Tanuki took a deep sigh and opened the [Waves] menu. Here, he pressed a button to initiate the first wave.
A bell rang out, echoing through the field and into the infinite abyss. The sun gained speed and like a tennis ball flew through the horizon. The last rays of sunset cast an ominous red through the sky where it fought with blue for dominance.
Where road and abyss intertwined, a white portal opened its gates. A hand emerged through the surface and held tightly to the portal’s solid edges. Then, a leg made its way through. There was no skin on the creature, nor solid bones below. It appeared as though a corpse had its human features removed and its body made whole again with sticks and mud.
Finally, a head emerged. It bore no face, only a large pitch-black hole.
When Tanuki saw it step out of the portal, he froze. Even in his most vivid dreams, he could not conjure such a horrible monster.
The portal disappeared as the husk made its way through. The monster stood erect and looked around. Its head locked onto the Gaia Core, and its legs began an uncanny march. The thing was slow, almost clumsy in its step, yet that somehow made it more threatening.
Tanuki raised his staff, but he was too scared to approach. His body trembled as he waited for the monster to get into range.
“I’m going to die,” he repeated again and again as the husk moved towards him, “This is the end, I’m going to die, I’m going to die!”
When it was close enough Tanuki raised his staff like a baseball bat and bashed the monster in its head. He screamed in fear and jumped away before the monster could react, but he tumbled and fell into the grass.
He covered his face, fully expecting the monster to lunge after him. However, it did not move. No, its entire body froze and remained unresponsive after the blow.
[ Soulless Husk (LvL 0) ]
[ HP: 4/5 ]
A health bar appeared above the monster’s head. From its health points, one got depleted by Tanuki’s blow.
“I… I did that?”
There was also another icon under the creature’s name. It showed what appeared to be two spirals connecting. Although there was no explanation for what it meant, Tanuki’s eyes grew wide with confidence. Deep down, he understood.
“It’s stunned! I hit its head with full force and that left it stunned!”
His heart ceased to hesitate. Tanuki climbed out of the grass and ran at the creature, raining blows upon its body. Out of those attacks, two hit the creature hard enough to cause damage, and half of its health disappeared before it lost the stunned status effect.
But when it did, it immediately lashed out, clawing back at Tanuki. Its retaliation took him by surprise and the creature managed to tear into his forearm, ripping through his black hoodie.
Tanuki’s heart filled with adrenaline. Everything in the world disappeared as his eyes locked onto the creature.
“Fuck you!” He planted his feet on the ground and raised the staff above his head for a decisive strike. However, the monster raised its arms in an X-shape and blocked the attack.
Tanuki grinned. “You fell for it, fool!” And with all the power he could muster, he sent a foot crashing between the monster’s legs.
Though the monster had no pearls to crush, Tanuki’s leg shot through its pelvis and opened a hole into the creature’s body. Tiny bugs escaped the monster’s insides. Cracks began to form in its lower area and only one of its health points remained.
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And then, something unexpected happened.
Tanuki mockingly laughed as the monster stumbled back. But when it made enough distance, the husk raised a fist and punched through its own face. It went straight through its skull, taking away all remaining health points.
The moment after, it collapsed and died.
Tanuki eyed the corpse with utter confusion.
“Did it just kill itself?!”
Almost instantly, a bad feeling crept up his spine and he became more alert than before. There was no indication the wave was over.
“Something’s not right. Why did it kill itself? What happened?!”
The corpse lay motionless. Tanuki cautiously made his way to it and poked the body with his staff.
No response.
“What the hell’s happening?”
The head of the corpse began to twitch. Something crawled through the corpse. It was looking for an out. Tanuki reacted swiftly and tried stomping the skull, but retreated when something utterly grotesque poked a head through the hole.
Something equally threatening and disgusting.
A tall, thick centipede about half of Tanuki’s length.
[ Giant Husk Centipede (LvL 1) ]
[ HP: 6/6 ]
The Gaia Core, or rather the thing informing him through the Gaia Core, lied. There was not just one enemy present in this wave, but rather two, with the second bearing more health and a higher level.
Tanuki’s world shattered and a new reality was born.
This was not an introductory tutorial…
But a test.
Tanuki winced as the centipede raised its head and hissed. Between its two furthest legs, or ultimate legs as they are called, a liquid formed seemingly out of thin air, floating by a sickly aura emanated from the beast.
An instinct knocked on Tanuki’s mind. Dodge.
So, he did, just in time to avoid when the centipede jerked its ultimate legs and shot the strange liquid at him. Most of it he evaded, but some touched his cheek as it flew by and Tanuki felt the liquid lightly burn his skin.
“Is this acid?” Tanuki asked, though he already knew the answer.
A slide appeared in the corner of his eye, displaying his health. It diminished by one point.
[ HP: 6/7 ]
Tanuki shot a puzzled look at his health. The acid had only grazed him. That should not have taken fifteen percent of his health.
He turned to see that the acid landed on top of the Gaia Core and burnt away a piece of the gem before evaporating.
“Is my health connected to that crystal?”
If so, the death of the Gaia Core would mean the death of him. This both motivated and terrified Tanuki. He returned to the centipede that hissed at him again and chomped with its mouth-claws.
“Screw you!” Tanuki yelled out as he kicked the beast, but it defended successfully. Immediately, it tried to attack Tanuki’s leg, but he kicked it with the other.
Despite chitin shielding its exoskeleton, the centipede took damage. Compared to its growth in size, its sturdiness had barely improved.
[ Giant Husk Centipede (LvL 1) ]
[ HP: 5/6 ]
Next, Tanuki hit the bug with his staff. It resisted the attack and rushed forward to bite Tanuki. He had expected the attack and dodged.
Tanuki knew centipedes’ bites could be poisonous. Although not dangerous to humans, this acid of this one told a different story. He had no armour to defend from its deadly fangs. Should it bite him, burning acid enters his veins and pumps through his heart, which sounded unlike a pleasant time.
This was a test of whether he could recognize his disadvantage and work around it. He has. His performance looked promising so far. He prioritised keeping distance overall.
Their dance took them off the road and once they got too far away from the beaten path, the centipede stopped, raised its head, and turned back towards the road. It was programmed deep into its instincts to follow the road and destroy the Gaia Core. Those instincts were much louder than its intelligence begging it to pursue the boy.
Tanuki saw this as an opportunity, ran up to the centipede, and lunged the staff into its back. The wood penetrated the chitin and got deep into the bug. It let out a shriek and turned around to stab Tanuki—or so it would have, had Tanuki not pinned its body to the ground.
“I got you now,” he yelled, stirring through the creature’s guts to do as much damage as possible. Its health diminished by the second. Five, four, three, until only two remained.
In its frenzy, the creature cast the green acid between its two ultimate legs, but Tanuki was prepared and broke one with a kick. It cancelled the spell cast.
Tanuki made the final blow with the opportunity present and stomped on the centipede’s head. Whatever it had, the skull or skeleton shattered horribly. The disturbing crunch burnt itself into Tanuki’s ears.
And then, silence. The first wave has been defeated and the sun finally set.
[ Congratulations ! ]
[ Wave 1/3: Completed ]
[ Your Gaia Core has levelled up ! ]
[ Go to your Gaia Core to claim your rewards ! ]
The moon climbed up the sky and shone dim light through the realm.
“What a beautiful sight,” Tanuki gazed on, shaking the guts off his feet. With a small gesture, he shushed away the system message.
He stood motionless for a few seconds. Then finally gave in to exhaustion.