Chapter 6 Monsters

Yuelian

One week later

Corpses as far as my eye could see. Billions of eyes stared at me in the endless void. Darkness is unending. Worlds fractured in two. Lights extinguished. The heaven and hell closed its door.

“Fucking nightmares” my shirt is soaked in sweat.

—---------------

The mana sea has mostly dispersed. We can almost see the ground level. However, the ground level that has been submerged under the mana sea has changed completely. Cement, rocks, trees, even water, everything has changed. The apple trees near the school have turned into gigantic, almost metallic-looking trees. Even the water in the school pool has a weird shimmer in it. Mali said she could sense faint traces of mana within all objects touched by the mana sea. Our old world has disappeared.

The city of skyscrapers that we all grew up in has turned into a lush jungle. Gigantic plants and flowers, and weird animals were seen stalking the ground floor. The mana sea that has been blocking the building windows has receded down to the second floor. Now we can see the jungle city out the classroom window. One of the freshman girls said she saw a gigantic animal flying in the sky. I don't recognize this world anymore.

“Yue, we are going down to the third floor. Join us when you are done.” Miyong’s voice came from the hallway. We have been focusing on increasing our powers since the fight with Sam. If he hadn't let down his guard, we might have been in trouble. We realized once again that strength is everything in this world.

We have also learned that not everyone can awaken, or perhaps there are other requirements to awakening aside from just exposure to mana. Except for one freshman girl, the rest of our group failed to awaken.

After a week of effort, I have managed to unlock a few stats and one skill.

[Qin Yuelian]

Magic Power: 11

Nobility: 16

Skill: Devourer

[Nobility]

True Nobility is not dictated by blood but by Integrity

I am not quite sure what the stats Nobility does. The description is not helpful either. I do not feel any difference in my body or magic after unlocking Nobility unlike when Magic Power was unlocked. It might be one of those useless stats similar to something like charm or luck in video games.

Fortunately, it seems like one player can unlock several stats. Miyong has also unlocked the Agility stat. We are still testing the requirements for unlocking stats and skills, but it seems to depend on natural talents, behavioral patterns, and luck.

The next big problem we have is the upcoming Invasion. We have no idea what will happen. The only thing we can do is get as strong as we can. It would be good to level up before the invasion. That increase in power we saw from Sam, could turn the tide of battle.

Miyong can't level up since defeating sparring opponents did not count towards her mission. We would need to find a different opportunity for her. At the moment only my mission can be completed, but only if we can find monsters. That has been the goal of the scouting team for the last few days.

[Tutorial]

The world has changed forever. Learn to survive in the new world.

[Awaken mana veins - complete]

[Learn a skill - Complete]

[Unlock a stat - Complete]

[Hunt a monster - Incomplete]

[Eat a monster - Incomplete]

Reward - level up

Next invasion 15 days

Fifteen days. From what we have experienced in this world so far, the Invasion is not something pleasant. We don't have much time left to prepare.

—-------------------

“What do you think? Maybe 3-4 more days until we can go down to the ground floor?” Miyong clung to my arm as soon as I saw her. We have become even closer than we used to be. In this hostile world, we only have each other to rely on.

“Two days, probably.” We are looking down at the ground floor from the third-floor classroom window. “I am not sure if I am excited or scared to leave the school.”

“.........I want to go home,” Mali said to Jessica next to us. Jessica did not look happy. We all knew deep down, that the chances of our family surviving that flood was close to zero.

“Yea……we will go home.” Jessica’s voice was shaking.

Jason stood behind us and said nothing, same as always. I had a realization about who he is after seeing his behavior in the last 15 days. He can be trusted.

Jessica on the other hand. Miyong saw her talking to herself at night several times. We are not quite sure if that is part of her skill or something worse. This is the exact thing that I was afraid of when I awakened these people. We don't know the side effects of suddenly awakening these powers, injecting mana, an unpredictable and destructive energy, into a human’s body. I was surprised that no one has died from the awakening process. However, side effects on the brain? Could this be the reason that Sam went insane?

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

We are keeping an eye on her for now.

“How far are we going?” Mali looked at me.

“First floor.” I think I can do this much today.

“Ok!” Mali closed her eyes and brought her hands up into a prayer. I could sense the way her mana ballooned up, then burst and scattered into small pieces. The small pieces of mana bounce around the environment and each other, sending out echoes within the mana dispersed in the air. This is her skill Echo.

“I sense something on the first floor. Its shape is not humanoid.” Mali is sweating from the strain of her skill. I have tried to copy her skill but the strain on my mana just by using it inside an enclosed room is insane. Here, she is using it in this large space. I guess that's the difference between someone with a specialized skill and someone who simply tries to imitate the concept behind it. It's the difference between digging a hole with an excavator and using your bare hands.

“It could just be a normal animal, or something more dangerous.” I have thought about this situation many times. I need to hunt and eat a monster no matter what, but it is extremely risky. We know nothing about monsters, which is why we brought this guy.

“Hey, I don't have to fight it right? You guys know that I don't have combat abilities. I am not even sure if my body can endure the mana mists on the first floor. We agreed that I just need to poke and test it a bit. If you expect me to fight-” The blonde freshman boy, Jackie, the invisible pervert. We will be using him to test the monster.

“Ok, ok, we agreed already. Shut the hell up and go scout!” Miyong pushed him towards the stairs. The boy instinctively disappeared. I could not sense him at all, the only person who could see him was Mali. I wish I could steal that skill.

We slowly made our way down to the first floor. The mana sea has turned into a thick mist, normal people would be crushed by the mana, but players can withstand it depending on the thickness of the mana. The cafeteria building can be seen a distance away from us. Pretty much the entire school was in the cafeteria building when the flood came. We thought about searching the building in case there were survivors, but it has been 15 days since the flood. Not even a player can survive half a month under the mana sea.

The animal soon comes into our line of sight.

“Is that a dog?” Mali’s voice is shaking. She is holding back her cry.

That thing is not a dog, at least, not anymore. The information Mali got with her skill is wrong. I don't know what she saw, but she is still new to using that skill, mistakes are expected. That thing is humanoid, only smaller. It has a small humanoid body, not a child but a miniature adult body, and a dog’s head. That small body is muscular and very strong. It is holding a broken door as a shield and a sharp stick in the other hand. I have seen this thing before in video games. A kobold is a low-level enemy that is only good for gaining experience points. Seeing it in real life, it looks extremely dangerous. I could hear someone invisible stepping on the wet ground near me.

“Hey, doesn't that thing look like some fantasy monsters in video games?” Miyong said, tilting her head. She must have noticed the same thing I did.

“Jackie, step back,” I said to the air in a low voice.

“Ok…..” the air answered

“Why? We need to see its ability.” Jessica said unhappily.

“It's not a dog, but it has a dog’s head. We have to assume it also has a dog’s sense of smell. Invisibility is useless.” I have to think of a way to test its ability without putting us in harm’s way.

“Just attack before it notices us.” Miyong picked up a piece of debris nearby. I need to fix that impulsive nature of hers. The cement that used to be a part of the school building has been submerged under the sea of mana, as a result, the properties of the cement itself have changed completely. It is smooth like marble but black like ink. Miyong’s hands covered by mana could pick it up without crushing it. She threw the black debris towards the kobold. The power behind that throw was no joke, she had become even stronger than before.

The kobold dashed sideways to avoid the flying debris. I wasn't sure if it sensed the attack or if that was a pure reaction. Either way, monsters are stronger than I thought.

“This is my mission, I will take points. Everyone, please back me up.” I said to the group as the kobold searched for where the attack came from.

“I can't agree with that. I will go.” Jason stood up in front of us, exposing himself to the kobold. It was too late to argue. The rest of us spread out to provide support for Jason.

The kobold did not scream or charge towards Jason, instead, it hid its body behind the broken door and calmly watched Jason. This is much more dangerous than I could ever imagined. This thing is not a simple beast, it has a brain, and it can plan and think.

“Jason, don't treat it like a common beast,” I said from behind him.

Mali and Jessica moved to the building to the right. I can feel Mali’s Echo bouncing around the area. Shockingly, the kobold is reacting to Echo. It is dashing around the area, trying to run away from her bouncing mana. Another debris flew from the left building, the kobold held up the wooden shield to block it. Unfortunately, it miscalculated its defensive power. The debris crushed the door and the kobold’s arm. Surprisingly, the kobold let out a small yelp but did not scream out in pain. It's like an experienced warrior.

Jason saw the opening and dashed in. I have never seen his skill before, he never told anyone what his skill is after awakening. I use mana to levitate a few pieces of debris around the area then launch them all at the kobold, the power is nowhere near Miyong’s. From my right, a mana hammer flew towards the kobold. The kobold skillfully knocks them all away with the stick. That monster is using mana, very dangerous. However, even a skilled warrior can't fight so many people at once. While it was distracted, the mana mists had suddenly gotten thicker around the kobold. So thick that I could not see inside. Jason dashed inside the mist, and a second later, Jason walked out. I disperse the mist from the area. Only the corpse of the kobold remains, the body did not get disintegrated by mana after death like Sam, which must be because its body is stronger than a normal human body.

Everyone came out of hiding to take a look at the kobold. Aside from the broken shield door and arm, it was cut in half. Jason's skill no doubt. He doesn't carry weapons on him, so his skill can be used as a weapon. Something similar to Jessica’s. I made a mental note of it.

“Why are you making that face Mali?” Miyong hugs Mali’s shoulder. Jessica made a face.

“I feel sorry for it. It looks like a cute dog……” Mali looked down at the dead kobold with a sad face.

“Look at that.” I pointed to the thing dangling at the side of the kobold’s hip. A rotten human hand. There are bite marks around it, this kobold was gnawing on this hand like a snack, but I will keep that information to myself.

“Disgusting! We already expected it but I guess these monsters eat people.” Miyong hug my back and peek at the corpse. For someone so bloodthirsty, she is a bit of a spoilt girl.

“Not so cute anymore….” Jessica said, swallowing hard.

“Good job, Jason. I understand why you did that, but I needed to hunt it to complete my quest!” My tone was harsh. Unusual for my normal demeanor, but this guy pisses me off sometimes.

“I am sorry, p-, sir.” Jason bows low.

“What's going on with those two?” I could hear Mali whispering to Miyong and Jessica.

“Are they like…… lovers?” Jessica somehow sounded excited.

“Nah, Yue is definitely into women.” I could imagine her smug face based on her voice.

Looking at the corpse of the kobold, I thought about my last mission. Eat a monster. I can't eat this.

—-----------------

After walking around the school grounds for a while, we found something else near the school garden. It would be difficult to know where the garden is since the whole school has turned into a jungle, but the variety of giant flowers and colorful plants here is different from everywhere else.

Something is jumping around inside the garden. Red and fluffy, it looks completely harmless.

“That is a monster? Are you sure?” Jessica is pointing at the white thing, judgment clear on her face. “I think you just want to eat meat!”

“You really can't feel it? All of us are sweating just from coming this close to it.” Miyong is sticking to my back, both of our sweat soaking my shirt.

“She is right Jenny. That is a monster, and much stronger than that kobold earlier.” Mali pointed to the red rabbit in front of us. A completely normal rabbit from its appearance, except it's color.

“Please support me. I need to kill it myself.” I did not give the others time to object. Suppressing the mana burst as much as I could to not alarm the monster, I sent my mana and created hundreds of small spikes from the ground under the rabbit. Unfortunately, the rabbit immediately felt the mana burst and disappeared from my sight.

“Jenny block on the right!” Mali yelled out. A blue, gigantic shield appears in Jessica's hand. She immediately swung the shield to her right, hitting something that she couldn't see. The red rabbit bounced off her shield to the ground. Its claws are like small daggers and fangs are so long that they hit the floor. It's bleeding from that shield slam.

Miyong charged at it. I think she is testing her new Agility stat. The rabbit did not run away after that injury, it disappeared and then appeared near Miyong. Its fang aimed at her neck but was unable to pierce her mana. Miyong looked angry, I see, she couldn't see it either, even with that stat.

It disappeared again, then appeared near Mali. The long claws came down on her head, but I was able to reinforce her mana, stopping the claws. Then it disappears again. This is bad. We won't be able to protect ourselves in time eventually. The rabbit appears on the tree nearby, breathing heavily.

I see, it might be a monster however the characteristics of the animal still exist to some extent. Rabbits are nocturnal animals. I think we caught it while it was resting. It's already tired.

I felt the mana in the air from Mali’s Echo. That's nice, I can use this. Without alarming the rabbit or anyone else. I took control of the mana around the rabbit, creating an air vacuum, and trapping it inside.

“Whoa, what the fuck?” Mali freaked out and looked at me. I have never heard her cuss before. “What are you doing? That felt gross” Mali looked furious. I have never seen that either.

“I am sorry. I didn't know it would feel bad for you. I didn't know you would feel it.” This is another new piece of information. It seems that the mana or the skill is connected to the caster. Before thinking more about that, I have to deal with this.

The rabbit is struggling inside the air vacuum. It's extremely fast and vicious but it doesn't have much power. Still, that speed is extremely dangerous, if not for Mali’s Echo, we might all be dead. I immediately crush the rabbit’s neck with air pressure. Looking at its body, it's not any different from a normal rabbit except for its long fangs and claws. I can eat this.

—----------------------------

Somewhere

“Hey, did you guys see those new players?”

“Yeah, I like these new ones”

“I will take the blonde kid, that skill suits me”

“I like the big one with that giant tiger.”

“You only want the beast. You will Ruin that player like the last one.”

“And you only care about beauty. That's why your players are weak as shit!”

“You two are so vile. Why can't you be more dignified?”

“Gods can do anything! Dignity is a human concept.”