Chapter 4: Cockatrice

A young man on appeared in a green and lush forest. He was dressed in a white shirt with a black tie and black pants, a stark contrast to his surrounding.

He looked around at his surroundings with curiosity and muttered in awe. “So this is the tutorial.”

This young man was Leo. 

The tutorial was a far cry from the hellish landscape he imagined.

He had expected dark menacing woods, with creepy noises and roars, or a cave with bones and skulls, where bats jump at you from nowhere.

But, Leo found himself surrounded by a sea of vibrant green foliage. Towering trees created a dense canopy, and dappled sunlight filtered through. Nature's aroma filled the air. Unexpectedly, the ambiance was serene.

Ding! 

[System is now available]

The holographic interface notified.

Finding a nearby tree, Leo settled down to explore the system and grasp its mechanics first, before he took any action.

With a mere thought, Leo accessed the system, and the floating panel updated.

Name: Leo 

Rank: E

Title: Apocalypse Baby

Class: None

Level: 1

Hp: 100

Mp: 10

Apocalypse Baby? Leo frowned at the silly name, but according to oracle, this was supposed to be a privilege. He then wondered what its effect was, and the description popped up.

[Apocalypse Baby: This is the title given to the first player to arrive in the tutorial]

[Effect: Any reward gained from slaying a monster will be doubled]

Leo's eyes widened at this, twice the reward of everything was an incredible advantage. 

Leo then scrolled down further and saw his stats.

[Stats]

Strength: 10

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 10

Vitality: 10

[Power points: 10]

It looked exactly like a video game interface, and since Leo played a lot of them, he understood the mechanics.

Leo scrolled down even more and saw a section for ability.

[Ability:]

[Exploding Touch (E)]

“This is my ability?”

Leo muttered. The oracle had told him every human would get a unique ability as soon as they entered the tutorial. With a thought, Leo summoned the description.

[Exploding Touch (Rank E): On using the ability, the area you touch would explode in 30 seconds.]

[Cost: 5 mana]

“Oh,” Leo was stunned. He could turn anything he touched into a deadly explosion. Though he didn't know how powerful it will be, but he was sure it'll do a lot of damage.

“But how much damage?” Leo wondered. To find out, he turned to a nearby tree, placed his hand on it, and activated the ability. A bluish circular light marked the spot he touched, displaying a countdown from thirty in white.

Stepping back, Leo watched as the timer counted down.

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.”

Boom!

The force of the explosion sent Leo tumbling backward. Leo groaned and coughed up smoke. He berated himself for not moving farther away before the countdown ended.

He stood looking at the tree and marveled at the damage he had caused. The tree now bore a burnt hole, barely holding on to life. A single push should be enough to send it to the ground.

Leo checked his HP and saw it had been reduced by half. 

“Eee...that's a lot. ”

Leo winced, but he could see it was starting to regenerate along with the mana he had just used.

Leo thought the ability was remarkable and he could already think of ways to use it. 

But the fact that he had to touch his target bothered him.

Its simply meant close combat was necessary, but with no weapon or armor, he thought it wouldn't be a good idea. 

“System put all points in agility.”

Leo commanded, and immediately the system complied, raising his agility points by ten.

He had decided the best place to put his free power point was in his speed. His style of combat would be touch and flee to cover for his lack of armor.

“You can't hurt what you can't catch.” Leo nodded, feeling he made the right decision, but then a noise interrupted his self acknowledgement. 

Leo quickly rose to its knee and peeked to see what it was.

It was a cat - like creature with horns on it's head like a unicorn, walking towards the burnt tree.

[Unicat: Rank: D]

The name floated over its head.

Leo figured the noise of the explosion must have attracted it, and once again scolded himself for not being cautious.

He thought the cat would probably find him if he stayed there, so he decided to move. Leo didn't intend to fight against a monster he knew nothing about.

He was about to take a step away when he saw something surprising happen.

A chicken-like creature, the size of an ostrich with a scorpion-like tail, charged at the unicat. Its talons ensnared the creature, and with a single strike of its eagle-like beak, the cat's life ended.

Leo was left in shock, unable to react before it was over.

[Cockraice: Rank: D]

The name floated over the bird's head. 

The monstrous bird began feasting on the cat's remains, and Leo's heart raced as he watched.

This place was definitely dangerous.

The cockatrice ranking also got Leo attention. It was a rank D monster, while he was Rank E, which meant it was definitely more powerful the Leo. 

“Damn you oracle, you should have spawned me in an area with E rank monsters.” Leo cursed, staring at the sky. 

The chicken suddenly stopped eating, and turned his head towards Leo's direction.

Immediately, Leo hid back his head. His back leaning on the tree, and his heart pounding like a drum.

“It didn't see me.it didn't see me.it didn't see me.” Leo repeated to himself, his chest pounding so hard it hurt.

Leo couldn't hear any sound, not even that of the creature munching, which made him more tense.

He peeked out from the left side of the tree, only to see the monstrous bird was gone. 

Leo then sighed in relief as he leaned back, holding his chest.

But then he saw the cockraice beak slowly poke out from the right, and he froze.

The bird had approached from his blind spot which had prevented him from spotting it.

Leo thought it was intimidating from a distance, but up close the creature was downright terrifying. Its purple feathers quivered as it exhaled, its beak stained with blood and entrails, and its eyes resembled those of a snake.

Leo couldn't move his body, only his arm, so he used it and pinched himself on his thighs, which loosened him a little.

As he did that, the cockatrice noticed him and then stabbed its beak towards Leo's head.

But Leo moved fast enough, rolling away from the piercing attack, the power points he had put into his agility showing its worth.

The cockatrice's beak collided with the tree with tremendous force, and it got stuck. Its body writhed, and its tail flailed about as it struggled to pull itself free.

Leo, seeing this as a chance to use his ability, touched the bird's legs, avoiding the tail, and then it's neck. A bluish circular light appeared on the areas he had touched, and the countdown began.

Wasting no time, Leo executed a 180-degree turn and sprinted for his life.