"Isn't this the spot he mentioned? They should be here?" The other four students jogged over, looking around on the way. All of them had disgruntled faces because they did not plan to waste so much time on this guy.
"That little bitch is going to pay for making us work so hard!" They grumbled and walked over when suddenly a loud buzzing resounded.
"Huh?" Just as the bunch looked ahead in confusion, suddenly the bushes in front of them rustled, and the guy they were chasing behind all this time ran right towards them.
"What the…" All the students stopped in their tracks and stared at Noah not knowing what was happening. They then revealed big grins as the fish was running to the net on its own.
The only weird thing was… he was also smiling? Why was he smiling? Was this guy some sort of secret masochist? Did he like getting thrashed?
Noah, on the other hand, couldn't care less about these four. He did not even spare them a glance and kept running as fast as he could. He ran right past them using the last burst of whatever energy he could squeeze out of his body. The thought that these guys were going to get skewered by that monstrous wasp also helped.
After Noah ran through, the other guy was right behind him. "Everyone run! Run! That thing is chasing!" He blurted something incomprehensible before running away in another direction. Seeing these two running helter-skelter, the other students were even more confused but they got their answers very soon. A huge wasp appeared in front of them from the same bushes.
FUUUUUCCCCCKKKK!
Now, these four tried to scramble and run away too but it was too late. All of them couldn't react fast enough. The wasp got one almost instantly and scratched the guy everywhere, stinging him in several places. Another student had fallen right next to this guy and he was terrified from this scene. What the hell was this kind of insect doing in their school? He snapped out of it soon and tried to get away while the wasp was still busy but today was not his lucky day.
Zing. After incapacitating the first target, the wasp did not bother attacking him further and it moved on to the next target. Its gaze fixated on the guy running away and it chased after him. "Ahhhh! Ahhhh! Why is it chasing me?" The second student turned around and almost got a heart attack. Because he panicked, he stumbled on a root nearby and fell over. The next second the wasp swiftly took care of him.
Seeing two of their gang fall down one after the other in a matter of seconds, the other two who were running away began to panic even more. They got a headstart but clearly, it was not enough. This insect's speed was incredible. It seemed a little lacking in strength because its attacks did not do much damage but the stinger and the speed were the real deal.
"Dude, we should fight it, I think?"
"F…. fireball?"
The student started drawing a magic circle and the other one also started drawing another. However, before they could get anywhere, the wasp was faster and started attacking the first guy. The other guy immediately stopped making the circle and picked up a stick nearby to hit the damn thing. Luckily, his first hit somehow became a good hit and it landed directly on the wasp's wings.
The insect buzzed loudly as if it was in pain but it was far from giving up. It relentlessly kept attacking the two guys while they tried their best to chase it away with sticks.
Meanwhile… A little distance away… Noah panted like a maniac. He was close to dying even without any insect on his ass, but he was still grinning. "Huff… Huff… Huff… finally!" He had never worked this hard in his entire life but finally… the damned quest was completed!
[Ding. Quest: Run 20 miles continuously]
[Ding. Quest is completed]
[Ding. You have received 100 experience points]
[Ding. You have received 1 stat point]
Noah fell down onto the ground with a loud thud. He did not even have the energy to stand for another second. After hearing the quest complete notification, all the pain he was holding back came flooding through and he collapsed.
Huff. Huff. Huff. He continued panting without stopping. He had really pushed himself beyond his breaking point. He blankly stared at the notifications in front of him. This one stat point… he had worked so hard all for this!
Noah did not hesitate and added this stat point to his stamina. This was what he desperately needed right now. He clicked and added it and almost instantly, he felt a little relaxed. His breathing as well calmed down a little bit. Even now he was dead tired but at least he was not wheezing and gasping. He also felt like he would be able to drag himself over to his dorm room.
Noah slowly tried getting up when suddenly a loud buzzing came from behind him. Only then did he realize that he had completely forgotten about this damned insect! And how was this thing still behind him? What happened to the others?
Noah had no idea and he also did not have enough strength to run away from this right now. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He turned to look at the wasp and his gaze landed on the blood dripping from the damned insect. It was coming straight for him. It wobbled a little as if it was hurt, nevertheless, it was coming for him.
"Shit. Shit. Shit." Noah started panicking and saw a stone near him. The wasp's speed was quite fast so at that moment, he just instinctively grabbed the stone and started hitting the insect. Though his legs were dead tired, he still had some strength in his arms so he struggled on the ground, waving the fist-sized stone at the cat-sized insect. The sharp edge of the stone also helped.
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"Shooo! Go away! Get lost!" Noah tried everything that he could. He flailed both his hands trying to do something to the damned thing. But no matter what he did, it was completely useless. The wasp was very relentless. It did not look like it was going to leave him alone today.
"I am not dying from a stupid honey bee after jumping worlds, damn it." Noah was miserable. He could feel his remaining stamina slip away. He couldn't keep this up for too long. However, there wasn't any other choice. Just as he took another miserable swing, the wasp dodged it this time and slashed his hands up using the scissor-like legs it had.
Sharp pain seared through his body and huge gashes appeared on his hands. Noah had never experienced anything like this. Previously when he was mauled by that beast back on the field trip, he blacked out in a second but now everything was happening in slow motion. He was not dead yet but this pain made him feel worse. This was the reality of this world. This was the reality of fighting with a monster like this insect. He could really die any second.
Noah hurriedly moved back to evade the huge wasp but it was not willing to let him go. In the blink of a second, another couple of slashes fell on him, now on his legs. His entire body was screaming in pain. Blood was coming out of all the wounds. Considering that he was already dead tired he began to feel dizzy and faint.
However, at this point, something caught Noah's eye. There was a huge wound on the wasp's back that almost tore it in half. If he could somehow poke this wound with his stone, then he could also damage this wasp and slow it down just like it was doing to him.
In that split second, Noah acted on his instinct and he wanted to go down swinging even if didn't amount to anything. He lifted his wounded arms and struck the wasp repeatedly on the same spot with everything he had. That was also not easy. The wasp's body was hard around that one sore spot he was targeting. So it felt like he was using a stone to hit another stone.
Waves of pain rippled across his body as he repeatedly struck the gaping wound, but Noah did not care. He just madly kept hitting the thing. Even if he was going to die here today, he wanted to take this one thing along with him.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
And in the blink of an eye… another notification popped out.
[Ding. You have killed a mutated wasp]
[Ding. You have gained 500 experience points]
[Ding. You have leveled up]
[Ding. You have received 2 additional stat points]
[Ding. You have received 1 skill point]
[Ding. Bonus reward 1 skill point for fast level up]
Right in front of Noah's eyes, the wasp's body fell apart into two, and some sort of green goo spilled over his hands. He couldn't believe it. He had actually killed this thing?
Noah stared at the dead insect lying near him on the ground. Its wings moved a little because of the breeze, but it was surely dead. Its corpse glinted under the moonlight because of its sharp metallic reflection and glassy eyes.
Noah continued staring at it, allowing reality to sink in slowly. That was right. He now lived in a world where normal wasps could be this big and deadly. He looked at it for a couple of minutes and sighed in relief. Nothing was after him now. He also felt better. Huh? He realized that something was different. He was no longer tired? How was that possible? Could it be...
"The system?" Noah got a few notifications, and one of them was also a level-up notification. Just adding a stat point did not relieve his tiredness, so this was the only explanation he could come up with. "Hmmm... I will pay attention to it next time and confirm this." He made a mental note.
Noah rubbed the green goo on his hands on the fresh green grass he was seated on and then got up. "Amazing! Even my legs aren't tired anymore!" He jumped up and down for a couple of seconds. "Ok. I should probably leave now and report this to someone?" He was about to turn and leave when suddenly something caught his eye. Under the moonlight, on the shiny corpse of the wasp, there was something particularly eye-catching.
One thing alone was shining brightly.
"Huh?" Noah was attracted to this shiny little bead. He bent down to pick it up to see what it was. It was lodged in a little tight, but it broke loose with a bit of jiggling. "What is this?" He lifted the white marble-like thing close to his eyes and held it up towards the moonlight to look. He examined it carefully and looked at it from various angles but no go. The only obvious thing was that it was pleasant to touch, like a brook's cool fresh water.
Noah felt the coolness of the marble and wondered what it could be when all of a sudden, the thing evaporated right in front of him. The cool sensation went into his hand and from there went somewhere inside his body, only to disappear completely. "What the heck just happened?"
[Ding. Common-grade beast core absorbed]
[Ding. Agility +1]
"Oh?" Noah saw the notifications and was once again surprised. "I can gain stats in this way too? This is neat." Now that he thought about it, he had gained a lot more in the last couple of minutes compared to the other quests he had done. "As expected… strength gained from actual combat is indeed better." He had gained a level and also an additional stat point. This was a good haul.
"Wait, I leveled up, so I should have more free stat points?" Noah quickly summoned his system interface and saw that he had two stat points from the level up again. The beast core also gave him one agility stat point. "This is…" The obvious route that could give him a significant advantage was staring at his face. Noah quickly added everything into agility.
…
Name: Noah
Affinity: Chaos Element
Rank: N/A
Level: 2
Experience points: 0/600
Health: 100
Mana: N/A
Chaos: 0
Vitality: 5
Stamina: 6
Intellect: 5
Strength: 5
Defense: 5
Agility: 10
Available Stat Points: 0
Available Skill Points: 4
Unused Skill Slots: 2
…
"10! I literally doubled my agility!" Noah grinned and tried to move his body. He jumped up and down and ran a little. It felt amazing. He was now so much faster than before. It felt incredible. "I should time myself and see how much I have improved." As he thought about returning to the training ground to run another lap, another notification popped up.
[Ding. You have now unlocked the Agility Skill Tree]
"Huh?" Noah's eyes widened as he quickly pressed it to check out what it was, but before he could do so, he heard the sound of several footsteps in the distance. "Oh, that's right, those guys are probably injured or something. I should leave this place before I get into trouble. Wait, maybe I should call someone for help?" While he tried to decide what would be the best thing for him to do, he also remembered something else, the wasp's corpse.
He was currently broke, and he did not even have a phone and only a few hours back, he had seen how these beast corpses were being traded in the market. So how could he still leave it behind? "Right. I will first deal with this wasp's corpse, store it somewhere and then inform someone about the injured students. It's not like they are going to die and even if they did…"
Noah shrugged and walked over to the corpse. "How do I parcel this guy?" He bent down and extended his hand to touch the thing when unexpectedly… "Ahem. If I were you, I wouldn't touch that thing."
Noah didn't have to turn around to know who it was. It was the familiar new homeroom teacher's voice. Shit!