Jack and Lucius prepared themselves, both physically and mentally. Securing their makeshift spears, the boys made sure the cinderblocks, and cage, were properly in place. They exchanged one last determined glance, then opened the window. Some of the swarm still lingered just outside the window, giving them a clear view of the enemy they faced.
“There are so many. If we manage to kill them all, we might end up becoming the strongest humans on Earth!” Jack remarked, his body tense, and knuckles white around his spear.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves—one step at a time,” Lucius replied, quickly adding, “Get ready, here they come!”
Thankfully, the terror inducing, flying crab monsters, shared one thing in common with insects from earth. The bug monsters were incredibly stupid. But what they lacked in brainpower, they made up for with terrifying speed, armored shells, claws, and sharp mouths. The creatures swarmed, right into the window, allowing Lucius and Jack to trap another group of them inside Lucius's surprisingly sturdy cage.
Lucius slammed the window shut after 5 of the creatures landed in the cage, it was more than he was aiming for, but there was nothing he could do about that now.
"Kill the ugly bastards!" Jack shouted, as he eagerly went to work with his newly upgraded spear.
"I was planning on it, seems like you're done being squeamish, by the way. Maybe its that new ability of yours?" Lucius responded, making a mental note to be wary about how drastically the system could influence the emotions, and actions, of human beings with its magic.
"Wait, I did? I didn't, even realize it..." Jack looked confused, for a moment, but he was too busy to think about that right now.
Lucius attacked the trapped creatures with all his might, he let decades of frustrations flow out of his body, and into the violence he was committing. All the bitterness, and disappointment, of being born to alcoholic parents, who were just as dangerous to a needy child's emotional, and physical, wellbeing as any Abyss creatures. Lucius also made the bugs pay for the sickening hypocrisy, of the people he met while surviving on the streets, where he was forced to beg to stay alive. They all pretended to be such great people, right up until it was going to cost them something. All of it combined into a soul numbing darkness, and a feeling that there was no hope for a better future. Lucius let it all flow out of his body, and into the gruesome task at hand.
You have defeated juvenile abyssal insectum level 1.
He was good at it, too, while Jack had to leverage every ounce of strength, to barely harm the creatures, Lucius found that he simply needed to attack multiple times. His first strike did nothing, aside from piss off the bugs, but every strike after that showed the amazing value of his level 1 Assassination.
Jack also noticed what was happening, and looked over at Lucius in bewilderment. "How the heck are you doing that?"
After striking a dozen times, Lucius's buff had stacked so much bonus damage, that the Abyss creatures would basically explode with a simple stab of his spear.
You have defeated juvenile abyssal insectum level 1.
You have defeated juvenile abyssal insectum level 2.
You have defeated juvenile abyssal insectum level 1.
You have reached level 4. You have 1 attribute point available for distribution.
You have reached level 5. You have 3 attribute point available for distribution.
Through effort you have raised "Assassinate" to level 2.
Through effort you have gained 1 point of stamina.
"Holy crap, what a slaughter" Jack was stunned.
"Yeah... I kind of lost control of myself, for a minute there." Lucius reflected, then continued "Anyway, once I hit level 5 I got 2 free attributes for leveling up, I wonder if that will keep happening."
"We will find out soon. Your ability is a perfect match for this situation, if we are going to have any chance of killing all these creatures, we should take advantage of that. I will control the window, you kill the bugs" Offered Jack.
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"Are you sure? You probably wont level up that way, are you just trying to get out of killing again?" Lucius responded suspiciously.
"Not this time. Patrick is in danger outside, and the longer this takes the greater the risk something will go wrong. You know I'm right."
With Jacks assurance, the boys got into their new positions. Jack would let the Abyss creatures in, and Lucius would use his damage buffing skill to quickly wipe them out quickly.
"Ready?"
"Yeah, go!"
Soon after that the cage was filled with bloody bodies, and Lucius's vision was flooded with status messages.
You have defeated juvenile abyssal insectum level 2.
You have defeated juvenile abyssal insectum level 1.
Through effort you have gained 1 point of stamina.
You have defeated juvenile abyssal insectum level 1.
You have reached level 6. You have 5 attribute point available for distribution.
You have reached level 7. You have 7 attribute point available for distribution.
"Wait a minute, before you let more in I want to use these free attribute points." Lucius had 7 points, that was more than he had currently in any of his attributes! Could he double his speed, or strength, if he put it all in one of them? He decided to spread it out, using 3 to bring his strength to 7, and 4 to bring his dexterity all the way up to 9.
Strength 7 Vitality 3 Dexterity 9 Intelligence 5 Creativity 6 Luck 1 Stamina 5 Magic Power 0 Free Attributes 0
The flood of energy, and stimulation, was so strong this time that Lucius immediately collapsed to his knees, he could barely keep his eyes open, and his head up straight.
"Lucius! Don't die on me now little buddy!" Lucius mind cleared a few moments later, to the sound of shouting, as Jack rushed over.
"I'm OK, I think I just added too many attributes at the same time." Lucius reassured Jack.
Even with the accidental overdose, the free attributes had done their job. Lucius felt like he could fight a tiger bare handed. His body was light, and he could sense his own balance and weight distributed on the balls of his feet, like he had grown a few extra brains in each of his limbs. He was sure that he could do a backflip, or run a few steps up the wall, if he needed to. Lucius had a strong urge to test out his new prowess. He had a hunch that he was already close to the height of human ability. He had, just about, doubled his strength and dexterity, so if he was average before, he was twice as fast, and strong, as an average man now.
"Lets get back to work, we still have a ton of Abyss creatures to kill!" Jack urged.
The boys got back into position, and Lucius gave Jack the signal to begin. Jack opened the window, just long enough for a new group of creatures to swarm in, along with something they hadn't seen yet. One of the creatures, was different...
"Look at that one, its bigger than the rest, and its color is darker." Lucius noticed, right away, that something was different, and pointed it out to Jack.
"Hopefully it bleeds, just the same" Jack joked, but his smile didn't last for long.
When the larger Abyss creature noticed it was trapped, it turned to face Lucius, and began to glow faintly in a pulsing rhythm. Lucius felt a familiar panicky feeling rising in his chest, and knew something was wrong, he followed his instincts, and jumped to the side, just in time. The abyss creature stopped glowing, and a jet of green liquid shot out of its tube-like mouth, right where Lucius had been standing a moment before. The green liquid hit the wall, and started to sizzle, and pop.
"Oh crap, its got acid spit!" Jack shouted in panic "You need to kill that one, NOW! Don't let it shoot again!"
Lucius lurched back to his feet, faster than he ever had in his life, his new attribute points on full display, he moved from the floor to the front of the cage in less than an instant. Lucius aimed his spear, and stabbed with all his might, but the dull blade just scraped off the side of the creatures armor. He realized, in terror, that he had lost his bonus damage stacks. It must have counted as leaving combat, when he stopped to use his free attributes.
Lucius didn't let his fear take over, he knew he had to kill this creature, or it would break through the cage with its acid, and they would all be dead. Lucius started stabbing wildly, trying to make as many hits as he could, but the creature was glowing, and getting ready to launch another attack, at the same time. Each time Lucius landed a hit on the creature, his blade sunk a little deeper. He quickly went from leaving nothing but shallow scratches, to actually drawing blood. Lucius pulled his arms back, to stab it again, but he was out of time. His danger sense hit a crescendo, and he leaped out of the way, a second time. The acid soared past, but he didn't make it out unscathed, a splatter of green liquid landed on his sleeve. He ripped the shirt off himself, and threw it to the ground, just in time to see it become a smoldering pile of debris. He didn't stop to look at his lost clothing, he knew he didn't have much time. Luckily, the acid landing on his shirt didn't count as a hit, and he didn't lose his damage stacks. He pressed his spear into the creature, and this time the knife sunk in deep, deep enough to make the creature hiss in pain, and fall from the air. Lucius kept striking it, it took 5 more attacks before he heard the system message.
You have defeated adult abyssal insectum level 5.
You have reached level 8. You have 2 attribute point available for distribution.
Through effort you have raised the ability "Sense Danger" to level 3.