God Slayer: SSS-Rank Abyssal System

Chapter Eight: System Upgrade

Samuel slid into his shack undetected. The news of his mother's death had died down, and everyone was returning to their lives. His eyes became teary when he saw his mother's corpse lying on the ragged bed. She hadn't been buried yet.

What had he expected? He shook his head bitterly. Who would want to bury a poor person like his mother? Society saw poor people as trash. The world treated them worse than other ordinary humans.

Samuel didn't complain. He carried the corpse out of the shack, toward the woods north of the town. Without any disturbance, he buried his mother.

Tears streamed down his eyes endlessly as he remembered the last moment he'd spent with her. She'd been singing her favorite lullaby.

“Rest in peace, Mum,” he said, crossing his chest in prayer. “We'll meet in our next lives.”

[Weapon fusion completed…]

[Your weapon has been upgraded to the Black-fanged Greatsword!

Rank: C

Level: 1]

[INVENTORY]

Black-fanged Greatsword, LV1 (C-Grade)

Effect: Increases physical damage by 40%

Special ability: Serpent Fang (Bites into targets instantly and sucks out Qi)

Samuel couldn't even smile. He was grieving his mother. He didn't bother to check the greatsword and returned to his shack. He took shortcuts to avoid the townspeople. He didn't want to be disturbed now.

He entered his shack and sat down, his expression gloomy.

[Your SP has reached its limits! Spend it to level up your skills! You can also use the other player points!]

Samuel's gaze sharpened. He'd killed everyone in the Black Gang. But that wasn't the end. He knew people would come after him. Declan had mentioned something like that. Besides, he'd overheard the Red Cross hunter mentioning something about the government. If his suspicions were true, his life would soon be in danger. So, he had to get more powerful.

He was still heartbroken from everything. But he couldn't let that deter him. His mother would want him to keep on fighting. She was the one who kept him on his feet to this day.

He clicked the skills tab and allocated four skill points to Sword Master.

[Congratulations! Sword Master, LV1 has leveled up!]

[-4 SP]

[SP: 6/10]

[Sword Master, LV5 (Active)]

“Allocate two skill points to the remaining skills.” he clenched his jaw.

[Congratulations! You have leveled up your skills!]

[Savage Pounce, LV1 has leveled up!]

[Flaming Bow, LV1 has leveled up!]

[Iron Skin, LV1 has leveled up!]

A purple hue engulfed him after the last notification. When it cleared, Samuel noticed something different about his skin. A metallic luster lingered, then faded eventually.

[SP: 0/10]

[SKILLS]

Savage Pounce, LV3 (Active)

Sword Master, LV5 (Active)

Flaming Bow, LV3 (Active)

Iron Skin, LV3 (Passive)

“I need to see my player status,” he said.

[System Player Status]

Name: Samuel Winston

Classification: Evolved

Species: Human

Profession: Carrier

Rank: E

Level:1

Mana: 6/10

Health:10/10

STA: 10/10

SP: 0/10

Exp: 9/10

AP: 1/10

“I now have one attribute point.” He squinted. “Please allocate it to strength.”

[Congratulations! One attribute point has been added to strength!]

[STATS]

Strength: 5

Agility: 3

Vitality: 3

Intelligence: 6

Perception: 5

Willpower: 7

[Note: Stats such as speed and luck are locked for important reasons! You can only unlock them at the D-Class!]

Samuel didn't react. Instead, he replied flatly. “Noted.”

He then summoned his Black-fanged Greatsword. He watched the usual purple hue appear in his right hand. When it cleared, he was gripping a terrifying greatsword. It was purple, with black strips running across it. The blade was very different now. It had deadly fangs woven into its edges, like the maw of a serpent.

Samuel felt the strange surge emanating from the greatsword. It sent a jolt of power through his entire body. He would have grinned if he'd not buried his mother recently.

He stood up slowly and dismissed his weapon. Now he had to buy full-body gear from the market. Unfortunately, the Qi cores of E-Rank Abyssal Creatures could only get him cheap E-Grade gear.

“No one has seen the Iron-toothed Sabertooth before…” he muttered to himself. “So I have to make sure I trade those Qi cores—”

[You can trade with the Abyssal System. There's only one gear available currently, though]

“Show me,” Samuel replied, knitting his brows. How come the Abyssal System had everything?

[Gear name: Ghost Serpent (4950 bronze tokens)

Type: Full-body light armour

Grade: C-Grade

Level: 1

Effect: Ghost Walk (×20 usage per day)

Special Effect: Shadow Cloak (×1 usage per day)]

“As usual, it doesn't explain a thing,” he frowned. He then looked at the price again and scrunched his face in displeasure. It was the same as the money he had left. He became suspicious of the Abyssal System.

[Do you wish to purchase Ghost Serpent for 4950 bronze tokens?]

[Yes] [No]

[You can also use your ×2 Iron-toothed Sabertooth's Qi cores for the purchase]

“Yes,” Samuel said hurriedly. He didn't need to be told twice to use his bronze tokens. The Qi cores of Abyssal Creatures were expensive in Windfield Town. One Qi core could sell for almost ten thousand bronze tokens. The Abyssal System was being notoriously unscrupulous at this point.

[Transaction completed! You have spent 4,950 tokens to purchase Ghost Serpent!]

[INVENTORY]

×2 Iron-toothed Sabertooth's Qi core

Black-fanged Greatsword, LV1 (C-Grade greatsword)

Ghost Serpent, LV1 (C-Grade gear)

He was still staring at the holographic screen when he heard a commotion outside his shack. He dismissed the purple screen and hurried outside.

Three men stood outside, dressed in silver gear. From their appearance, Samuel could tell that their equipment was at least D-Grade. They glanced at him contemptuously.

“Are you the carrier who followed the Black Gang to the E-Grade Abyssal Zone?” One of them asked. A ghastly scar ran down his right face.

“Yes,” Samuel replied flatly. He didn't even blink.

“How come you are the only one who returned alive?” The man asked, placing his hand on his sword’s hilt.

“I got lucky,” Samuel answered.

The atmosphere instantly turned tense. Every ordinary folk around moved away vigilantly. But they still lingered to watch what would unfold. They loved gossiping, and couldn't wait for Samuel to be made an example of.

At this point, the three men had already drawn out their swords. Their expressions were grim, as they took a fighting stance.

Suddenly, Samuel heard a metallic chime in his mind. His expression turned grave as he read the system's notification.

[System update!

Mission: Defeat these three Red Cross guild hunters!

Reward: +3 AP, +3 MP

Penalty for failure: Death

Duration: 20mins]