Awakening With the Renegade System

Chapter six: More Quintessence Cores

[QUEST: INITIATION PROTOCOL]

OBJECTIVES:

>SURVIVE THE RUIN OF NIGHTMARE

>LOCATE THE NEAREST HUMAN SETTLEMENT

DURATION: 48 HOURS

PROGRESS:

>TIME: 40HRS 0MINS

>KILLS: 1

>HUMAN SIGNALS DETECTED: 0

REWARD:

+1 LEVEL

+5 STAT POINTS

MEMORY SYNC +5%

RANDOM PASSIVE SKILL

Javier let out a deep sigh after seeing the quest status interface in front of him. He had spent eight hours without the slightest inkling on how to get to the nearest human settlement as quick as possible.

'If I had a map everything would have been better,' Javier thought within himself. 'I mean, I've seen several protagonists with maps to help them...'

'You can't eat your cake and have it back,' he immediately reprimanded himself. The Renegade System had done so much for him, yet he was still here complaining.

The thing was this was a habitual tantrum on his own part. It was something he could not do without no matter where he was. He would always complain about his circumstance or status.

As someone who came from a poor family in his previous life as Donald Winston, Javier had always worked hard so that he would get a better life. Seeing his friends better off than him always pushed him, making work harder than he should have done.

Due to this he developed a habit of never being contented with what he had. He always yearned for more, wanting the best for himself. And whenever he couldn't get a hold of what he wanted, he would submerge himself into this tantrum of complaint. It had become a habit for him—it wasn't going to change anytime soon.

Right now he was standing in a forest of tall think trees, unaware of his current location. The socalled Renegade System didn't even notify him of his current location, making him grow more disappointed.

"Why make me your host of you can't do something simple for me?" Javier asked.

Even though he had promised himself not to cast his blame on the Renegade System, he couldn't still help it because it was behavior. Also he had every right to blame the Renegade System. After all it was the one which had reincarnated him into this place.

'I'm not even sure if I'm still in the world I knew,' Javier told himself, forgetting about his previous plight. 'I don't even recognize—'

Suddenly he heard a loud growl behind him, a whooshing sound emanating. Obviously something was leaping in his direction and he didn't even need to turn around to ascertain what it was.

Javier took the best action at that moment. Without bothering to turn back he sprang forward, spinning in the air to face whatever was behind him. He then thrust his Steel Fang dagger forward, his right arm exploding with strength.

The silvery blade of the dagger stabbed madly into the eye of a familiar creature, causing it to burst with blood which splattered everywhere.

[YOU HAVE SLAIN A STEEL SABERTOOTH]

[+1 EXP]

He then landed on the ground softly, watching as the corpse of the monster fell to the ground. But he wasn't given any chance to rest because it wasn't just one Steel Sabertooth. There were two more of these monsters charging at him!

Obviously these creatures had been following him from a distance, planning to finish him off as quick as possible. And when he finally relaxed his guard and wasn't looking, they charged at him the same time.

But they would soon come to the realization that they had made a very grave mistake. This was because their prey was not the normal human being he had been earlier. He was now a Raider with stats and skills. How were these creatures supposed to fare against him now?

Javier immediately pushed off the ground with his left hand, dodging a powerful swipe from one of the Steel Sabertooth. If he had not done so his eyes would have been clawed out instantly.

He then thrust his right arm forward, stabbing the Steel Fang into the left eye of the monster just like he had done to the other one. Blood bloomed into the air as the eye was reduced to a mangled organ, Javier drawing out the Steel Fang dagger.

[YOU HAVE SLAIN A STEEL SABERTOOTH]

[+1 EXP]

Both he and the corpse of the Steel Sabertooth fell to the ground with a loud thud, rolling over the grass for four seconds. After stopping Javier wanted to push himself up like he had done before but he was too late. The third Steel Sabertooth was already upon him.

And before Javier could react its stygian maw opened, revealing jarring sets of fangs made of pure steel. It then bit on his right arm, pressing him down with its enormous paws.

There was the sound of steel scraping against steel as the spot where the monster had bit glowed with a faint silvery hue. This was followed by Javier's skin instantly transforming into steel. Thus no matter how this monster dug its fangs into his skin, they couldn't penetrate.

"Blood of Donald!" Javier cursed, relieved that his arm hadn't been bitten off. For a split second he had forgotten that he now had the Steel Skin skill.

'Fear can make one forget a lot of things...' he thought to himself as he grunted under the weight of the Steel Sabertooth, pulling his right hand from under its left paw.

His fingers were still clasped tightly around the hilt of the Steel Fang dagger despite everything. Although his hand was already trembling he didn't dare weaken his grip on the Steel Fang dagger for a second.

"You want to eat me, huh?" Javier scoffed. "Let's see how you do that!"

He then stabbed the Steel Fang dagger into the monster's left eye, twisting it madly. He expected this monster to slump down instantly and die. But he was very wrong because this one turned out to be more resilient than the others which he had slain.

Instead of the Steel Sabertooth to die immediately, it growled angrily and began clawing at Javier's face. Its steel claws glittered under the sunlight as they tore through the air, digging madly at his skin.

Finally under the ferocious assault of the claws Javier's skin finally cracked, blood seeping out of the wound. It seemed that if the Steel Sabertooth continued with its relentless clawing it would tear Javier's skin apart.

And it was at this moment that he realized that this skill wasn't omnipotent. He was still bound to suffer physical damage, just that it would be reduced.

"Die, you filthy monster!" Javier yelled as he pulled out the Steel Fang dagger and stabbed at the monster's right eye. This time he used all of his strength, a cracking sound emanating from the monster.

The impact didn't just destroy the Steel Sabertooth's eye this time. It caused its skull to crack, the dagger penetrating through its head which was made of steel.

The monstrous creature immediately ceased its frantic assault, staggering backwards. Its eyes were a bloody mass of meat so Javier could tell that it wasn't seeing him.

Since the familiar notification hadn't come up, Javier could tell that the creature was not dead yet. So he didn't dare approach the creature to retrieve his Steel Fang dagger which was still embedded within the eye of the Steel Sabertooth.

Finally after staggering for some the monster fell to the ground with a loud thud and ceased every form of movement. It was finally dead and unable to pose Javier any threat.

[YOU HAVE SLAIN A STEEL SABERTOOTH]

[+1 EXP]

[EXP: 4/10]

Right now the familiar voice of the Renegade System seemed very pleasant to him and he couldn't help but smile.

At that moment the familiar holographic interface appeared in front of him:

[RENEGADE SYSTEM ONLINE...]

QUINTESSENCE CORES DETECTED

NAME: STEEL SABERTOOTH

CLASS: MONSTER

RANK: BRONZE

LEVEL: 1

But this time there was another interface that popped up, causing him to be surprised.

SKILL UPGRADE DETECTED

[STEEL SKIN, LV1]

[AVAILABLE QUINTESSENCE CORES]

STEEL SABERTOOTH ×3

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SACRIFICE THESE CORES TO UPGRADE THIS SKILL?

[YES] [NO]

But Javier wasn't in the mood to reply immediately. This was because he was feeling very tired after the battle, all his joints aching. He decided to lie down, taking deep laboured breathes to recover his stamina.

[RESOURCES]

>STAMINA (SP): 4/10

>SP RECOVERY: +2 PER MINUTE

Staring at this interface made him curl his lips into a smile. This was because it wouldn't take him long to recover his stamina. In no time he would be able to move again.