LEVEL UP

GETTING STRONGER (1)

Roshan dragged the beast he had killed to his home, following his path to lead him into the right way.

His body worked tirelessly until he perceived an unfamiliar scent, followed by the smell of smoke coming directly from where his home was.

He knew there was trouble.

Dropping the carcass of the beast, he ran forward to find the house on fire.

He walked in, surprised, his heart beating louder with every step.

He looked everywhere for his parents, only to find dead bodies of people he had no clue about.

The strange unfamiliar scent grew stronger, and he ran to the back of the house.

What he met there scared him to his bones; he could see a creature.

“What the hell is that?” he said as he took a step back.

He immediately saw his mother get killed in front of him, and his world shook.

His knees wobbled as he hit the floor miserably, tears flowing uncontrollably.

His loving mother was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. He was just too weak to act.

He watched in horror as he saw his father fighting the creature. Looking at the pool of blood under his father, he realized that he would be gone too.

The fear and anguish made him bite into his lips without realizing it, and blood flowed.

He hated himself for being this weak; he cursed himself for doing nothing.

He had run to his father’s side and held him before he finally disappeared.

He swore to himself that he would fulfill his father’s wish and become stronger.

Walking to the spot where his mother died, he gathered the ashes and wept. He cried and cried.

There was no help for the dead.

He was lost and alone.

Lost in his misery, he noticed a chain on the other side of the ashes.

“At least, I have something to keep them closer to me,” he said when he realized the chain was actually a locket.

Carrying a part of his father’s ashes, he mixed it with his mother’s, scooping up a little and placing it into his locket.

He dug the ground and laid the ashes down. He stood over the grave for a few minutes.

“I’ll miss you both, and I won’t leave this world until I become the strongest man alive.”

He had made up his mind, and there was no stopping him.

He walked into the house. He was tired.

Part of the house was ashes while the other part was broken. At least he still had some clothes that survived, and he found his father’s sword. But as he tried it out, he felt like his arms would fall off.

He went out and brought in his catch and decided to eat, but as he stirred the food, the house became eerily silent.

He clenched his fist around his spoon. All of a sudden, the plate of food went flying outside.

“Arrrrghhhh!” he yelled. How could he even eat?

He walked outside in the middle of the night and sat near his parents’ grave.

Sitting quietly, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to move on.

A familiar sound in his head

[«DING!!»]

It was his system.

[Large amount of energy detected]

[Would you like to absorb?]

He thought about where this energy was coming from and looked at his parents' grave.

Of course, they were powerful people. Did that mean they still had some leftover energy?

He walked over to his house and stayed there a while before answering.

"I would like to absorb energy."

He waited for a second until he finally got an answer.

[Energy not detected]

He was right.

He moved to his parents’ grave and said the same words. Almost immediately…

[Energy absorption initiating]

He felt a calmness in his body. It was so peaceful he thought he would fall asleep.

After a few minutes, he felt a bang on his head.

He held his head, shaking in pain. It was excruciating.

The pain moved all over his body, and his breathing became shallow.

[Host’s body cannot contain energy]

[Energy bar is filled up]

[Level up initiating]

[Host has entered Level 3]

[Energy Absorption Initiating]

He began to feel better but realized he needed to calm down. He sat up immediately and took deep breaths, distributing the absorbed energy around his body.

He didn’t know what to do at first, but as he closed his eyes and tried to detect the energy in his body, he discovered a white flame moving peacefully at the depth of his soul.

He watched it as it danced peacefully until a few moments later, it began to rage, and he started to feel huge pain in his head. He took deep breaths to steady the pain and slowly began shifting parts of the flame to other parts of his body.

The white flame mixed with his blood and flowed around his body, circulating from his heart back to his body and vital organs. His shallow breaths became calm.

He opened his eyes. Beads of sweat could be seen on his forehead.

[Energy bar filled up]

[Host has successfully levelled up]

[Level Up Initiating]

[Host has reached Level 4]

“Phew…” he breathed out. At least he got through this one less painfully.

Though his mind felt like it could collapse at any minute because energy distribution had taken a huge toll on his body, soul, and mind.

[Energy Absorption Initiating]

“Again…” He was starting not to like this process.

Once again, he assumed his mind state and did the same thing.

[Energy Absorption Complete]

[No Energy detected]

[Level Up Initiating]

[Host has successfully reached Level 5]

[Host has gained each level-up reward]

Roshan didn’t even finish reading his notifications when he immediately collapsed.

All he could hear were the multiple dings and rings in his head.

His mind had been exhausted, and he fell into a place of darkness.