[KILL A BEAST TO GAIN A WEAPON]
For the first time after his reincarnation, he looked down to his regenerated right hand. Though his clothes were still torn where the eagle had ripped apart his limbs, the body of his seemed to be in perfect condition. They were restored perfectly.
[YOU CAN USE THE CURSE, "DEVIL'S RIGHT ARM", LEVEL -1, ON THIS BEAST]
Alex recalled the green light enveloping his right arm. Remembering the sensation when he had first used the skill, he tightened his grip.
As expected, his right right arm was again enveloped in the very same green light. He felt a surge of motivation.
Cautiously, he made his way over to the hedge behind which the wolf was residing, to hunt.
But, even the muffled footsteps of his were enough to gain the attraction of the beast. It turned its ferocious head towards him. It bared its sharp set fangs towards him, ready to pounce.
With determination, Alex stepped out into the clearing. He had died once. He would not die twice.
Both charged at each other.
The wolf opened his jaws and leapt towards Alex's right shoulder. A big mistake. Though with a shoddy maneuver, Alex dodged the attack by shifting towards his left. With all his might, he punched the wolf squarely in the chest.
In a split second, the wolf's eyes bulged. It knew. Its end was near. Certain memories gushed into his mind. Strangely, the memories were not his, but rather, a human's..
The next second, its whole body burst, splattering flesh and blood all over Alex.
Alex was speechless.
I had a skill this OP ?!
Suddenly, the dialog popped in front of him again.
[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE BEAST, "MUSA".
1/1000 BEASTS KILLED TO RESTORE AURA. YOU HAVE LEVELED DOWN TO -2!]
...
[YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE MUSA'S CLAWS AS A REWARD!]
"This looks quite useful", Alex said admiring the reward he had received. They were deep set claws he could wear on his off-hand and could be retracted as well.
"Are there any MP or HP systems in this game like other games ?", Alex asked the system."
[...]
"I think I got my answer."
Alex was just on his way when the screen popped another message.
[THE TRIBUTE, 'WILLIAM EISNER' HAS BEEN ELIMINATED!]
"What the... ?" Alex stopped mid-sentence. Realization dawned upon him as he looked around himself to see the remnants of the wolf. His eyes widened.
"Don't t-tell me ....".