SYSTEM STATUS NAME: Conall Jeffries RACE: Apostle TITLES: Natural Talent, Apostle of Resilience, Monster Among Men LEVEL: 10 PROGRESS: 21/150 XP SKILLS: Stone Skin Lv.0, Quick Healing Lv.3, Drain Lv.0, Immortus' Conduit SKILL POINTS: 0

What had that bastard done to him?

[Quite a lot actually.]

Conall spun around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

[What did you think the Conduit Skill did dumbass? Its me, your favorite suicidal God! Anyway, I have two pieces of advice for you. First off, your next Skill. My Quests will let you upgrade your current Skills, so focus on using Points to acquire new ones, at least for now. Despite the Apostle restrictions, you can still technically have an offensive skill, so long as the main purpose is defense. For example, if you got a wood or stone manipulation Skill with the intent to make shields or shelters, than it wouldn't matter if you use it to hit someone every now and then.]

[Second, get a damn team already. I know you want to 'be in control', but you need to have people who can actually dish out damage with you. Until you Level up Drain enough, the only offense you have going for you is knowing how to throw a punch. It just so happens that there is another new Apostle in that town you're trying to avoid. So, get moving. And I would recommend leaving the tent behind. You lost a lot of blood, and the rather absorbent floor gained a lot of blood.]

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Congratulations Challenger, you have received a Quest!

Task: Find the Apostle of Gluttony.

Reward: +2 Levels to Drain Lv.0

He stumbled out of the tent, barely managing to stay upright. The sense of vertigo came from the fact that he was apparently a few inches taller now. Ignoring the bastard of a God in his head for just another minute or two, he gave his body a closer look. Blood and patches of flesh were still stuck to him, though they seemed to be dissolving in much the same way as monster corpses. His build had become much stockier, with his arms and legs growing wider. The jade on his chest pulsed in time with both his heartbeat and Aura.

The wounds in his side and shoulder had been replaced with cracks in the new stone-flesh, leaking a gold-green sap. Even just as he watched, the cracks were knitting themselves back together faster than his old body had. Perhaps he biology of this new form was made with Quick Healing in mind?

The new eyes were the most disorienting. Everything was tinged slightly violet, and without pupils there was no peripheral vision. He could see every angle with equal clarity, which would definitely take some getting used to. And then there was the Current. It was like he looking through a thermal imaging camera. The majority of everything was a calm, serene blue. But both a squirrel in the distance and his own Aura lit up that familiar violet.

Now, onto the jackass God. First off, would it have killed him to warn Conall about Monster Among Men?

[No, but from my point of view, that was very funny.]

Fuck off.

[Fair point.]

That first piece of advice. Get more Skills. Conall could get on board with that. Stone or rock manipulation would likely be best. Would concrete and bricks count? If so, the city would become an even more appealing home base. But if not, than he was really better off just staying in the forest. But the Quest...Did they have punishments for failure? Time limits? Hopefully not.

Then again, if he was going to stay in the forest, wood manipulation would be unmatched. Even something like a Crazed bear would probably struggle to survive a few trees falling on it. And even at low Levels, with the abundance of material he could probably build a top-notch shelter in just a few days. Walls, an actual door, maybe a few spikes...Beautiful.

But stone could do the same in the city... He didn't even have the Point yet and this was already a hard choice. But if he went to the city, he could also complete the Quest.

Ah, what the Hell. To the city it is.