Alex figured it only seemed hard because he was still a low-level player, but once he leveled up, killing so many cockatrices wouldn't be that big of a deal.
And with his special title, he would eventually reach a point where he would get enough coins to go on a shopping spree.
Stronger monsters would drop more coins, so if he wanted to enjoy the comfort of the system, he had to power up quickly.
"Guess oracle saying the strong will dominate wasn't wrong," Alex muttered.
For the time being, the cheapest item in the system shop was a simple bottle of water which cost ten coins, the exact number of coins Alex had.
After consuming some meat earlier, his thirst had grown unbearable, and he also wanted to test if the shop was the real deal, so he decided to make a purchase.
As soon as Alex's ten coins disappeared from his wallet, a sparkling bottle of water appeared in his inventory.
Alex casually took it out and examined it closely.
The bottle of water looked just like a typical one from Earth, except for the label that read "Tutorial Water."
Alex uncorked the bottle and eagerly tilted it back, gulping down the refreshing liquid in a couple of quick swallows.
As he finished, he let out a satisfied sigh and squeezed the now-empty bottle.
Despite water's usual lack of flavor, this was the most refreshing drink he had ever tasted.
His thoughts then shifted to the ten free stat points he had accumulated. The only stat he was focused on boosting was speed.
He recalled how the cockatrice had outpaced him, even with his agility set at twenty. With ten additional points, bringing his total agility to thirty, he felt confident he could finally outrun one of those creatures.
After adding the ten points to his agility, Alex set off through the forest, his eyes scanning the surroundings for potential prey.
Within a few minutes, he spotted another cockatrice. However, this one was not alone.
It had a companion, and together they were feasting on the carcass of a slain creature.
Alex was confident he could take down one, but two cockatrices would pose a problem.
From what he had observed, the cockatrices were intelligent creatures, and he couldn't dismiss the possibility they might work together to take him down.
Alex figured that would be the worst-case scenario for him, so he decided to play it safe.
He had an idea that he had been itching to try since he tested his ability out with the tree, so he picked up a piece of rock and thought out loud:
"Is there a limit to what he could be turning into a bomb?"
According to his ability, anything he could touch could become a bomb so it was fair to say a rock was fair game.
He gripped the rock firmly using [Exploding Touch] and a blue circular marking appeared on it.
Alex grinned, excited that his ability had worked, but he overlooked one crucial detail: The timer.
The countdown for the explosion had begun, indicating that the rock would detonate in just a couple of seconds.
Alex noticing this, hastily threw the rock towards the pair of cockatrices and quickly sought cover. He knew the cockatrice had good detection sense and if he got too close they would discover him.
The rock landed just in front of the cockatrices, and they paused, their alert eyes scanning the surroundings, wondering where the stone came from.
Curiously, the two creatures approached the rock, with one cockatrice edging closer to poke at it with its beak.
"Big mistake," Alex muttered as he watched the countdown reached zero.
Boom!
The rock exploded, taking off the cockatrice's head, and the blast force hit the second one, knocking it to the ground, and leaving it disoriented.
This is where Alex decided to make his move, with his thirty points in agility, he was super fast and had managed to reach the injured cockatrice in less than a second.
The creature, still reeling from the explosion, could barely lift its head when it suddenly found a human standing directly in front of it.
A moment of surprise hung in the air as they locked eyes, but Alex wasted no time.
With a swift motion, he slapped the cockatrice across the face.
Pah!
Not once.
Pah!
Not twice.
Pah!
But three times.
The consecutive slaps didn't do much damage to the cockatrice physically, but it was enough to injure the cockatrice on a psychological level.
The cockatrice screeched in a fury, its rage boiling over as it swung its tail in a desperate counterattack, however, Alex with swift grace evaded the blow, then executed a quick 180-degree turn before sprinting off.
Fueled by anger and humiliation, the cockatrice gave chase, determined not to let its assailant escape.
Not only had it lost its mate, but it had also been slapped in the face three times. Oh, the disrespect.
There was no way it was going to let Alex live.
But it didn't matter what it wanted.
No matter how fast the cockatrice ran, it couldn't close the gap with Alex, whose speed had been significantly enhanced.
But out of nowhere, Alex suddenly stopped and turned to face the cockatrice.
The cockatrice seeing this, lunged forward with more vigor. It could almost taste the blood of the being in its front.
But before it could reach its target, it met its doom.
[Exploding Touch] detonated on its face, not once or twice, but three times--the same number of times Alex had slapped his ability unto the cockatrice's face.
The explosion obliterated the cockatrice's upper body, leaving only bloody remnants of its lower half behind.
Grinning, Alex relished in his victory.
He knew three explosions were overkill, but he wasn't taking any chances.
[You have killed 1 cockatrice]
[You have killed 2 cockatrices]
[Level Up]
His rewards poured in: +5 stats point, a power stone, a cockatrice shirt, four pieces of meat, and ten coins.
Then, [Apocalypse Baby] kicked in, doubling the rewards and causing Alex to grin with delight.
"Totally worth it."
Alex then ventured into the forest to find more cockatrice pairs to hunt them down.
He had managed to find and hunt four more cockatrices earning him a [Level Up] before he decided to call it a night.
However, as he searched for a place to take refuge, something golden caught his eye – a treasure chest nestled at the base of a tree.
Alex knelt before the golden box, placed his hand on it, and then a notification appeared.
[Treasure Chest Found]
[Would you like to open it?]
"Yes, please," Alex eagerly replied, and with a click, the chest opened and revealed its contents, which promptly vanished into his inventory.
Alex checked his storage and couldn't help but gasp at the rewards:
[You have received weapon: Eclipse Edge]
[You have received Vitality Stone]
[You have received an upgrade stone]
[You have recieved a thousand gold coins.]
"A weapon, yes!" Alex shouted as he took out the Eclipse edge, a sword with silver engraving that pulsated with a faint aura, and a blue leather hilt that made the sword convenient to grip.
Before he could read the sword description, another notification flashed before him:
[ Apocalypse Baby taking effect]
[You have received another Eclipse Edge, vitality stone, upgrade stone, and 1000 coins]
"Oh," Alex chuckled in surprise, he didn't think it would work on the treasure chest too.
He took out the second sword noting it was identical to the first and attempted to wield both, but the result was a somewhat awkward display.
Alex was an office worker in real life, Alex had never handled a weapon before, so there was no way he would suddenly know how to use one.
Acknowledging his inexperience, Alex put the swords away and turned his attention to the vitality stones.
He used them and his vitality rose by four, causing his HP to rise by four hundred. Unlike intelligence stats which increase his MP by ten when one point is added, Vitality increases his health by a hundred points.
Next, Alex took out the upgrade stone, and the description made his jaw drop:
[Upgrade Stone: Raise one of your abilities to a higher rank]
"What kind of luck is this?" he wondered aloud. He had gotten such amazing rewards from doing absolutely nothing.
His [Exploding Touch] ability was currently E-rank, and with the upgrade stone, he could elevate it to D-rank.
But here's the thing: He had not one, but two upgrade stones.
How much stronger would [Exploding Touch] become after he uses both?