《The King of Losers [LitRPG / Progression Fantasy]》 0. A Game Among Gods Daergo¡¯mo¡¯na¡¯kun smiled as the projections of all other Gods reunited looked at him. Finally, it was His turn. It was time to awaken His Champions. He could barely wait. In front of Him, the Divine Instruments awaited. The Dice of Worlds. The Hourglass of Eternity. The Globe of Souls. All marvel creations, miracles that bear witness of Their almighty power. With calm and precise movements, Daergo¡¯mo¡¯na¡¯kun held the Dice of Worlds and felt each of its thirty-seven sides. With each touch, the power of the races within emanated through Him, and the possibilities flashed on His mind. The tenacity of the Majunk. The inmensurable strength of Argoss. The artfulness of the Dolalu. A vast variety of worthy Champions, each with a different aptitude. ¡°Would you go on with it? We are all eager to start with the real fun part.¡± Rumbled Tanavar¡¯kul-ma impatience clear in his tone. Some of the other Gods murmured in agreement. They couldn¡¯t be blamed. Many had passed through the Awakening already, but even more waited Their turn. Three hundred Gods, every single one of them omnipotent and all-knowing. Usually, they wouldn¡¯t have much reason to get involved in each other¡¯s affairs. Except once every millenia, where the creators of everything got together to decide which one was THE God beyond all others. The process was designed to be fair, in a way that none of Them could interfere, at least not until the game was already on its way. That was the fun part, They all knew it. Where the real contest would begin. For now, They were just picking Their Champions. Letting destiny decide the weapons and tools They would have at Their disposal. Daergo¡¯mo¡¯na¡¯kun held the dice on His hand a moment longer, and silently uttered a prayer to Himself before throwing it onto the table. ¡°Argoss. Please, let it be Argoss¡± He repeated over and over in His mind, while He watched the Dice of Worlds roll.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. It didn¡¯t land on Argoss. It landed on Earth. Laughter erupted from a few places, and some Gods made jabs at Him. ¡°All this waiting, and you get Earth?¡± Daergo¡¯mo¡¯na¡¯kun wasn¡¯t the first God to end up with an Earthling as one of Their Champions, but to get Earth as His first roll was a bad omen. Earth wasn¡¯t the worst planet to get a Champion from, it all depended on the point in time. But it had some rough eras, it was very easy to end up with a bad one. With even calmer and more precise movements, Daergo¡¯mo¡¯na¡¯kun picked the Hourglass of Eternity. The sand inside the glass flowed down, always going forward, slowly filling its lower half. The instrument not only represented the past, present and future, it actually controlled the gradual passing of time. Without it, nothing would ever change. Everything was fated to be the same. With His infinite power, Daergo¡¯mo¡¯na¡¯kun shattered it, breaking time itself. Outside the sacred realm of Gods, reality froze. Comets stopped in the middle of their celestial journey, lives were saved mere seconds before their doom, scientists were denied their revolutionary insights. All part of a future that could exist no more. The Gods waited, while the sand and dust and all the small bits of the Hourglass started to get back together, mending as new, as if it had never been broken. In a way, it never has. Within, the sand started falling again. But the balance inside was now different. Outside the sacred realm of Gods, reality unfroze. Except, reality had changed, moved backward to match the new position of the grains. As if nothing had happened, time kept moving. Daergo¡¯mo¡¯na¡¯kun couldn¡¯t help but groan. This time, laughter was everywhere. At this specific epoch, it was almost guaranteed he would end up with a human. His first Champion, and it was pretty much as spoiled as it could be. He would have to accept it. A bad start, but nothing that couldn¡¯t be saved, especially if He had luck with His next Champions. Seven other Gods had also got stuck with Humans, but they were still confident. After all, the Awakening barely mattered in the grand scheme of things. The Game was barely starting. At least, that was what Daergo¡¯mo¡¯na¡¯kun said to himself, but He couldn¡¯t lose the sour taste in His mouth, and didn¡¯t manage to laugh with the others. He didn¡¯t even smile. The Globe of Souls, first just a black goo vaguely shaped as a ball, had changed twice by now. First, it transformed into the planet Earth, then it moved as time moved, always maintaining a perfect replica of the real planet, precise to its every millimeter. It now shined with bright white, occupied by billions of small dots, each representing a living soul. And not a single worthy Champion. Daergo¡¯mo¡¯na¡¯kun wasted no time with the last Divine Instrument, impatient for it to be over so he could start with His next one. With a strong jerk from his hand, the Globe of Souls started spinning, and for long seconds it circled back and forth, until it finally stopped. Then, the image started zooming in, more and more, and finally a small region rested on its top, representing a small portion of the planet, and showing all the souls alive and going on with their lives. Whatever. Who cared what part of the planet this human was from? It was still a human. Internally, Daergo¡¯mo¡¯na¡¯kun sighed. He watched as one of the small dots suddenly started blinking. A human dying, and its souls being released to the Higher Realms. His first Champion was chosen. A male human. From the year 2024. From a country called Brazil. It wasn¡¯t a great start. Well, when it comes down to it, everyone needs some paws to sacrifice. Daergo¡¯mo¡¯na¡¯kun would find a way for all his pieces to be useful, in one way or another. 1. The King of Losers Once again, Matheus was running for his life. A typical day, during a typical morning. His barefoot felt cold on the concrete, but he didn¡¯t care. He couldn¡¯t care. Behind, four boys chased, throwing insults and mocking him all the while. They had been at it for ten minutes, following after him from the gymnasium. Persistent assholes. He knew that joining the chess team was a bad idea, he knew that he should have stayed at home, where he was safe and comfortable. But his mother insisted, saying he would make no friends if he refused to leave his home. Well, he wouldn¡¯t get his ass kicked either. Between that and friends, it was an easy choice. ¡°Hey King, come back! Stop running like a little baby¡±. Said an ugly looking boy, with more pimples than face. ¡°If you don¡¯t stop, you¡¯ll have to eat both of them¡±. Said an even uglier one, with a receding hairline so big it almost made him bald. Bastards. All of them. Like they wouldn¡¯t beat him up if he stopped. With trepidation, Matheus turned a corner and almost stopped. The concrete street ended, and a field of gravel stone lay ahead of him. Damnit, he got so focused on running, he forgot to check where he was going. As usual, his idea of joining a team from a different state backfired at him. They recognized him either way, on the very first day, and now he was lost in a city he didn¡¯t know. Nothing to do about it now. Barely missing a step, he kept running, ignoring the pain. ¡°Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuuuuck.¡± He groaned, while he hopped like a rabbit. Well, maybe he wasn¡¯t ignoring it, but he was still running. That counted for something, right? His pursuers all laughed. They could laugh all they want, as long as that was the only thing they did. Unfortunately, it was not. A fat boy, with a double chin and barely any neck, got tired of running after him and threw a handful of stones in his direction. He mostly missed, but Matheus had to protect his head. Soon, the others joined in, and small rocks rained around Matheus, hitting him on his arms, his legs, his neck. One even hit his left ear, taking him by surprise and almost knocking him down. That hurt a lot more than he thought possible. Still, he kept hopping away. He couldn¡¯t stop. Matheus could deal with small bruises, the humiliation had always been the unbearable part. He needed to find his way back to the gymnasium, find his stuff, get in contact with his mom and stay in his home until the end of summer. Or maybe forever. I mean, what chance was there for him if even the chess guys were bullying him now?The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. That was a new low, even for Matheus. And once he¡¯d got beaten up by a group of kids five years younger than him. There were lots of kids, but still. ¡°You coward! Come back.¡± They cried after him. Of course those sedentary fuckers wanted him to go back, that was probably the longest run of their lives. But he wasn¡¯t about to make it easy for them. Matheus was panting, his body begging him to rest, but he needed to keep going, just a little more. He managed to create some distance, and was almost getting far enough to hide somewhere. Then, he slipped. Somehow. While running on sharp gravel, wearing no shoes, he slipped. Fortunately, Matheus was already with his hands up, protecting his head from the tossed stones, and avoided falling on his face. Unfortunately, he was only wearing a shirt and shorts. Matheus yelped in pain, this time coming from his scrapped arms and knees. Blood started dripping from the wounds, only small drops, but enough to make him feel sick. Matheus hated blood. Always had. In fact, the first time he¡¯d seen it, he started puking and passed out almost at the same time. But constant exposure had made him stronger. Nowadays, he could keep himself conscious, and hold the urge to vomit maybe half the time. Today was not one of those. He tried to hold it back with his hands, but the hot leftovers of his lunch spilled from his mouth passing through his fingers. ¡°Hahahaha. Holy shit, Did you record all that?¡± Asked pimple man, laughing hysterically. ¡°Yeah man, I got it¡± Replied the last of his pursuers, a very slim boy with a Naruto shirt. He was holding his phone pointing at Matheus, and had been recording him this whole time. Probably the only reason he wasn¡¯t running with his arms extended backwards. Why did they always have to record it? Wasn¡¯t it enough that they tormented him, was it really necessary to share it with others? Well, he knew the reason. Everything had started because of a video, after all. And all this time later, he was still paying the price for it. Matheus tried to get up, but his head was dizzy, and his injuries all screamed in pain. He felt the beginning of tears, but stopped them. In his experience, they only made people meaner. Before he could get up Matheus was cornered again, and he doubted he would manage to escape a second time. Escape to where, really? There was no escaping who he was, no place where people treated him differently. The King of Losers. ¡°My God, you are disgusting, you know that right?¡± Said the neckless one, laughing and pointing. He was sweating from everywhere, making a small puddle around him. ¡°You gave us a good chase, King. People are gonna love it¡± Said the almost bald one, with a smirk on his face. Please. Let it be enough. Go home. Leave him alone, let them be satisfied, please, please, PLEASE. ¡°But, we are still missing the main event, aren¡¯t we?¡± Shiny head continued, with chuckles from all of them. Matheus felt his heart drop on his chest. Why were people never satisfied? They threw his sneakers on his lap. They all grinned, like it was the funniest joke ever. ¡°What are you waiting for, King? Eat them.¡± Matheus wanted to cry, to beg for them to stop. But he knew better by now. They wouldn¡¯t stop. Not until he gave what they wanted. And they would only hurt him more if he tried to resist. He picked his left sneaker, and held it in front of his face. They were a gift from his mother, and the leather was worn out. Before he lost his courage, he put the tip of the outsole on his mouth and bit with all his strength. His assailants all started cheering. ¡°Kings of Losers¡± King of Losers! King of Losers!¡± They chanted together, the cellphone pointed at him. ¡°Man, this is too good. Girls are definitely gonna want to talk with us after we show them this video.¡± He chewed on the leather, but it was hard and rigid. After some effort, he finally managed to pluck out a small bit. It tasted like dirty and feet. With a force of will, Matheus tried to ingest it. He couldn¡¯t. It got stuck in his throat. Matheus tried to ask for help, but only a high-pitched squeaking noise escaped his mouth. He couldn¡¯t speak. He couldn¡¯t breathe. Was this really happening? ¡°Hahahhahahahaha, he is getting red as a pepper! Look at that!¡± They all kept laughing, still recording the whole thing. Panic surged through Matheus as he instinctively grasped at his neck, fingers trembling. His heart raced, pounding in his chest as he desperately tried and failed to get air to his lungs. He refused to accept it. No way he was dying like this. But every second, Matheus felt weaker. And for all his efforts, the piece of leather was still stuck in his throat. The pain was agonizing. The chanting slowly decreased, until the only sound was of Matheus'' gasping for air. ¡°Is he¡­ isn¡¯t that too much?¡± Asked one of them, but Matheus couldn¡¯t say which one. He couldn¡¯t focus on anything else besides the small object slowly taking his life from him. ¡°Should we do something?¡± Asked another one, but none moved. They only stared in silence. Darkness crept into the edges of his vision, his consciousness slipping away from him. That¡¯s how it ends, then. Live as a loser, die as a loser. Regret filled his final thoughts. Matheus gasped a few more times, His body made an involuntary jerk, and got still, to never move again. All was black. Matheus died. 2. The Contest of Champions ¡°Welcome to the ¡°Contest of Champions¡± ¡°What¡­what happened? Where am I?¡± Mattheus was suddenly in a very bright room, so bright he spent several seconds blinking. ¡°Oh, can¡¯t you remember?. Indeed, the process can be a little too much to experience.¡± Matheus realized the room wasn¡¯t actually bright, the figure in front of him was. He still couldn¡¯t look straight at it, but he was certain the voice had come from someone there, emanating a strong light. ¡°You died.¡± The voice said, uncaring. ¡°I¡­ died?¡± Matheus felt a coldness through his body. His hands went instinctively to his throat. He could still feel the piece of leather there, tightening his throat, even though it had disappeared the moment he got to this place. Only the pain remained. He was dead. He died choking on his own sneaker. What kind of death was that? ¡°I¡¯m afraid so. But fear not, death is not the end.¡± Replied the bright Entity. It was too ridiculous. Probably one of the lamest and most pitiful ways to die. ¡°You see, though bodies crumble and shatter, souls are eternal.¡± It continued, unaware of his despair. But what did he expect? What else would be fitting for the life he¡¯d lived so far. He had been laughed at until the very end. ¡°Usually, as a Guider my job would be to move your soul to your next vessel, where a new cycle would begin! Your life would be put on a balance, and all your deeds would be measured, to decide an appropriate reincarnation to your next life.¡± Still, to die like this, it was ridiculously embarrassing. Matheus never expected much from life, very early he¡¯d learn of the cruelty of this world, and most of his life he spent more surviving than actually living. But deep down, in a secret part of his heart that he kept hidden even from himself, there was a very small flicker of hope. A longing that someday, he would find happiness. ¡°But, we are not under usual circumstances. No! Be grateful, Matheus of Earth, you¡¯ve been one of the chosen for the Contest of Champions! The last words were said with excessively intensity, echoing for long seconds. The voice was so powerful, it broke Matheus from his self-pitying thoughts.Then silence. For almost a minute, not a word was spoken. Now that he was paying more attention to his surroundings, he took a better look at the figure in front of him. Behind all the light, he could see something vaguely shaped like a human. It was hard to stare at it, but it didn¡¯t hurt when he tried. It was only uncomfortable. He still couldn¡¯t see enough details to distinguish anything that pointed at a man or a woman, but he couldn¡¯t help to think of it as a she. The voice was warm and calm, and it reminded him of his mother. She had been the only person who talked to him with kindness. Matheus started feeling uncomfortable, partially because he wasn¡¯t really paying attention to what was being said and had no idea what she was talking about. But it was getting too awkward for him to keep ignoring it.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°The contest¡­ of champions?¡± Matheus finally asked cautiously. ¡°Exactly¡± She said, and Matheus thought he could sense the light glimmering, as if the thing was beaming. ¡°A tournament of courage, cunning and willpower. An honor bestowed to only a few per millennia.¡± A tournament? Matheus had never won a tournament in his life. He never even managed to get into second or third place. What chances did he have against ¡°champions¡±? Probably none. ¡°I don¡¯t understand it. Why me?¡± ¡°This is not for me to know. The wisdom of the Gods is immeasurable, Their knowledge, incomparable. It is not for us to question Their will, because we could never hope to understand it.¡± ¡°Gods? Plural? Matheus asked, caught off guard by the casual remark. ¡°Of course¡± Answered the Entity, with some humor in her voice. Could it be true? Was there something special about him that grabbed the attention of higher beings? Matheus doubted it. It was probably some twisted joke, a way to the universe to make fun of him even in the afterlife. Matheus wondered if Gods were looking at him and laughing. He imagined them pointing and making jokes, and the image was so absurd he couldn¡¯t help but smile. He sighed heavily. This was familiar territory for him. He knew the drill. The fastest he went along with it, the fastest it would end. ¡°As a Champion, you are going to face many difficult trials, but each challenge will make you stronger until it¡¯s time for the final confrontation.¡± She kept going after a while. ¡°And if you prove victorious, a worthy reward will await you!¡± She paused, a clear invitation for him to ask about it in her voice. He couldn¡¯t see her and wasn¡¯t even sure if calling it a ¡°her¡± was correct, but he had the feeling it stared at him, weighing his every move. ¡°What is this reward?¡± Matheus asked, not really anticipating much, just wanting it to get over soon. ¡°You may decide your next reincarnation!!¡±. The way she said it, she obviously thought it was something great. But Matheus couldn¡¯t understand what was so special. ¡°Are you saying if I win, I can decide where I will be born?¡± Maybe he could choose a small village in Europe. Or a very far and isolated place in Alaska. A place where he couldn¡¯t be found. It would be nice to have peace, not having to worry about other people. But he was always found. He never had peace. In the end, it didn¡¯t matter where he went. ¡°More than that! It¡¯s not just a question of where, but also when! I am saying that, If you win, you may decide who you want to be next! You can choose anyone, and the options are as long as the history of your race.¡± ¡°A famous artist that you always wondered what his life was like? Or a renowned leader of your people, a mighty conqueror, a hero of tales. Or maybe you want to experience the blossom of your species, as a builder of your first cities, an inventor of your most innovative technologies? Or you wonder about your future, and want to be the one who makes the next step that will shape humankind?¡± Matheus was speechless. He would be able to choose his next life? More than that, a certainty of a good, happy life. Even a great one. Could it be true? She was not finished. ¡°You could be any of those, and known grandness as no other. But you could also choose to live the life of a dear friend, or a loved kin. You could be your mother if you so desired.¡± She said with a playful tone, making him think she knew how weird that would be. ¡°Anyone? I could live as anyone I wanted?¡± ¡°Yes. You could even live as yourself again, if you wanted¡± Matheus couldn¡¯t help laughing at the absurdity of that idea. It started as a small chuckle, but then he bursted into a deep laughter. He couldn¡¯t control it. The Entity said nothing, and for once Matheus wasn¡¯t bothered in being watched. Patiently, she waited for him to compose himself. After some minutes, he did. And excitement started creeping in. Could he do it? He wanted to believe it, but it all seemed so very out of his league. Something that only extraordinary people could do. Not him. But if he somehow managed it¡­ For the first time in a long while, Matheus let himself experience hope. Such a strange feeling, an odd tingling on his skin, an ache on his heart. He had an urge to cry and smile and laugh and get up and run and yell and ask a thousand questions and so much more, so very much more, but in the end he only closed his eyes and stayed quiet, savoring it. He felt with so much energy. A tiredness he hadn¡¯t noticed was with him vanished, taking a crippling weight from his back. For so long, he felt trapped. It didn¡¯t matter what he did, it would only lead to more embarrassment and pain. What was the point of trying, then, if his destiny was already traced? Those thoughts drained him every day, until there was barely anything of him left. Only self-pity. But right now at this moment, it is all gone. He could be anything. He could be anyone. It was finally in his reach. It was beautiful. Eventually, after what seemed like a small eternity of peace, Matheus opened his eyes and asked: ¡°What do I need to do? How can I win this contest?¡± ¡°I like your enthusiasm! If all Champions have half of your energy, we are sure to have a Contest for the ages! But it¡¯ll be a long journey, and we still are a long way from getting to the end¡± She answered. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the basics. One step at a time, ok?¡±. ¡°Ok¡± Matheus nodded vigorously. ¡°First, let me introduce you to the SoulSystem. ¡°The¡­SoulSystem?¡± The moment Matheus finished saying it, his vision was blocked by a wall of information. 3. The SoulSystem ¡°I¡¯m blind¡± Matheus yelped in horror. Out of thin air, words and numbers appeared right in front of his eyes. There was a ridiculous amount of information and he could barely see anything else. He was caught so off guard that he stumbled back and fell on his ass. ¡°The SoulsSystem¡± She repeated, not caring that Matheus was now on the floor. ¡°It¡¯ll be available for you during the duration of this Contest, and it¡¯s the Hammer, Sword and Shield that you¡¯ll need to use to win. With time, it¡¯ll be just like any other extension of your body. It all sounded amazing, but Matheus couldn¡¯t read a thing. The texts were too big and everything was disorganized. ¡°Why is it not working properly?¡± ¡°It is. It has already been incorporated into you, the moment you arrived here. Each SoulSystem is slightly different for each being, designed to offer an easy transition.¡± ¡°Focus. You should be able to make it smaller and move it around at your will¡± Matheus concentrated. Just as she said, the letters gradually changed to an appropriate size and moved to the left of his field of vision. He sighed in relief. When he finally checked the information, Matheus noticed in astonishment a voice exactly like his own was repeating everything to him. It felt like talking to himself, inside his own head. Matheus - Human No Title - No Class Level: 1 Health: 12/12 Mana: 2/2 Unavailable: 0/0 Unavailable: 0/0 Unavailable: 42/42 Blessings: None Curses: None Strength: 3 Speed: 4 Agility: 3 Intelligence: 4 Constitution: 3 Will: 1 Might: 1 Soul Connection: 1 Investiture: 1 Core: 1 Unavailable: 0 Unavailable: 0 Unavailable: 0 ¡°Wow¡± Matheus exclaimed. That was just like a video game. Was this real? Matheus played video games all the time, it was his only way to escape from the hardships of life. Was this really what the Contest of Gods would be like? Maybe he really had a chance of winning it. He was getting more excited every second. Matheus always wanted his own System. It was a dream coming true. But, what are those stats? They seemed all extremely low, and half the information was unavailable. Heck, he didn¡¯t even know what he had 42 of. He hoped it would turn out to be some kind of advantage. And he had mana! Did that mean he could cast spells? It all kept getting better and better. When he focused on a specific stat, extra information was fed directly into his mind, containing a short summary. Health: If it gets to 0, you are dead. Speed: The higher, the faster you¡¯ll be able to move. And so on. He tried to get information for the ones unavailable, tried extra hard on the 42, that he¡¯d already started thinking of as his Triumph Stat, but nothing. Frustrating, but expected. Also irritating, some information was not helpful at all. Connection: It¡¯s your connection to your soul.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Core: It¡¯s the strength of your soul. ¡°You only have access to the base Stats for now. More will be available for you as you progress in your journey.¡± The Entity said, interrupting him of his ruminations.¡± Matheus wondered how far the similarities with video games went. A lot was still confusing for him, but the general picture was starting to make sense. ¡°This SoulSystem¡­ what is it, really?¡± ¡°It is something different for everyone, designed to adapt accordingly to each individual soul. The information it contains, the way it presents it, everything aligns with what is inside of you.¡± ¡°So everyone experiences it in their own unique way?¡± Matheus asked curiously. All of this was incredibly interesting. ¡°Exactly. The SoulSystem will also adapt to your decisions, molding itself and presenting new Stats accordingly to your choices.¡± She kept going. ¡°Do you see a blinking exclamation mark on the top right? Focus on it.¡± Congratulations! You are a Human. This Race has no special Attributes. This Race has no starting Spells. This Race has no starting Skills. This Race has no starting Blessings. This Race is not granted any starting Curse. This Race is not granted any Stat Points. That was just a long list of nos. Maybe his chances weren¡¯t that great after all. Wait, ¡°This Race¡±? ¡°Is this not a tournament between humans?¡± Matheus asked, suddenly horrified. ¡°Of course not! There will be other humans, but this is a tournament among gods. The participants are chosen from all worlds with living and intelligent beings. A chill ran down his spine. Aliens fucking existed? And he would have to compete against them? And he wouldn¡¯t even get a special advantage, a unique cool spell or a cheat skill? ¡°How many participants are there? And how are the Gods involved in all this? Will they guide us? Do I have a patron?¡± Matheus asked excitedly, questions coming out in a rush. ¡°Questions, questions and questions. What use would it be for you, answers for what you don¡¯t understand?¡± The Entity answered, impassive. ¡°All in it¡¯s due time. Now, focus deep inside. Every Soul is also a personal space.¡± ¡°A personal space? Do I have an Inventory?¡± This time, Matheus wouldn''t let himself be surprised. He planted his feet firmly on the ground, squinted his eyes and said the command slowly. Nonetheless, he wasn''t prepared. He felt his vision being pushed to the inside of his mind, and it took all he had just to stay on his feet. "I''m blind" Matheus yelped in desperation again. "Relax. Try to focus. You need to clear your vision". ¡°How do I even do that?¡± He complained. After some seconds of concentration, his eyes adjusted and the blurriness finally went away. And he could see¡­ a whole lot of nothing. Just empty space. ¡°There is nothing here.¡± He announced. ¡°What am I looking at?¡± ¡°Your Soul, of course.¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing there. There¡¯s nothing inside my soul¡± Matheus said with a sour face. ¡°Well, of course. You need to put something in there first.¡± ¡°And how do I do that?¡± He asked, unenthusiastic. ¡°Simple. You need to analyze its Soul first.¡± As the Entity finished speaking, Matheus suddenly startled. ¡°Wow, how did you do that?¡± He was astonished. In a blink, the whole room changed and he found himself surrounded by hundreds of different items. There were weapons, clothes, toys and even paintings. A big green sword with emerald diamonds shone on his left, taller than he was. Around it there were different shaped knives, all with engraved hilts. There was a long black cape, a dragon outlined on its surface. A carpet flying in mid-air. An armor made of gold. Everywhere he looked, the wonders would not end. ¡°Try looking into the Soul of something.¡± He hesitated for a moment, still not over his prior experiences. Was he really interested in knowing what was inside the soul of a sword? He could already feel the headache coming. Shaking his head, Matheus decided to try with something smaller first. And he¡¯d just found the perfect candidate. A small mist danced around it, which made Matheus think it was made of clouds on his first glance. He picked the ring in his hand, feeling the cold touch of the metal. This close, he saw there was an emblem of a white lion on its top. ¡°SoulAnalyze¡± He said out loud, letting his mind leave his body. In a blink he went and came back, now with a System message in front of him. Ring of the Ghost Sect Effects: +2 Intelligence +2 Agility This ring grants access to the Ghost Sect! That was much better than he¡¯d hoped. The experience just gave him a small tickle on his eyes, but he would get used to it. He was going to start analyzing all the rest when suddenly everything turned into dust. ¡°You made your choice.¡± That was all the Entity answered. ¡°My choice?¡± Matheus noticed the ring was still on his hand. Hesitantly, he put it on his finger. He checked his stats and noticed the extra points were there. If he had known he would get to keep the item afterwards, he would have chosen something else completely. This thing was extremely frustrating. Still, it was his first item, and it had potential to be something great later on. He couldn¡¯t complain. An idea passed through his mind. Before he could process the stupidity of it, he looked straight into the Entity in front of him. ¡°SoulAnalyze¡± Matheus said, a second before feeling his mind break. It felt like his thoughts were glass and they all shattered at once. Nothing rested but tiny little senseless pieces. Until everything was put together again, almost instantly. Matheus gasped, finding himself on all fours. ¡°It looks like we have a curious one here, don¡¯t we?¡± He didn¡¯t answer, still gathering his breath. That had been worse than dying. ¡°Let me give you a little peep.¡± Ah¨¢l¨¢ - High Angel Guider of Souls Level: ?? Health: ??/?? Mana: ??/?? Unavailable: ?? Unavailable: ?? Unavailable: ?? Matheus stared at the information in front of him in awe. This Entity was a High Angel. Well, it made sense they would exist, if Gods are real. ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s all the information you can handle without going mad.¡± Matheus didn¡¯t feel the energy to keep asking questions. Maybe it would be better to just get this over with so he could start grinding some levels. That part seemed pretty straight-forward. But something was still missing. ¡°Where can I see my skills? ¡°What skills?¡± She asked with a sarcastic tone. ¡°As soon as you manage to get any, the System will adapt with the new information.¡± Of course he would have to start from zero. Matheus felt his hope slipping away. But he held onto it, and a small part remained, giving him strength, ¡°Can we stop with all the exposition now? He said, with confidence he wasn¡¯t really feeling. ¡°Let¡¯s start this already.¡± No point in delaying it. He had a long road ahead of him, and waiting was only making him anxious. ¡°Not yet. First, you¡¯ll have an opportunity to prove yourself. Consider it a taste of the challenges to come.¡± When the Angel finished speaking, the world was flooded with light again, strong enough to turn everything white. 4. The First Trial For the second time, Matheus was in a different place when he opened his eyes. ¡°What¡­¡± Was everything he managed to say. He was on a platform floating in plain air! Around him, as far as he could see, many other platforms floated aloft, but they were all shaped differently. He saw triangles, cubes and spheres. Others looked more like tunnels, stairs, and some stretched in spirals. All in different colors. And they all moved, seemingly to different directions and at different speeds. It was maddening. Thanks to the Gods the one he was standing on was still. It was just a simple square, no bigger than a double size bed, all black. His first instinct was to get to the floor and try to hold on for his life. He tried peeking below, but for what he could see, it was bottomless. Only more platforms everywhere. ¡°Welcome to your First Trial!¡± The Entity¡¯s voice echoed on the walls, coming from everywhere and inside his mind at the same time. ¡°Before your journey begins, you¡¯ll have the opportunity to get your first bounty! Rejoice!, for the Gods are good. Matheus didn¡¯t answer, too busy sticking to the ground. His head was spinning following the movements around him, but he couldn¡¯t stop looking. It was all craziness, but incredible nonetheless. He was transfixed. Then he noticed¡­something. Very small, maybe the size of his head, standing some 10 platforms in front of him. It was also standing in an unmoving black square. ¡°This is the Slime Bunny! Your first quest is to manage to catch it before the time ends. Try SoulAnalyzing it¡± ¡°Are you crazy? If I try to do it here, I am sure to die!!¡± Matheus protested. Seconds passed but silence was the only answer he got. With a grunt, Matheus strengthened his grip and complied. ¡°SoulAnalyze!¡± Slime Bunny - Level: 1 Slimy, sticky and cute. Surprisingly agile for its species. Health: 1/1, Mana: 0/0 This time wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as the first one, but he still didn¡¯t like the feeling of looking at another living being¡¯s soul. The Slime was hopping around on its platform, carefree. Matheus had to admit it was a little cute. How was he supposed to catch it? Matheus tried standing up, but his legs were trembling. There was no way. He was supposed to go after it, jumping from one platform to another? Like something like that was possible. ¡°What happens if I don¡¯t catch it in time?¡± ¡°Nothing happens. Consider this a warming-up, before the real challenges begin. But, if you do manage to catch it before the time ends, you may start with a slight advantage. Some of the glory of your past life will remain in your new one.¡± The glory of my past life? Matheus had no idea what that meant, but he couldn¡¯t let any advantage slip away. He had a feeling that he was already starting far behind the other contestants. Maybe he wasn¡¯t meant to do it. He was no hero, he barely felt like the main character of his own story. What had he accomplished in all his life? Nothing, nothing at all. But wasn¡¯t this the reason he needed to do it? To finally have a second chance. To experience a fulfilling life. Matheus got on his feet, taking slow breaths. He still wasn¡¯t sure if he could do it. But he had to try it. He had to give all he had. So he would. ¡°I can see you are getting used to your surroundings. Great! You¡¯ll have twenty minutes to catch the Slime Bunny. Good luck. Without thinking, because Matheus knew that if he started thinking he wouldn¡¯t do it, he jumped from his safe unmoving square to the platform in front of him. It was a big green circle that went left and right continuously, and it had more than enough space for him. Still, the moment Matheus landed he lost his balance and fell on his butt. The circle wasn¡¯t moving particularly fast, but it changed directions just before he reached it, caughting him off guard. He was up again in no time, and jumped next to a big pink star moving in a straight line. Just after he reached it, the star suddenly decided to move up! Before he got even higher, Matheus threw himself to a blue cube passing by. But before he could stand up and catch his balance, the cube suddenly dove to his right, faster than Matheus could fall. The cube went without him, leaving no support to his feet, no hold to his hands. ¡°Fuuuuuuck¡± Matheus screamed in free fall. He desperately tried to grab onto something, the endless abysm filling his mind. For how long would he fall? His despair luckily didn¡¯t last long, as another cube, this time purple, passed right below him. He crashed on it with a loud thump, his head spinning. He almost laughed with happiness. He was safe! Before Matheus got a chance to get up, the cube stopped moving to the side and started spinning slowly. Matheus got up as fast as he could, but he was already slipping. He threw himself and held onto one of the cube¡¯s corners, but it kept spinning, merciless. Just when he was about to lose his grip, it stopped and started moving to the side again. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Before he lost his chance, Matheus let go of the cube and landed on a black spire that was just under him. He prepared himself for any sudden movements, but nothing happened. It seemed to be stopped in place, thank the Gods. This was too hard. He was barely surviving, just going from platform to platform. And he was supposed to catch the Bunny? The Slime Bunny. Where was it? There, just one platform to the left of where it had started. The Slime didn¡¯t seem to be running away from him, just wandered aimlessly. But Matheus actually got further away from him. He had increased the distance in maybe five yards. It was madness. Even if he was incredibly athletic, which he certainly wasn¡¯t, it was useless if he couldn¡¯t control where he would go. How were the platforms not crashing in all this chaos? Surely most would have hit each other by now. Unless¡­ Matheus started meticulously observing his surroundings. He needed to find out the rules. There had to be rules, patterns to the movements, it was the only explanation. That was fabricated chaos, otherwise it wouldn¡¯t work. Careful to not lose the Bunny from his sight, Matheus watched the movements around him and learned. He saw a blue rectangle the size of a door going up in a straight line, finally stopping after 7 seconds and diving in a diagonal northwest for 3 seconds, with a slightly faster speed. It stopped again, and it started going up again, repeating the movements. A yellow ball moved in zigzag to the right for 4 seconds, then it launched down for 6 seconds, with almost triple its speed. A gray cube moved in a circle, clockwise, for 5 seconds. It stayed motionless for 5 more seconds, and resumed its whirl. They were all following a 10 seconds cycle, with two different sets of movements. That was useful, but there was no way he could memorize all of them and catch the slime in time. There needed to be more to it, damnit. Matheus could see that some followed the same pattern, but what was deciding it? Then he saw a black cylinder, standing completely still. That was it! The colors! Matheus quickly checked his theory, and he couldn¡¯t help but grin seeing he was right. He didn¡¯t need to run desperate after the rabbit, he just needed to calculate where the platforms would take him. More than speed, it was a question of precision. First, he needed to learn the colors. Matheus watched the platforms moving, counting what he could. There were 11, no, 12 different colors and patterns. Matheus repeated the movements on his head, trying to memorize one by one. He didn¡¯t rush it. It would only work if he got them all right. He wished he had his cellphone with him, or at least a pen to write down the instructions. But wishing did him no good now. Time passed, each lost second daunting. When he was finally confident he knew all the patterns, he started looking for the right path. It was a complicated maze, where his first step could change everything. The answer was simple, really. He needed to use the platforms to his advantage, not treat them as obstacles. They were his ride to the prize. Matheus jumped in a green square passing by, and started counting the seconds. One second before it stopped, he grabbed a yellow ball moving just above him, and was launched with it. He let go of it and let himself fall onto a pink rectangle, a little bigger than a fridge. He moved like an arrow in the direction of the rabbit, going straight and then up, then repeating the movements again. Matheus jumped to a purple block before he ended up too high, got up before it could start spinning and walked on its surface while it rotated. He waited a few seconds and leaped to a red square, letting it take him closer to his goal. He was almost there. Just a little more. He grabbed a silver cage the moment it passed over him. It was moving slowly, going up and down like a rollercoaster. He dropped to a small black circle, barely fitting him. He waited, The Slime Bunny was now on a gray platform, getting closer. When it stopped, Matheus threw himself at him, hoping his aim was right. He fell right into it, and the Slime exploded in dust. Congratulations! You¡¯ve completed your first quest: You¡¯ve been granted a unique Title! He did it! His plan worked, and he would receive his first reward. The High Angel wasn¡¯t clear about what it would be, but who cared! He did it! Finally, things were going in the right direction. Today was the first day of his new life, and Matheus was starting it ahead, not behind. ¡°SoulSystem!¡± Matheus said, and with enthusiasm read his new notification. Congratulations! You are eligible for a Title: The Kings of Losers. Warning! This Title has Divine tempering. Do you want to equip it now? ¡°What the fuck.¡± 5. Curses ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t know you were a King in your past life. Not many humans manage the requisites to be granted such a title. Matheus didn¡¯t know what to say. First he felt shock, then anger. Now he just felt powerless. Of course it wouldn¡¯t be that easy to escape. His ¡°title¡± was with him everywhere he went, ever since the first video. Ever since Natalia. What a big surprise that even in his second life, it followed him. ¡°What are you waiting for? At your current Connection level, you need to equip it to get a full description and list of benefits. Matheus didn¡¯t want to do it. Would this appear right below his name to anyone who analyzed him? He grimaced, already anticipating the jokes and taunts. But he still didn¡¯t have any skills, or weapons, or anything. He wasn¡¯t in a position to refuse any advantage, just because it hurt his pride. He wanted his second chance, didn¡¯t he? He equipped it. The King of Losers. The failures! The underachievers! The screw-ups, the nobodies! Everyone needs guidance, and the losers are no different. You are their King! The bearer of this title will receive the following benefits: +1 Strength, +1 Intelligence, +1 Might The ¡°Vassals¡± Attribute! The ¡°For Honor¡± skill! You are a King! All Kings have access to the ¡°Kingdom¡¯ System. This Title has Divine tempering. You¡¯ve been bestowed with¡­ A Curse! The ¡°Loser Court! You¡¯ve been bestowed with¡­ A Curse! The ¡°Out of the Spotlight! ¡°Did I just get cursed twice? What the heck!¡± Matheus grumbled out loud. What kind of reward was that? ¡°Those are probably limitations to some of your skills, to balance your new abilities¡± ¡°The Entity explained. ¡°It¡¯s not rare for a Champion to be cursed once or twice on their journey. You were warned of Divine tempering. ¡°I had no idea what that was! Aren¡¯t you my Guider or something? It said so in your title. Guide me! Warn me before I get cursed.¡± Matheus said with exasperation. ¡°I didn¡¯t know it was a Curse, I thought it would be a Blessing.¡± She explained, also showing some irritation. ¡°Far more common to be Blessings, especially in the First Trial. But as I said, it is not exactly rare¡­ just very uncommon. I am sure it¡¯s just to balance your new abilities. Shouldn¡¯t you check what they are before complaining? Matheus grunted. He decided to leave the curses to the last. He was tired, his body sore, and he needed some good news. He hated confronting bad situations, clinging to his happy moments to the very last second, as though any moment they would be taken away. His mother even quarreled with him all the time, because he would always start his dessert before eating his dinner. He noticed the Kingdom tab on the left corner of his eyes, so that was the first thing he checked. You¡¯ve unlocked the Kingdom System! Warning! A minimum Race level of 25 is needed in order to use this Tab. That was interesting, but level 25 was crazy. Until he managed to get 24 levels it would be completely useless, and that was quite some time. He would have preferred something that helped him now. Why give him a blocked Tab? Very annoying, but at the same time, it was a Kingdom System! Matheus couldn¡¯t help and feel a little excited about the future, very much looking forward to starting to build his empire. You¡¯ve acquired the Vassals Attribute! Your Vassals are people that have pledged their loyalty to you. You can increase your party size, 1 spot to every 5 Race levels and 2 Might levels. You have 0 Vassals. Available spots: 0 You¡¯ve been granted the ¡°For Honor¡± Skill! For Honor Skill Level: 1 Current Boost Time: 10 seconds. Effects: A temporary boost to all your allies, decided by their individual level multiplied to your Might level Those were very good advantages, especially the Vassals Attribute! Matheus¡¯ mind was racing with the different possibilities. He could build an army! Badass mages, fearless warriors and capable healers. If he managed to get enough heroes to join his party, he would be unstoppable! He felt a weight being lifted from his back. Matheus didn¡¯t want to admit it, but he didn¡¯t think he could really do something like this by himself. Everyone else always seemed stronger, faster and smarter. It was good knowing he could get help on his journey. Now, it was time to face the poisoned spoiled food that was his main dish. But Matheus was feeling optimistic. Whatever those curses are, he was getting an army! Anything would be worth it in exchange for that. Loser Court Curse: All members of your Court, may they be Allies, Companions, Familiars, Vassals or Supporters, have to fulfill the following requirement: A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. *You know, pathetics good-for-nothing unfits, doomed to fail and mostly likely virgins. Now what the hell was that? And why did the System add that part at the end like that? This curse would fuck up all his plans. It would pretty much guarantee he never had a strong Vassal, and it made the For Honor Skill pretty much useless! And to put salt in the wound, his next notification was questionably worse. Out of the Spotlight Curse: You are unable to receive any Legendary Spell, Skill, or Ability, and unable to use any Legendary equipment, item or improvement of any kind. Now he was permanently blocked from getting anything with a legendary classification? Matheus didn¡¯t even know there were classifications, but legendary items and abilities were always game changers. What was this title even good for? ¡°I¡¯m not keeping this¡± Matheus said, unequipping his title immediately. Except, nothing changed. ¡°The curses are still here¡± Matheus said miserably. ¡°Of course. Curses and Blessings are always with you. They can be broken, but I wouldn¡¯t count on it. You¡¯ll need to learn to adapt with what you have.¡± ¡®That was a terrible reward!! It was not even a reward, really, it was a punishment! It is not fair.¡± ¡°Do not presume to know what is fair and not. You dare to think yourself wiser than Gods? She asked, tone suddenly very serious. Matheus trembled slightly. Being on the wrong side of Gods seemed like a terrible idea. ¡°No, I¡­ was just expecting something else.¡± As she said, he would have to deal with it. It wouldn¡¯t be really a problem for now either way. It was annoying, but he would do his best to ignore it. The Entity seemed to have taken some pity on him. ¡°As I said, this is a generous bounty, even though it may not seem like one now. There are thousands of different paths to victory in this Contest, you shouldn¡¯t worry if some are blocked to you. You need to find your way of winning.¡± ¡°Right. I understand it.¡± Matheus answered defeatedly. No point in beating a dead horse. If there¡¯s something Matheus was good at, it was accepting good things being taken away. His fault, honestly, for believing otherwise this time. They stayed in silence for a few moments. ¡°You know, there were seven different ways to pass the first trial. You learned the movements of the platforms and used it to your advantage¡­without Analyzing the Souls moving in front of you, which would have given you all the information you needed and more. A show of abundance and lack of cleverness at the same time.¡± Matheus blushed a little. The idea had totally slipped from his mind. He had forgotten completely about the System during the chase. He cursed himself. Those long minutes observing and calculating, while the Bunny went farther away. He felt foolish. ¡°There¡¯s never only one answer. And there will always be dozens of different ways to look into the same situation. When you think you¡¯ve understood something, assume there is still more to it. Find out what you are still missing.¡± Matheus had no idea how to answer that. ¡°Now, all the preparations are done. You have your Bounty. You have your item. Before anything serious can begin, though, you still have to be worthy as a Champion. You need your lore¡± ¡°My lore?¡± Matheus asked, getting confused. ¡°You are still missing your backstory.¡± The Entity said, as if it explained anything. ¡°Consider it an opportunity to train and get stronger, before the real battle begins. During this time, try to get familiar with the mechanics of the Contest, seek for powerful abilities and hone your skills. ¡°You must be ready to face the other Champions when the time is over. Matheus felt anxiety creeping back in. That was right. He had barely started his journey. Would those other Champions have gotten powerful advantages on their Trials? He hoped everyone was cursed, just like him. But Matheus had a dreadful feeling he was a special case. Not many people had his luck. No point in ruminating on it forever. ¡°When do we start this ¡°training¡±? Now that Matheus stopped paying attention to the System, he took a better look at his surroundings, and was surprised to find the scenario made sense. No floating platforms extending to the infinite, no eternal darkness, no images beyond human comprehension. Just a glade. Some trees, grass and a blue sky. ¡°We¡¯ve already started¡± The Entity answered and disappeared, leaving Matheus alone. 6. First Days Twice night had fallen, and still not much had happened. After surveying the glade for a while, Matheus found he was very near to a cave and decided to make it his base of operations. Part of him was horrified by the idea of the cave being a lair of a frightening monster, but he was more scared of staying in open grounds. He needed walls and a feeling of safety. Inside the cave, curiously, he found a pot stuck to the ground and some herbs growing on the walls. They all gave the same System Message. Common herb. This item can be used as an ingredient for recipes. Picking some, Matheus soon realized if he put them in the pot, a new message would appear. Ingredients found! Start cooking? Then a small time would appear on top of it, between 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the herbs he mixed. After some tinkering, he unlocked a ¡°Recipe¡± tab on his System, but so far he only had two recipes. Burned Trash. Uneatable. Simple Herbs Mix Recovers 2 HP Matheus figured more would be unlocked as he experimented with different ingredients. The end result always tasted like crap, but was enough for him to not starve. Unfortunately, the System wasn¡¯t letting him store neither the cooking pot, nor the meals he prepared. He could store the Herbs in his soul, but what was the point of that, if they were all right next to the pot? It was a waste of his limited space. For the moment, Matheus could only store 4 items in his soul. An extremely low quantity in his opinion, but he saw no reason in leaving an empty spot. Begrudgingly, he Analyzed everything he could, from the dirt on the floor to rocks and small insects, and had reached a few conclusions. First, the information given was different depending on what he focused on. He received different texts if he analyzed a full tree, its branches or even a singular leaf. Second, the text wasn¡¯t exactly a text. Now that he was practicing more, he realized he wasn¡¯t really reading it, but absorbing its words. Thirdly, and it took him an embarrassing long time to realize, it wasn¡¯t really necessary to say the commands out loud. He was capable of analyzing things just by thinking really hard about it. It was like screaming inside his own mind. And lastly, half the time the objects wouldn¡¯t be available to store in his Soul. It depended on many different factors, such as weight, mass, size and other things that he was still figuring out. With such a limited capacity, Matheus had passed the last few hours constantly replacing what he had. For now he had: Small Rock. Just a pebble, really. Green Leaf. From a silver birch. Old branch. Not very firm. Big Rock. Has some fungus on its button. He practiced putting them in and out of his Inventory a few times, and noticed they would appear either on his hand or on the floor just next to him, according to his will. He was already thinking about different ways to use it in his favor. But one thing kept bothering him during all this time. Matheus couldn¡¯t remember the last time he stayed so long without a shower. He had got used to the smell by now, but it annoyed him. He felt dirty. Especially because there were only leaves for him to use as toilet paper. The stories never mentioned how disgusting it was not properly cleaning its own ass. There was a very small pond on the cave, which Matheus was using to drink water from. It was the only source of water he had, and he was too afraid of contaminating it to try washing himself there. On the bright side, Matheus also noticed he could get new abilities and level up the ones he had just by repetition! So far he had: Cooking - Acquired Skill Skill Level: 2 Effects: Shorten the time of food preparation by 1 minute and 15 seconds. Climbing - Acquired Skill Skill Level: 1 Effects: Strengthen your grip and balance while climbing or holding yourself in high structures by 20% Hiding - Acquired Skill Skill Level: 1 Effects: Higher instincts to decide on good hiding spots. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The first he got after preparing some food, the second after he climbed some trees, and the last was for all the time he spent on his little cave. It didn¡¯t take him long to advance to level 2 in cooking, but after that it seemed to get stuck. Maybe he had to prepare different dishes in order to keep leveling up. But he couldn¡¯t lie, it was a very good feeling having true skills that he could level up just by repetition. That was just the motivation he needed to practice and train! Matheus wished his first life had been like that. Wouldn¡¯t everything be easier if he could literally follow his progress and watch the numbers go up? It was addicting! Matheus had to control himself to not spend every waking minute checking his stats, checking if there was any change he missed. He still hasn''t figured out what his Triumph Stat was and couldn¡¯t find any way to use his mana, even though he¡¯d tried for hours. For some reason, it also didn¡¯t matter how many times he tried Analyzing things or checking the System and his Inventory, it seemed like his Soul Stats never leveled up. Frustrating. How was he supposed to increase his ¡°Connection¡± and understand his abilities better, like the Entity said, if practicing with them didn¡¯t work? Well, he was just beginning. There were still many tests for him to do. Preferable, in the safety of his cave. He had explored some of the nearby areas, but he didn¡¯t dare go too far away, afraid he wouldn¡¯t be able to find his cave again. His situation was already complicated enough, and he didn¡¯t want to imagine what they would be like without him having his regular meals and a safe place to sleep. And he knew he wasn¡¯t alone in here. Matheus was certain there were¡­things in the forest. Creatures like animals, but he was sure they weren¡¯t any kind of animal he¡¯d known. Not that he managed to have a good look. At the first sign of danger, Matheus ran and hid. He wasn¡¯t about to start any type of confrontation without being fully prepared. Especially with him being barefoot. His feet had gotten somewhat used walking on the grass the past few days, but he didn¡¯t like his chances trying to outpace a monster coming after him. Besides, what could he do without any weapon, spell or any kind of offensive skill? Was he supposed to punch them to death? Kick and bite? Matheus tried throwing rocks around, punching trees and kicking bushes. Unfortunately, the System didn¡¯t reward him with a single new skill. Maybe it would only unlock when he used them in a real fight. But that was too risky for Matheus¡¯ liking. A much better strategy was to take it slowly, get used to the System first, see what other kind of skills he could get then find a way to lure and trap whatever was there in the forest with him. You¡¯ve met the prerequisites to a new skill: Procrastination. This is a conditional skill. ¡°What¡­¡± Matheus was incredulous. He was getting used to the System popping messages out of nowhere, but a procrastination skill? And this notification was slightly different from the others. He quickly read the System description. Procrastination - Conditional Skill Why go do the big important thing when you can focus on the smaller less scary ones? Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re sure to finish on the last day what you¡¯ve been avoiding all week. Skill Level: 1 Effects: You¡¯ll recover +0.5 Health and +0.5 Stability every hour you spend avoiding doing something you really should be doing. This skill is granted to all Champions that have spent the first three days of training without gaining a single level. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not procrastinating! I¡¯m strategizing.¡± Matheus complained to the heavens. The skill didn¡¯t look that bad. He still wasn¡¯t didn¡¯t know what was the point of Stability, but Health points were essential. A faster recovery could save his life. Still, it was insulting. He wasn¡¯t afraid, he was being careful. Damnit, he wasn¡¯t fooling anyone. He¡¯d spent the last hour deciding between keeping the green leaf or replacing it for a red one. Was it really his fault he didn¡¯t have any useful skill? He¡¯d never been in a fight in his life! Barring beatings, but he felt those didn¡¯t truly count. It was only natural to avoid danger. Basic human survival. ¡°God damnit¡± Feeling judged, Matheus picked his few belongings and went deeper into the forest before he gained a new level to his new skill. It was time to start hunting. 7. Hunting Stuffed Koala - Level: 1 Don¡¯t you wanna hug it? Just don¡¯t squeeze too hard! Health: 8/8, Mana: 0/0 Matheus had been staring at this creature for a long time now. He was stunned. Was this the big monster he had been running away from? It was barely bigger than a normal Teddy Bear! Still, something about it terrified him. He¡¯d always thought the idea of toys gaining life was frightening. Nothing had more potential to be creepy and eerie than things that weren¡¯t supposed to be scary in the first place. Like nuns and clowns. And he still wasn¡¯t sure what his attack strategy should be. Hiding Skill got to Level 2! Matheus was grateful for another level, but couldn¡¯t it be called the Stealth Skill? The System always seemed to be mocking him. Anyway, he wasn¡¯t about to rush it. Better to be safe than to regret it later. If he was to fight, Matheus would do it on his terms. Patiently, he held his position, waiting for the perfect opportunity. Just as the cute abomination stopped to examine some trees, not near enough to see him, but also not far enough he would easily miss, Matheus got up, picked the pebble from his Inventory, took aim and threw it with all his might. Incredibly, he managed to hit his target! A ¡°- 1 HP!¡± message appeared briefly over the creature''s head. Hell yeah, he did some damage! The creature roared, and Matheus'' blood went cold. Now that it had opened its mouth, Matheus could see columns of sharp fangs. It went running in his direction. ¡°Shit¡± Matheus said as he got the Old Branch and hit the monster square on the face as soon as it approached. Matheus hit again, and again, not losing his momentum. - 1 HP! - 1 HP! - 1 HP! It was working! He was really doing it, he was winning his first fight! Then there was a loud crack, and the branch broke in many small pieces. Matheus stared at the useless wood on his hand, now barely bigger than a stick. The Koala launched itself onto him. Matheus tried throwing the stick at it, but it did nothing. Too small to do any damage. The Stuffed Koala jumped at his arm and closed its jaw, biting deeply. -4HP Matheus let out a curse, his arm burning in pain. He jerked it around until he finally managed to cast the creature away. He felt blood starting to soak his shirt, his stomach churning. He couldn¡¯t deal with it now. The creature was already attacking again, this time aiming at his legs. Matheus leaped away, and at the same time took the rock from his Inventory. It was way heavier and the size of his head. Matheus made it appear right next to him, just where the Koala landed. The rock smashed the monster, pinning its body to the floor. -3HP It worked! He had the idea while practicing earlier, but he wasn¡¯t sure he could time it right. A simple trick, really. But very efficient when done properly. Matheus let himself fall to the floor, painting. His arm hurt like hell, and he still was avoiding looking at the wound. He had lost one third of his HP with this fight, so he was eager to go back to his safe cave and eat some of that herbs trash. He wondered if the wound would close as his HP increased. Wait, something wasn''t right. Shouldn¡¯t he have gotten some notification after killing it? With dread, Matheus realized that in the thrill of the battle, he¡¯d forgotten to count the damage notifications. The Stuffed Koala still had 1HP left. Matheus heard a snarl, and turned just in time to see the monster jumping at him, mouth wide open. He couldn¡¯t react in time and again screamed in pain as this time the creature¡¯s jaw closed on his neck. -6HP For a second, Matheus thought he would pass out. The pain was easily ten times worse than the bite on his arm. He instinctively grabbed the monster, desperate trying to avoid another bite. One more, and he was done. Matheus did the only thing he could think of. Before the Koala could finish him off, he wrapped his arms around it and squeezed. It growled in fury, trying to get space to chew his flesh again, but he wouldn¡¯t let it. He held firm and kept squeezing with all he had, until finally the Koala exploded with a huge ¡®pop¡¯, cotton and blood raining everywhere. Stolen novel; please report. You¡¯ve leveled up! You¡¯ve met the prerequisites to a new skill: Death Hug. This is a conditional skill. Matheus felt a wave of energy go through his body, suddenly taking part of the pain and tiredness away. He did it! Matheus managed to kill his first monster, and got his first level and another conditional skill in the process! ¡°Yessss¡± Matheus exclaimed, then noticed the blood dripping from his hands, arms and even face. He was completely covered by it. Falling on his knees, Matheus puked until he was with an empty stomach. Damnit. Why did it need to have this much blood? The body explosion had been so visceral, the Koala¡¯s head had been launched a few meters away. He stayed some time on the ground, controlling his breathing. That was close. Way closer than what he would have liked. He tried everything he could think of, and in the end he barely survived. After a few more seconds composing himself, Matheu checked out his notifications. Death Hug - Conditional Skill Skill Level: 1 Effects: Double Strength and +1 Will when you are trying to crush someone to death. It only activates when your prey has less than half its original HP. This skill is granted to all Champions that have hugged a Monster to death on their first kill. Your love is so big, it kills! ¡°That wasn¡¯t a hug, damnit!¡± Matheus complained. He doubted he would be trying that with anything not made of cotton, but a new skill was a new skill. You¡¯ve reached level 2. You have 1 Skill point and 1 Soul point to assign. His first Skill point to assign! Finally, he could start improving his abilities. He figured Strength was his best bet for now. All his stats needed work, but it annoyed him how little damage his attacks did. Matheus also noticed his HP had gone back to 6, half his total. Was this an effect of leveling up? He wondered if it would always increase 4HP or would it always go back to half. He hoped for the latter, for obvious reasons. For the Soul Point, he still only had guesses of what they did, but Matheus felt investing in Connection was the safest bet. No point in increasing random stats until he knew what the hell they did. ¡°Assign 1 Skill Point to Strength and 1 Soul Point to Connection.¡± Matheus felt no visible changes in himself. He would have to do some tests later, see if he could lift more weight or throw things farther away. He needed to know his limits. But he should go back to the cave first, prepare a meal and recover the rest of his HP. Now he had three empty spaces on his Inventory. He stared at the Stuffed Koala head for a moment. It still had its mouth open, its face an eternal snarl. He analyzed it. Stuffed Koala Head. Sick. What the hell. Better than the crap he had been storing. To the Inventory it went! He only hoped the other koalas wouldn''t track him down for revenge after that. Matheus would have to replenish the rest of his supplies later. Until he managed to get a proper weapon or some real attacking skills, relying on rocks and branches was his safest best. But he shouldn¡¯t worry about future problems. He just had his first victory! He deserved a celebration. How often does someone kill their first monster? Surely not every day. Especially not someone like him. Maybe this was a sign of a different path ahead. A different Matheus. A Matheus that wouldn¡¯t run away from his fights. Someone not only with the courage to face his enemies, but cunning, bold and powerful enough to end up as the one standing. Perhaps if he believed it strongly enough, he could make it reality. For now, he could only hope. Proud of himself for beating the shit out of a small, adorable children¡¯s toy, Matheus went on his way, dreaming of becoming stronger. Who knew? Maybe in a few days he would be punching action figures and kicking dolls. 8. The Skull Collector Even though it had barely worked before, Matheus saw no reason in changing strategies. He had in his soul another hand sized rock, a head sized one, and a branch to serve as weapons. A long range attack, a short range, and a trap. It was better to rely on as many different options as he could, until he had better skills and tools and could focus on polishing a fighting style. Maybe he would get an ¡°Using random objects to fight with monsters skills¡± or something, if he kept at it for long enough. He also kept the Stuffed Koala head there. It was the only part of the Koala the System allowed him to Analyze and Store, and he felt there needed to be a reason for that. Maybe it would be an ingredient to making some potion, a ritual or an enchantment. Or maybe the reason was simply it was the only thing remaining of the monster that wasn¡¯t a complete mess. SInce he had exploded it and all. Anyway, in the games he played, monster parts were always used for something special. It was worth keeping them for now, until he managed to get more information. Either way, it had way more chances to be valuable in the long run than rocks and wood. It didn¡¯t take him long to find his next prey. Stuffed Koala - Level: 1 Don¡¯t you wanna hug it? Just don¡¯t squeeze too hard! Health: 8/8, Mana: 0/0 Be careful of its bites and fast movement. Very curious in nature. What was this extra information about? Was it because this was his second fight with this type of monster or because he had improved his Connection? Something else to investigate later. His Death Hug skill was probably his most powerful weapon, but Matheus wasn¡¯t looking forward to more bites. The creature wandered, seeming unworried. It couldn¡¯t be very smart, either. Otherwise Matheus doubted he would have been able to watch it for so long, with such a low Hiding level. He decided on a different approach. Matheus took the pebble from his Inventory, and adjusting his aim, threw it a short distance to the left. Before it hit, Matheus got down and hid, peeking from some leaves. The Stuffed Koala turned, growling slowly, and seeing nothing, made a curious face and started coming to his direction. Matheus waited patiently. When it was just about to pass him, he kicked it with all the force he could muster. -2HP The monster went flying and crashed into a tree some yards away, helpless. -1HP Before he had a chance to get up, Matheus was already on it and pinned it down on the ground using his other, bigger rock. -3HP Then he got his last item, the branch. He¡¯d made sure to get a tougher one this time. Like Matheus was playing golf, he hit the Koala¡¯s head with a powerful swipe, and it was launched to the air, together with cotton and blood. Matheus put his hands on his month, wanting to throw up again. But in the end, he never did. Just felt dizzy and nauseous for some moments. His second kill, and this time he didn¡¯t lose a single HP. Matheus couldn¡¯t help grinning. No new levels or abilities, though. But that was ok. Once more the head was the only thing he could store on his inventory. He wondered if that would always be the case, or if it was only for this specific monster. His third kill wasn¡¯t much of a challenge either, but he didn¡¯t manage to leave the fight unscathed. The Stuffed Koala saw him first, and rushed to his direction before Matheus could plan. He tried kicking it, but it grabbed his leg and glued itself there with its teeth. Matheus felt a jolt of pain and without thinking started kicking the nearest tree, smashing the creature til it dropped to the floor with half of its HP. Since he was already this close he quickly seized it and squeezed. Matheus could feel his skill activating and his muscles getting stronger, until again it exploded, gore everywhere. Death Hug Skill got to Level 2! Again, no vomit, only a nauseous sensation. Matheus collected the head before starting the journey to his cave. He had lost only 2 HP, but he saw no point in risking a confrontation without his full health. It took Matheus less than half an hour to go back to his cave, eat something and replenish his supplies. He also decided to leave the heads safely stored on a far corner, and picked an extra branch. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Earlier in the day, he made a few trips to the forest and back, filling his inventory with stones and branches and storing them safely in his cave. Matheus figured it would save him time, allowing him to get ready for his next battle faster. The System had given him a new level in the Procrastination Skill for it. Which was total bullshit, since it was in fact saving him time, but who could guess the logic behind the System. Matheus had also found out the Procrastination Skill was practically useless. The bonus didn¡¯t activate when he needed to recover HP, because that was what he needed to be doing! It would only work in situations where recovering health wasn¡¯t a priority! It felt more like a joke than a real skill. At this point, Matheus wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he got another curse after leveling it up a few times. He was wary of getting more levels in it and couldn¡¯t afford to stay idle. He readily went back to hunting. Finally, Matheus got the notification he was waiting for after his fourth kill. You¡¯ve reached level 3. You have 1 Skill point and 1 Soul point to assign. At this rate, he would probably have to kill half a dozen of those Koalas in order to level up again. It was too slow. The fight hadn¡¯t been particularly easy, but now Matheus was developing a rhythm, and he was lucky to keep finding the same type of monster. Well aimed kicks, some rock throwing, and a new bite mark on his ankle. Worth it for the experience points. That was enough work for the day. He grabbed the head and pulled until it popped off, and started the walk to his base, going through his plans for the new points again. He pondered for a while on the many things he had to improve, but at the end, decided to assign them to strength and connection one more time. The easier for him to kill enemies the faster he would be able to level up, and he needed more skill points to be stronger. And he wasn¡¯t comfortable spending points in other soul stats until he knew what they did. He was working hard to get those SP. He wouldn¡¯t let them go to waste. ¡°Assign 1 Skill Point to Strength and 1 Soul Point to Connection.¡± He said while walking back. Could be that a part of him was still insecure from all the times he¡¯d got beaten up, and was compensating by increasing his strength? Perhaps. Matheus preferred to think he was just following a logical strategy. It didn¡¯t take him long to get to his safe cave and put some herbs to cook. He still hadn''t found another ingredient the pot would accept, and had begrudgingly only eaten herbs every day, three times a day. Still, they replenished his HP and made him feel full enough, so he couldn¡¯t complain. After eating his dinner, Matheus got comfortable in his usual sleeping spot. It surprised him how quickly his body had adapted to endure resting on the ground every day, a bunch of leaves as his pillow. But after a day exploring and fighting, he wanted nothing more than lay down and close his eyes. Minutes passed, and Matheus was still completely awake. He opened his eyes and stared at the Heads. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep with them there, watching him. Matheus could see them growing arms and legs, crawling towards him. He shivered, imagining waking up being eaten alive. He quickly emptied his Soul and stored all four heads there. And as soon as he did it, a new notification appeared. You¡¯ve met the prerequisites to a new skill: Skull Collector The Skull Collector - Conditional Skill Skill Level: 1 Effects: Gives a 20% Strength boost and 1 Will point when facing an enemy you have a Skull of its species in your collection. This boost is accumulative. This skill is granted to all Champions that have completely filled their Inventory with the heads of its kills. You do know your Inventory is not a Trophy room, right? You little psychopath! Matheus wasn¡¯t sure how to feel. On one hand, he was getting new skills at a steady pace, which opened new possibilities to him. On the other hand, what was wrong with all those skills? Where was punching, stabbing, casting a fireball or anything more normal? The System was obviously giving him abilities according to his actions, but it was hard to guess what would come from what. Still, an advantage was an advantage. He would use all he had. If he needed to collect decapitated heads, he would behead every monster he killed. 9. A Taste of Reality Hiding Skill got to Level 3! It felt good to have his skills leveling up, especially when Matheus wasn¡¯t really doing anything special. He¡¯d just found a new type of monster for the first time, and was taking some time to come up with a good plan. Two Headed Mantis - Level: 2 You DON¡¯T want to be punched by it. Health: 10/10 Mana: 2/2 Extremely aggressive and quick. Make sure to kill both brains. Matheus was unsure of his next move. He¡¯d just got his Skull Collector Skill, so hunting Stuffed Koalas was a no-brainer. Except, he had the feeling they would barely give him any exp. He was still feeling a little guilty for wasting his first days and wanted to level up quickly to increase his Base Stats. But who could say what tricks this monster may have? And it had 2 MPs! What if it could cast a fireball or something similar? Matheus wasn¡¯t about to risk it. It was good having confirmation that increasing his Connection would gradually make the System more useful. At his current stage, information was the key to Matheus'' survival. For example, seeing how fast this Mantis was, was all Matheus needed to know none of his usual tricks would really work. He wasn¡¯t prepared for this fight. Maybe he could try sneaking from above, high on the trees, and smash them with a surprise boulder. But it would be very difficult to hit something from such heights, and the Mantis could always dodge. Then what? Could Matheus really out-run it jumping from branches to branches? Not at his currently climbing level, he was sure. Slowly, Matheus started retreating, deciding to hunt easier prey first. Maybe after putting some more levels in Strength, he would be ready. A loud crack sounded, and with horror, Matheus saw the twig he had broken in two, careless stepping on it on his way out. Both of the Mantis¡¯ heads turned and stared directly at him. ¡°Fuck¡±. Matheus groaned. With a screeching noise, the Mantis started running towards him. Matheus got in position, holding a branch with both hands. He followed the Mantis movements with his eyes and stuck at it just as it jumped to his direction. The Mantis dodged, effortless. And punched him right on the nose. - 1HP Matheus yelped. The blow hurt less than what he expected, but it unbalanced him. Aimlessly, Matheus waved his arms around, hoping to get a lucky shot. The Mantis avoided all his strikes, jumping from one place to another and punching him whenever it had the chance. - 1HP - 1HP It wasn¡¯t taking much damage, but was slowly draining his health away. He needed to focus before it was too late. Just hit it once to make it stop moving, and finish the job with a strong quick or smash it with a stone. Matheus felt something weird in the air, and before he could really process what he was doing, he made his head sized rock appear in front of him, just as the Mantis¡¯ fist started glowing a deep blue light. The rock exploded with the impact and Matheus was thrown several feet away, falling on his back. He lost 4 points of HP, even blocking it! If he had taken a direct hit, he was sure he wouldn¡¯t have survived it. What the hell was that? Wasn¡¯t he supposed to have only 2 strength? The glow¡­Matheus quickly Analyzed the Mantis again, and saw that he¡¯d used half of its MP. So it could greatly increase its attack power, but only twice. Matheus had to escape it one more time, but now he didn¡¯t have any way to block it. Could he really dodge something from something that fast? He needed a distraction, a way to buy some time. The Mantis was running in zig zag towards him, preparing for its next attack. Before it had the chance, Matheus took one Stuffed Koala Head from his Inventory and threw it at the monster''s general direction. The Mantis went crazy. It almost instantly leaped at the head and punched it three times in quick succession while still in the air, launching one of the Koala¡¯s button eyes away with the impact. It landed on the ground still punching, completely tearing the head apart until its first glowed blue with power and exploded the head in tiny little pieces. The Two Headed Mantis stood there, trembling, visibly satisfied with the carnage. Matheus hit it with his branch, smashing half his body. - 5HP One of its heads was already completely destroyed, but the other twitched, looking at him. Matheus hit it again. - 5HP You¡¯ve killed a Two Headed Mantis! The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Matheus kept hitting, not sure if he was screaming or not. Each strike turned the Mantis a little more into an unrecognizable mass of gore. He didn¡¯t stop until the branch broke and he fell on his knee, hyperventilating. What the Mantis did to the Stuffed head¡­ if he had acted a second later, his head would be open on the floor, his brain spilled on the ground. Matheus looked at the button a few feet away, and imagined his mutilated eyeball in its place. He was so terrified he forgot to be sick with all the blood. There wasn¡¯t anything left of the Mantis that could be stored on his Inventory. Matheus couldn¡¯t let himself get carried away like this again. He needed to work with the skills he had, and at this moment, that meant collecting enemies'' skulls. He let himself cool down, gathering his thoughts. It had been close, but he had won. He¡¯d known from the beginning he would have to put his life at risk. This was nothing. Except, this was just a small part of what was bothering him. Matheus had always believed if he were ever to get reincarnated or summoned to a different world to live his own adventure, all his problems would disappear. He would have a great time, get powerful allies, learn real magic and enjoy every second of it. He was definitely not enjoying every second. Quite the opposite. Matheus had hated camping all his life, seeing no point in staying outdoors when he could be in the comfort of his room. He didn¡¯t have the latest console or a state-of-art computer, but Matheus never had been hard to please. Give him a good novel, a warm drink and a comfy place and he would ask for nothing more. But, as it turned out, reading about a great adventure was way less tiring than experiencing one. Sometimes, Matheus caught himself wishing he could be on his bed, wrapped in blankets, following someone else''s story. Exactly as he had done his entire life. It was weird being the ¡°protagonist¡± for the first time. At best, Matheus had always imagined himself as a side character, briefly appearing as part of someone¡¯s chapter. Just a small comic relief, or maybe a lesson the others had to learn. Finally, the story felt like it was about him. And he wasn¡¯t liking it. Yes, the game-like mechanics were addicting, and there were advantages. Monsters may be trying to kill him, but not a single one made fun of him. Not that he was really expecting the monsters to start taunting and mocking him, but after so long, it was hard to let his guard down. But Matheus was starting to get somewhat bored with his routine. Everyday he practiced, hunted monsters, leveled up his skills, explored new territory, experimented with the System¡­ until the day was over, and it was time to start it over again. And again, and again and again. It should have felt great, but it didn¡¯t. He wondered if this endless cycle was his life now. Everything was so tiresome. Where was his worthy tale of fantastic deeds and endeavors? It didn¡¯t feel like a story he¡¯d be interested in reading. Would others? Matheus imagined people watching him, following his movements and thoughts like words in a book. Maybe they even pretended they were him, like he used to do. He hated this idea. It wasn¡¯t just weird being in the spotlight. It was horrifying. Trying to lose this train of thought, Matheus checked the System. He didn¡¯t get any new levels after killing the Mantis. Part of him wanted to hunt a little more and at least level up once before going back, but he felt drained for the day. He had gone farther to the north this time, trying to scout new areas and expand the map he was beginning to form on his head. Not sure if he would come back here again soon, though. Fighting a monster that could do magic was too unfair for. Not wanting to get lost, Matheus decided to check the way first. He went to the tallest tree he could find and climbed to the top. There it was, he recognized the cluster of trees with the red leaves he started using as a reference point, and some yards away there was the short hill with his cave. Matheus realized this was the highest he had ever been since coming to this world. He was maybe 40 feet high. And he noticed something familiar, just a few hours away from his position. He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. Strong walls surrounded it, with towers double its height on every corner. It had many buildings inside, and some were ever taller than the towers. There was no mistaken it. He had found a city. And inside it, there were humans. Even from this distance, he could see guards on the gate, merchants in the stores. Humans, working, talking and going on with their lives, Matheus was looking at a human city. Flashes of his old life went through his head, memories of a world he thought he had left behind. With despair, he felt his blood go cold. 10. The City Your Procrastination Skill has got to level 3! Your Procrastination Skill has got to level 4! Matheus tried to be productive in other ways. He had also increased his Hiding skill to level 4, climbing to 3 and had leveled up once. He ended up increasing his Constitution and his core, giving him an extra space on his Inventory. But he knew what he was doing. He was trying to find other things to focus on, new excuses, just so he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with other people again. He had been so long just hunting, killing monsters and general grinding, that he¡¯d started to believe his days of dealing with humans were over. Thinking about it now, he had been living in peace, in a way. He still had to struggle to survive every day, but monsters¡­they weren¡¯t mean. There¡¯s more animal instinct than true malice. Now, humans could be cruel. Humans could be sadistic, bloodthirsty and truly evil. Was he really ready to deal with humans again? Damnit, wasn¡¯t this supposed to be a Contest with beings from other worlds? Would some of those humans also be Champions? He didn¡¯t know. There was a lot he didn¡¯t know. The only thing Matheus knew for sure was that he was fucked. He couldn¡¯t avoid the city forever, it was obvious the place he needed to go, as confirmed by the new levels in procrastination. Still, for almost two whole days he came near enough to survey the city and imagined himself going towards it, but never did. He spent hours practicing hundreds of different interactions in his mind, and even though some started very promising, they all ended the same. He was always bullied at the end. Matheus shook his head, trying to make the sound of laughter go away. It didn¡¯t. He knew it wouldn¡¯t. It was always there. For two long days, he couldn¡¯t make himself do it. But there was one thought more terrifying than being the butt of the joke again. ¡°If I stop now, I¡¯ll never be something else. This life will be my only life. That will be my whole story.¡± he said silently to himself, gathering his strength. ¡°If I don¡¯t go, I¡¯ll have given up on hope¡±. Before Matheus could change his mind, he walked towards the city. ¡°Halt!¡± Screamed one of the guards, seeing him approach. He let his spear pointed in his direction. ¡°Name and business¡±. Of course, Matheus was prepared for it. He had observed the same interaction a few times, and had a script ready. He had analyzed the guards from afar, and saw they were only level 7. Which didn¡¯t seem particularly strong, but way out of his league. He doubted he would have a chance even if it was only an unarmed one. He needed to make sure they would have no reason to fight him. He was also careful to unequip his Title, not ready for the nickname to spread again. ¡°Matheus, I¡¯m in need of shelter. I have been travelling for many days now, coming from the north.¡± He said, believing it to be his safest option. ¡°Please, I¡¯m very hungry and tired¡±. All partially true, and simple enough it wouldn¡¯t raise complicated questions. Still, Matheus trembled slightly. The guard looked him up and down, wrinkling his nose, and didn¡¯t look very impressed. ¡°We have no room for beggars and thieves, but if you are willing to work for it, there¡¯s food and a roof for you. And a bath¡± He finally said, apparently concluding Matheus wasn¡¯t much of a threat. ¡°Find and speak with the City Master, near the Temple of Dijah. ¡°Thank you. I won¡¯t cause any trouble, I promise¡± Matheus bowed clumsy. Matheus didn¡¯t know why he had done that, no one else coming to the city had done it and he certainly wasn¡¯t planning to do it, it had just happened. The guard stared at him, not knowing how to react. Awkwardness filled the air. ¡°I¡­thank you.¡± Matheus said with embarrassment. Feeling self-conscious, he hurried to the city. That wasn¡¯t a great start. Mathes had worried about his clothes being too different from other people, but they had been so worn out during those past few days, with dirt and holes everywhere, they were barely recognizable. He also had no shoes, nor any item that could identify him as a traveller from another world. Just a regular peasant, wearing old rags. People didn¡¯t really pay attention to him. Matheus received some suspicious glances, but that was it. On his way, Matheus saw that most people wore very simple clothes and ranged from level 1 to level 10. There were some exceptions, like the level 12 redheaded knight with two swords, buying apricots from a merchant, or the level 11 blonde girl with a bow and a quiver of arrows on her back, sitting on the roof of one of the houses, but it was clear this city wasn¡¯t filled with strong people. Everything indicated it was for beginners. And his next encounter confirmed his suspicions. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Warriors needed! The capital is always hiring brave people to help with the growth of the city. Great career plans, for those willing to invest in their future! Warriors needed! A well dressed man, in a small stand near the stables, was holding some pamphlets and repeating the same discourse. When he was near enough, Matheus analyzed him. Larry - Human Town Recruiter Level: 10 His job is to gather strong people and offer a safe path to the next big area. Warning! A level of 15 is recommended before going to the next city. That was interesting. It gave Matheus a goal to work with and something to look forward to. Was this the ¡°threshold" his curse had mentioned? If so, that still gave him enough options to work with. And this was only the first city. Maybe the curses wouldn¡¯t be that bad in the end. For some reason, he doubted that. Looking at Larry there under the sun, shouting similar things over and over, he couldn¡¯t help to question the stupidity of the task. Would this guy just stay here on the same spot, waiting for Champions to get ready to move on? That made no sense. And yet, the guy looked and acted real enough. As he walked, Matheus paid more attention to the people, trying to find out who or even what they were. There was no way everyone in this city was a champion. There were kids playing on the street, running one after the other. He saw carpenters, blacksmiths, tailors and butchers. No one seemed to be in a rush to level up. Instead, people were just living their lives. Then where did everyone come from? Were those people even real, or just some type of NPCs, designed to make his training look more real? He didn¡¯t know. It all seemed off, but he couldn¡¯t explain why. No point in worrying things he had no way of knowing. There was still a long way to go. It didn¡¯t take much for Matheus to find the City Master. ¡°Matheus, uh? And from the North, you say?¡± The tall man said, after Matheus finished with his introduction. Matheus nodded, but was interrupted before he could speak more. ¡°Listen, we don¡¯t have enough food or space to share it with anyone that comes begging. You¡¯ll have to work for it. Tartaros may not be a big city, but there are many things that need to be done and more hands are always welcome. However, we don¡¯t need slackers or idlers. Do you understand?¡±. ¡°I understand. Sir.¡± The man gave him a skeptical stare, and Matheus realized he had made another bad impression. He was getting more and more nervous by the minute. The fear of making someone angry was eating him from the inside. ¡°Right now, there have been a surge of different tasks, from monsters needing to be dealt with to materials needing to be collected. Go take a look, and tell me in what you¡¯ll be working on for now.¡± The City Master said dismissively, going back to his documents. Matheus looked around, and found a big wooden board on the back of the room. There were many different notes pinned to it. As he approached, a new notification popped up. You¡¯ve unlocked the Quests Tab. You¡¯ve currently 0 Quests in progress. Your limit is 1 ongoing Quest. A Quests Tab? The System kept expanding, getting more and more complicated. The notes didn¡¯t seem particularly helpful, though. They each had a different task written on and nothing more. They contained frustratingly very little information. But Matheus had a hunch. He started SoulAnalyzing it. Instantly, a list of options flooded his vision. Find the lost child Reward: +1 Basic Spell Stop the Stuffed Koala growth in the region. Reward: +1 Basic Skill Hunt the Gold Deer Reward: +3 Stat Points +1 Soul Points Kill the Trolls Reward: Enchanted Item Save the dying oak Reward: A rare recipe There were so many options. Dozens of different quests, giving all kinds of rewards. What¡¯s more, when Matheus focused on a singular one, the System gave him a better description and more details. Matheus cursed himself. He had been a fool. This had been here this whole time. A way to greatly improve his progress and unlock powerful abilities. How far behind was he? At this rate, he would never catch up to the other Champions. He couldn¡¯t keep playing it safe. He needed to take more risks, find some shortcut to power or trick the System somehow. If he didn¡¯t manage a big victory now, how could he hope to win in the future? He needed to go all in. 11. Opportunities The problem was deciding where to begin. Matheus wasn¡¯t satisfied in any of his areas. Everything was lacking. He still counted mostly on cheap tricks to win his battles, and had no offensive ability he felt confident about. His stats were shit, he had no way to protect himself, and not a single spell to use his useless MP. Matheus decided on two priorities in the end. He needed to unlock more useful skills, things he could level up and practice with. Once he managed to get a good enough quantity, he could focus on a more specialized path. But for now, he needed options. It was stupid to keep relying on rocks. His second priority would be to keep leveling up. It was the obvious way to get stronger, and he didn¡¯t like only being level 4. That was embarrassingly low. Besides, more levels meant he could increase his Inventory and improve his Connection. The System was still too vague for his liking. Matheus hated not knowing what he had to do. With a higher Connection level, he would possibly be able to gather better information about everything. And a bigger Inventory meant more heads for him to carry. Two very important things. Though he would do anything to have more knowledge about the Quests and the correct way ahead. Where he stood, it was very frustrating. There was a Quest called ¡°Defeat Kdvkklw¡± Matheus had no idea who Kdvkklw was and he wasn¡¯t about to try and defeat it. By far, there was one question that interested him the most. Stop the Proliferation Reward: +10 Stat Points +5 Soul Points +Advanced Spell +Advanced Skill Party of at least 3 recommended. But he had the feeling it was way out of his league. No point in getting himself into a situation he had no way of winning. Better to start with something more manageable first, then climb his way up. Maybe the Stuffed Koala one? ¡°Hey. New guy.¡± Matheus turned to find a tall guy with a well-trimmed beard looking at him, standing just a few feet away. ¡°You look a little lost. It can all be a little overwhelming, uh? Surviving on your own in a big city? Damnit, why was this guy talking with him? He had not even been here a day, did he already mess things up? ¡°But worry not! The secret to thriving is easy! You see, the trick is finding someone more experienced than you, stronger than you, smarter than you, and then sticking to this person to the very end!¡± The stranger said it all while beaming, making large gestures with his hands. Matheus still could say what this guy wanted, so he kept quiet. ¡°Well, it¡¯s your lucky day, little brother. Very lucky indeed. Cause¡¯ I, Rick from Nevarnia, the Endless Cut, have chosen you to be my ward!¡±. ¡°Your¡­ward?¡± Matheus was bewildered. That could change everything! Having a powerful Hero to rely on would make his journey much easier. ¡°Exactly¡± Rick had an easy laugh, impossible not to go along with. ¡°I could see your potential the moment you got in the room. You¡¯ll make a very good ward, and grow to a fearsome warrior! The only thing you need is the correct guidance.¡± ¡°Are you also a Champion?¡± Matheus asked in a hushed voice. ¡°Indeed, the greatest of them all! Rick answered immediately. Matheus couldn¡¯t believe his luck, another Champion! That was finally his chance! No more worrying if he was making the right choices and doubting all his actions. ¡°Yes! Please, let me be your ward!¡± ¡°Of course, of course!¡± Rick smiled warmly, radiating confidence. ¡°We¡¯ll get very far together, I can already see it. But first, there¡¯s the payment matter, the apprenticeship¡¯s fee. Just a small quantity of 5 gold coins will suffice for now, a very fair deal don¡¯t you think? Matheus'' heart dropped. Of course it wouldn¡¯t be free. Nothing in life was ever free. He was in a city now, and people meant dealing with money. Rick, obviously taking Matheus'' hesitancy for a problem with the price, kept talking. ¡°You know what? I¡¯m willing to take a bet here, cause¡¯ I am really starting to like you. 3 gold coins now, and the next payment will be only in 2 moons. Now that¡¯s a bargain!¡± Matheus didn¡¯t know what to say, his future slipping away in front of him. Even if he finished a few Quests, it would be a few days of hard work until he could gather this kind of money. ¡°Alright. Alright. I¡¯ll do something crazy here. People will say I¡¯ve lost my mind!¡± He got closer, and resting his hand on Matheus'' shoulder, continued: ¡°For only 1 gold coin, I¡¯ll accept you as my new ward. I can go no lower!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have 1 gold coin,¡± Matheus finally said sadly. ¡°I can¡¯t pay you.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have¡­alright. I see. Surely you must have something else with you, though. Some valuable and/or rare item, right? Or at least some food.¡± ¡°I¡­ I have some heads. From monsters I killed in the forest! ¡°Heads?!¡± You only have monster heads with you? Why the fuck are you keeping heads? ¡°I was planning on selling it.¡± ¡°And who do you think is going to buy heads from you? Unbelievable! A complete waste of my time.¡± Rick¡¯s amicable tone had disappeared, and he barely sounded like the same person. He turned and walked away, still grumbling, ignoring Matheus'' protests completely. Dumbstruck, Matheus realized he had totally forgotten to Analyze Rick. He went for it quickly before losing his chance. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Rick - Human No Title Level: 4 No mention of ¡°Nevarnia¡± or the ¡°Endless Cut¡±. Maybe he was hiding his title just as Matheus was. But only level 4! Was he really that powerful? It was a scam, Matheus realized. This guy was trying to trick him, and he¡¯d almost fallen for it. Good thing he had completely forgotten about his sect ring and didn¡¯t offer it. Giving his first item away like this would have been embarrassing. It appeared humans were no different in this world. Selfish and evil, they cared for nothing but themselves. It was an important reminder. Matheus couldn¡¯t trust them, he had only himself. His own fault for letting his guard down. He wouldn¡¯t let it happen again. Making up his mind, he walked towards the City Master. ¡°I want to accept a Quest!¡± Matheus said with confidence, ready to start getting serious. He looked him up and down. ¡°Denied.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± Matheus heard the sound of all his plans and dreams being shattered into nothing, for the second time in the day, only a few seconds after they were formed. That must have been a new personal record. ¡°I can¡¯t give a quest to an unarmed man. That goes against the rules. We are not barbaric. Are you trying to kill yourself?¡± ¡°That¡¯s unfair. I have rocks! And sticks! And heads!¡± Matheus uttered in desperation. The City Master kept shaking his head, giving Matheus a raised eyebrow at the mention of ¡°heads¡±. ¡°No can do, that¡¯s not enough. I don¡¯t care who you are, I¡¯m not giving you a quest if you are not prepared for it.¡± Was that it? Was everything crushed before he even had a chance to start? Maybe he could find some other jobs in the city, slowly make enough money to buy a weapon somewhere, but who knows how many days that would take. Far more than what he was willing to give. ¡°So, unless you pass by the Armory first and properly arm yourself, forget about getting any dangerous quest. ¡°The¡­armory? In response, the City Master pointed to another place across the street, dismissing him. Matheus sighed and went on his way, soon finding himself in a small building decorated with a many variety of swords, spears and other things he didn¡¯t even know the name for. When he tried analyzing the items, though, the same message appeared every time. This information is not available for you. There was a chubby guy sitting behind a corner, with a half finished apple in his hand. He got up the moment he saw Matheus approaching, a big smile on his face. ¡°Welcome, new Hunter! Wanting to make a name for yourself, is that it? We are always accepting new recruiters, and we hope you have an incredible career. Now, what type of fighter are you like?¡± ¡°I¡­ I am not sure.¡± Matheus said, after failing to think of an answer. ¡°Still finding what works better, uh? No problem, no problem! Let me see what I have for you.¡± The guy seemed to be very excited to have someone to interact with, and that was making Matheus more uncomfortable. He only wanted to deal with this soon so he could get on with his first quest. He doubted he would get anything useful out of it. ¡°Here, take a look. Do you think any of those could work?¡± The guy said, coming back with three different weapons in his hands. This time, the System didn¡¯t stop him from checking them. Common Knife Unlocks the Stab Skill Common Axe Unlocks the Chop Skill Common Bow Unlocks the Shoot Skill ¡°Just tell me which one fits you better, and you can keep it. I am sure you¡¯ll pay for it with services to Tartaros.¡± He completed it with a grin. Unbelievable. That was all he needed to get his first weapon? Now what was the point of that pile of branches he had stocked? Still, he couldn¡¯t help getting excited. Things are going to be so much easier from now on! Yeah, they all looked old and rusty, but it was a big improvement nonetheless. And they all came with their own skill right off the bat. Now, what should he choose? A bow seemed too risky. Killing something from a safe distance was cool and all, but what would happen when he missed? It was between the knife or the axe, really. And let¡¯s be honest, Matheus wasn¡¯t the type of guy to pull off wielding an axe. He didn¡¯t have the personality for it. You¡¯ve equipped a Common Knife. You¡¯ve unlocked the Stab Skill Stab - Acquired Skill The fine art of poking holes into people Skill Level: 1 Effects: Increases damage and precision while stabbing. He held his new weapon, feeling the weight of the metal. The small curved blade fit his hand perfectly. No more relying on clever tricks to get a slight advantage. Finally, he had something he could use to kill. 12. Momma ¡°Stab! Stab!¡± Matheus screamed while stabbing the defenseless Stuffed Koala. Nothing happened when he said the Skill out loud, but that was Matheus¡¯ first useful attack and he was proud of it. You¡¯ve killed a Stuffed Koala! Hunting was easier than ever, the monsters were practically jumping into his knife. Matheus looked at the body of his latest victim, sighed, and started the process of sawing its head off. The System would only let him store them on his Inventory if they were separated from the main body. He was already full, with more safely kept in his Cave, but he lost nothing keeping more. The Buff from his Skull Collector was so big, he was one hitting all the Koalas. Matheus took a moment to think on his next step. He had been killing those creatures for hours and managed to get his stab skill to level 2, but he still hadn''t leveled up. And he made no progress into his quest whatsoever. Apparently killing half a dozen of them wasn¡¯t enough to ¡°Stop the Stuffed Koala growth in the region¡±. Well, what the fuck was he to do then? Would he need to kill all of them? That didn¡¯t seem feasible. No matter. When in doubt, keep grinding. Matheus decided to keep going forward, holding the severed head with one hand and his knife with the other. One or two more kills, and then a short rest to eat and organize his inventory. He stopped midstep, open-mouthed. There was a very big Koala, sitting on the top of a tree. It wasn¡¯t just big for a Koala, it was big enough to be at least five times Matheus'' size. And it wasn¡¯t just a normal tree it was sitting on. It was a cotton tree. In fact, all the trees around it were made of cotton, and the Koala was furiously eating the leaves and branches, non stop. It kept eating like it was his last meal in this world. Until his whole body shook and green water erupted from below it, in a burst that lasted many seconds. When it finally stopped, Matheus saw three Stuffed Koalas emerging from the mess. ¡°What. The. Fuck.¡± Koala Momma - Level: 10 It just want to eat and have children. Health: 40/40 Mana: 10/10 As long as it is alive, it will birth more Stuffed Koalas into this world. Why? Why does such a thing even exist? Monsters needed no mothers. They just respawned. There was no need for whatever that thing even was. Before Matheus could do anything about it, big momma locked eyes with him, food midway to its mouth. It stared for a few seconds, spittle dropping. Then it screamed with a very high-pitched voice, and Matheus screamed together with it. He didn¡¯t mean to do it, but the creature was so fucking loud he acted automatically. Instantly, the newborn Stuffed Koala started running to his direction. ¡°Fuck¡± What should he do? Running away was tempting, but he was already many seconds too late. The first creature jumped at him, and Matheus stabbed it right through its eye. Matheus avoided being bitten on the face by slamming the second creature with the head he was holding, hitting it until only gore was left. The Momma went back to eating, now barely munching and mostly swallowing everything it could reach. Before Matheus managed to kill the third Koala, another green explosion happened and this time four of the creatures sprang from the remains. Without thinking, Matheus charged. He kicked the first monster, stabbed the second and was tackled to the ground by the two remaining, his knife flying away. Luckily, they were small enough he managed to embrace them both, and a strong squeeze was enough to finish them off. He wasn¡¯t unscathed, though. Blood dripped from his torso, where he had been bitten twice. He was insanely strong against those creatures, but every damage received put him close to defeat. He was already with only two thirds of his HP! And more Koalas were born, this time 3. They were coming faster and faster. It was pointless to keep on killing the minions. Matheus picked his knife, stored it and started climbing. The monsters came after him, however his level 3 climbing skill was enough to give him an advantage. Matheus still wasn¡¯t particularly fast or agile, but his grip was solid, and his instincts helped to choose the best way forward. He almost fell when a Koala grabbed his foot and stuck its fangs, but Matheus held on and thrashed his leg until it let go. He just needed to get a little higher, just a little bit closer. The Momma gave birth to 4 more Koalas, all the while screaming, eating and staring at Matheus intensely. He ran and jumped straight at it, aiming for its head, knife appearing on his hand. ¡°STABSTABSTAB¡± Matheus bellowed maniacally, creating holes into the monster¡¯s face. The creature raged, jerking uncontrollably from side to side. It kept slapping itself trying to take him off, but Matheus didn¡¯t care. He kept stabbing until his knife was smacked from his hand and Matheus was left unarmed. He quickly involved himself around its head like a snake, his leg partly inside the beast¡¯s mouth, and he pressed. He only stopped when the head exploded. This time, there was no cotton, only blood and brain, and a half dozen notifications. You¡¯ve killed a Koala Momma! You¡¯ve leveled up! You¡¯ve leveled up! You¡¯ve completed a quest! Return to the City Master. Stab has reached level 3! Death Hug has reached level 3! Climbing has reached level 4! He fell holding onto the Koala¡¯s corpse, managing to soften his fall. It still hurt If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The Stuffed Koala got so enraged, they started killing themselves the moment big momma exploded. Thanks to the Gods, because Mathes wasn¡¯t in a condition to keep fighting. He recovered most of his HP leveling up, but he felt extremely tired. After some minutes laying in the same position, Matheus got the simple herbs mix from his Inventory and ate in silence, filling his health a little more. Once that was done, he got up and started the hike back to the city. The smart thing to do was to go back to his safe cafe and recover the rest of his HP, but he was too anxious to finish the quest. It was his first quest, and he¡¯d bleed for it. He deserved the rewards. When he arrived, he went straight to the City Master. ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Matheus said the moment he got in front of him. The City Master seemed surprised to see Matheus back this soon, raising one eyebrow. Saying nothing, he started rummaging through his drawers. He picked the note Matheus had given to him earlier, officializing his decision to start the quest. He stared at him intensely until the paper combusted on flames, resting only ashes on his hand. The City Master nodded, satisfied. Did he just cast a spell of some type? What the heck. ¡°Here are 5 silver coins. Congratulations on completing your first quest. As an official contributing member of Tartaros, you¡¯re welcome to take your morning meal and your supper from the City Hall and rest in the Guilder¡¯s Inn. Do you want to accept your next quest?¡± ¡°Fuck no. I need some time first¡± It took Matheus some seconds to realize what he¡¯d said, and he quickly added ¡°sir¡±. The City Master didn¡¯t seem to care. ¡°As you wish. Now leave me be, because there¡¯s much work to be done.¡± Matheus was excited to check his reward, but the prospect of eating something that wasn¡¯t grass was even more attractive to him. He quickly went to the City Hall and took a portion of what was offered. Warm soup, with vegetables, bread and a piece of meat. The smell was incredible, and every bite was more delicious than the last. He savoured it happily, until he noticed he wasn¡¯t alone. There was a cat, looking at him with one hungry eye. He only had the right one, the left was an empty eye socket. As it approached, Matheus noticed it was also missing one leg. The cat was practically crawling. Matheus sighed. He cut his bread in half and gave it to the cat. It finished the meal in mere seconds, and stared, wanting more. Matheus hesitated, but ended up giving a piece of the meat too. The cat ate hungrily. ¡°There¡¯s nothing more.¡± Matheus said, showing his empty plate. He had been so hungry, he¡¯d finished most of the food by the time he saw the cat. The animal sat and started licking itself. After a while, Matheus decided to pet it, but the cat hissed and tried to scratch him, missing and falling to the ground. It hissed again and moved a few meters away, looking at him. ¡°I wasn¡¯t trying to hurt you.¡± He said, but the cat didn¡¯t answer. Maybe that was for the better. Now that he was full, Matheus let himself check the System. The money and food were nice, but the real prize was the notification that popped up when he officially finished the quest. You¡¯ve been rewarded with a Simple Skill! Are you ready to accept your reward? That was different. This was the first time the System was asking his permission before giving him something. Should he wait a little more? No. He¡¯d earned it. ¡°Yes¡± Matheus knew he didn¡¯t really need to say it out loud, but he was far enough from everyone else and it helped him feel in control. Three choices have been created! You have 30 seconds to decide. Tongue Whip! Echo Clap! Hand Launcher! What were those options? The System wasn¡¯t giving him any extra information. Tongue Whip just sounded gross. Would his tongue grow like a frog? Matheus shuddered. It could work as a surprise weapon, but there was no way he was choosing something like this without knowing exactly what it would do to him. Echo Clap had an interesting ring to it, but it was too vague for him to know if it could really be useful. Hand Launcher had a similar problem. Was it a powerful punch, or would his hand literally be launched at his enemies? Could he really cope with his body doing stuff like this? He desperately needed more power, but Matheus couldn¡¯t accept modifying himself. Not yet. He only had 2 more seconds to choose. ¡°Echo Clap¡± Matheus said quickly. He couldn¡¯t risk the time going off. The System could choose randomly, or worse, refuse the reward altogether. You¡¯ve been rewarded with the Echo Clap Skill. Skill Level: 1 Effects: Produces a powerful sound wave after clapping. It has a fifteen minutes cooldown. Well, it was definitely an improvement from his Death Hug. Should he spend his stats points before going to sleep? No, he¡¯d dealt with too much in a single day already. Better to go to bed. He had a room now, afterall. He could decide what to increase after practicing with his new skill. If he had some luck, it could be just what he needed. 13. The Lost Child Matheus didn¡¯t have any luck. He cursed himself, imagining what abilities he¡¯d wasted away. After eating his breakfast, he went straight to practicing with his new Echo Clap skill, anxious to test its capabilities. He had a very refreshing night, finally getting to sleep on a real bed after he¡¯d started his second life. It was definitely not what he expected. The sound wave was strong enough it reverberated for many yards, giving a small push to everything around him. However, it made his whole body vibrate uncontrollably for almost ten seconds, and he stayed with a ringing in his ears for minutes afterwards! He only had the courage to practice with it twice. His new skill wasn''t bad per se, just extremely uncomfortable. He of course would use it in a battle, but only after employing everything else he had. Daydreaming of the day he would manage to launch a fireball and do other cool things, Matheus decided to distribute his stat points. And had a very pleasant surprise. As usual, he only got 1 Skill and 1 Soul point when he went from level 4 to 5. But the System rewarded him with 2 of each when he got to level 6! He was able to make a lot of improvements. ¡°Assign 1 Skill Point to Strength, Speed and Agility, 2 Soul Points to Connection and another to Core¡±. He froze, an unexpected notification in front of him. Connection has reached level 5. You have a permanent upgrade available. Before he could react to it, Matheus found something grabbing his mind, pushing and pulling it and forming something new. He felt himself being dismantled and put together. Except, he wasn¡¯t the same this time. It all happened in a blink. He took a few seconds to compose himself, his head hurting. That hadn¡¯t been pleasant. Still, he knew it had been worth it. For reasons he couldn¡¯t explain, he understood exactly what had happened. The System or someone using the System had guided his mind to advance in the exact way he needed. It taught him how to connect to the things around on a deeper level, and how to keep impressions of his surroundings on his soul. Which meant, now he had a map of the region! That was a great upgrade! Matheus had developed a kind of mental map so far, tracking where he¡¯d found each type of monster in a not very precise area. Now, every place he had passed through was clearly visible in his mind. It also let him add his own notes, which he spent the next fifteen minutes doing. The areas he still hadn¡¯t visited still showed, but they had some type of black fog obscuring the view. There weren¡¯t many details he could gather, just a general idea of the terrain. He thought there was a mountain in the far South, yet he couldn¡¯t be sure. The only way of finding out was going there to check by himself. Well, if he was going exploring, he needed to accept his next quest first. No point in having no quest active. It was by far the fastest way to grow. This time, he wanted to get some magic. It was annoying not being able to access his Secret Stat, but somehow knowing he had MPs and no way to use it was way even more annoying. He looked through the options for a while, weighing the rewards against the risks. Unfortunately, a lot of quests talked about things he had never heard before, so it was difficult measuring the real difficulty of the tasks. At the end, he chose one that seemed to be what he needed. Find the lost child Reward: +1 Basic Spell That was it, not a single tip from the System. Maybe he could ask around? Luckily, Matheus had some places in mind he wanted to visit today. He had money to spend now, afterall. ¨C/¨C ¡°Please, do you have shoes?¡± Now that he already had a weapon, getting something to his feet was the number one priority on Matheus¡¯ items list. Yes, he had gotten used to being barefoot by now, but he still hated it. There was no point in denying himself some comfort. Getting to sleep on a real bed in the Guilder¡¯s Inn, even if it was one made of straws, had already been an incredible improvement of his situation. But it was still not enough. Now that he was among civilization, he would enjoy all it could offer. ¡°There are some on the lower shelf that might fit you. Made of good leather. Only 3 silver coins.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it,¡± Matheus answered immediately. Truth be told, he was prepared to give all his money for the shoes. Now that he had some to spare, he looked for the second thing on his list. A way to take some pressure from his Inventory. ¡°How much for it?¡± He asked, grabbing a backpack half hidden behind other goods. ¡°This old thing?¡± The man seemed to think for a while, caressing his chin. ¡°It¡¯s yours for 2 silver coins.¡± Now, that was just perfect. It had been getting troublesome, balancing his storage between the heads and his other belongings. Matheus never had enough space for everything he wanted to store on his Inventory. At least now he had an easier way to carry supplies, and maybe some food around. It would be great not having to go back every time he needed to recover HP. A skill, a map, shoes and a backpack. He honestly couldn¡¯t say which upgrade made him feel better. Today was a great morning! Just as he was about to leave, Matheus remembered he was supposed to gather information for his new quest. ¡°Actually, if I could bother you a little longer, I was wondering if you had any information about a lost child? I¡¯m on a quest trying to find him.¡± Matheus awkwardly asked, not knowing the right way to approach the subject. ¡°Oh. You mean Dina¡¯s boy.¡± The merchant¡¯s face darkened a little when he said that, but he kept his friendly posture. ¡°Dina?¡± ¡°Yeah. Nice lady, lives just two streets below. Her husband died some years ago, while out completing some Hunt. She sells sweets to care for her and her boy. I swear, her apple pie recipe is the best in the whole world. I mean, it was the best. She hasn¡¯t cooked anything since her kid disappeared.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Well, that was a lucky start. Maybe this quest wouldn¡¯t be so complicated after all. Truly a great morning. ¡°Where did you say she lives again?¡± ¨C/¨C Matheus tried knocking, and the door opened by itself. ¡°Hello? Is anyone there?¡± No answer. ¡°I¡¯m coming in, ok?¡± There, sitting alone on a small chair, there was a very fragile woman. She didn¡¯t look old, nor physically hurt, but Matheus had the impression a strong breeze could make her crumble away. She didn¡¯t move, not even acknowledge him when he entered. He could be a burglar, a murder or a debt collector, but she didn¡¯t seem to care. ¡°Are you ok?¡± Matheus asked once he got close enough. ¡°My son. Did you find my son?¡± She asked in a very low voice, her eyes focusing a little. ¡°No, ma¡¯am. I¡¯m sorry.¡± And again she was staring at the wall, her interest in Matheus all gone. ¡°But I¡¯m looking for him. There¡¯s no need to lose hope yet. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here, actually. Can you tell me how he disappeared?¡± She was silent again, and Matheus started to think it was best to leave. This was going nowhere, and this woman was barely responsive. ¡°He loved to play with rocks. It sounds stupid, I know, but he loved it. Some days he would get home, all excited about a funny shaped stone he¡¯d found, and he¡¯d talk about it for hours.¡± Matheus was the one silent now. She wasn¡¯t really answering his question, but could he really interrupt a grieving mother reminiscing about her son? ¡°His room was jammed with rocks, I had to forbid him to bring more, but he kept hiding it. He couldn¡¯t help himself.¡± She completed, giving the ghost of a smile. Suddenly, Matheus felt an ache on his heart and a strong urge to cry. Was his mother going through something similar? Did she even know what happened to him? He hoped someone was there for her. He couldn¡¯t bear the thought of leaving her all alone. ¡°Ma¡¯am,¡± Matheus found himself saying, still thinking of his own mother. ¡°I¡¯ll bring your son back to you. He will play with rocks again. I promise. But I need your help first, ok?¡± She didn¡¯t answer him. She did nothing, except stare. But her eyes had a faint gleam, like she was finally really here. Matheus didn¡¯t let her attention go away. ¡°Please, tell me what happened.¡± He insisted gently. ¡°It was late. He¡­Daniel was playing near the blue lake, looking for rocks as he always was. I was waiting for him to meet me in the market, but he never appeared. And that was very odd, because Daniel knows how worried I get¡­ but I thought maybe he¡¯d gotten a little carried away. It happened, sometimes. He would get distracted by things he thought were pretty.¡± Matheus listened. Now that she was talking, he was afraid to interrupt and take her back to her stupor. ¡°But it was late, and getting darker by the minute. I decided to go look for him. I asked everyone on the streets if they¡¯d seen Daniel, but none had seen him coming back from the blue lake.¡± She continued. Her voice, which had been emotionless this whole time, now had the distincts tone of despair. ¡°I got there, but couldn¡¯t find him. I shouted for him until my throat was dry, but no one answered.¡± ¡°Are you sure he was really on the lake?¡± Matheus asked when it was clear she wouldn¡¯t continue. ¡°The guards came after a while, and a search party was organized. This was the only thing they could find, just in the limits of the lake.¡± She said and pointed to a bag on the floor Matheus took it. Inside, there were many rocks, all with different colors and shapes. ¡°Thank you for telling me all this. I know it can¡¯t be easy, thinking about this day again. I will bring him back to you.¡± She was silent again. After some seconds, she went back to staring at the wall. There was nothing else for Matheus here. He now had a clue. The only problem was, it wasn¡¯t a very helpful one. If guards had searched for the boy and couldn¡¯t find him, what chances did he have? Well, repeating the obvious to himself would lead him nowhere. All this gathering of information took him longer than he expected, and it was already getting dark outside when he left her house. He decided to check a few other stores, to have a general idea of what the city could offer and to add more information to his map. When he went to get his dinner, he found the cat again, in the same spot as yesterday. It tried to grab people¡¯s attention, meowing to everyone who came closer. Matheus saw no one stopping to feed it. He came closer, cut his bread in half, put a slice of meat inside and showed it to the cat. It started coming to his direction on its awkward walk, half walking and half dragging itself. Matheus gave it the food, and they both ate together in silence. When it finished eating, the cat licked its paw and then came closer to Matheus, moving slowly. Once it got to him, it started rubbing against his leg, purring all the while. Matheus smiled, and slowly tried to pet the little creature one more time. The animal let him, giving him small head bumps. That was all it took, uh? A single day and some food and the cat was already letting his guard down, allowing a stranger to get close. Maybe Matheus could have done the same, years ago. Nowadays, he knew kindness was too often just a mask for cruelty. He thought about his promise to Dina. He had no way of knowing if he would succeed. Most likely, her son was long gone. Had he said what he said and given her hope only to make himself feel better? What a coward. The only thing he did was intensify her pain. That was beyond cruel. Matheus clenched his teeth in a mix of anger and determination. He couldn¡¯t let it be true. He wouldn¡¯t. He would keep his word and accept his responsibilities. He still didn¡¯t know the kind of person he was, nor the person he wanted to be. But he sure as hell knew the type of person he would never become. And no matter what happened, nothing would change that. 14. DUBAGUGAGUGA So far, Matheus didn¡¯t have any luck with his search. The Blue Lake was very easy to find. It was a short walk from the city, not 15 minutes away. First Matheus found odd a kid playing alone with that many monsters roaming around but he quickly learned there were regular expeditions done by other Hunters like him, in the form of quests. He couldn¡¯t understand those people. Their way of living didn¡¯t make a lot of sense for him. The more he thought about it the weirder it got. And Matheus didn¡¯t want to bring up the Contest with anyone again, until he was sure what they knew. He¡¯d started the day earlier today, wanting to make the best out of it. Once he got his breakfast from the City Hall, he saw the cat sleeping very near it, half hidden behind some bushes. Not being able to help himself, he called for the animal and gave it a portion of his food. Those few minutes of companionship made him feel more rested than the hours he spent on his new bed. Strange, how those things worked. He had spent the remaining of the day searching on a perimeter around the lake, trying to find the direction the boy could have gone. Something must have attracted his attention, and he either got trapped or kidnapped by some creature. After hours of wandering, he had no clues. Even with his new shoes, his feet were starting to hurt a little. Matheus stopped, took his backpack from his back and got a Herb Mix. An idea occurred to him. Matheus took his backpack and stored it into his Inventory. It only used one space! He took it off, and tried putting more items inside it. Again, it was using only one space. That would make his life a lot easier. The only disadvantage was, he wouldn¡¯t be able to quickly summon anything inside his backpack. But that was ok. He still had enough space left to carry other items. Matheus had barely finished experimenting with his backpack when a sudden noise startled him. Something¡­ No, many things were coming in his direction. Without a better strategy, he hid behind a tree, putting the boulder he carried next to himself. He stayed low, waiting. Matheus watched as half a dozen of dog sized spiders crossed just a few meters from him. When he got the chance, he analyzed one. Giant Widow - Level: 9 They mourn by insatiably eating fresh flesh. Health: 22/22, Mana: 4/4 One bite is enough to paralyze their prey . They always hunt in groups. Matheus'' blood went cold. Those monsters were way too dangerous for him. He remained a statue, not even breathing. Even after they had disappeared from his field of vision, he waited a whole minute to move again. Once he finally did, System notifications flooded his vision. Hiding has reached level 5! Skill Advancement has been reached! You have three options! Sneaking Makes it easier to avoid trouble by getting through someone unnoticed. Blending For situations where you need to quickly disappear. Spying Find your enemies secrets before they even know about you. Matheus didn¡¯t know what to choose. He was thankful there was no timer this time, otherwise he would¡¯ve panicked. He was still wary of those spiders, but since he was waiting for them to get further away, he could as well decide on his advancement. All three options could help him in different ways. He wasn¡¯t expecting such straightforward, useful descriptions. Now, he had to decide what he needed the most: to avoid fights, to have more chances getting out of a fight, or to prepare for the fights before they happened? Matheus was inclined to go with the Spying skill. Gathering information had helped him many times. Still, a Blending skill could save his life if he got too overwhelmed. Probably not right away, but if the skills could advance at level 5, there was a high chance they would advance again. If it was improved enough, it could be an invaluable asset. And yet, a Sneaking skill sounded like something a dagger wielder should have. ¡°Dubagugaguga?¡± Matheus startled, turning to find something standing a few meters away, clearly watching him. The thing had five arms, but only 1 leg. It was very hairy, brown and the size of Matheus¡¯ head, and its body was round like a coconut. In fact, it wasn¡¯t fur, but coir covered every part of it. ¡°DUBAGUGAGUGA!¡± The beast screamed. It attacked him before he could analyze its soul. In one leap, the monster crossed through all the five meters separating them and was on top of him, spinning. Even this close, Matheus could see no visible eyes, only a distorted mouth. It was just a ball with limbs. He barely dodged it, slashing blindly. Miraculously, he hit it. His knife made a clanging sound, like he had just stabbed a wall. Matheus was caught so off guard, he couldn¡¯t hold his knife and watched as it flew away. Then he felt his face being smacked by all sides. -1HP -2HP -1HP -2HP -1HP - 1HP He fell with his back on a tree behind him, dazed. In just a single passing, the monster had managed to punch him half a dozen times. What the fuck was that. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. And worst of all, he was now unarmed. ¡°DUBAGUGAGUGA!¡± The creature was at him again, fists flying. Matheus threw himself to the floor and rolled, panic surging through him. Before he was fully on his feet, he had to duck as the monster passed flying over his head. He still had his inventory full of Stuffed Koala¡¯s heads. He had been too wary of leaving them in his room, afraid someone would find out about it. They were probably worthless for him now, after he killed the Momma Koala, but he wasn¡¯t about to just throw away items he had worked hard to get. He was still hoping he would be able to sell or trade it for something later on. Now, they were all the weapons he had. Damn him for not keeping a branch in reserve. As it attacked again, Matheus picked a head and smashed it on the monster. It did him little good. ¡°DUBAGUGAGUGA!¡± The beast went through it like it was nothing. Even before the head touched him, it had already punched it so many times only small bits of fur remained. It hopped at him again, and Matheus dodge to the left. Thanks to the Gods it had only one leg and couldn¡¯t run at him, otherwise it wouldn¡¯t be this easy to dodge its attacks. A strike on the back of his head took him to the floor again. -2HP It had hit him as he escaped. Its many arms were giving it an incredible reach, and it was predicting Matheus¡¯s moves. Fuck. He needed to run. Matheus threw himself to the side just as the creature attacked again. He couldn¡¯t waste time, his life was dangerously low already. Just a few more hits, and he would be done. Matheus started running straight ahead, not caring about where he was going. After 5 steps, he changed directions and felt as the creature flew mere inches behind him. ¡°DUBAGUGAGUGA!¡± Should he try climbing? There was no way he would get high enough before the monster finished him. Matheus ducked to the right and rolled, again avoiding the monster more for luck than skill. He wasn¡¯t getting any far from it. He couldn¡¯t keep up, all this dashing around quickly tiring him. His body was begging for a rest. Then he saw it, his knife on the ground, only a small distance in front of him. Matheus rushed to it. Only a few more steps, and he would have a chance. -1HP -2HP -1HP -1HP -2HP It leaped straight to his back, caughting him off guard. Matheus fell on all fours, pain soaring through his body. He watched as the creature landed ahead, turned, and jumped. ¡°DUBAGUGAGUGA!¡± No other choice. Before it could reach him, Matheus clapped his hand as hard as he could. ¡°ECHO CLAP¡± He shouted and prepared himself. A sound wave exploded, stopping the monster midair. Matheus'' whole body trembled like a bell, his teeth chattering. He felt dizzy. But he was alive. The weird ball lay in front of him, pulling its hair and rolling on the ground. It looked miserable. His Echo Clap had not only defended him, it had affected the monster¡¯s head. It seemed to have hated it much more than Matheus had. Matheus got up, and went to his knife. He had only this chance. He got closer, and slashed the monster¡¯s leg. It was enough to cut it clean off. ¡°DUBAGUGAGUGA!¡± It screamed again, but the tone was different now. It was full of confusion and hurt. It tried to move away, but it could only slowly drag itself. Matheus slashed again, followed by another scream. The creature¡¯s sorrow echoed in the forest, a little weaker after every cut. ¡°Dubagu¡­gagu¡­ga¡± When Matheus finished with the last arm, its howls almost sounded like sobs. You¡¯ve killed a One-Legged Coconut! You¡¯ve unlocked the Slash Skill Echo Clap has reached level 2 Slash - Acquired Skill The fine art of slashing with a sharp object Matheus wouldn¡¯t call a ¡°fine art¡± maiming something to its death. This time, he didn¡¯t feel excited about getting a new skill. He felt tired, and nothing else. He stared at the mutilated coconut. Was this the monster that had gotten to the child? He doubted, since there were no changes within his quest. It didn¡¯t surprise him the kid went missing. Why the fuck was he playing alone when there were things like this around? It made no sense. And where was the head for him to keep? The whole thing was just a ball. The system allowed him to store the whole body on his Inventory, and he did just that. He had no idea if his Skull Collector skill would work this way, but it was worth the shot. He started the walk back to the village. If there was a ¡°Kill a One-Legged Coconut¡± quest he had missed, Matheus would be pissed. 15. Pointless Searches Sneaking Makes it easier to avoid trouble by getting through someone unnoticed. Skill Level: 1 Effects: Gives a 5% less chance of others looking at your direction when you are trying to hide, plus a 15% higher chance of them deciding nothing is wrong when they look at you. Matheus ate his bread, considering his new skill. Part of him wondered if he¡¯d make the right choice. Nonetheless, he was satisfied with what he got. He chewed on his food, while the cat happily ate his portion right next to him. Matheus had started some kind of routine with it. Every morning after waking up, and every evening after his grinding of the day was done, he would get his food and seat on the far corner of the hall, while the cat waited. It always gave a happy meow when Matheus approached. Then, they would eat together, and the cat would come and sit on his lap, purring. It was nice. Matheus never had a pet before. He had always liked animals, but never had an opportunity to adopt one, since his mother was terribly allergic. He petted the cat¡¯s little head with gentle rubs. It looked at him with its one eye, radiating happiness. Was this really all it needed? Maybe the little creature wasn¡¯t used to getting attention. Some people had weird prejudices. Matheus wondered how the cat ended up like this. Was it an unfortunate accident, or the consequence of a twisted joke from some malicious people? He knew well how people could get mean for no reason whatsoever. He remembers when he almost lost an eye when they tied him to a tree to use as an aiming target. From the bottom of his heart, Matheus hoped nothing similar had happened to the poor cat. It finally closed its eye and got comfy on his lap. Its purring slowly changed to a rhythmical snoring, and Matheus was careful to not make any sudden movements and disturb the tiny animal. Matheus knew this was just a temporary situation. There was no way he could keep the cat and work towards his goal. But it was nice. Having a true friend, for the first time. Even if it was just for a short period. Matheus finished his breakfast and started the walk to the lake. When he got his food this morning, he¡¯d been warned that if he didn¡¯t complete another quest soon, they would stop feeding him and he would be kicked out of the Inn. Apparently, the city would only use its resources on him if he made steady progress. Matheus still had no idea where the boy was. More and more, he was feeling choosing this quest was the wrong move. He was no detective! And the boy had disappeared days ago. Even if Matheus managed to find him, there wouldn¡¯t be anything more than a corpse. In the meantime, Matheus was wasting precious time instead of focusing on his development. Didn¡¯t he promise himself he would do everything it took, no more fucking around? But every time he thought about going back to the Quest Master, Dina¡¯s blank stare would come to his mind. Her completely disconnect with the world, her utterly lack of hope. And every time, Matheus would see his mother in her place. And his heart would break a little bit. It was still too soon to give up. Yesterday, he went back to his cave, stored the heads safely on a far corner and cooked as many Simple Herbs Mix as he could. Now that he had a backpack, he could have some meals ready to go, allowing him to recover his HP whenever he wanted. He also filled it with some branches and small rocks, careful to not put too much weight. He kept the One-Legged Coconut body, his knife and some Human sized boulders on his Inventory. Enough to give him confidence to go hunting. Again he was at the blue lake, trying to find something different. He had no real hope of finding a new clue, but he kept looking through everything. Under the leaves, on the top of trees. Everywhere. But there was nothing. Strangely, he didn¡¯t get any new levels in his procrastination skill. He figured by now, the System would be telling him to stop wasting time. Was this a sign that he was on the right track? Or was he just grasping at straws? Mostly likely the latter. Well, since he was here, he might as well work on some of his skills. By now, it was obvious it was incredibly worth it to get his skills and his Soul Stats to level 5. His natural next step was to work on his Climbing. Matheus chose a tall tree, with enough branches he could easily pull himself up, and started the process to get into the top of it. Once there, he let himself hang only by his legs, swung a little bit, and waited for something to happen. When nothing changed, he got down and repeated everything on the next tree. After doing it a few times, he decided the branches were close enough he could try jumping from one tree to another. He was getting tired of going all the way up every time. He aimed and let himself fly, grabbing the branch the moment he passed by it. It broke, and Matheus screamed as the ground got closer and closer. He managed to grab a vine in his desperation and found himself holding onto the tree with only one hand, the floor just a few meters away. Climbing has reached level 5! Skill Advancement has been reached! Matheus grinned as he pulled himself up and laid down on the thick branch. He¡¯d almost fucked up, but it was worth it. He got as comfortable as he could get and read the full notification. You have three options! Grappler Start climbing into your enemies! Parkour Don¡¯t just get from point A to point B, look cool while doing it! Hang in there! Even if it¡¯s just by a finger, you refuse to give up! Again, the System was giving him crazy options. The grappler sounded like an attack skill, not at all related to climbing. Not that he was complaining. It just seemed a little random. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Should he choose it? But then, what would help with all his skill climbing trees? Would he get worse, losing the extra stats? He didn¡¯t want to hurt his movement capacities. Parkour sounded dope. Matheus had tried it in the past, only to be recorded falling on his ass. But a high level of parkour would let him do amazing stuff. Hang in there also didn¡¯t sound bad. Matheus couldn¡¯t be sure if it was about having a strong grip, or something more. Some kind of motivational power He pondered for a while, but in the end, he could have chosen nothing else. ¡°Parkour!¡± He said excitedly. Parkour Don¡¯t just get from point A to point B, look cool while doing it! Skill Level: 1 Effects: Increases 15% of precision when going for jumps, 25% less likely to injure itself when falling, 30% more chance to look impressive even if you do! Alright, that sounded amazing. And the skill was only level 1! It had a lot of potential. Of course, Matheus decided to test it immediately. He was already some three meters high on a tree, he might just as well get down with style. Matheus ran and threw himself to the ground, aiming on a part with more grass. Just when he was about to hit it, he let himself rotate forward, going along with the fall. He rolled, not stopping until he found himself lying on the grass, facing the sky. He laughed. He didn¡¯t remember the last time he¡¯d had fun doing something so silly. And by chance, he got something very useful out of it. When he was there on the air, he catched a glimpse of something coming from the lake. He got up and walked around the lake, looking for it again. There was¡­something, shining deep under the water. The water was blurring it a little, but Matheus could still see it. He squinted, trying to get a better view. It was hidden among rocks, almost invisible. Pure luck made him look in the exact right direction at the right time. He got as close as he could, without getting into the water. It was very small, the size of one of his fingers. It was a small rock, colorful and shiny. Matheus suddenly understood. All this time, he had been searching for a corpse. The kid had found the same rock, and drowned trying to reach it. There was no elaborated scheme, no terrible monster. Just a stupid accident. But then, where was the body? It couldn¡¯t have floated, otherwise it¡¯d been discovered by now. Maybe it got stuck on some roots underwater, but the lake didn¡¯t look deep enough to hide a whole kid. Matheus didn¡¯t receive any notification from his Quests Tab. Was he wrong on his assumptions? Or maybe it would only be over after he found the kids'' remains? He shuddered. He wasn¡¯t looking forward to going back to Dina¡¯s house. But after all those days, he couldn¡¯t just leave it without getting a reward. He needed his first spell, and he would do what was needed to get it. Matheus started undressing. He didn¡¯t get completely naked, but he took off his shirt and shorts. He had only one pair of clothes, and he didn¡¯t want to walk around completely wet afterwards. He put everything inside his backpack, then into his Inventory. Wearing only his boxers, Matheus entered the lake. He didn¡¯t dive in, he had been afraid of doing that since he read a book about a guy being paralyzed from his neck down after hitting a rock. He let his body slowly get used to the cold water until he was fully submerged. He started swimming to the direction of the rock. The lake wasn¡¯t crystal clear, but Matheus could see enough. He couldn¡¯t see a body anywhere. He finally approached the shiny thing and decided to submerge to grab it. At this point, the lake was a few meters deep. He¡¯d known how to swim since he was a little kid, though, and got to it in no time. He reached for the object, stretching his hand. Something stopped him. A hand came out of nowhere and grabbed Matheus arm before he could touch it. Dozens of eyes opened on the ground, all staring at him. Matheus was so stunned he gasped, water filling his lungs. What the fuck was happening? The ground trembled, and dozens of legs emerged and started moving, dragging him deeper into the lake. He pushed, but the arm was strong and he was slow. He needed to get away. Summoning his knife, he managed to cut the hand holding him. It released its grip. But the surface, where was it? He couldn¡¯t see it. He needed to breathe now, the pressure on his head was almost unbearable. He¡­ what was that? Matheus started swimming with all he had, forward instead of upward. He started receiving notifications, his HP rapidly decreasing. He entered the underwater cave just as he could no longer hold it. Matheus threw himself on the ground, panting heavily. A little longer, and he¡¯d have drowned. He stayed there for a while, just recovering his breath. When he felt ok, he checked his surroundings. And that was when he finally noticed. There was a little kid, sitting on the far left. He hugged himself, and looked extremely weak. He had been staring at him, almost no light on his eyes. ¡°Hi¡± He said, voice barely a whisper. Quest Updated! You¡¯ve found the lost child. New objective: Don¡¯t die in this cave! 16. New Hope ¡°How long have you been down here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I tried counting the time, but I lost track a long time ago. It¡¯s difficult when there¡¯s no sunlight.¡± Daniel finally told him, after finishing his herbs mix. This was the last mix Matheus had, and he let the kid eat it. He looked miserable, and Matheus couldn¡¯t guess when it had been his last meal. Silence took over them. ¡°Sorry I don¡¯t have anything to drink.¡± Matheus said after a while. The kid pointed to a stalagmite dripping water, creating a small puddle on a far corner. ¡°The water there is not bad. We can drink it from there.¡± Matheus nodded. He tried to find comforting words, but they wouldn¡¯t come. ¡°I miss my mom.¡± Daniel said, tears forming in his eyes. ¡°She also misses you. Soon you¡¯ll be together again.¡± Matheus said with a gentle tone. The boy didn¡¯t seem to believe him. What was this place? It¡¯d all happened so fast. He knew underwater caves were possible, but he¡¯d never encountered one before. He decided to check the whole place, to see if there was another way out. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Daniel asked, a frightened look on his face. ¡°I¡¯ll just take a better look around. Don¡¯t worry, I won''t be far.¡± It took only a few minutes to walk through everything. The cave was full of bones. Remains of past victims, most probably. No wonder the boy didn¡¯t want to be alone anymore. It was a terrifying place. Besides that, there wasn¡¯t much. The only way in and out was going through that creature full of eyes and limbs. Matheus approached the entrance, to take a better look at it. ¡°Don¡¯t go to the water, the monster will get you!¡± Daniel exclaimed, his voice full of despair. ¡°I know, but I¡¯ll be careful. I just need to get a better view at that thing. I won¡¯t do anything too dangerous.¡± At least, not yet. Matheus cautiously entered the water, dipped his head and analyzed his adversary. Rockling - Level: 12 If you come too close, it will get you and hold until you drown. Health: 32/32, Mana: 0/0 Fun fact: When a rockling is born, the siblings kill each other until there¡¯s only one left! Matheus'' heart dropped. This was by far the strongest creature he¡¯d seen. It was double his level! Damnit, he would never swim fast enough to get past it before it reached for him. He would have to fight it. But how? He couldn¡¯t really clap underwater, and his strikes had no strength. The monster would have him in seconds. It didn¡¯t matter how he looked at it, that would be suicide. Had he found the boy, just to die together with him? Maybe there was a way to make it come to him. But Daniel had been here for days, and the creature still waited for him to die. It wasn¡¯t stupid. It knew it didn¡¯t need to attack them, just defend its position. It would come to feast when they were corpses, incapable of offering resistance. Matheus couldn¡¯t think about anything. He did his best to come up with a plan, and yet he knew there was nothing he could do. Hours passed, and he was getting close to admitting defeat. He would either die of starvation in the cave, or drowning trying to get out. Stupidly, Matheus thought about the cat. Was it looking for him? It seemed irresponsible of him, to make it trust him and count on him, only for him to disappear. His eyes had got used to the darkness by now, and the boy¡¯s breathing was the only sound in the cave. Matheus let his vision wander, trying to come up with a plan, until it rested on the pile of bones that was at the bottom of the cave. A skull stared back at him. Matheus got up, startling the boy. He got closer to the broken skeletons and started analyzing them. He found what he was looking for on his third try. Rockling Head Like most of its species, it was killed right after it was born. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Matheus grinned. ¡°I¡¯m getting us out of here. I think.¡± Matheus grabbed his first head, and kept looking for more. Some skeletons belonged to humans, others were from monsters he had not yet seen, but there were enough rockling¡¯s corpses for him to fill his inventory. Six skulls, each giving him a 21,25% strength bonus. A total of 127,5%. Would that be enough against a monster double his level? He didn¡¯t even know if his Skull Collector skill would work for monsters he didn¡¯t kill. He could just as well be going for his death. But he couldn¡¯t think of anything else. Part of Matheus was trying to hold him back. It whispered for him to be just like Daniel, hidden in a dark corner, hoping it was all a dream. Do nothing and wait for rescue to come. Except, he knew no one was coming. And long ago he¡¯d learned how real nightmares could be. One more time, he walked towards the cave entrance. ¡°Please, no. Don¡¯t leave me alone. I can¡¯t be alone anymore, I can¡¯t.¡± The kid cried, throwing himself at Matheus and grabbing his torso. ¡°I¡¯ll be back very soon, I promise.¡± Matheus said, trying to calm him down. Would he really be back? It all still felt like a dumb idea. He could only hold his breath for like half a minute. And yet, he knew that waiting would only make things more difficult. Without food, soon all his strength would leave him. It was now or never. Matheus started swimming in the Rockling¡¯s direction. The creature noticed him coming, and half a dozen eyes opened and watched him. They seemed to dare Matheus to come closer. And without hesitation, he did just that. When he was close enough, the creature''s many legs sprouted and it rushed to his direction. Soon two hands appeared and grabbed his arms, immobilizing him. Matheus put his feet on the monster¡¯s face, grabbed the hands back and pulled. Even underwater, his yank was strong enough to rip the creature¡¯s hands off. Dark blood started filling the water. Now hurt, the monster tried to get away, but Matheus wouldn¡¯t let it. He grabbed another of its many arms and held firm, his grip strong enough the creature could barely move. He took his knife from his inventory and started stabbing eyes. It was all over in a few seconds. You¡¯ve killed a Rockling! You¡¯ve leveled up! You¡¯ve leveled up! Stab has reached level 4! Skull Collector has reached level 3 When he swam back to the cave, he wasn¡¯t even out of breath. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°All this blood¡­¡± The kid looked horrified. ¡°It¡¯s ok. Not a single drop is mine.¡± Replied Matheus, realizing he was indeed covered in dripping red water. ¡°The monster is gone. Now let me take you home.¡± ¨C/¨C ¡°But¡­how?¡± The city master asked, stupefied. ¡°There is a cave inside the lake. He had been down there this whole time.¡± Matheus simply said. They had arrived in the city a few minutes prior, for the total astonishment of the guards at the gate. The boy was taken to the infirmary right away, while Matheus went to the city hall to complete his quest. ¡°A cave inside the lake? How is that possible?¡± ¡°It''s just the way the world is.¡± Matheus answered with a shrug. It wasn¡¯t like he understood the physics behind it anyway. The city master gave him a weird look, and Matheus started getting nervous. A loud meow echoed behind him. The cat came running, and started rubbing Matheus¡¯ legs desperately. In its haste, it kept falling to the ground, only to get up and start over. ¡°Hey. I was only a few hours late,¡± Matheus said, using the opportunity to get away from the city master. ¡°Meow.¡± It answered. Matheus petted its head, then picked the animal. It looked at him, affection and accusation on its one eye. ¡°I¡¯m not leaving you alone. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Matheus said, while putting it on his shoulder and walking. The cat didn¡¯t seem to mind. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve never had a pet before. I had always wanted one, but my mom has severe allergies.¡± The cat seemed to know Matheus was talking to him, because the purring became stronger. ¡°I remember a time when I found a little dog on the street, on my way back home. Just a little puppy, with big round eyes. He tried to follow me back home, and it broke my heart to leave him behind.¡± ¡°The next day, I passed through the same street, and there he was. And I swear, he recognized me! He came running to my direction, wagging his tail all the while.¡± Matheus kept going, while petting the little cat¡¯s head. ¡°That day, I¡¯d decided to name him. I thought for a while, and finally ended up with ¡°Bark¡±. It was my first time naming anything, and I admit it was kind of a silly name. Still, it felt special. I was officializing our relationship that way. It felt right.¡± ¡°I started buying dog food with my allowance, and some days I would play with Bark for hours. He even answered when I said his name.¡± ¡°This was right after the whole ¡°King of Losers¡± thing started. In the beginning, it wasn¡¯t that bad, but it escalated quickly. Everyone got meaner and meaner.¡± Matheus could help clench his fists. He never liked talking about the bullying. It changed nothing, and it drained him of all energy. But he kept going. ¡°Bark was the only thing I had going for me those days. A little happiness, in the middle of all the pain.¡± ¡°Until one day, I couldn¡¯t find him. I searched for hours, everywhere I could think of. He was nowhere to be seen.¡± ¡°The next day, some kids cornered me after school. They told me they knew about the dog, and they had made sure I couldn¡¯t do my ¡°filthy things¡± with him any longer. They laughed, and tried to make my cry. I just felt numb.¡± ¡°I never found out what happened to Bark. I prayed for days, begging God or whatever to ensure my dog was safe. I hoped those boys had only taken him somewhere else, maybe someone had even adopted him and he was now living a warm and happy life. Happier than he could have been with me.¡± ¡°I needed to believe that. I couldn¡¯t accept the alternative¡±. ¡°Afterwards, I never let myself get closer to any other animal. I don¡¯t think I could handle being responsible for the suffering of someone else again. Nor letting someone get close, only to be taken away. I am not sure I would be able to handle that even now.¡± Matheus took a deep breath, the small creature still looking at him affectionately, like he was the most important person in the whole world. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be fair, would it? For me to walk away now. Not after making you care for me.¡± ¡°You deserve a name. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t call you ¡°meow.¡± Said Matheus with a small chuckle. ¡°What about¡­Captain? The moment he said it, a new System notification popped up. You¡¯ve met the requirements to bond this animal as your familiar. Warning! Every Champion only gets one familiar, choose wisely. Double Warning! Due to your Vassals attribute you can ignore the last warning. He could bond this cat as his familiar? Matheus felt an uncontrollable rage coming over him. If the System was allowing that, it was because it considered the cat as a ¡°loser¡±. It had been pretty clear on what the restrictions were. He wouldn¡¯t let a voice on his head dictate someone¡¯s worth. Fuck the system and whoever created it. He looked at Captain, licking himself. Should he really do it? A familiar could be of great help, but Matheus had no idea how this poor creature could be of any use in a fight. Mostly likely, he would have to protect and care for him. Well, if not him, who else would? Wasn¡¯t he just about to accept the responsibility of taking care of the cat? Matheus confirmed it. He felt¡­something, going through his whole body and connecting him with the little one. A warm feeling. It was nice. Matheus also noticed a new tab was available on his System. He checked the information straight away. Familiars! Powerful creatures, if you manage to build a strong enough relationship, your bond is stable enough you can start getting stronger together! Captain - Cat Level: 3 Health: 8/8, Mana: 0/0 Stats Strength: 3, Speed: 3, Agility: 3, Intelligence: 1, Constitution: 2 Skills Scratch If there¡¯s a cat around, get used to it Skill Level: 2 Effects: A powerful close range attack. A scratch attack, as expected. But Matheus had no idea how Captain would be able to do it with only one arm. Well, he wasn¡¯t expecting much anyway. Either way, he had another important notification to deal with before the day ended. You¡¯ve been rewarded with a simple spell. Are you ready to accept your reward? It looked like this quest reward would be done in the same way as the last one. No point in postponing in. ¡°Yes.¡± Matheus confirmed. Three choices have been created! You have 30 seconds to decide. Roses Field! Spoon! Bubble Ball! What the fuck was a Spoon spell? As usual, Matheus had no idea what his best option was. Roses Field might be some kind of boost, or a healing magic? Or perhaps it¡¯s related to their thorns. Spoon could be anything, really. And Bubble Ball¡­ it sounded weak. But it might be a long range attack, which he was still lacking. Either way, it would be a bet. He might end up with something really good, or another useless skill. Matheus made his choice just as the timer was about to run out. He only hoped he wouldn¡¯t end up regretting it. 17. New Beginnings You¡¯ve been rewarded with the Bubble Ball Spell. Spell Level: 1 Effects: Launches a small ball of water and soup to the pointed direction Cost: 1 MP Matheus decided to practice with his new spell right away. Together with Captain he found a quiet place and got ready to start doing some magic. He aimed a finger to a tree a few yards away, controlled his breath and fired. ¡°Bubble Ball¡± Matheus cried, as the energy concentrated in front of his finger and a small ball of mana was created, moving like tempestuous waves. It launched to the tree direction and exploded. The tree didn¡¯t move, but it was now covered in water and soup ¡°Hell yeah¡± Matheus exclaimed. Sure, the result was a little disappointing, but it was still freaking magic, something he¡¯d been looking forward to since he started on his adventure. Captain hissed at him. Apparently it didn¡¯t like his new spell as much as him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I promise I¡¯m never firing at you. Matheus fired 5 more times, until his mana finally ran out. At his recovery rate, it would take him 1 hour and 24 minutes to have it at full capacity again, but that was ok. He tested the distance, impact and many other variables from the spell. It wasn¡¯t impressive in any area, if he was being honest. But that was also ok. It was freaking magic. ¡°It¡¯s amazing, isn¡¯t it? Using magic for the first time¡±. Matheus startled. Turning around, he recognized the redhead he saw the first time he got in the city, the one who wielded two swords. Had Matheus been so distracted with his practice he failed to notice him coming? Or had the guy used some stealth technique? He couldn¡¯t let his guard down. And he had just drained his whole MP. Fucking great. ¡°I remember when I got my first spell. I spent the whole night burning random objects, completely fascinated.¡± The guy continued with a friendly smile. He waited for an answer, but when Matheus didn¡¯t say anything, he decided to continue. ¡°I¡¯ve been keeping my eye on you for a while. It¡¯s nothing personal, I keep my eye on everyone in the city, truth be told.¡± He added after seeing Matheus¡¯s shocked reaction. ¡°Alright¡­¡± Matheus finally said, still not nothing where this conversation was going. ¡°Sorry, I think I may be causing the wrong impression.¡± The guy straightened, face turning more serious. ¡®You ended those annoying Stuffed Koalas, and you saved little Daniel. Those were very impressive feats.¡± ¡°Thanks¡±. Matheus simply said. ¡°I¡¯m Dylan.¡± He said, nodding his head in a greeting. ¡°I¡¯m Matheus.¡± ¡°I know. Daniel told me all about how you saved him. A great start for someone¡¯s legend, don¡¯t you think?¡± Matheus felt himself blushing, and tried to hide it. What did this guy want? He was trying his best not to show how uncomfortable he was. ¡°I was just completing the quest.¡± ¡°Of course. You know, we sometimes partner up, in order to deal with the more complicated quests. Things that are too much for one person. It would be great having you join us one of those days. Was that really it? Did Dylan come here just to give him compliments and an invitation? It could be a trap. It had always been a trap in the past. Matheus Analyzed him again, and noticed he had gone only 1 level up since the day Matheus first came into the city. In the meantime, Matheus had leveled up 4 times. That seemed a little odd, but it made sense higher levels would take more time. Still, only 1 level in all this time. He couldn¡¯t let his progress be this slow. When Matheus started thinking about the possibility of accepting Dylan¡¯s offer, a new notification popped up. Due to your Lose Court Curse you are unable to partner up with this person. And just like that, all his dreams were shattered again. How did he let himself forget about that? ¡°Thank you, but I¡¯ve gotten used to working alone.¡± Was all Matheus managed to answer. He saw no point in explaining any further. Dylan looked disappointed, but he didn¡¯t insist on it. He gave another friendly smile and a small nod. ¡°As you wish. But if you ever change your mind, feel free to meet with us at the city hall.¡± Dylan said, turning and walking away. Captain had watched their whole interaction in silence, and gave a questioning meow when they finished. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t forget about you.¡± Matheus said, petting his head. Putting Captain on his shoulder, Matheus walked through the city. Neither Matheus nor the cat were really comfortable with this arrangement, but that was the best they could do. Matheus was planning on looking into something better as soon as he had the chance. But first, he needed to check the limits of his curse. While they walked, Matheus analyzed everyone he saw, but the results were always the same. Due to your Lose Court Curse you are unable to partner up with this person. Due to your Lose Court Curse you are unable to partner up with this person. Due to your Lose Court Curse you are unable to partner up with this person. He tried with dozens of different people, but the notification never changed. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Stupid curse. Was there really no one in this whole city eligible to be his vassal? ¡°Hey you.¡± Matheus heard a familiar voice behind him. He noticed the same person who tried to scam him days ago approaching. ¡°I¡¯ve heard you are doing quite well. Splendid! I knew you had the potential the moment I put my eyes on you.¡± What was his name again? Rick something. ¡°You surely have a bright future ahead! And having that in mind, I am willing to generously lower the price for my apprenticeship even more. This guy was unbelievable. He was trying the same story twice. Was he really that desperate? What type of person could be this shameless? Matheus was about to give an excuse to get away, when realization took place. Oh no. Fucking no. He thought angrily, knowing the answer even before the System confirmed it. Rick - Human No Title Level: 4 You are able to partner up with this person. Do you want to start a party or make a vassal offer? Of course, Matheus would get only the scum of Earth. With his humour soured, he left, not even bothering to answer. Walking away, he looked at his familiar resting on his shoulder. Well, maybe not only the scum. There were exceptions. He petted the cat gently on the head. There was one more thing to deal with before leaving. Now that they are bonded, Captain didn¡¯t want to be left behind, however he wasn¡¯t able to follow Matheus for long. He still wasn¡¯t sure if it would work out, but now that he had accepted the little creature as his familiar, it was his responsibility to ensure a good life for him. He entered the store and put Captain on the floor. The cat stretched and it started licking its paw. ¡°Oh, nice seeing you again, lad. How is that backpack working for you?¡± Said the shopkeeper seeing him approach. ¡°It¡¯s been very helpful.¡± ¡°Good, good. Never once a client got disappointed with the quality of the products we sell here. Never once!¡± Matheus nodded and offered a tired smile. ¡°And who is the little creature hiding behind you? I fancy I have seen him around before¡± ¡°He is the reason I am here. I need something to carry him around.¡± The shopkeeper looked pensive for a moment, then loudly snapped his fingers and opened a chest behind the counter. A few seconds later, he presented a green cloak to Matheus. The fabric was very thin, and it seemed almost weightless. ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°Put it on.¡± The shopkeeper simply said. Matheus obeyed. It fit perfectly. He noticed it ended with a hood, and he imagined rangers from medieval times wearing something similar. He wished he had a mirror. He¡¯d always dreamt of wearing something similar. ¡°Now, lower the hood.¡± Finally understanding, Matheus got down and locked eyes with Captain. As if he could read Matheus¡¯s mind, he got close enough to jump on his hood, where he laid in a comfortable position. That would do. Captain was light enough for Matheus to carry, and he could easily jump away if Matheus got involved in a fight. ¡°How much for it?¡± ¡°12 Silver Coins¡± ¡°That¡¯s 4 times what I paid for the backpack!¡± ¡°Well, of course. The backpack wasn¡¯t Enchanted. Have you Analyzed it?¡± Uncommon Scouting Cloak. +2 Agility +1 Speed Matheus counted his coins. It would take him 1, maybe 2 more quests until he managed to gather this much. ¡°Do you have anything less expensive?¡± ¡°How much do you have?¡± Matheus showed his 6 coins. On his hood, Captain snored softly. The shopkeeper nodded, grabbed the coins and smiled. ¡°Take it.¡± ¡°Really? But why?¡± Matheus asked, not managing to hide his excitement. ¡°During the past few days, many hunters started the quest to find Dina¡¯s boy, only to give up on it after the first few hours. They say they are here to protect the people, deal with the stuff the common folk can¡¯t, but that ain¡¯t true.¡± ¡°What they really want is to get better rewards and more experience to get strong enough to get away from here. They can¡¯t waste time in fruitless pursuits.¡± He stopped and looked Matheus in the eyes. ¡°You searched for Daniel for days.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± was all Matheus said. ¡°Just don¡¯t expect to be paying half the price again. From now on, always the full price.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± ¡°Well, then what are you still waiting there for? If you are going to take it, use it to save a few more people and kill some monsters.¡± 18. Not the Same Anymore Matheus wasn¡¯t sure what his next quest should be . He had the feeling he had been lucky so far. It was only taking him a couple days to finish each quest, and his progress was steady. But if he decided on something too difficult or complicated, it could easily take him weeks to complete it. He was between two options this time. Hunt the Gold Deer Reward: +3 Stat Points +1 Soul Points Kill the Cave Guardian Reward: +1 Basic Spell The hunt seemed pretty straight forward and would give him a much necessary boost on his stats, but if he went for the cave guardian he would get another spell! He couldn¡¯t go wrong with more magic. Nonetheless, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to get some information first this time. ¡°Any idea what this monster is?¡± He asked, indicating the second quest. On its flyer, it only said ¡®kill the creature hiding in the northeast caves¡¯. ¡°No idea. Not a lot of people dare to get this close to that area, only during expeditions. Not because it¡¯s particularly dangerous, but there¡¯s something weird in that place. No one likes staying there for too long.¡± The city master answered, oddly friendly today. ¡°What about this gold deer?¡± ¡°Oh, there have been some sightings of it, near the Twin Rivers. The merchants are always willing to pay a good place for its pelt. Every year half a dozen people try hunting the creature, but most come back empty-handed. They are clever creatures.¡± Just what Matheus was fearing, wasting his time doing something that would take him nowhere. Still, he was feeling eerily about fighting this guardian. It sounded like something above his level. Hunting again, then. He could always try for a few days and then give up on it if he wasn¡¯t making progress. The Twin Rivers were in a path Matheus hadn¡¯t explored before, which would give him a good opportunity for some scouting. After all those weeks here, he was starting to have a general idea of the monsters he could find in each area. But he wanted a full map of the region. He¡¯d always been a completionist. He thanked the city master and left, picking a waiting Captain on his way out. Now that was done, it was finally time to distribute his stat points. And he had a feeling there was another big upgrade coming. ¡°Assign +1 Strength, +1 Agility, +2 Intelligence, +1 Connection, +2 Core and +1 Investiture.¡± Now that he had his first magic, it made sense to increase his intelligence. A higher mana pool would let him cast his Bubble Ball spell more often. Matheus grinned. Beware, monsters. None will escape the might of his water and soap. And of course, what he was really looking forward to was the increase to his Soul Stats. A higher Connection always helped, and It was time for him to start increasing his Investiture and find out what the heck that did. Core has reached level 5! You have a permanent upgrade available! Matheus was suddenly engulfed by a bright white energy, blinding his eyes. Yet, he felt conscious and aware in a whole different way. He could see the world and himself in a manner he had never experienced before. He watched as the small gears of his being moved, the atoms of his souls all working in syntony to make him who he was. Matheus understood, even if only for a short moment, what life really was. And he knew how to modify it. The options were limited in what they could do, yet the possibilities were infinite. He didn¡¯t know how long he stayed in this state. He knew he read hundreds of different options, until finally finding one that was too good to give away. When he came back to the world, only a second had passed. With this new upgrade, he¡¯d have to add another task for the plans for today. There was so much to do. He didn¡¯t remember the last time he¡¯d been this busy. He needed to go on, one step at a time. With some luck, his next stop would be a quick one. ¨C/¨C ¡°Thank you. You have no idea what you¡¯ve done for me.¡± Dina said, her face irradiating happiness. Matheus was at her house, watching Daniel running with friends on the street. He¡¯d had a very fast recovery, and Matheus was sure some type of magic was involved. The kid also got really popular after miraculously surviving for 7 days under a lake. ¡°It was really nothing. It was my pleasure to help. And as I said before, I also received a great reward from the city.¡± Matheus couldn¡¯t help checking on them. He couldn¡¯t remember the last time he felt so proud of something he¡¯d done. ¡°I should be on my way. I need to visit the City Hall before going hunting.¡± Matheus got up and started walking away, but she gently held his arm. ¡°Wait. There¡¯s something else.¡± She got up and entered another room, leaving him alone. When she came back, there was a small wooden box in her hands. ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s an item box. The last one my husband brought home just before he died. They are rewarded for services to the imperium.¡± You¡¯ve completed a Hidden Goal in a Quest! Find the lost child still alive. Reward: An Item Box! ¡°I¡¯ve kept it, as a way of remembering him. I want you to have it now.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t accept it,¡± Matheus said immediately. ¡°It¡¯s fine, really. I have another one, given as compensation for his death.¡± She paused for a few seconds, a sad smile on her face. ¡°I couldn¡¯t make myself get rid of them before. It was too painful.¡± She then put the box on his hand, and her smile turned joyful. ¡°Please, keep it. You have no idea how thankful I am for what you did.¡± ¡°I¡­alright.¡± Matheus answered awkwardly. He never knew what to say in those situations. ¡°Usually, it contains a Common Item, but you can never know until you¡¯ve opened it, so the value is actually higher when it''s closed.¡± Dina explained. ¡°We¡¯ve managed to get Uncommon Items before, and in theory, it¡¯s possible to get something as rare as a Legendary Item, but I wouldn¡¯t count on that.¡± ¡°Thank you. It¡¯s not really necessary, but I really appreciate it.¡± Matheus answered truthfully. He got his first spell and managed to increase a few levels, and those were enough rewards. Stolen story; please report. Besides, Dina looked like a completely different person now. Her smile was enough to make it all worth it. ¡°In order to open it, you need to break the seal on the top.¡± Dina explained. Matheus did exactly that, and a bright yellow light radiated from the box for a few seconds. After it dissipated, the box opened by itself, revealing an orange ring. Ring of flames Effects: produces a level 5 fireball This is a disposable item. After it¡¯s used, it¡¯ll melt away. ¡°That¡¯s incredible.¡± ¡°Those single-use items are not usually very powerful, but they can save you from a difficult situation. I hope the ring ends up being useful for you. ¡°It will. Thank you, really.¡± Matheus said, while putting it on his middle finger. He already had his sect ring on his index. At this pace, soon he would be covered with jewelry. ¡°As I told you before, I am the one who needs to thank you. This is nothing.¡± Dina said dismissively. He stayed there a while longer, talking about random things. She told him a little more about her life, and it was nice having something else he could focus his mind on. It was a small break among all the craziness of his new life. Matheus had never expected to find peace interacting with another human. And yet, he had been in no rush to go away. It was weird how things could change so fast. He finally left with promises to visit them soon. It felt good, having people waiting for him to come. With that out of his way, it was time to really start the work of the day. First order of business, test how cool he looked killing monsters with his new cloak. ¨C/¨C The Grape Monkey shrieked and lunged in Matheus'' direction. He ducked and splashed its face with a Bubble Ball. With his other hand he slashed, taking purple blood. The creature was fast, but not very bright. It got easily distracted and enraged. The Bubble Balls took only one HP, but gave Matheus the opening to keep attacking. And those extra Stat Points were great! It gave him enough for him to feel confident in his abilities. The Monkey picked rocks from the ground and started throwing them. Matheus quickly hid behind a tree. The monster was smart enough to use tools to attack, but wouldn¡¯t think about ambushing him. And sure enough, Matheus only had to wait for a few seconds for it to appear screaming and shaking its hands. He stabbed it, splashed its face and stabbed it again. The knife felt easy to maneuver on his hands, his movements stable and composed. Even stabbing something to death started to feel natural after enough practice. The monster tried one last desperate attack, but Matheus side-stepped its lunge and used the Monkey¡¯s own momentum to open a wide cut on its torso. Slash has reached level 2! Bubble Ball has reached level 2! The creature died, and Matheus stabbed it one more time on the back, just to be sure. Satisfied, he grabbed its hairy hair and started the beheading. He knew his knife wasn¡¯t built to that, but buying another one just to cut heads off wasn¡¯t something he was interested in. Captain came to his direction, with his slow walk. Matheu grabbed him and put on his hood, and the cat gave a little meow of appreciation. Matheus wasn¡¯t a fool to try to fight with Captain on his back. He knew he wouldn¡¯t always have the time to take him out before a fight started, but he would deal with this problem when it arrived. Besides, checking all the new notifications on his System he confirmed his plan would work. Captain has leveled up! There¡¯s +1 Stat Point to assign. His bond as a familiar meant Matheus would receive less experience overall while trying to level up, but it had its advantages. Even if Captain didn¡¯t participate in the fights, he would still receive his share of experience. Matheus could make him stronger without having to put his life at risk. With enough levels, the cat could end up as a very useful ally. Or at least, Matheus hoped so. The monkey had been easy enough to kill, and Matheus still had 12MP left. He didn¡¯t want to become too reliant on magic, in case he found himself in a situation where he was unable to use it. Still, he needed to level it up as soon as possible, and that meant using it every opportunity he had. He decided to assign Captain¡¯s Stat Point to agility. Anything that would make his life easier would work for now. Later, Matheus could come up with a better strategy. Matheus kept going with his hunt. He was mostly exploring the area, getting experience while hoping for a lucky sighting of the Gold Deer. So far, the only thing he¡¯d managed to find were those monkeys. Not a lot of progress on his quest, but they ended up as the perfect candidates to test his abilities. He couldn¡¯t complain. Besides, there was still one thing Matheus needed to do before going back to the city. Together with Captain, he went back to the Blue Lake. It was a calm place during the day. Close to the city, but far enough Matheus could feel at peace. ¡°I¡¯ll need you to wait for me here, alright? It¡¯ll only take a few minutes, I promise.¡± Matheus said while putting Captain on the ground. He then undressed, put all his belongings on his backpack and swam to the hidden cave, this time unmolested. Once there, Matheus started organizing his collection. There were 37 skulls in the cave, only half of them being human. Currently, Matheus had a capacity of 9 slots on his Inventory. Minus 1 for his backpack, it left him with 8. With his new Core upgrade, he would be able to store as much as 5 of the same item and use only 1 spot . Which gave him a total of 40 heads he could carry at any given time.Each full group would give him a 112,50% boost against a specific monster. Skull Collector has reached level 4! Matheus grinned. A 118,75% boost now. For a few moments, Matheus considered also storing the human skulls. But he decided that was a step too far. It seemed wrong. He did scavenge the old bones searching for anything of use, though, managing a few silver coins. Of course he still didn¡¯t have enough heads to fill a full group, with the exception of the Rocklings, a monster called Porkulogos and the useless Stuffed Koalas, but he would do what he could to change it soon. If every fight could be as easy as the one he last had on this lake, nothing would be able to stop him. 19. Stumbling into Trouble Matheus'' hunt was taking him nowhere. Only once had he managed to find the deer, after hours of exploring the woods. Slowly, he approached from behind, trusting his sneaking skill to hide him until he got close enough to attack. He didn¡¯t even manage to get in range to analyze the creature. The monster noticed him coming right away and ran, disappearing in seconds. He didn¡¯t know if it was because of his low skill level, if the creature had used some type of spell, or if it just had incredibly good hearing. Either way, he needed to get at least some information from the system before trying anything. He could try setting traps, but who knew if that would work. In truth, he had no idea how he would be able to catch it. Still, he wasn¡¯t wasting his time. The trick of getting the upper-hand in most games, in Matheus¡¯s opinion, was simple. You needed to grind. Grind every time you can, for as long as possible, until you¡¯ve leveled up so much, you can just pass through your enemies like they are made of butter. He had been the type of person to spend hours, even days killing the same monsters to get to the boss being almost able to one hit them. Now that his life looked like a game, he had no reason to change strategies. And that¡¯s why he welcomed the monkeys attacking him now. Not only were they giving great experience, their movements were getting very predictable.Plus, they were helping him increase his collection. The monkeys ran after him, screaming in rage. Matheus adjusted the grip on his knife and lunged. Luckily for him, those had been the only type of monster he¡¯d found in this area. Unluckily for them, it was starting to get pretty easy, with 5 monkey heads filling his inventory. Even two at a time were proving to be no problem for him. His knife cut them like butter, one slash at a time. Matheus was careful to aim at their bodies, not wanting to damage their heads. Twice they had too many holes and cuts and the System didn¡¯t let him keep them. Matheus splashed the face of one monkey who got too close, cut the arm of the other, spun, and craved his knife directly onto its neck. He pulled, and the monster dropped to the ground convulsing. When he turned, the first monkey was still taking water off its face, so Matheus splashed him again and repeated the butchering. He sighed. still not receiving the notification he was waiting for after all his work. Should he push it a little further today? He still didn¡¯t have any real challenge in this region, but it was getting late and he wasn¡¯t looking forward to going back in the dark. Maybe just one more kill? ¡°Matheus.¡± Matheus startled, his heart in his mouth. Turning, he saw Dylan waving at him, accompanied by two others. He quickly unequipped his King of Losers title, hoping he¡¯d been fast enough. He still wasn¡¯t ready to deal with the nickname again. ¡°You scared the shit out of me, man.¡± Matheus said, seeing them walking over to him. Dylan gave him a funny face, looking like Matheus had said something odd. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if we took you by surprise. Please, let me introduce you to two of the bravest men we have in Tartaros. This is Nikolas, also known as Eagle Eye. I¡¯ve yet to meet a person as fast and sharp with a bow.¡± Dyan went on, pointing to the person on his left. Nikolas gave a small nod with his head. He wore a black bandana keeping his long hair away from his eyes. Matheus nodded back, quickly looking away. Those eyes weren¡¯t normal. To look at them felt like looking to a predator, analyzing your every movement, waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack. ¡°And the big guy here is Derek. I tell you, there¡¯s no one you¡¯d better have guarding your back.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to finally meet you, little one!¡± The giant beamed, walked to Matheus'' direction and gave him a suffocating hug. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Matheus was too slow to react, and now couldn¡¯t gather enough breath to speak. In fact, the pressure was so strong he couldn¡¯t breathe. Was this what felt like, being hugged to death? Those poor monsters he¡¯d killed. No wonder karma was catching up to him. ¡°Derek, I think that is enough.¡± Dylan thankfully said a few seconds later. Matheus took a few seconds to recover, and quickly analyzed both of them. Nikolas - Human Eagle Eye Level: 12 Derek - Human No Title Level: 11 Not incredibly strong, but as strong as anyone else around here. ¡°You are also here on a quest, I presume.¡± Dylan commented. ¡°Yes. I am looking for the Gold Deer.¡± ¡°Ha. That¡¯s certainly a way to make some fast money. If you can catch the creature, of course. And that is a big if, no offense,¡± said Derek. ¡°None taken. What about you guys?¡± ¡°We are hunting for Skeelar¡¯s pelts,¡± Dylan answered. The name wasn¡¯t unfamiliar. Matheus remembered reading the quest, and deciding not to go for it for some reason. ¡°Any luck so far?¡± He gestured to Derek, who opened his coat to reveal dozens of pelts hanging from it. ¡°It¡¯s easy when you have people helping. Much faster, too.¡± Dylan said, offering a friendly smile, ¡°my offer still stands, you know.¡± ¡°I know. And I appreciate it. But unfortunately, for me nothing changed.¡± Matheus said, not able to hide the bitterness in his voice. It was so freaking unfair. If only he¡¯d failed in catching that stupid bunny, everything would have been way less complicated. Dylan again nodded and didn¡¯t question him on his answer. Derek for some reason started laughing, like Matheus had told a very funny joke, and Nikolas kept quiet, his penetrating eyes wandering around, more interested in their surroundings than in the conversation. With discomfort, Matheus realized Eagle Eye still hadn¡¯t said a single word. ¡°Well, we were just about to finish for the day. Do you want to head back with us?¡± Dylan offered. Matheus felt uneasy. Those guys had been nice to him, but there was no guarantee they wouldn¡¯t change it after a while. The only way to not risk it, was to keep his distance. Besides, he still needed to take off the heads of his new trophies. And he had a feeling people would find it a little weird. ¡°Thank you for the offer, but I am not done. There are still some areas I wanted to check.¡± ¡°As you wish. Be careful not to stay for too long. Those parts can be dangerous at night,¡± Dylan said. The group said their goodbyes and went away, Derek waving until Matheus couldn¡¯t see them. When they were out of sight, Matheus beheaded his fallen prey, got a sleeping Captain back to his hood and started the walk back to the village using the longer path. Yeah, he already had a slot full with 5 monkey heads, and technically he shouldn¡¯t be keeping more of them, but those slots were empty for now! In the meantime, he would welcome the extra 47,5% bonus. He still didn¡¯t know how to feel about Dylan. The guy looked genuine, but Matheus had been fooled by similar people in the past. Either way, he couldn¡¯t recruit him as his Vassal nor start any type of partnership with him, so there were zero prospects of him becoming a long term ally. There was no point in letting him get closer. Matheus noticed another monkey, sleeping on the top of a tree. Well, he needed to get going, but he wasn¡¯t about to waste free experience. He analyzed the creature again, just to be sure. Grape Monkey - Level: 7 Like a regular monkey, but purple and with grape running through its veins Health: 14/14 Mana: 0/0 You better not try fighting it on the trees. Nothing different. Matheus took Captain from his hood and put him safely behind a tree. ¡°Just one more time, alright?¡± He whispered to him. Matheus got closer to his enemy, aimed and shot his Bubble Ball right onto the monkey¡¯s face. Bubble Ball reached level 3! Well, still not the notification he was looking forward to, but he wouldn¡¯t complain. The creature woke up startled, almost falling down. It managed to hold itself on the branches and turned with a snarl, showing all its teeth. Matheus smiled and waved. The monster jumped straight at him. Matheus could feel his skill activating, the extra strength going through him. He stabbed the monster in middle-air, impaling it through the left eye. Matheus was barely pushed with the impact, and stayed still, the monster hanging from his knife. ¡°Dammit. I fucked with its head again.¡± Was all he said, lowering his arm and letting the lifeless body fall to the ground. Captain has leveled up! Captain has reached level 5. You¡¯ve acquired an evolution stone. Do you want to use it now? ¡°Yes, fucking finally!¡± Matheus couldn¡¯t help shouting. 20. Where we Stand Of course, Matheus had no idea what an ¡°evolution stone¡± was. He just thought it was likely the System would give him a special reward after reaching level 5, exactly like it had been doing for everything else. His bet had paid off. Evolution Stone. Give your fluffy friend a much deserving boost! Isn¡¯t the best part of having a pet modifying it to your own will? Let¡¯s play God with your little friend! Matheus started feeling uncomfortable. He didn¡¯t like the idea of using Captain like a weapon or a toy. Still, he could never know with the System. Better to check what were his options before making any judgment. Matheus wasn¡¯t ready for the wall of text that followed. Third Ear! Spaghetti Limbs! Inside Out Skin! Green Whiskers! Butt Eye! Shark Teeth! Antennae! Nutritious Blood! Poisoned Fangs! French Tongue! Big Foot! Tiny Cat! There were so many options. Dozens and dozens, some seeming to cause big transformations, others just a slight change. And even weirder, the System was letting him analyze and read details on all of them. That was great! He finally could make an informed decision, not just try to guess on what sounded cool. Matheus sat down, and started reading it all. There were many interesting possibilities. He skimmed through the stupid ones, like making his cat learn to speak and understand French, because well, he didn¡¯t know French, and ignored others that would barely give him any advantage, and found some good candidates. Shark Teeth! Imagine hundreds of hard bones covering your pet¡¯s mouth Poisoned Fangs! Bat fangs, full of venom. Eagle Claws! Big, sharp and strong. Any of those would add a serious offensive capacity to his arsenal. There were also more practical ones like ¡°Third Ear¡± or ¡°Spider Eyes¡±, which would increase his hearing and visibility respectively, that were also worthy of consideration. Captain¡¯s little stomach growled, grabbing Matheus¡¯ attention. The cat meowed and made a pitiful face, attempting to get some food from Matheus. Looking at him now, Matheus realized how stupid he had been. Half of those abilities wouldn¡¯t work at the cat¡¯s condition, and even if they did, could he really do it to the poor creature? The System didn¡¯t specify how all those teeth would fit on his mouth, or how the poison would work. Would Captain be in constant pain, continuously hurting himself? Matheus couldn¡¯t do it. He couldn¡¯t change him like a plaything. It didn¡¯t seem like he had to make a decision now, which was good, because he had no idea what he would do. ¡°Let¡¯s go get some food.¡± Matheus finally said, petting Captain¡¯s little head and putting him on his hood. ¨C/¨C It was raining when Matheus entered his room, after picking his dinner and stopping by Dina¡¯s, to give a shining pebble he had found to Daniel. Captain was eating his share, purring while chewing. Matheus didn¡¯t know cats could do that, and he watched as his Familiar savored his meal. He had read all the possible evolutions again over and over, but had decided he would wait until tomorrow to make his decision. He needed to sleep on it. All this thinking and planning made Matheus realize it had been a while since he¡¯d fully checked his stats and skills. Which was a problem, because everyday it all kept getting more complicated. The System was starting to be a giant mess. There were too many different types of information and Matheus was having a hard time keeping track of it. Why couldn¡¯t his skills be organized by alphabetical order or at least divided in sub-groups? His cooking and hiding skills had no place being together with his others. And¡­ It changed. His skills were organized in three groups now, ¡°Casual¡± ¡°Fighting¡± and ¡°Passive¡±. Matheus had changed it, just by thinking about it. What the hell was that? He tried to turn it into the way it was before, and the System complied. He imagined different groups, and they all appeared as quickly as the thought passed through his mind. He could create and even rename tabs and change the System to whatever form suited him better. He could move things along and even add extra information if he wanted. Now, that was useful. It would literally let him create a version that suited him better. The Entity had indeed mentioned that the System would adapt for each Champion, but Matheus didn¡¯t think it would be this simple to actually change it to whatever he liked. Was he able to do that this entire time? Or was it a consequence of increasing his Connection? Damn this Contest and all those poorly explained rules. Still, he knew he could do it now and he intended to make the best out of it. With a smile, he started experimenting. It took him a while to get the hang of it, and Matheus was sure some more modifications would follow later on, but he was pleased with the result. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Getting comfortable, he laid down and decided to take a final look at everything on the System before going to sleep. Matheus - Human The King of Losers - No Class Level: 8 Health: 21/21, Mana: 12/12 Unavailable: 0/0, Unavailable: 0/0, Unavailable: 42/42 Blessings: None, Curses: Loser Court; Out of the Spotlight Stats Strength: 7 (+1), Speed: 5 (+1), Agility: 5 (+4), Intelligence: 6 (+3) , Constitution: 4, Will: 1, Might: 1 (+1) Soul Connection: 7, Investiture: 1, Core: 5 Unavailable: 0, Unavailable: 0, Unavailable: 0 Equipped items: Ring of the Ghost Sect Effects: +2 Intelligence +2 Agility This ring grants access to the Ghost Sect! Uncommon Scouting Cloak Effects: +2 Agility +1 Speed Ring of Flames - Disposable Effects: produces a level 5 fireball. Fighting abilities: Stab Skill Level: 4 Effects: Increases damage and precision while stabbing. Echo Clap Skill Level: 2 Effects: Produces a powerful sound wave after clapping. It has a fifteen minutes cooldown. Slash Skill Level: 3 Effects: Increases damage and knife proficiency while slashing. Death Hug Skill Level: 2 Effects: Double Strength and +1 Will when you are trying to crush someone to death. It only activates when your prey has less than half its original HP. Bubble Ball Spell Level: 3 Effects: Launches a small ball of water and soup to the pointed direction Cost: 1 MP For Honor Skill Level: 1 Current Boost Time: 10 seconds. Effects: A temporary boost to all your allies, decided by their individual level multiplied to your Might level. Casual abilities: Sneaking Skill Level: 1 Effects: Gives a 5% less chance of others looking at your direction when you are trying to hide, plus a 15% higher chance of them deciding nothing is wrong when they look at you. Parkour Skill Level: 1 Effects: Increases 15% of precision when going for jumps, 25% less likely to injure itself when falling, 30% more chance to look impressive even if you do! Cooking Skill Level: 2 Effects: Shorten the time of food preparation by 1 minute and 15 seconds. Passive abilities: The Skull Collector Skill Level: 4 Effects: Gives a 23.75% Strength boost and 1 Might point when facing an enemy you have a skull of its species in your collection. This boost is accumulative. Procrastination Skill Level: 4 Effects: You¡¯ll recover +0.8 Health and +0.8 Stability every hour you spend avoiding doing something you really should be doing. Recipes: Burned Trash. Uneatable. Simple Herbs Mix Recovers 2 HP Vassals: You can increase your party size, 1 spot to every 5 Race levels and 2 Might levels. You have 0 vassals. Available spot: 1 Kingdom System: You are not allowed to access this tab. A minimum race level of 25 is needed. Now that he checked almost everything, Matheus realized how much had changed. He had a decent amount of abilities, even though some of them were completely useless. There were things he didn¡¯t manage to make any significant progress, though. He still hadn¡¯t found any other recipes besides the ones he discovered on his first days and his cooking had only leveled up once. Well, it wasn¡¯t his fault nothing else seemed to work as an ingredient. He could probably buy some from a store in the city, but honestly, that sounded like a waste of money. And everything related to his title was either shitty or unavailable. Besides that, those numbers were looking good. He wasn¡¯t completely pleased with his stats, of course. There were still many areas he needed to work on. Still, he was feeling good. He had enough skills to get by and was steadily becoming stronger. Even with his slow start, he¡¯d found a good rhythm. Every day there was a little bit more progress. Maybe, just maybe, he really had a chance of winning. With those happy thoughts, Matheus drifted away, Captain sleeping laying on his legs. The next morning, he woke up feeling energized, the rest making him even more confident. He could do it. One day at a time, he could do it. He was still unsure on what evolution he would choose for Captain. He knew he needed to make up his mind soon, but he wanted to be one hundred percent sure first. He started planning the tasks of the day, deciding on his priorities. Suddenly, everything stopped. Matheus found himself paralyzed, his body refusing to obey. Only his eyes and his mind still worked. Captain was yawning, mouth open like a statue. Out the window, Matheus could see raindrops frozen in mid-air. Matheus panicked, trying and failing to make any movement. Before he could fully process what was going on, a voice spoke from nowhere. ¡°All Champions. You will now receive your first glimpse of the Contest.¡± Who was that voice? It wasn¡¯t the System, was it another angel? Or was it a God? ¡°There will only be five. Don¡¯t waste them. This time, you may know how you¡¯ve fared against your peers so far.¡± A message from the System appeared and opened itself in front of Matheus. Current Ranking: 3432 of 3500 Then time moved again and Matheus found himself still paralyzed. Captain finished yawning and looked at him curiously. Matheus still didn¡¯t move. There was nothing holding him, but he felt like all his strength had been drained of his body. 3432 of 3500. For a moment he almost laughed, the next he almost cried. He was so far behind. And the fool he was, he let himself believe his efforts were enough. At this pace, he had no chance of winning. He needed to find a way to progress fast, no more holding back. He picked the Evolution Stone from his pocket and looked at it, then at Captain, patiently still waiting for him. Matheus couldn¡¯t deny it. He still was avoiding using his full potential. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said lamely. There was no other choice. And that was just the beginning. If he wanted to improve faster, he would need to get his first Vassal. And unfortunately, there was only one person available in the whole city. Already regretting it, Matheus decided to go looking for Rick, the Endless Cut. 21. The Endless Cut ¡°So, finally you¡¯ve come to your senses. I knew after giving it some time you¡¯d make the right decision. Matheus had double checked every single person in the city, from clerks from the stores to beggars on the street. No one else was eligible to be his vassal. He sighed heavily. His vassal¡¯s tab had been the one he had ignored the most so far, and with good reason. ¡®Better to be alone than in bad company¡¯, Matheus had always said to himself. Especially when the bad company had a tendency to beat him up. Part of him wanted to wait until the next city, to see if there would be others he could choose. But knowing the System, probably every option would be even worse. He was sure he wouldn¡¯t ever be allowed to get someone really useful to join him. Well, complaining would get him nowhere. ¡°Yes, oh great Rick,¡± Matheus said, trying his best not to sound sarcastic, ¡°I still can¡¯t pay you one gold coin.¡± Rick turned and left, dismissing Matheus completely. ¡°But I have some money! Maybe we can negotiate a different deal?¡± ¡°How much do you have?¡± Rick asked, raising his eyebrow. Matheus had a total of 4 coins, but he wasn¡¯t about to let this opportunist know about his funds. ¡°I can give you 2 Silver Coins right now. You help me catch the Golden Deer, we can share the rewards of the quest. 12 Silver Coins each. Rick extended his hand and waited. Matheus took the coins he had separated previously from a pocket on his hood, and gave to him. Rick looked at the money with hunger in his eyes, then quickly pocketed it. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll accept those 2 coins now, then 24 Silver Coins after we finish the quest.¡± ¡°What? That was not what I said!¡± Matheus exclaimed with indignation. ¡°You can¡¯t expect me to help you out for such a frivolous payment. I, Rick from Nervarnia, the Endless Cut, known from many deeds and qualities, including my humbleness and generosity, still have to eat.¡± ¡°Well, I won¡¯t let you keep all 24 coins.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± Rick shrugged and turned again, leaving with Matheus'' money. ¡°Wait!¡± Matheus yelled. Rick stopped and raised the same eyebrow again. ¡°Yes?¡± Damn bastard. Matheus was more interested in the Stat and Soul points anyway, but it hurt to give this much money away. ¡°You can keep 20 coins, and I only get 4. You know, I¡¯ve got to eat, too.¡± Rick stared at him thoughtfully for a moment, left hand on his chin. ¡°Alright, alright. Songs will be made of my kindness here today. Rejoice, starting today you¡¯re officially a temporary ward of Rick, the Endless Cut!¡± He said, putting his hands on his hip and doing an imposing pose. Rick has been included into your party! Current party size: 2 ¡°Well, let¡¯s go then¡­uh, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Matheus.¡± He answered with exasperation. ¡°Wait, what is that on your hood?¡± ¡°Oh, this is Captain. He is my cat.¡± Matheus had got so used to having Captain there, it sometimes slipped his mind he was carrying him. The cat slept profoundly, taking one of its many short naps during the day. ¡°That is a cat?¡± Rick gave him a funny look, but seemed to lose interest almost immediately, ¡°let¡¯s go then, Nataniel.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Matheus,¡± Matheus complained, but Rick was already on his way. They walked together to the forest, while Rick kept bragging about a great variety of things he¡¯d accomplished, each more unbelievable than the other. Matheus couldn¡¯t believe anyone could be so shameless. ¡°Yes, the dragon almost got me, trapping me against that cyclops, a formidable foe to each side. Yet, they weren¡¯t read for Rick, the Endless Cut. They were relentless, but only two, and at least 5 monsters would be necessary to get through my defenses.¡± He continued, monologuing. ¡°And how exactly did you defeat them?¡± Matheus asked, finding a chance to gather some information. His new ¡°ally¡± was useless until he knew what skills he had. ¡°With courage and unprecedented determination, of course! Which is exactly how I survived my peregrine through the dark realms, weeks of battle with no food or water. Still, I¡­¡± Rick continued his story flawlessly, like he had never been interrupted. Matheus gave up on finding anything. When they arrived at the area, Rick was still talking. ¡°Listen, we are already here. Could you wait just for a second?¡± Matheus took Captain from his hood and put him on the ground. He yawned and stretched, apparently having been napping on their way here. And there he was, his three-legged, one-eyed and now four-eared cat. Matheus felt guilt overcoming him. He¡¯d ended up adding two small antennae to the top of the cat¡¯s ear. A small and simple modification, and it gave him a good enough advantage. A fair trade. Captain didn¡¯t seem to care, either. He only messed with his new antennae with curiosity for a few minutes, then soon accepted them like they had been there this entire time. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but to feel bad. Was he playing Frankenstein with his new Familiar? If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Matheus shook himself from those thoughts. What was done was done. ¡°Captain. Sonar.¡± The moment Matheus finished saying it, Captain¡¯s antennae gave a soft ring and started vibrating. After a few seconds, a notification appeared in front of him. There are 0 monsters on a fifty meters radius of your position. ¡°There¡¯s nothing here. Let¡¯s keep walking northeast for some time and I¡¯ll check again.¡± ¡°Oh, now I get it. That¡¯s why you keep that thing with you.¡± Matheus gave him an annoyed look, but Rick shrugged and started walking. They kept going, checking with the radar every few minutes. Most of the time it didn¡¯t catch anything, as expected from something with such a low range. When it did, Matheus didn¡¯t waste the opportunity to earn some experience. There is 1 monster on a fifty meter radius of your position. This time, the skill also gave him a faint feeling of the general position of the monster. It didn¡¯t tell him the distance from his target, though. ¡°We should circle this area, walk a few paces from each other, until we can locate the deer and ambush it.¡± ¡°Locate, ambush, and create a new tale for the ages!¡± ¡°Whatever, just don¡¯t scare it away before we can get to a good position, alright?¡± Matheus was quickly losing his patient, but he knew it was foolish to try to catch the deer alone. Rick didn¡¯t answer, but he did as Matheus instructed and moved farther for the left, letting them cover a bigger space. When they approached, Matheus saw it was another Grape Monkey. He sighed, gestured to Rick to wait and made quick work of the creature, killing it with only one slash of his knife. Matheus was tempted to cut the head out and store it, but he already had enough to easily kill any of those creatures. He left the body behind and they kept going with their search. It took them over an hour to finally find the Gold Deer. And yet, listening to Rick bragging during all this time made him feel like he¡¯d been hunting the whole day. Very slowly, Matheus approached the animal while it ate some grass, careless of its surroundings. Sneaking has reached level 2! Thanks to Captain, he¡¯d known it was important to be extra careful to not scare the deer away long before he¡¯d managed to see it. Without the warning the skill gave him, he doubted he would have managed to get close enough to analyze it. Gold Deer - Level: 10 It¡¯s a deer with golden skin! Health: 30/30 Mana: 0/0 Good luck trying to catch it. This creature will do its utmost to flee from a fight! The plan was simple. They each would approach from opposite sides, Rick would scare the animal to Matheus'' direction, and he would incapacitate it before it could get away. He half expected Rick to do something to fuck it all up, but to his surprise, the young man did exactly what Matheus asked of him. When they were both in position he went after the deer yelling, an axe in his hand. ¡°AAAAAAAAAH,¡± He screamed maniacally. That was not what Matheus was expecting, but it would work. He prepared to ambush the creature when it got near him, ready to unleash an echo clap. But the deer never got close enough. While it ran from Rick, it looked straight into Matheus¡¯ direction, pivoted to the left and escaped in another direction. ¡°Damnit!¡± Matheus said in frustration. All this work, and it had been over before he even could do anything. He couldn¡¯t afford being this slow. ¡°That was a close one!¡± Rick said cheerfully. Matheus didn¡¯t answer, still angry with the whole situation. He shaked his head, trying to calm down. Then something grabbed his attention. In his exasperation, he¡¯d almost missed it. He had stopped analyzing everything a long time ago, mostly because the System usually only gave useless information. A branch was a branch, a rock was a rock. However, there was something different with this plant. CloudFlower Uncommon cooking ingredient. That was the first ingredient Matheus had found, not counting the Simple Herbs growing in his safe cafe. He happily took his backpack out of his Inventory, put the CloudFlower inside it, and stored it again. It was a small victory, really. The day still had been mostly a waste. At this rhythm, he wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up. They returned to the city, Rick again talking the whole time, unfazed by their failure. Matheus gave an excuse and went a separate way as soon as they crossed the gate. He needed to think about his next move, and find another way to improve his situation. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Someone said, taking him away from his thoughts. He turned to see a blonde girl, just a few years older than him and with an enormous bow on her back, staring at him. ¡°Why are you wasting your time like this?¡± She asked, face impassive. 22. Sophie Matheus wasn¡¯t sure what was prompting everyone in the city to start talking to him, but he wasn¡¯t liking it. He recognized the girl immediately. She had had one of the highest levels when he first got to the city, and a quick analysis showed him she was now level 14. Without doubt, she was one of the strongest people around. What the heck did she want with him? ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± Was all Matheus managed to say. ¡°I asked why are you wasting your time with someone like him?¡± The girl asked again, pointing at the general direction that Rick went. ¡°It¡¯s not really by choice. I am just trying to do the best with what I got.¡± Matheus said with a shrug. ¡°Meaning?¡± Maybe Matheus was too tired, maybe all the day¡¯s frustration had finally gotten over to him, he didn¡¯t know for sure. But something snapped, and he ended up acting in a way he hadn¡¯t in a long time. ¡°Meaning it¡¯s my business and I don¡¯t really have to explain it to you.¡± The girl looked surprised, and Matheus feared he had gone too far. Did he just make a person 6 levels above him his enemy? To his astonishment, she smiled. ¡°That¡¯s true. Sorry if I came on too strong. Let me start again.¡± She said, reaching out to him with her right hand. ¡°I¡¯m Sophie.¡± Matheus hesitated, taken by surprise. She waited patiently, hand outstretched. ¡°I¡¯m Matheus¡± He finally said after a moment, shaking her hand. ¡°I mean no offense, Matheus, but I think you are wasting valuable time hanging around someone like Rick. ¡°I know. Believe me, if I had a better alternative, I wouldn¡¯t be doing it.¡± He really didn¡¯t want to explain his curses to anyone. That subject was too close to the Contest for him to be comfortable talking about it. Besides, it was just painful. Who liked talking about their limitations and failings? Thankfully, she only nodded and didn¡¯t enquire further. ¡°I can understand that. We all need to play with the cards we have, right?¡± Matheus said nothing, and started feeling uncomfortable. He just wanted to go to his bed and forget about the world for a few hours. ¡°Can I ask what Quest you are trying to complete?¡± ¡°Hunt the Gold Deer.¡± Sophie nodded thoughtfully ¡°I remember that one. If you want, I could help you with that, and we split the prize in half. It¡¯s 24 coins, right? 12 to each.¡± Matheus grimaced. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I wish I could agree to your offer, but I can¡¯t. I¡¯ve already promised 20 coins to Rick.¡± Besides, he was cursed, and there was no way she would be considered a loser. But he didn¡¯t see the need to say that. ¡°20 coins for helping you? Really?¡± She asked, raising her left eyebrow. Matheus didn¡¯t answer, and to his surprise, she accepted that. ¡°Fine. Let me keep the other 4, and I¡¯ll help you catch the deer. Do we have a deal?¡± Again, Matheus was astonished. He couldn¡¯t understand why she would make such an offer. ¡°I can¡¯t really add you to my party.¡± She looked extremely curious, but didn¡¯t question him. ¡°That¡¯s fine. You¡¯ll have to be the one to kill the deer, then. Otherwise your Quest won¡¯t be completed.¡± Sophie answered, extending her hand again. Matheus didn¡¯t go for it immediately, trying to figure out what was going on. In the end, he didn¡¯t. But that was the best opportunity he had since coming to this city. And he knew he would be a fool to refuse it. ¡°Deal¡± He said, shaking her hand one more time. She smiled, and her grip was stronger this time. ¡°See you on the morrow, Matheus.¡± Sophie said, leaving before he could answer. He stayed in the same place a while longer, processing what had happened. Captain started complaining from his hood, anxious to eat dinner. Matheus finally went to grab his food, took it to his room and then ate together with his cat. After finishing his meal, he emptied his mana creating Bubble Balls on the open window, and went to sleep soon afterwards, For a few hours, he rested on peace. Then before the sun was fully in the sky, Matheus was up again. He stretched, thinking about the day tasks. He wanted to go to his safe cave and try his new ingredient before going hunting with Rick and Sophie. Maybe he could practice with his Parkour skill on his way there. And his Sneaking too. He startled, a knock coming from his door. Opening it, he found Sophie standing outside, hands on her hips. ¡°Ready to go?¡± She asked with a friendly smile. Matheus couldn¡¯t think of an excuse, so he asked for a few minutes, organized his inventory and met her outside. Together, they grabbed their share of the morning portion and ate in silence. Captain was on the floor between them, munching while looking at Sophie suspiciously with his only eye. ¡°Do you always share your food with the cat?¡± She asked in a casual tone. ¡°His name is Captain,¡± Matheus shrugged. ¡°I am not that hungry.¡± Sophie accepted his answer and after a few seconds picked a piece of her own food and threw gently into Captain¡¯s direction. Matheus¡¯ familiar went eagerly at it, visibly relaxing. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°So, where can we hunt this gold deer?¡± Sophie asked after they finished. ¡°We still have to find Rick.¡± ¡°Are you sure? We could go without him.¡± ¡°No. I made a deal with him.¡± She didn¡¯t seem happy, but nodded. ¡°I know where he is. Follow me.¡± She guided him to a nearby pub, where they found Rick sleeping lying over a table. Matheus almost shot a Bubble Ball on his face, but thought better of it and only called for him until the young man finally woke up. He was clearly hungover and had fallen asleep while drinking. ¡°Do we really have to do this this early?¡± He complained, rubbing his eyes. ¡°Yes, ¡° said Matheus, turning to go. They both followed him. Even having been asleep just a few minutes ago, it didn¡¯t take long for Rick to gather his energies and start talking again. Soon he was babbling about some of his accomplishments, like Matheus and Sophie were his audience. She ignored him their entire journey. At one point, Matheus noticed he was telling the same story as yesterday, but this time he¡¯d added another monster to it, making the fight even more unbelievable. ¡°So, how can we find the deer?¡± Sophie asked when they stopped walking. Matheus pointed to Captain, who yawned. ¡°Radar.¡± There is 1 monster on a fifty meter radius of your position. Radar has reached level 2. ¡°Oh, very useful,¡± Sophie commented. Matheus blushed with the compliment, then quickly recovered and started walking. ¡°This way.¡± He guided them until they were face to face with another one of those sentient coconuts full of arms. This time, Matheus didn¡¯t waste the opportunity to analyze it. One-Legged Coconut! - Level: 7 One leg is all it needs to punch you to death. Health: 14/14, Mana: 0/0 Their husks are extremely resilient. If you let it get too close its many fists will get to you. Sophie gestured with her hands for them to go ahead. ¡°Without being in a party, we can¡¯t share the experience,¡± she said. ¡°Cover your ears,¡± Matheus said, putting Captain on the ground and walking towards the monster. Matheus noticed the tingling sensation of extra strength being added and was glad to know the body he had on his inventory counted for his Skull Collector skill. When the creature noticed him, it jumped straight into his direction, but Matheus was faster to react this time. ¡°Echo clap,¡± he said while the world vibrated. It took him a few seconds to regain his feet afterwards, and he could hear Rick cursing from behind. The monster screamed in confusion and pain. ¡°DUBAGUGAGUGA.¡± Matheus cut its only leg off, then started to work on its arms. This monster was probably weaker than the first one he faced, because it died before he¡¯d finished cutting them all. ¡°Nice work,¡± Sophie said, ¡°though I have to say I wasn¡¯t a fan of your skill.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do that again!¡± Rick complained, ¡®I swear, my ears are still ringing.¡± ¡°Shall we keep going?¡± Sophie asked. ¡°Wait, I¡­¡± Matheus hesitated. ¡°I need the head.¡± ¡°Again with this head talk?¡± Rick asked incredulously, ¡°does this thing even have a head?¡± Sophie said nothing, and waited patiently while Matheus severed the rest of the monster¡¯s limbs and stored his new skull. They went on their way, repeating the same process until finally they found the deer.¡°Alright, now let me do it.¡± Sophie said, slowly getting closer to the deer¡¯s position. Once she was about thirty meters away from it, she took her bow from her back and took aim. The arrow started emanating a soft yellow glow, and Matheus could see she was whispering something. He tried to hear it, but couldn¡¯t understand the words. He noticed her eyes were glowing yellow too. She released it, a loud twang resonating from the vibrating string. Matheus watched in awe as the arrow flew in a wide arc, getting higher and higher. When it started falling, it suddenly greatly increased its speed and hit the deer almost as fast as a bullet would have. It pretty much shattered the deer¡¯s back legs, craving deep on its flesh. Rick started laughing. ¡°Now, that¡¯s a true skill!¡± He said enthusiastically. Matheus fully agreed. He had nothing that compared to that. ¡°Remember, you need to be the one who kills it. I¡¯ve targeted its legs so it wouldn¡¯t get away.¡± Sophie said. Matheus gulped. He¡¯d forgotten. And he wasn¡¯t looking forward to doing it. He walked towards the injured deer, feeling like a butcher. He had been beheading monsters for a while now, however the deer had been the closest thing to a real animal from his planet. Most other things he¡¯d killed so far had been too crazy and weird for him to associate with normal living beings. The creature yelped in pain, fear clear in its eyes. It tried to get away, but it couldn¡¯t. It still tried, almost breaking its other legs in the process. Matheus got close enough to slice the deer¡¯s throat in a single stroke. Slash has reached level 3! You¡¯ve leveled up! Captain has leveled up! Quest updated! Bring the deer¡¯s body back to Tartaros. 23. Celebrations, goodbyes and warnings ¡°Let¡¯s make a toast for our dazzling victory!¡± Rick exclaimed loudly, chugging his mug. They were at the pub, drinking beer together. Rick had insisted they all went, and Matheus followed along. Captain slept comfortably on his lap. While they drank, Rick would randomly start to boost of their great hunt, exaggerating all the details and making it seem he had both caught and killed the beast. Matheus paid him no mind. It was very much easier to ignore Rick after a successful day. The drink was cold and refreshing, and he couldn¡¯t help but to cheer with the others. He was so excited on finishing the quest he forgot to feel awkward with the situation. After a while, Rick started moving to other tables, telling everyone in earshot of their great accomplishments of the day. Somehow, he managed to include a dragon in the story. ¡°So, are you going to tell me why I can¡¯t join your party?¡± Sophie asked nonchalantly. Matheus didn¡¯t fail to notice she¡¯d waited until they were both alone to ask him that. He didn¡¯t understand why she would want to join in a party with him in the first place. She clearly didn¡¯t need his help. He couldn¡¯t trust her without knowing her motivations. And even so, maybe he would never trust her. But she¡¯d help him, exactly as she promised. And he owed her at least some honesty. ¡°I was cursed,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°Really?¡± She asked, clearly surprised. ¡°Really. I¡¯m in a party with Rick because he is the only type of a person I can be in a party with. I told you before, it¡¯s not by choice.¡± Sophie thought this over for some seconds, and a mix of emotions went through her face. Matheus couldn¡¯t say if she had gotten angry, sad or annoyed by his answer. For a second, he even thought she may start laughing. ¡°That¡¯s a bummer,¡± She finally said with a resigned expression. ¡°If we are not in a party, we would only be blocking each other¡¯s development. I guess our little hunt was our first and last collaboration.¡± Matheus didn¡¯t know how he felt about that, so he said nothing. Rick soon returned, another mug in his hand, containing a darker and stronger liquid. As Rick was telling them how he managed to trick a dragon to kill itself and stole its treasure, Matheus noticed Dylan entering the pub, Derek laughing beside him. He frowned when he saw Matheus, probably wondering what he was doing here, and gave a small salute. Matheus raised his glass in their direction, hoping they wouldn¡¯t come over. Thankfully, they didn¡¯t, going instead to sit with another group of people. ¡°More friends of yours?¡± Sophie asked. ¡°I..¡± Matheus stopped himself, not sure how to finish the sentence. ¡°No. Not really friends. Just people I met.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t really be friends with them, can we?¡± Sophie said with a solemn voice. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Matheus asked, taken aback by the comment. ¡°She means the common people, of course!¡± Rick laughed ¡°Unfortunately, fame comes with its prices, and most people can¡¯t handle it.¡± he finished, gulping his drink. Sophie neither confirmed nor denied it. She drank the rest of her beer and got up, a tired smile on her face. ¡°That¡¯s it, then. Good luck to you, Matheus.¡± She turned to leave. ¡°Thank you!¡± Matheus got up and said suddenly. ¡°For everything you did. I¡­ It really is a bummer it didn¡¯t work out.¡± She gave him another smile, more genuine this time, and left. Matheus saw no reason for staying longer. He gave some excuse after finishing his drink, carefully put Captain on his hood and went on his way, glad to be finally alone. On the outside, he found Dylan laying against a wall, contemplating the sky. He turned when he was Matheus, who quickly gave a little nod and resumed walking. ¡°Matheus. A word, if I may?¡± He sighed internally. Of course the day still wasn¡¯t over. ¡°Hey, Dylan. Yeah, no problem.¡± He gestured for him to get closer, and seeing no way out, Matheus complied. ¡°I needed to talk to you,¡± Dylan said in a hushed voice. ¡°I don¡¯t really know how to approach this, but honor wouldn¡¯t let me ignore it.¡± ¡°Ok¡­¡± Matheus said, uncertain. What had he gotten into now? He¡¯d probably irritated the guy, forming a party right after refusing his invitation. ¡°Look, I know your secret.¡± Dylan said, now whispering. ¡°What?¡± Matheus exclaimed, caught off guard. ¡°I don¡¯t have any secrets.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I haven¡¯t told anyone. And I am not planning to.¡± Matheus didn¡¯t know how to react. He could keep denying it, but something on Dylan¡¯s face told him he wasn¡¯t bluffing. Still, could he really know about everything? There was just one possible explanation for that. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Are you also a¡­?¡± Matheus didn¡¯t finish, unsure. ¡°Me? No!¡± Dylan laughed. ¡°But that would be nice, I suppose.¡± Wait, if he wasn¡¯t a Champion, how could he know about the Contest? That just made Matheus more confused. ¡°But, it¡¯s precisely because I know your secret that I feel I must warn you: you need to be more careful with the companions you choose.¡± Matheus couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Would he have to explain his curse again? He really didn¡¯t want to. ¡°I know. I¡¯ve already been warned of it, believe me. But I am doing what I need to do.¡± ¡°Of course, you know what is best. I shouldn¡¯t assume to know your plans. Take good care, Matheus.¡± The path to his safe cafe was relatively secure, however he wasn¡¯t about to risk getting into a fight in the dark. He decided to go back to his room and call it a day for now. He ended up not getting a single coin from the Quest, which was annoying, but the real reward had always been the extra stats anyway. Should he make slight improvements to everything, or just choose one and give it all? Plus +5 strength sounded nice. Really nice. And yet, he knew it would make him no good to increase his strength alone. He was already doing enough damage with his hits. He decided the best way forward was 2 to Strength, 2 to Constitution and 1 to Intelligence. A good balance. For the other half, he wasn¡¯t sure. He thought for a while, and decided to take a gamble. Increasing his core was important for obvious reasons, but his inventory still wasn¡¯t completely full. He needed to prioritize taking everything to level 5 first. ¡°Assign 3 Soul Points to Investiture.¡± Investiture has reached level 5. Soul Abilities have been Awakened. All at once, the System started changing. ¡°Aether¡± appeared right below his mana, and Synergy, Density and Energy showed together with his other Soul Stats. Matheus couldn¡¯t help but smile. He had no idea what those things did. He felt he was just beginning to really understand this weird System and how to best work with it. Nonetheless, progress was progress. Now, the only thing still unavailable from his menu was his secret stat, that he still had 42 of. He was one step closer to finally unleashing his secret potential! Or probably not. Knowing how the System had operated so far, the stat would end up being for something really stupid. But a boy could hope. If he was understanding it correctly, he could use his Aether to release abilities, the same way he used Mana to release spells. However, his recovery rate was extremely low. It would take almost 2 days for him to recover a single point. That was a crazy long time. The problem was, he didn¡¯t have any ability to use, nor did he know how to get one. Matheus couldn''t remember finding anything mentioning it on the quest¡¯s board. He still decided on checking all of them again on the morrow. He knew some new ones appeared from time to time, and he wanted to choose one he could complete by himself. Rick wasn¡¯t worth it. Between having no allies or being in a party with that guy, Matheus preferred to be on his own. It was a shame he couldn¡¯t partner up with Sophie. With her as an ally, he could have a real chance in this Contest. But of course, things would never be this easy. If something was useful for him in any way, it was soon taken away. And that had been true long before he ever got into this world and gained his system. He¡¯d learned long ago to accept it and move on, and he did just that. Captain had gotten comfortable on a corner of his bed, near his feet. The cat was already snoring, as usual. Well, maybe not all of his allies were bad. Yeah, the cat had a scratch skill that was practically useless, since it wasn¡¯t agile enough to attack something without losing its balance. And it was taking a percentage of his exp each time he killed a monster, probably delaying his own advancement. Matheus smiled. It didn¡¯t matter. Even without the radar skill, having Captain companionship was worth it. It made everything easier, somehow. He gently petted his sleeping friend and got ready to doze off himself. Matheus had the feeling he was missing something. It bothered him, but he was too tired to find out what that was. So much was happening. Before he could process one thing, two more were thrown at him. It was maddening. But thrilling too. And he realized he was looking forward to doing it all. He was excited to start a new day. When had that happened? Could he really have changed this much in such a brief time? Or maybe it was because of the beer. He had never tried alcohol before, and his head was still a little funny. Silly thoughts. Closing his eyes, Matheus fell asleep smiling. 24. Worthy opponent Matheus yawned, Captain sleeping on his hood. The cat was always napping. Matheus at first thought that was because the animal was very fragile, but it had been many days since they¡¯d first bonded, and the cat had been eating quite well. And still, every time they walked for more than 10 minutes, Matheus would find his little familiar snoring behind his head. In truth, he envied him. Between completing his quests and practicing with his skills, Matheus was ever busy. He was probably also being more productive than he ever was his entire life. He¡¯d also noticed he gained some muscles, too. Finally, those strength stats were starting to show. It felt strange, but rewarding the same. He¡¯d worked for them, after all. When they got to the cave, Matheus gently woke Captain up. ¡°Radar.¡± There are 0 monsters on a thirty meters radius of your position. Expected. He¡¯d never found a monster near the cave. But, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Entering, he put a sleepy Captain on the ground, who yawned. Then, the Cat started moving on his three legs, and with a smile Matheus noticed he was noticeably faster. So far, he had used all of Captain¡¯s stat points to increase his agility, and it was starting to show. At this pace, soon the cat might not need to stay on his hood every time they moved to another place. Matheus walked into his now mostly empty cave, where for so long he had his improvised home. The comforts of the city, which offered him a soft bed, warm bath and free food made it almost pointless for him to come back here. Still, he was pleased he¡¯d found a reason to come. Matheus still missed the silence and peace of those first days. Being surrounded by people only made him few alone. He found the old cooking pot on the same spot he¡¯d left it, and took the CloudFlower from his Inventory. He hesitated for a second, wondering if he should put some common herbs with it. He decided to go for it. When he tried cooking a single herb before, the result was always burned trash. Common sense said more ingredients would always make a meal better. Or so he hoped. Matheus didn¡¯t really know how to cook. Nonetheless, once he put the flower and the herbs, a timer of 30 minutes appeared on the pot. The System wouldn¡¯t let it go for all this time just to be something uneatable, would it? He grunted. It definitely would. With nothing better to do, Matheus decided to run around, jumping from one boulder to another, trying to walk on walls and occasionally letting himself roll. He felt like an idiot. And probably looked like one. But he wasn¡¯t about to waste half an hour without at least grinding a skill. He knew for practice that his bubble ball and his echo clap skill wouldn¡¯t level up much outside of combat situations. So parkour was his best bet. Sadly, he didn¡¯t get a single level by the time the timer was up. Maybe he needed to try jumping from high places to others? To be honest, he didn¡¯t really know what counted as parkour training. He knew he couldn''t do a flip and wasn¡¯t confident enough to try it. He imagined himself landing badly, breaking his neck and being paralyzed for life. Matheus shivered. No point in risking it until he¡¯d manage to level it up a few times. For now, he analyzed his new prize. Sticky Slop After eating double mana recovery for 2 hours. Now, that was very useful! Yeah, he only had one spell, and the only thing it did was splash some water on his enemies, but it had helped him a lot so far, and he would learn more magic eventually. If Matheus knew how to do a backflip, he would do one now in excitement. He also managed to get his cooking skill to level 3. His guess had been right, he needed to try new recipes in order to level it up more. Satisfied, Matheus got Captain and started the walk back to Tartaros. After they walked for some minutes, Matheus started activating radar again, and this time, the skill pointed to a monster just a few meters northwest. He started walking slowly to the pointed direction, and soon found his target. Another two-headed mantis. This one was level 6, which was three times more than the first one he fought all those days ago, when he¡¯d first found the city. He didn¡¯t have any heads of those creatures stored on his inventory. He would have to fight without any buff, and he had nothing that could protect him if it used that magic punch. Should he avoid a confrontation? With his sneaking skill, he could probably go around it with no problem. No. He needed the experience. And besides, a lot had changed since then. Taking aim, Matheus launched a Bubble Ball right into the Mantis. The small creature was completely engulfed by water and went sliding a full meter away. Matheus prepared to dodge when the monster jumped at him, but it slipped as it tried to get up, falling over and over. The creature was getting madder every minute, growling as it failed to attack him. Finally, it managed to throw itself into his direction in a furious jump, hands starting to glow. Matheus splashed it again. Bubble Ball has reached level 4! The monster started losing his shit, punching everything as it tried to get on his feet while all wet and soapy. Suddenly its fists flashed with a bright light and the ground around it exploded as the monster punched the small puddle he was in. The monster painted in fury, black blood dripping from it. It screeched and went towards him, doing a wide jump. Matheus took his knife and cut the creature in half as it passed. You¡¯ve defeated a Two Headed Mantis. He started laughing. It had all been even easier than he expected. He pondered about taking the mantis¡¯s heads. On one side, those would be the first two of this type of monster he would add to his collection. On the other, his inventory was already full, and it was pointless having a buff against a monster he could so easily kill. Choices, choices. Maybe he should just take one of the heads, as a type of trophy? Yeah, that totally seemed like a healthy thing to do. He shivered, remembering what the System had said when he¡¯d first gotten the skill. He decided to leave the heads. No point in keeping what he didn¡¯t need. Stolen story; please report. It didn¡¯t take him long to get back to the city. And to his astonishment, Rick was in the City Hall, waiting for him. ¡°My dear ward! I¡¯ve been looking for you.¡± ¡°Look, there¡¯s no way I¡¯m partnering up with you again. You didn¡¯t even do anything last time!¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Rick said with a shriek when Matheus turned to go. ¡°I really need this. Please.¡± He continued in a low voice. Matheus was taken aback. He expected Rick to try to keep bullshiting him, not to plea for his help. If he was being honest with himself, he also didn¡¯t do much last time. Maybe he should give Rick another chance before making a final decision. Who was he to pass judgment so harshly? ¡°Ok,¡± Matheus said, resigned. ¡°But this time, we split the reward in half.¡± ¡°Deal!¡± Rick exclaimed, his usual demeanor coming back to him. ¡°We¡¯ll do great things together, great things!¡± ¡°Now, where is the apprenticeship fee?¡± Matheus turned and prepared to go. ¡°I¡¯m kidding, just kidding! Of course, we are way past that now.¡± Matheus gave him a skeptical look. Already, he was regretting his decision. But as usual, he would do the best he could with the cards offered to him. ¡°Let¡¯s go, then. I already know what quest I want now.¡± ¨C/¨C Rick was his usual, incapable of spending more than a few seconds quiet. Matheus debated asking him to shut the hell up, but he decided to mostly ignore him. They were now walking northwest, exploring one of the few regions still obscured on his map. Occasionally Matheus would activate radar, trying to find monsters before they could find him. Unfortunately, it seemed this area was mostly empty. Rick must have been on his seventh story when they found their first monster. Porkulogos - Level: 9 This little pig has been eating a lot of protein! Health: 22/22, Mana: 0/0 Don¡¯t try arm wrestling it. They love an opportunity to show their muscles.¡± Matheus wasn¡¯t sure how to describe the creature. It looked like someone had picked a pig, mixed it with a human, then made it completely jacked. The thing could easily win a bodybuilder competition. Matheus smiled. Finally, easy prey. ¡°I can handle it,¡± he said, while taking Captain of his hood. ¡°Are you sure? The creature looks a little tough.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Matheus confirmed. He¡¯d completely filled one spot of his inventory with heads from this monster. Only by walking towards it, he felt his skill activating and the extra strength coming. He had no idea how those monsters ended up deep below the Blue Lake, but he wasn¡¯t about to complain. The Porkulogos turned and gave a loud oink when it saw him. When it approached, he splashed its head with water and used the beast''s confusion to punch it as hard as he could on the face. The Porkulogos retreated a few steps, but to Matheus'' surprise, it didn¡¯t fall to the ground. When it looked at him, Matheus saw he¡¯d broken some of its teeth and the monster¡¯s mouth was blooded. It smiled. Before Matheus could react, it punched him back. He went flying, almost losing consciousness. He felt pain like never before. He was sure his face was filled with blood. How was that thing so strong? ¡°Matheus¡± Rick yelled, coming brandishing his sword. He slashed with it, but with a swing of his hand, the monster hit it middle strike and the blade went flying away. Rick just stood there, dumbfounded. ¡°Echo clap!¡± Matheus said frantically, slapping his hands before the creature could attack him. The monster roared in pain, turning to Matheus in fury. It leaped at him, not giving him time to escape. They stumbled and fell together, the monster on top of him. Matheus held its hands as the Porkulogos tried to get to his head, its big hooves getting ever closer to his eyes. Was his skill failing him? No, he felt the extra power. It just wasn¡¯t enough. The monster was still stronger than him, just slightly. He didn¡¯t have time to get his knife hanging on his waist. He should have started the fight with it in his hand. Now, he would be dead long before he could get to it. Trying to hug the creature to death would have the same problem. He didn¡¯t have the time. There was no other choice. Matheus couldn¡¯t hold back, he needed every advantage he could get. Already regretting it, Matheus equipped the King of Losers Title. The monster¡¯s deadly hooves stopped their descent, mere inches from smashing his eyes. By itself, the title only gives him +1 extra Strength, however combined with his Skull Collector skill, it had been enough. Well, he wasn¡¯t dying in the next seconds now. But what the hell should he do next? If he let go of the monster¡¯s arms, it would crush him before he could do anything. A loud hiss was followed by a growl from the monster, which stopped advancing towards him. Matheus saw Captain laying next to it, falling down after scratching the Porkulogos. The beast turned, ready to strike at the defenseless cat. ¡°FIREBALL,¡± he screamed, pointing his finger at it. The Porkulogos was engulfed by flames, and died screeching. On his finger, the Ring of flames started melting away, until nothing rested. Damn. What a waste. Scratch has reached level 3. Echo Clap has reached level 3. Captain has leveled up! Matheus ignored the notifications and went closer to his familiar, giving him a small pet on the head. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, and the cat meowed in answer. Even with his inventory carrying 5 of the thing¡¯s heads, the bonus wasn¡¯t enough for him to have the advantage on the fight. Had he been lucky so far? The Rockling, the creature living below the lake, didn¡¯t stand a chance against him. But being underwater the monster didn¡¯t need to be exceptionally strong, only enough to trap people until they drowned. The Koala Momma¡­ her strength was in her army, not herself. He had been cocky. Even if he completely filled his inventory with skulls, he still wouldn¡¯t be powerful enough to easily win against most monsters. He needed to find ways to increase his offensive power. ¡°You¡­¡± Rick said, looking at him strangely. It took Matheus a few seconds, then he realized he never unequipped his title. Goddamnit. He¡¯d been so careful. Now that Rick knew, his old nickname would surely make his way back to haunt him again. Then, to Matheus'' complete bewilderment, Rick bowed. ¡°Your highness. It¡¯s an honor.¡± 25. Secrets in the open That was definitely not the reaction Matheus was expecting. Was the guy mocking him? Either way, Matheus was too mad to care right now. ¡°What the hell man? he asked with indignation. ¡°I¡¯m sorry your highness.¡± ¡°Why did you just stand there? I almost died!¡± ¡°I¡­It threw my sword away, I was unarmed.¡± ¡®Then why didn¡¯t you use any skill? You didn¡¯t even have to hurt the monster, just distract it.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t have any skills I could use.¡± ¡°What? You don¡¯t have any skill?¡± Matheus asked, skeptical. ¡°I have one skill,¡± he mumbled. ¡°Just one? How is that even possible?¡± For a second, Matheus thought he wouldn¡¯t answer, then Rick glanced at his head and looked down, as if afraid. ¡°I was cursed,¡± Rick said in a whisper, his head down. ¡°What?¡± was everything Matheus could say. Was he serious? ¡°I can¡¯t learn skills,¡± he said, clearly ashamed of admitting it. ¡°My sword is all I have.¡± Matheus didn¡¯t know what to say. Compared to Rick¡¯s curse, the ones he had seemed like taps on his back. If he couldn¡¯t learn skills, his journey would have been over from the start. That¡¯s why Rick had barely helped during the deer hunt. There wasn¡¯t much he could do. With those limitations, he was practically useless. No wonder his level was so low. God damnit. The guy was even weaker than Matheus had first thought. ¡°Your stories¡­¡± Matheus said, still trying to cope with everything. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, your highness,¡± Rick said bowing. ¡°They weren¡¯t lies, just exaggerations. I¡¯m still Rick from Nevarnia, the endless cut, and will be invaluable at your service.¡± Matheus didn¡¯t know how to feel about that. He doubted Rick would ever be strong enough to be of any use. And Matheus couldn¡¯t afford having someone on his party, taking a percentage of all his experiences, if he would never be anything more than a hindrance. Even Captain had more potential. There was nothing Rick could offer him. ¡°Let¡¯s head back. I think we¡¯ve done enough for today.¡± ¡°Of course, your highness.¡± Rick¡¯s behavior had changed completely. Every word was full of deference now. It was creeping him out. This was a completely new territory for Matheus, and he didn¡¯t know how to react. No one had ever talked with him like that. It was making him utterly uncomfortable. ¡°Please, stop it. Don¡¯t mention the king thing with anyone else, ok? I am trying to keep it a secret.¡± ¡°Of course, your highness. You know what¡¯s best.¡± They walked back, an awkward silence now between them. It turned out there was a way to make Rick shut up. It was almost worth revealing his secret. When they got close to Tartaros, Matheus stopped. ¡°Remember, you can¡¯t say a word about my title.¡± ¡°Of course. Shall we go enjoy a drink? I know of another establishment way more appropriate for someone in your station.¡± ¡°No, I am tired. I am going back to my room.¡± ¡°Ok. Where should we meet tomorrow? At the city hall again?¡± Matheus paused, unsure how to answer. He couldn¡¯t let it drag on forever. ¡°Maybe it would be better if we went our separate ways,¡± he finally said. ¡°I¡­¡± Rick seemed like he would argue, but he stopped himself, going rigid. ¡°Of course, your highness. You know what is best.¡± He gave another small bow and turned, leaving him. Matheus couldn¡¯t help but feel a little bad. Still, it needed to be done. He had a contest to win. On the way to the Guilder¡¯s Inn, he decided to see if he could do something about his bruised and sore body. ¡°Matheus! How can I help you today?¡± the shopkeeper asked as he approached the store. ¡°Do you got anything for pain, Ravi?¡± Matheus asked with a tired smile. He had finally asked for the shopkeeper¡¯s name after some embarrassing days not knowing how to call him. He was doing his best not to forget it. ¡°Hmmm, let me see,¡± he said, going through some shelves. He got a box full of potions with a strong blue liquid and put it on the counter. Gani Elixir. Recovers 2HP instantly and 2 more in the next twenty minutes. Also eases the pain. ¡°3 coins one, 5 for a pair,¡± Ravi said while giving little taps on Captain¡¯s head. Matheus didn¡¯t have much money, but he still felt dizzy from the punch. Until he managed to get a healing spell of some kind, medicines and healing herbs were a good investment. ¡°Thank you,¡± Matheus said, handling the money and drinking one of the elixirs. ¡°Of course. Is there anything else I can help you with?¡± ¡°Actually, I was wondering if you knew Rick from Nevarnia, the Endless Cut.¡± Ravi let out a sharp laugh. ¡°Yeah, I know him. Everybody knows him. Loudest bullshitter in the whole town.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Yeah, I can believe that.¡± ¡°Did he trick you into something? You shouldn¡¯t listen to him.¡± ¡°No, nothing like that,¡± Matheus lied, ashamed of admitting he¡¯d given over 20 coins to the guy. ¡°I was just wondering. So you think I should stay away from him?¡± ¡°Rick isn¡¯t a bad person. At least, I¡¯ve never considered him one. This town has survived a lot, and I remember him there when it mattered, helping to take care of the sick and rebuild when necessary. But since he was a little boy, he had a tendency of exaggerating things. Especially when they were about himself. Sometimes I think even he believes some of his lies,¡± Ravi concluded, shaking his head. ¡°Was he always like this, then?¡± ¡°In a way, yes. But it got worse a few years back. I think he was about to reach maturity and be integrated into the SoulSystem, I can¡¯t recall.¡± ¡°What?¡± Matheus asked, caught off guard. He didn¡¯t know Ravi knew about the system. ¡°You know, get access to experience and be able to develop his skills. He was about 13 I think.¡± ¡°And does that happen with everyone?¡± ¡°As far as I know, yes. ¡° Ravi answered, giving Matheus a questioning look. ¡°Though 12 is the average age for most people. Rick took a little longer.¡± ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t remember the specifics, but there was an incident with some kids being kidnapped. They were taken by Garlugas, and it took days for the hunters to track it and get them back. ¡°And Rick was one of the kids taken away?¡± Ravi shook his head. ¡°No. Rick was the only one that escaped it. He came back to the city and told everyone what had happened. In minutes, a search group was formed and they followed him, going after the other kids.¡± ¡°Except, the information he gave kept being wrong. And because of that, it took several days for them to find the kids and get them back. From 9 that were taken, only 4 were still alive. The rest had been eaten.¡± Matheus shivered. So, that was what had happened. And somehow, in the middle of it, Rick probably got cursed. ¡°It wasn¡¯t his fault, really. Those Garlugas mess with a person¡¯s head, making you see things when they are not there. When the hunters figured out what was happening, it was already too late. And grieving mothers needed someone to blame.¡± ¡°It must have been awful.¡± Ravi nodded, ¡°It really was. Rick¡¯s behavior got worse after the whole thing. I think ever since then, he¡¯d been trying to be remembered by something else.¡± That made sense. Matheus didn¡¯t think he could bear living as the one who let kids die, even if not on purpose. But Rick was just a kid too, wasn¡¯t he? As much as a victim as all the others. And still, he¡¯d never recovered from that failing. His identity had been formed when he was at his lowest, and people never saw him as something else. Matheus could understand that. Probably more than anyone. He bade his farewell and went back to his room, taking a sleepy Captain with him. After Matheus started being known as ¡°The King of Losers¡±, it didn¡¯t matter what he did, the title never went away. He could stay quiet or try talking with others, he could hide or make an effort to fit in. The results never changed. He was the loser, and nothing else. No one accepted him as something different. No one gave him a chance to be more. In his darkest moments, Matheus believed they were right. He felt bitterness filling his thoughts. It hadn¡¯t been fair. He knew he had never been just that. Fuck them all for making he doubt himself. He was the only one who could decide what he was worth. Making up his mind, he fell asleep, newly formed determination creeping in. When he woke up, he could still feel the traces of it on his body, pushing him forward. He stretched with Captain, got dressed and went to the city hall. With a smile, Matheus noticed Rick was already there, waiting for him by the entrance. This time, he didn¡¯t seem to be hungover. ¡°Good morning, your hi¡­¡± Rick said, but a stern look from Matheus made him catch himself. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Good morning, uh..sir?¡± ¡°You can just call me Matheus,¡± he replied with a sigh. Rick nodded. ¡°Look, I know your time is very valuable, and I appreciate having your presence here, and I know there isn¡¯t much I can do to help in hunting matters, but I¡­¡± He started saying nonstop. ¡°Please, stop. This is not necessary.¡± ¡°Alright, of course your hi¡­Matheus. Yes, I understand. Thank you for giving me the honor of your words.¡± ¡°Wait, that¡¯s not what I mean. It¡¯s not necessary, because I¡¯ve decided to keep with our Party. At least for now.¡± Rick instantly beamed, and again he wouldn¡¯t stop blubbering nonsense. ¡°Thank you, you won¡¯t be disappointed, I¡¯m positive that together we¡¯ll reach unimaginable heights, and people will¡­¡± ¡°Rick, please. Don¡¯t make me regret it, ok?¡± Matheus wasn¡¯t about to offer Rick to become a permanent vassal, only a temporary party member. Yes, the guy had been mostly disappointing as an ally so far, but he at least was being honest now. And he had tried to attack the Porkulogos when Matheus got hit, even though he was pretty ineffective. Maybe there was a way to make Rick more efficient. It wouldn¡¯t kill Matheus to offer him another chance. Or would it? Nah, it probably wouldn¡¯t. Just in case, he decided to keep the Gani elixir at close reach. 26. Cant stop advancing While they walked Matheus lost himself in his thoughts, deciding on the best path forward. Their quest was simple. Kill the Cave Guardian Reward: +1 Basic Spell Until he knew how the hell he could get a Soul ability, he needed to increase his magic arsenal. He had 15 mana now, and it was about time for him to find more uses for it. The city master had mentioned this region was weirder than normal, so they walked slower than normal, paying more attention to everything. Matheus had been doubting himself a lot the last couple days. It seemed like every few days there was a big decision to make, and he wasn¡¯t confident he¡¯d been making the correct ones. Was he even getting higher on the Champions ranking? He wanted to believe he was, but how could he know? It didn¡¯t matter how he looked at it, he still was moving too slow. He needed to make himself stronger. The quest was important, of course. But more than going after new skills, the priority should be working on the ones he already had. That meant taking everything he could up to level 5. Both his Skull Collector and his Stab skill had been at level 4 for some time, and his Bubble Ball had just reached it. One more, and another big upgrade would happen. His Procrastination was also at level 4 but no point in leveling that thing. Then Slash, Cooking and Echo Clap were at level 3, followed by Sneaking, Death Hug and Parkour at 2. His only level 1 skill was his For Honor ability, but he hadn¡¯t had the chance to practice with it yet. To be honest, he¡¯d almost forgotten about it. He doubted a boosted Rick would be of any great help, anyway. But it was time for him to begin practicing more strategically. He was beginning to suspect that merely repeating the same thing wasn¡¯t enough to level up a skill. Maybe there were some hidden thresholds he needed to reach? He¡¯d been carrying heads around for weeks, but the skill had only got to level 3 after he used skulls from monsters he didn¡¯t kill, and then to 4 when he stored dozens of skulls at the same time. What would be necessary to take it to 5? He would have to do some tests, see if keeping more heads of the same monster would give him more experience. But what would he do with all the other heads in the meanwhile? He couldn¡¯t just leave them anywhere. Stab, thankfully, should be more straightforward. He only needed to put holes into things. A fine art indeed. Matheus and Rick walked in silence, Captain comfortable on his hood. It was nice having time to think, but Rick''s discomfort with him was obvious. Matheus really hadn¡¯t thought about the implications of a king title. He¡¯d completely fixed on the ¡®losers¡¯ part, and wasn¡¯t expecting people to actually think he was royalty. Well, he couldn¡¯t know for sure how others would react. Maybe Rick was just too naive. ¡°Radar,¡± Matheus said again, as he routinely did as they advanced. There¡¯s 1 monster on a fifty meter radius of your position. Finally, an opportunity to grind. ¡°C¡¯mon. I want us to try something.¡± ¨C/¨C Slothman - Level 11 Half sloth. Half man. Health: 16/16, Mana: 0/0 Slow, dumb, and furry. It¡¯ll still eat your face if it gets to you. Matheus approached slowly, hoping the monster wouldn¡¯t notice him. He positioned himself right behind it, and waited. He already had two heads of those creatures on his inventory, from when he collected all those skulls below the Blue lake, but he wouldn¡¯t be careless again. He¡¯d always attack with a plan. Rick appeared from the trees, sword on his hand. ¡°Get ready to die, monster!¡± he bellowed. The slothman turned to him, growling. It stretched its hands, showing sharp long nails. ¡°For honor!¡± Matheus yelled, activating his skill and stabbing the monster on the back at the same time. It roared in pain and fury, slashing blindly as Matheus got away. Before it could react further, Rick advanced and hit it with his sword right with a powerful lunge. Instead of cutting its head off, the sword failed to meet its target with the sharp edge, and the flat of the blade struck the head of the monster with a dull thud, throwing it off balance. Thankfully, that was enough to let Matheus stab the monster a few more times, and the slothman wasn¡¯t strong enough to survive all the new holes on his body. You¡¯ve leveled up! Captain has leveled up! Sneaking has reached level 3! Stab has reached level 5! A sub-skill has been unlocked. You have three options! Poisoned Stab One cut will be enough to greatly slow, or even kill your enemies, give it enough time. 5 minutes cooldown Electrical Stab Add lightning to your attack. Possibility to stun your enemies. The electricity may hit other foes. 5 minutes cooldown Astral Stab Create an astral projection of your blade, greatly increasing its range and piercing. 5 minutes cooldown. A sub-skill? That was the first time he was hearing of something like this. Apparently, he would still have the stab skill, with the option to unleash a powerful attack every once in a while. This was freaking awesome. Now that was a proper upgrade! And all options could be very useful, depending on the style he was looking for. Which begged the question, what was his style going forward? He felt inclined to go with the poisoned stab. But something about it bothered him. If he was confident he would stab his enemy more times, the poison wasn¡¯t needed. Adding electricity was probably the coolest of the choices, would help with crowd control and had a lot of potential. Creating an astral projection was the obvious path if he decided to rely on his knife skills. It would increase his general attack considerably. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Matheus smiled. When had the choices changed from stupid and random to actually useful? He would need to do some thinking before deciding this one. He got on his knees, knife in hand, and started cutting the slothman¡¯s head off. ¡°Do you really have to do it? Your highness.¡± Rick asked, uncomfortable. ¡°How did you manage to hit it with the flat part?¡± Matheus asked back, trying to avoid the question. ¡°It slipped at the last moment,¡± Rick admitted. Amazing, Matheus thought. He had to admit, it was impressive. It was not so easy to be this bad at something. ¡°Why do you carry that sword around if you don¡¯t know how to use it?¡± ¡°I know how to use it,¡± Rick protested, ¡°I just can¡¯t use it in any useful way. It¡¯s different.¡± ¡°Ok¡­¡± was all Matheus said. ¡°I¡­I¡¯ve always wanted to be a swordsman,¡± Rick started, apparently deciding to explain himself. ¡°It was my dream, ever since I can remember. My parents had been lethal with a blade, both of them. They¡¯d promised to teach me when I was old enough.¡± ¡°They died before they had the chance. Then, shortly after, there was an¡­incident. And I got cursed afterwards. No more new skills.¡± ¡°I convinced myself I didn¡¯t need a thrusting or slashing skill, I would still be a great swordsman if I practiced hard and long enough. But there¡¯s some kind of block I am unable to get through, an invisible barrier that doesn¡¯t let me get better.¡± ¡°Wait. You don¡¯t have any sword skill?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll still become a swordsman,¡± he replied immediately. That explained how he¡¯d been disarmed so easily. ¡°What skill do you have?¡± Rick winced. Apparently, that was another sore spot for him. ¡°It¡¯s stupid. Useless.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon,¡± Matheus said. ¡°If we are going to be in a party, I need to know it.¡± Rick glanced at his head again and gulped. Did he feel obligated to tell him because he was a king? ¡°It¡¯s a slap skill.¡± ¡°A slap skill?¡± Matheus said incredulously. ¡°It was a game I used to play with friends. It just popped up one day after we¡¯ve been playing. What was the first skill you got?¡± ¡°Cooking.¡± ¡°Cooking?¡± Rick asked. ¡°How did you get cooking as your first? Either way, it doesn¡¯t really count. Anyone can have a cooking skill.¡± ¡°Anyone except me,¡± he added in a whisper, then quickly asked, ¡°what else did you get?¡± ¡°Well, there was a hiding skill, a climbing skill and¡­¡± Matheus stopped. He wasn¡¯t sure how much he wanted to share with him. He had some weird skills he wasn¡¯t exactly proud of. ¡°See? Those are very typical first skills. When people are being integrated into the system, almost anything they do could potentially become a skill. I had a friend get a fart skill,¡± Rick said, laughing. ¡°Really? I wonder how that would be like at level 10,¡± Matheus said with a chuckle. ¡°Unfortunately, he died a long time ago,¡± Rick replied with a sad smile. ¡°Oh. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Anyway, my point was that everyone''s first skills are stupid. It¡¯s not my fault I was in the middle of a game when puberty hit.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you focus on leveling it up? Since it¡¯s the only thing you got.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what a real swordsman would do. Rick, the Endless Cut, can¡¯t lower himself to rely on such barbarous tactics. Your highness.¡± ¡°Sometimes, we don¡¯t get a say in what the world offers us. We just have to do the best with the cards that are given,¡± Matheus said, not really sure if he was quoting someone. Rick said nothing. ¡°And did you get anything else besides those two? If you don¡¯t mind me asking.¡± Matheus really didn¡¯t want to talk about the procrastination skill. It was a stupid ability and no way in hell he would be advertising to people he had it. It would be like putting a giant sign pointing at his head saying ¡®here we have a lazy and disorganized person who never completes his goals.¡¯ Death Hug? That didn¡¯t really pass the image of a fearless king. Luckily, he¡¯d another skill with a much cooler ring to it. ¡°I also have a skull collector skill.¡± ¡°Skull collector?¡± Rick said, gaping. ¡°That''s why you keep storing all those heads. How the hell did you get that?¡± he asked, then added quickly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I know you must have your reasons. It¡¯s not important.¡± Apparently, he was afraid of angering him. Was this whole treatment because of his title? Matheus wasn¡¯t sure he was liking it. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard about a skull collector skill, but it makes sense you¡¯d have a conditional skill. They say all the great heroes have it,¡± Rick continued. ¡°A conditional skill?¡± ¡°You know, usually more specific abilities only granted in very specific conditions. I¡¯ve always dreamt of getting one.¡± Actually, Matheus had 3 conditional skills. Procrastination, death hug and skull collector. Were they really that rare? Did that mean he should focus more on leveling them up? Well, leveling his procrastination meant stopping doing his quests and getting stronger, which he wouldn¡¯t do since it made no sense. Death hug had a similar problem, because leveling it up meant getting close enough to crush monsters to death with his bare arms, which was beyond stupid and dangerous. And he would love to improve his Skull collector, but it stubbornly refused to get to level 5. Oh well. One step at a time. He would get them all there eventually. For now, he would enjoy his new fresh ability.