I hear the loud voice of an old man from a distance.
“Ah crap, I should’ve turned the car at least back on the wheels,” I mumble under my breath.
Or, wait.
Is he referring to his precious car being almost upside down, with a bonus of smashed side windows and a rear mirror?
Or my execution of the boss? Standing still, I turn my sight towards him.
There he stands, holding Astrid in his arms, covering her eyes with his palm.
He stares at the flesh ball with Mike’s face.
Okay, now I know what his concern is, nothing personal.
Good.
“Can you somehow cover that?” he asks me loudly.
“Of course, but first let me finish the boss,” I yell back to him while the last heart keeps rhythmically thudding. The rest of the body is barely twitching.
*Unsheathing blade satisfyingly rings over the rivets on his holster*
"Catch!" He throws his massive black combat dagger with a rigged top.
"Ugh. Phew."
I barely catch it, avoiding cutting myself.
"Don''t waste your bullets, boy!" He adds with a nod.
“What to cover? Harald, stop it,” Astrid moves around, trying to free herself from his arms.
He turns around with her and waits.
"Ssshh."
<hr>
I grab the knife tightly with the palm of my hand, glancing for a brief moment all around it, admiring its sturdiness and beauty of craftsmanship.
Standing there almost ceremonially, I raise it above my head while cracking a wide smile, teeth braced, holding the massive knife with both hands.
*Tschk*
A black combat knife with a rigged top enters swiftly through the layer of mucus and buries deep into the beige muscle.
Crimson blood spurts alongside the blade, mixing with the mucus, quite unpleasant, as the strands move with the flow, paired with the never-ending stench of rot and intestinal acids all around.
Nightmarish and disgusting stuff that should make people vomit in an instant are now on my daily basis.
Every day I''m more desensitized, and it''s a good thing.
The last beat is the last time blood is pumped from the wound upwards, around the old man''s combat dagger.
I prepare for the last dying twitch or kick, standing with my legs apart and holding the dagger still inside.
*Nothing happens*
*Tschk*
I pull it up with a slight turn, and gluey mucus is pulled up just like cheese from a well-done pizza.
Speaking of pizza, I get sad immediately, imagining I won''t get my hands on food like that anytime soon.
*Di, di, din, din, ding*
That''s what I was waiting and hoping for.
How many were there? Four or five? I slash the dagger as fast as I can to shake off the liquids, like a samurai. It doesn''t work, of course, and I have to awkwardly stomp on the blade and clean it over the mossy surface with the help of my footwear.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Oh my, what a treat.
Was it five?
Five means 25.
Twenty-five means possibly a new ability? I guess. Depends if Mike was lying or not.
"Skills!"
"All to endurance."
A satisfying drumroll I heard only once before is played behind my head again. I shake my head, a bit disoriented in panic as it somehow reminds me of that annoying spatial video where someone knocks on the door.
It still freaks me out after all this time when I hear it somewhere by accident.
My body stiffens for a moment, my posture straightens, and I take a deep breath, feeling slightly more fit and rejuvenated.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 36.6613%; background-color: rgba(52, 73, 94, 1)" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.466%">Markus Rain</td>
<td style="width: 33.466%">foreigner</td>
<td style="width: 33.1645%">level 69</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.466%">Strength</td>
<td style="width: 33.466%">60</td>
<td style="width: 33.1645%">Focus [Bonus Skill]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.466%">Agility</td>
<td style="width: 33.466%">3</td>
<td style="width: 33.1645%">no skill</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.466%">Willpower</td>
<td style="width: 33.466%">4</td>
<td style="width: 33.1645%">no skill</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.466%">Endurance</td>
<td style="width: 33.466%">30</td>
<td style="width: 33.1645%">[Partial Harden] ▼</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Holy smokes! So it was ten? No way it dinged that much!
"Ding, ding, ding, ding..." I whisper to myself counting.
I''ve managed to get to fifty straight away, maybe there was something in between. I speculate in my head, while still cleaning the blade over the grass remains.
<hr>
Rolling out this creepy Mike''s face before the act I decide to save the joy for later.
Walking confidently towards the flesh ball I''m interrupted by the swift movement.
Mike is already near it, all sweaty, heavy breathing and tries to push it.
“Hey… You alright, man?”
“I have something for you,” I bomb him at first sight.
He groans as he struggles to roll the ball.
“Let me help.” I continue talking to him. With the feeling of guilt that he might be mad at me for the whole situation.
I quickly grab two fistfuls of moss and dirt and push against the horrendous sphere.
It rolls just a few degrees, and his face mask is now on the bottom, facing the ground.
He sighs.
“Here, this is the treasure that came from the boss. This boosts endurance by ten points,” I explain to him how green the number is and how it makes my skin thicker.
“And from this fucker, I''ve gained five levels, sorry we couldn''t share, at least accept this.”
I offer him the necklace, while an old man carrying Astrid approaches, secretly wanting Mike to refuse.
"Ugh."
Immediately as I take the necklace off, I feel more brittle and vulnerable.
My skin stretch marks are slowly filling with blood and expanding.
Despite all this, I hand him the amulet, as genuine as I try to look, he notices in my eyes that it''s hard for me to do.
“No, no, no. Keep it. You need it more than I do.” He gestures to me to put it back on with a quite frightened stare.
His refusal sparks joy, yet I''m a bit confused as he seemed a bit afraid when I mentioned the amulet, but then he acts suddenly confident and chivalrous.
Suspicious, but I can''t wait to accept.
“Thank you,” that''s all that I say.
He starts to walk towards Harald and his legless girlfriend.
"Stats." I whisper again, my eyes wide opened as I see no dropdown menu and number 15 instead of 30.
So doubling it is?!
<hr>
The amulet is again over my neck, and I watch my body react. The effect is the same; wounds are closing, and skin thickens.
As they start to talk and explain everything to each other, I take advantage of the little time I have and eagerly decide to check for the rewards.
Sitting on the turf I open my stats menu.
By hovering my finger over the Endurance skill field a dropdown appears.
Apparently I can choose my second skill, which will be tied to my Endurance, yet it might be disabled if I take off the amulet? I wonder.
New secrets everyday.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 27.7755%" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 50.0534%">Partial Harden</td>
<td style="width: 49.9066%">Harden part of the skin for a limited time.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 50.0534%">Regen</td>
<td style="width: 49.9066%">Faster healing of non-fatal human wounds</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
“Are you kidding me! Such a hard choice.”
I mutter under my breath after speed reading the content.
Guess I can’t save it for later. Well, I can, but don''t want to.
A quick peek at the crew to see if I have more time to calculate and compare.
They are happily talking, ignoring me.
Good.
Sigh.
So, the partial hardening—let’s break it down. What is a limited time? Would be good to know, but I guess it is upgradeable, could be trained or somehow prolonged. There is no way this would be just a second right?
How strong it is, is also quite interesting. Could this fully replace a shield? I wonder.
Regen. Faster? What does faster mean? Can I end up like a Wolverine at some point? Or will all my wounds magically heal overnight? Can I regrow limbs? Can I regrow limbs I sacrificed to death or the parts of my body I poured acid on? I look up at the sky, believing someone or something is definitely watching us.
“Give me answers!”
I whisper. Sighing and releasing the tension in my body I look on the ground.
<hr>
I’d love to have Regen.
I''d really, really love to have regen, but.
I desperately need to use more of my power or I would still break apart.
And, if that well power''s power even exists it seems that it had the same disruptive impact on my body as using Focus.
On the other hand, if I could always heal back...
Sigh.
This is so hard.
"What is it, Markus?" Old man turns his sight towards me asking, looking at my clearly concerned expression.
"Ugh. Nothing, I just have to think something through."
"Fine." He nods and chit chats back with the group.
<hr>
"Harden part of the skin for a limited time."
"Faster human wounds healing." I whisper again, gazing at the invisible display.
No!
I get it!
If there is so little info, then I must work with only that.
“Faster human wounds healing.” Human. Regrowing a limb is not a human thing to do.
This is like a coin toss.
You secretly want one of the options to win over the other.
I decide quickly on this.
*Tap*