The Oasis System

Chapter Nine

Opening his eyes finally, Jace smiled as he stood up and shook his body. He felt lighter, almost like he could just jump and fly out of the house. He could also feel the mana in the atmosphere easily. It also felt slightly cooler than it was earlier.

Raising his right hand, Jace clenched his fist as lightning crackled on the edge of his eyes, he felt stronger too, and he could feel the lightning flowing through his body; it felt like he could call upon lightning at any moment.

*Ding*

***

After a successful meditation session, host has broken through and is now a Middle Rank 1 Awakened. Congratulations.

***

The notification from the system confirmed his suspicions; although it was just a minor breakthrough, he had indeed broken through and is now stronger.

He thought back to the reward he got from awakening the Lightning Elemental Attribute; the 10 stat points and the new skills he got from the book too.

Sitting down once more, he pulled up the system interface. Thinking for a while, he decided to share the stat points between his Durability and Perception Stats. All his stats were now 20 and above.

***

Stats...

Name : Jace Barnes

Race : Human/?

Age : 18

State : Awakened

*Physical Characteristics

Strength : 30

Agility : 25

Durability : 20(Immune to Poisons)[Bonus]

*Elemental Attributes

Lightning [ Middle Rank 1]

Ice[LOCKED]

?

Mana : 30

Perception : 20

Basic Lightning Skills assimilated from the Guide book.

○ Bolt Lance : Host now has the ability to create a spear made from pure lightning energy and can throw or use it in melee.

Mana Consumption : 10 per minute

○ Sky Cleaving Bolt : Host now has the ability to summon a lightning bolt that can damage weaker opponents and stun stronger opponents

Mana Consumption : 15 per bolt summoned.

Advantage : Works better when used during a Lightning storm or cloudy weather.

***

Jace couldn't help the slight smile creeping into his face as he read through the new skills he got from the book. Coupled with the ones the system created, he now had 5 Lightning skills and as long as he paced his Mana Consumption with the regeneration, he was sure he should be able to at least hold his own against a Lower Ranked Awakened or Demonic Beast.

Standing up once more and stretching, he wondered when his dad would be back from work when he looked around. He was shocked though, as he found out it was already dark outside. How long had he been meditating for?, he was sure he hadn't used more than an hour, but how come it was dark already?.

He was just about to leave his room when he heard a knock on his window. Looking out, he could see Dorian waving him to come outside.

Smiling, the memory of last night came to his mind as he could feel how free the old Jace was with his friends.

Once outside, he met up with Dorian and Kael. Kael was a very good looking youth, he had a charming smile and he was also funny, the kind of person in every male friend group that got all the girls.

But for some reason, there was a wide grin on his face today as he saw Jace. Although it was dark, they could see each other's faces clearly enough.

"So you did it huh?, you are now an Awakened.", Kael whispered as he hit Jace with his elbow; he was really happy.

"Shhh, you'll wake everybody", Jace said as he couldn't stop smiling; it was nice to have people he knew didn't harbor ill intentions towards him.

"Hmph, alright. Tell me all about it on the way. How did it go?, did it hurt?, can you strike people down with lightning now?", Kael shot off question after question as they left the neighborhood and went towards the outskirts of the town.

The journey to the outskirts of the town felt quicker than Jace could remember from his memories. The cave was still in the green zone, so they didn't have to reach the military post situated on the edge of the red zone to protect citizens and also alarm them in case a dangerous Demonic beast escapes the red zone.

The moon hung high above the sky, and for some reason, casting long shadows across the ground as they passed.

Kael kept staring at Jace with a weird smirk, making him feel uncomfortable.

"What is it?", Jace finally asked, as Kael raised his brows playfully and asked ; "So, it's dark. Can you glow in the dark?"

Rolling his eyes, Jace shook his head as he looked helplessly at Dorian, only to see him also looking at him curiously.

Lips twitching, Jace replied; "I'm not a damn light bulb, why would I glow?"

"But, can you already use the lightning?", Dorian chipped in as he studied Jace.

Smiling, Jace was about to demonstrate to them when he suddenly paused; he felt...something. His Perception stat was coming in handy finally as he felt something off.

"How did you find the cave?", He asked as he quickly surveyed the surroundings. He couldn't explain it but he could feel something, he could sense danger.

"We saw a wild raccoon and we chased it down to the cave", Kael replied.

Jace nodded. That was normal, although some animals had mutated to Demonic beasts, there were still some that didn't mutate and normal mortals could still hunt them for food, or even sell.

"What's wrong, the cave should be somewhere around here", Dorian asked as he noticed how alert Jace suddenly got.

"Just stay sharp and close", Jace said as the ominous feeling he had earlier suddenly disappeared. He still stayed alert though, as he clenched his fist.

The cave mouth appeared within minutes; a wide gash in the rocky hillside, half-covered by vines. Jace could feel something from there, something full of spiritual energy, but it didn't feel like Mana. Dorian and Kael weren't Awakeneds, but everybody in this world could feel spiritual energy at some basic level. It was normal they felt it was a Mana mine due to the spiritual energy oozing from the cave.

Jace stepped forward and headed inside first, his eyes quickly adjusting to the sudden darkness, aided by his perception. The moonlight couldn't pierce the darkness here.

Dorian had prepared though, as he turned on a flashlight, bright light flooding the dark.

"This place is creepier than it was earlier; the air is stiff for some reason", Kael noted as he took deep breaths.

For a second, Jace hesitated; what if there was something really dangerous here, something that could threaten them?. He did feel stronger than he was, but who was to say he could actually protect his friends?.

"Should we just go and come back during the day?", Dorian asked as he also started wondering if coming here at night was the right decision. They had decided to come at night so there would be less eyes on them. If it later happened to be a Mana Mine, the three of them would have struck real gold, but now, it was better to share the loot than lose their lives in a creepy, weird looking cave.

Keeping his eyes on the timer indicating the time frame required for the Quest, Jace also came to the conclusion that it was a good idea to come back when it was much brighter outside.

Looking back towards the entrance, Jace was about to agree to leaving when he froze; he could see two glowing eyes in front of the cave entrance.

"Dorian, Kael, move back slowly. Hide behind those rocks over there", Jace whispered quick instructions as he kept his eyes on the intruder. He could fully see what it was now and he was appalled as the system confirmed his suspicions.

***

Threat Detected.

Threat : Blue Fanged Wolf

Rank : Peak Rank 1

State : Berserk

***

The Blue Fanged Wolf was generally considered a lower ranked Demonic beast, but they usually hunted in packs. For now though, Jace could only see the one in front of them, and he hoped it was the only one. The wolf was not really big, the size of a normal sized dog; but it's speed was appaling and it's fangs were sharp and had a paralyzing effect. The thought of how such a Demonic Beast entered the green zone popped into Jace's mind for a split second, but he couldn't afford to think about that now as the Wolf sneered and lunged towards him.

Eyes bulging, Jace thought quickly as he hurriedly activated Spark Steps, lightning hurriedly flowing into his legs, the dark cave illuminated for a moment as his legs glowed brightly. Dashing to the side, Jace avoided the Wolf, shock coursing through his veins; his speed was astounding!.

The Wolf was also stunned as he looked at Jace with a vicious expression; how dare the scrawny looking human in front of it cheat and evade it's attack?.

Behind the pile of rocks, Dorian and Kael stared at each other with shock in both their eyes. They had just been teasing Jace by telling him to show them a flash of lightning, but they knew it was almost impossible for a newly Awakened to harness the power of their Elemental Attribute immediately. But there their friend was, blurring around the cave entrance with lightning flashing around his legs.

Evading the Wolf's attack once more, Jace understood it now; the boost in movement the Spark Steps afforded him was huge, but it didn't improve his agility; the wolf had almost scraped him mid-run earlier as he couldn't really control his body movement quickly enough.

He wasn't running around for no reason though, he was driving the Wolf away from the pile of rocks his friends were hiding.

Finally outside the cave, Jace noted how calm he was getting as the "battle" with the wolf intensified.

Keeping an eye on his mana, he infused his legs with lightning once more as this time around, he dashed directly towards the Wolf.

Sticking their heads out from behind the rocks, his friends were shocked staring at Jace dashing directly towards the Beast;  had he lost his mind in fear?.

Finally in close proximity with the wolf, Jace gritted his teeth as he twisted to the side in a very unnatural manner, avoiding the Wolf's claws as it slashed at him. Finally behind the wolf, Jace turned off Spark Steps as he activated Stunning Palm. He could feel a steady hum of currents flow from his arm down to his right palm as he slammed it down on the wolf. The wolf reacted with a yelp but it was already hit with the palm. It's muscles contracted as it froze, it's legs shaking slightly. Jace was prepared though, as a spear made of pure lightning appeared in his hand, illuminating the surroundings brightly. Grunting, Jace noted the pressure the spear exerted on him; it almost felt like he was lifting a building.

Using his second hand, he raised the spear high above his head as he thrust it down at the wolf. His eyes contracted in a hurry though, as the wolf quickly recovered from the paralysis effect of the stunning palm and dodged the spear, letting it crash into the ground, a crater instantly appearing.

Before Jace could react once more, the wolf slammed into him ferociously, furious that the human had paralyzed him.

Flying through the air, Jace hit a tree trunk with a huge thump, as he coughed out blood. His vision suddenly became blurry, he was slipping into unconsciousness.

Dorian gasped as he saw his friend hit a tree heavily, and he didn't seem to be moving as the wolf closed in on him.

He was about to motion Kael that they had to do something, but Kael was ahead of him.

Picking a stone, Kael hurled it at the wolf, yelling.

"Pick on someone your own size, you big, numbheaded beast".

The wolf avoided the stone, but it seemed like it was not going to ignore the insult; as it turned towards the duo with a sneer. Deciding to come back for the human with the lightning later, it diverted his attention to the guys that insulted it as it lunged towards them.

The yell had woken Jace up, and he felt fear grip him as he saw the wolf running towards his friends. The Wolf's speed was too high for any mortal to dodge.

He couldn't prevent his parents and his sister from dying, but he had strength in this world, and he was not going to let any of his closed ones be hurt.

Gritting his teeth in anger, Jace's eyes glowed as lightning crackled at the edge of his eyes. Raising his right hand, the atmosphere suddenly changed, becoming increasingly chaotic.

Sensing danger, the wolf hurriedly dodged to the side, but it was too late. A bolt of lightning struck down on it heavily, followed by a heavy clap of thunder.

Dorian and Kael were shocked; a second earlier, they had given up and were expecting to be ripped into pieces, only for them to be blinded by a flash of lightning, followed by deafening thunder, the shockwave blowing their clothes furiously.

Looking up, they were shocked once more as Jace was mid-air, a spear made of lightning in his hands. He didn't miss this time though, as the spear drove through the Wolf's neck, ending it finally.

Jace had summoned a Sky Cleaving bolt earlier, hoping it would slow down the wolf quick enough for him to use Spark Steps and try the Bolt Lance once more. But he clearly underestimated the Sky Cleaving Bolt as it already partially killed the Wolf. Deciding to still finish it off, he struck it with the Bolt Lance.

Letting out a deep breath, Jace fell on the ground, breathing hard; he was almost out of mana.

"Yo!!!!", Kael was the one to break the silence as he ignored the dead wolf at his feet and ran straight to his friend. Dorian was more cautious though, as he used his leg to shake the beast, just to make sure it was really dead.

"H-How did you do that?", Kael asked as he stood over Jace, his eyes bulged so much, Jace was worried they would fall out of their sockets.

"Let him catch his breath", Dorian commented as he hit Kael on the back of his head. He also looked at Jace curiously though.

Seeing their expressions, Jace knew it was best to not let them know about the system just yet, as he sat up. He would just tell them he could already tap into his Elemental Attribute.