2024-09-07 22:14:55The first arrow missed. The second arrow pierced through the haunch. The third arrow shot straight through hind legs, at the perfect location on the hogs belly.
The gigantic boar took a step, fell on spot.
Eric did not wait for the herd to gather its wits. Immediately, he started shooting at the fastest speed. The second in command fell.
The third ..
fourth …
[ Experience +30 ]
[ Experience + 30 ]
Soon, all the hogs fell. Eric did not let go of the piglets either. He killed them with a single arrow.
[ Experience + 10 ]
[ Level up ]
[ Level up ]
Eric opened the panel. He is now level three, needing just forty more points to go to level four. For level zero to one, it took five points. The rabbits provided that. Level one took twenty five, level two took one hundred and twenty five. Miscellaneous creatures that died in the fire he set up for the tent gave him twenty points of experience. Now, the wild boars alone gave him seven hundred and ten.
He obtained two stats, both of them, he added one to dexterity, another to intelligence. The former increased his reaction speed, later increased his perception. He had no plans of testing whether he would really be resurrected if he dies. As such, it’s best not to die.
Eric swung up, fixed another stake to the cliff face. He started climbing down the cliff face, making sure to double check all his foot holds. Soon, he was on the ground. If not for the vitality which increases with each level, he probably would not have enough stamina to get down the cliff.
He retrieved the electric bicycle, rode to the location. The map lit up in front of him showing him the most comfortable path. He collected the arrows and corpses of the pigs. The smell of blood should already be attracting the predators.
All of a sudden, all his senses screamed ‘ Danger ‘
Eric turned at full speed, a machete in his hand stabbing forward before his brain could recognize what’s happening. His arm went through a gigantic maw, hitting the roof of the mouth.
[ Critical hit ]
The words flashed before his eyes, vanishing at flash speed.
Eric opened his hand, leaving the machete inside the giant snake’s mouth just like that.
[ Exp + 50 ]
[ Killed an invasive species. ]
[ + one stat attribute point ]
[ Eco-warrior passive activated. ]
[ Species added to wildlife library. ]
[ Now, you will be able to see all the animals belonging to this species on the map. ]
Eric immediately opened the map and checked. ‘ Stats to dexterity ‘ he commanded with all of his being.
A gigantic shadow was moving towards him under the water. If he had not experienced and desensitized himself to danger, he would have frozen there unable to move. That’s how big the shadow underwater is. His entire being thrummed with tension as death came straight to him from under the water.
A gigantic snake with mottled yellow and brown skin rose from the water, a maw that could swallow a wild boar whole, came straight at him.
Three arrows strung on the bow were released with supreme precision, hitting the roof of the snake’s head. However, it did not slow the snake much. Eric stored away the bow in a fraction of second, retrieved the strongest crossbow in his inventory with his thousand rpm speed, shot at the snake’s seven inches.
The arrow was a piercing arrow, made especially to strike the wild beasts.
The arrow sang like a siren renting the air.
The maw of the snake almost reached Eric, covering his head. The arrows stuck in the snake’s upper maw halted the snake’s progress, snapping the snake's head.
‘ Click ‘
The piercing arrow severed the spine of the snake.
The snake's head swung, hitting Eric with all it's weight.
Stars swirled around his head.
His vision went black for a second.
The gigantic snake head slid sideways from Eric’s head. It was still attached to the snake's body by the back neck tendons, which were unable to support the weight of the snake's head. The snake's body was still twitching, churning water in the stream as the delayed muscle response went through till it’s tail.
after falling, the jaw still tried to close around his legs, given the snake brain was still active, as was its heart.
Blood leaked from the place where the piercing arrow severed the spine of the snake. Eric stepped sideways over the fangs of the snake. The snake’s seven inches and its body were in an ‘L’ shape, brain giving orders, but they were cut off at the place where the spine was severed. If not for the three arrows stopping the closing of the maw, the snake would still have broken Eric’s legs.
After coming out, Eric moved behind the snake’s head. Malice dripped through the snake’s cold eyes as it focused on Eric’s face. It’s eyes promised a bloody revenge as it looked at him. Half of his HP was gone from the hit earlier. He retrieved a great sword, struck it straight through the snake’s brain.
[ Experience + 1000 ]
[ Congratulations on killing a level four beast while at level three. ]
[ you receive a double stat bonus. ]
[ you receive a skill card ]
The first thing Eric did after seeing the messages was to check his stats. As expected, the newly arrived stats are added to his dexterity. He started with ten points on each stat. He obtained The last stat was grayed out. He had no idea which level it unlocks at. He can not wait to have mana in his hand.
[ Strength : 14( +1) ]
[ Agility : 14 ]
[ Intelligence : 14 ( +1) ]
[ Dexterity : 14 ( + 2 ) ]
[ Vitality : 14 ]
[ Mana ]
[ stat points : 2 ]
He added stats at level one to intelligence, from then on, he kept adding to dexterity. However, now, he realized dexterity always goes hand in hand with agility. Thus, this time, he added both stat points to agility. The development he seeks is more of a tradesman plus hunter. It's more important to be precise than to pack a punch, no matter how satisfying it is.
Eric stored the snake body, turned to leave. Just as he was about to return, he felt immense pressure, pressing him to the ground. A dragon roar sounded in his head. As long as he remained in this area, he would be ground to paste.
Eric put the newly found agility points to use. He crawled away from the clearing with army mud crawling at the fastest speed. The trembling of earth felt through his entire body is enough for him to know that he would have been crushed into paste had he remained at the location.
He did not stop his crawl just because he escaped from the danger area. Ignoring the grass and gravel, he kept crawling at his fastest. The pressure eased all of a sudden. Eric got up, ran forward at the fastest sprint.
He could feel a gigantic presence, hungry for his flesh and blood behind him.
The electric bike was retrieved, Eric hightailed it towards the cliff face. Whichever nightmarish creature has landed in the clearing behind him, it can surely not reach his little perch hanging two hundred feet above air. It’s too near to the sharp cliff face for a large animal to comfortably attack him.
Unless the Kingkong itself came, the mountain swing was the perfect location to launch an attack from. He never moved so fast in his life. He did not even bother with storing the bike. He got down, then rushed to climb the cliff, forgoing removing the stakes.
“ Screeeeeeee… “ the animal's roar sounded behind him.
It was unlike anything he had ever heard.
It was full of fear, hunger, longing and utter animal determination to crush anything in its path.
Eric laid eyes on the creature for the first time after putting on his shooting harness.
‘ A DRAGON ?!!! ‘ he was shocked to see the creature.
‘ Aren’t they supposed to be extinct ? no, aren’t they imaginary creatures ? ‘ before his brain could process, the dragon roared once more, spraying the air with dragon breath.
The dragon has locked eyes with him.
Looking into the dragon’s eyes full of mad obsession, Eric gave up fear. In his heart, there is nothing but overflowing thrill.
It was either him, or the dragon.
He strung the piercing arrow, locked it on the target, and released it.
The arrow missed.
Eric’s mind went blank. He became an arrow shooting machine. Each arrow was a piercing arrow. His fatigue is building up by the seconds.
Miss !
Miss !
..
HIt !
Miss !
The dragon flew high in front of him, bracing its wings against the wind, lining up in a straight line with his swing. Eric knew what’s coming next without even using his brain.
The dragon dove straight towards him, braving hitting the cliff wall behind him. If he gets skewered by the dragon horn on its head, he would die without a corpse ! ‘This resurrection as long as you are on ground is not very useful.’ Eric thought as he scrambled on the rope to climb higher.
He turned around.
The dragon was coming straight at his waist ! it would snap him into two any moment now.
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59 - Boss Eliminated
The four ton mass of the pig boss fell right atop him, almost crushing him into paste. Had he not summoned a broken wooden table, the falling carcass itself would have turned him into minced meat. He took refuge under the table. The pig’s carcass covered the view of the table, and Eric. Slowly, it vanished, getting processed into game items. [ Skill : flying pig ] [ Even a pig can fly as long as it equips these wings. No level restriction. No mana restriction. Let the joy of riding the wind take over ! ] [ This item can not be bound. If a user dies, this item will always drop.][ Note : Want to fly ? Don’t die ! ] [ X-large pig hide x 1 ] [ X-large pig tusk x 1 ] … [ X-large pork package x 1 ]Everything that could come out of the flying pig dropped. Eric happily acquired the skill. Though he has ‘levitate’ skill, it’s just not the same as flying freely. Now, all he has to do is acquire one more camouflage skill, then he can roam the city free as a bird. The moment he killed t
58 - Return to the city
Eric checked the progress of his servers. Terra is incomplete. He needs to travel to Antarctica to place the last terra mark, otherwise the server would not be complete. Fortunately, now, with the help of the system, he could pass the physical exam easily. I digress… Anyway, that’s for later. For today, expected some paparazzi rush asking him how he was able to build something like spike island in a single day. But, there is nothing at all. There is not even a ripple, much less a commotion. ‘ Did something happen ? ‘ was his first thought. A brief look at his phone proved, indeed, something did happen. It’s not just something, it’s a whole blockbuster movie. Portals have entered the mainstream world. The hunters' presence has become the main news. Who the f**k cares for some building being built too fast when the real world is going bonkers ? The headlines ran wild. ‘ Is the apocalypse coming early ? ‘ ‘ so-and-so supermarket’s food supply is emptied ‘ ‘ Shelves stand em
57 - Mimi's quest
The moon hung low over ◘Coiling Dragon Island◘, a silver coin balanced on the black water. Inside the mansion’s sunroom, the family slept: ◘Anxi Wu◘ (Mimi’s mother) curled on the couch with a half-finished quilt, Meghan and Grandmother Dolly sharing the guest room, Richie snoring in the hammock on the pier. Only one light still glowed: a soft, pulsing ◘aquamarine◘ from the dragon-shaped altar badge pinned to Mimi’s pajama collar.Mimi sat cross-legged on the cliff’s edge, bare feet dangling over the drop, water orbs orbiting her like tiny moons. Her console—scaled down to child-size by Mona—hovered in front of her, displaying a ◘new quest◘ in glowing script:> ◘MIMI’S ALTAR QUEST◘> ◘Objective:◘ Place ◘one special altar◘ every ◘1
57 - Scales of justice
The dawn light over Coiling Dragon Island was pale gold, filtering through the open windows of the sunroom where Eric sat cross-legged on the floor. The air carried the faint, ozone scent of the perpetual lightning that was now merely a distant, gentle hum, a sign of the server's stability. His console hovered like a silent oracle, streams of data cascading across its surface.Eric didn't need to watch the S-city court proceedings on a screen; the information flowed directly into his mind via the Almighty privilege and was translated by Mona into quantifiable metrics.Server
56 - Domes of Glass and home coming
The morning ferry arrived with the soft hush of a promise kept. The engine’s distant drone grew to a comforting thrum before docking at the pier of Coiling Dragon Island. Eric stood there, the salt breeze cool against his face, watching the gangway drop.His mother, Anxi Wu, stepped onto the wooden planks, her suit jacket neatly pressed, a small suitcase in hand, and the distinct red No Spoilage player badge—a gift from Grandma Dolly pinned to her coat. Her smile was wide, a rare, unrestrained expression of relief, but her eyes, despite the joy, carried the quiet weariness of long, draining hospital corridors and finalized divorce papers. The severance from the toxicity of the Wu family was complete.“Eric,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. She dropped the case onto the pier and hugged him so hard his ribs creaked with the force of her relief. “You kept your promise”.He held her longer than usual, grounding himself in the faint scent of antiseptic and the memory of her home-
55 - Web of deception
The sun was a melting disc of copper and gold, sinking into the turbulent sea. Eric and Meghan lingered on the mansion’s cliffside railing, the wind cooling the dampness of Meghan’s recent tears. The emotional weight of her confession—that her father, James Chandler, had used Eric to contract the problematic H-hospital land—had momentarily eclipsed Eric's strategic focus. But her words, detailing the project’s genesis, now twisted in Eric's mind, coalescing into a clear, sharp picture of corporate predation.“Meghan,” Eric said softly, his hand still holding hers, tracing patterns on her knuckles. “Tell me more about how this started. Your dad didn’t just wake up one day wanting to build apartments, right?”She leaned back against the planter, exhausted but resolved. “No. It was... a partnership
