System Beast Lord

Chapter 5: Secret Quest

Eric sat on a the sofa in the living room, Erica beside him, resting with her eyes closed.

It had gone silent for a few minutes now on the outside save for the distant booms and bangs. They still couldn't summon the courage to go outside yet.

He was looking at the system interface before him with a serious expression, fingers locked and resting in his mouth.

“This is quite the… What can I call this? This is kinda elaborate.” Eric said with a thoughtful expression.

[[Profile Tab]]

[Name: Eric Jason]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 2]

[Title: None][i]

[Class: Awakened][i]

[Grade: 9][i]

[Trait: Zoopathy][i]

[Subsidiary Skills: 0/3]

[Acquired Skills: 0/2]

[HP: 100/100]

[MP: 170/170]

[XP: 1/100]

‘Hmm… No skills whatsoever. It's a given since I'm only just starting. It's fair for real, I don't think anyone might have acquired any skills yet. My gaming experience should be of help, I guess.’

He thought as he saw his profile on the screen before him. His eyes wandered down as he continued to read;

[Strength: 11] [Speed: 10]

[Durability:10] [Intelligence: 17]

[Perception: 10] [Health: 10]

[Stamina: 10]

[Available Skill Points: 5]

[Fatigue: 0%]

[Inventory: 1/10]

[Gold: 100G]

[i]Average starting stats is 10. Any stat higher than 10 at the beginning means it's above normal standards. Stats below 10 are brought up to 10 at the beginning of system use.

…

‘So I'm a bit stronger than normal, huh? That's a surprise. Can't say I'm suprised at my own intellect.’

Eric smirked smugly as he saw his stat table, he was pleased somewhat. He then concentrated on the ‘i’ symbol in front of Title, Class, Grade and Trait.

[Title: None]

[Titles are the small mantle an Awakened bear that gives them certain perks and skill buffs to their stats. Maximum of three titles can be possessed at once.]

[Class: Awakened]

[Class refers to the general rank of an Awakened. An Awakened can only move up in rank through breaking through and completing its respective grade or by Class Elevation and Rank ups through system rewards. Note, Item Classes differ from Awakened Classes. Awakened Classes to attain are as follows;

Awakened (Attained)

Supernatural

Ace

Legendary

Mythical

Divine (Unattainable through normal means)

Absolute (Unattainable through normal means)

Item classes are as follows;

Mundane/ Common

Rare

Epic

Great

Legendary

Mythical

Divine]

[Grade: 9]

[Grades are subclasses within each class that shows how much an entity has advanced through a class, the lowest grade being ‘9’ and the highest being ‘1’. After reaching Grade 1, one can use the necessary materials to breakthrough to the next class.]

[Trait: Zoopathy]

[Trait is an attribute of an Awakened that is ascertained by system at the inception of the system. It exists in two levels, the basic form and the absolute form. The absolute form is unattainable by normal means.]

…

After reading all these things, he nodded his head understandably.

‘Fascinating… the system has the capacity to protect us by granting us power at the expense of hardwork. I love this for real.’

Eric was digesting all the information he had just seen and when another screen popped up in front of him.

[Amidst chaos, you still sought out information. The system commends your efforts.]

[You are the first entity to read the basic information provided by the system. Congratulations, you've completed the secret quest, Information Monger.]

[+5 Intelligence points.]

[Exclusive Skill, ‘Analysis’, Acquired]

[+1000 coins]

…

‘First Entity? Not human?’ Eric made a mental note of the system's choice of words.

…

[Intelligence: 21]

[+50 MP]

[MP: 210/210]

[Gold: 1100G]

…

‘Fascinating. Intelligence affects mana points. Ahhhhh, this is exhilarating.’

Eric could hardly contain his excitement but he was soon distracted by gunshot sounds and screaming of a familiar voice.

“Huh? Is the police here?” Eric sat up as the screens in front of him glitched out of existence.

“No, everything is in turmoil right now. I doubt if the military or police can help protect anybody now.” He mumbled to himself, his sudden movements had alerted Erica as she also sat up.

“What's up?” Erica asked as she grabbed the knife beside her.

Her question was answered by another series of gunshots that resounded through the street.

“Hey OG fodder, get out here right now!” A familiar voice called out causing Eric to jump to his feet.

“Nel? No way that oaf survived.” Eric said with a smile on his face.

He was about to go to the front door when the door blew apart into splinters the corpse of a demon imp flying through.

‘The hell?!’ Eric exclaimed mentally before his peripheral vision caught sight of a figure, smashing through what was left of the door.

“Yo. I brought your fodder friends so you can all play together. A little thanks is in order, isn't it?” Nelson said menacingly.

He was like a maniac in a black hoodie. Yes, he was wearing an all black outfit, truly befitting a menace like him. He even had a very menacing pose as he skillfully swirled the crimson dagger in his hand.

“Nelson? How? You look so…” Eric said, taken aback.

“Outstanding, right? You should grovel before me. Ah yes. This is really the best thing that has happened to me.” Nelson said as he caressed his hair with his free hand.

Soon after, Matt and Chuck wormed their way through the entrance while trying not to shove Nelson.

“Matt! Chuck! I'm very happy to see you for real.” Eric said as he hugged his friends.

“Hey Erica.” Chuck quickly and nervously said as he waved, cheeks red.

Erica gave him a soft smile and waved back, this of course made Chuck happy.

“How? Where did you get those weapons? I have so many questions!” Eric said as he broke away from the embrace.

“Yay. Family reunion of fodder, I'm glad. It warms my heart honestly. But you do realise that we barely just escaped some monster called, Asphalt Golem, right? Bastard could still be after us.”

“Ah yes. We have to get out of here! It's not safe inside. We encountered a group of goblins as well, they seemed to be ransacking houses. We killed them though, but there could be more.” Matt finally spoke up.

“The world has really gone to shit huh?” Erica said as she had a worried smile plastered on her face.

“Don't worry baby, I am capable of protecting you unlike these group of prey.” Nelson said as he offered Erica his hand, which she refused by shaking her head.

“Oh well, they say there's safety in numbers but I doubt we can be considered as numbers. So yeah, no safety for us.” Nelson said, with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

“Where do we go though? I've noticed that in the direction of the main city, the damage there is more severe even than here, so where do we go?” Chuck asked, clutching his trusty shotgun tighter.

“Let's find more people. We can't stay in one place for too long and we can't also wander too openly. My suggestion is to wander quietly while sticking to the shadows. It's a black out so we might as well use that to our advantage.” Eric voiced out confidently before making his way to the kitchen.

“We stock up on weapons and protective gear as much as possible. Watch each others back and protect each other. If I'm right, New York might just be the epicenter of this end of the world main event. So the closer we are to the city and its regions, the worse off we'll be. My suggestion, get out of New York and move as far out as possible. Only then can our safety be probably guaranteed, probably.” He added and strapped some knives and forks to himself.

“As expected of OG fodder. Alright then, you heard the worm, get preparing.” Nelson said as his dagger glitched away from his hands.