Griffin was a dead man—- of that at least, he was certain.
Death, however, was not a novel experience for him. Most of the fear centered around the phenomenon came from the unknown, the lack of any definite guarantee that something beyond actually existed. Griffin might be the only one from his home planet that knew that something most definitely existed after, even if it came in a far different package than most expected.
If it was going to come for him again, then Griffin was damn sure that he would look it in the eyes.
His ordinary brown eyes met the alien black irises.
It was then that something odd transpired.
At the last moment, merely an inch or two away from his unprotected visage, the alligator swerved to the left, back in the direction of the canal. If Griffin hadn’t been paying complete attention to it’s movements, he wouldn’t have noticed the discrepancy in it’s actions.
It had been certain that he was prey up until a few seconds ago. What could possibly have changed in such a short span of time?
It was Griffin’s survival instinct that answered that question, as the dagger in his hands plunged forward.
There was no way he could have aimed properly in such a miniscule time frame, but that didn’t stop him from marveling as for once, the winds of luck blew in his direction.
His dagger caught the fish-alligator right in it’s black sclera, spraying him with a burst of pungent smelling blood.
Letting loose a war-cry upon realizing that the fish-alligator was surprisingly light-weight, he smashed down upon the dagger with his entire body-weight. The fish-alligator fell and Griffin Thorne fell, the only difference being that the latter’s fall was cushioned by the former.
A muffled thunk echoed out as Griffin held the dagger within the fish-alligator’s eye with every bit of will power that he could muster. It’s thrashing tail landed light blows upon his abdomen, but with every passing second the pain got a bit worse.
Then, the creature stopped moving.
[Analysing….
Creature Name: Crackjaw
Type Classification: Water
Rank: F
Level: 5
Innate Skills: Swimming Lv. 3, Water Filteration Lv. 10
Description: Crackjaws are a protected species demarcated by the magistrate of Zenari-Shu for cleansing waste-water and purifying it over a six-month long period of time.
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Their combat abilities are negligible and as such are not deemed as a threat to the local population.
Note- Crackjaws can be overly excitable and occasionally like to play with visitors. While they are not equipped for land movement, they will not die unless kept outside the water for days on end.]
“You little shi-”
[You have slain a level 5 crackjaw. ]
[Status Upgrade in progress….]
[Name: Griffin Thorne
Age: 18
Race: Human
Calling: Apostle of Greed.
Class: -
Class Skills:-
Gifts: Gift of tongue: Common Verickan
Level: 1 (0/100 EXP) -> Level 3 (69.8%)
Rank: F
Statistics:
Physical: 1
Mental: 4
Proprioception: 1
Free points: 2
Soul Essence: 10/10-> 12/12]
[Dagger of Decension’s Soul Absorb effect has failed]
[The Apostle of Greed has absorbed one soul]
[Calling Quest: 1/100 F ranked souls absorbed].
A heavily panting Griffin retracted his dagger away from the Crackjaw’s eye, collapsing backwards onto the sewer wall.
“You’ve got to be…. overly excitable….likes to play with visitors… fuck!” He whispered under his breath between huffs, as his heart beat as fast as a war drum on full tempo.
“I’m so pissed off but…,” Griffin’s gaze reluctantly began to scan through the interface’s series of messages, hoping for anything that would give him an edge against the next flying fish-alligator monstrosity that came flying at his face.
He was quite vexed to find that in fact, there was something.
“Level…. It went up. Is that a percentage or a percentile? Well, I suppose that doesn’t really matter for now. Free points, hm. Interface, can I put them in physical? Or are they a currency of some sor-”
[Allotting (2) points to Physical. Confirm Y/N]
“Huh…,” Griffin suspiciously eyed the interface. “Will I get stronger? Or magically stronger? Or is your concept of physicality completely divorced from mine?”
Realizing that he wasn’t going to get any more answers, “Fuck it, we ball. Yes.”
His silent screams were expressed in heavy exhalation of air as he felt the muscles across his body rip and tear, before spasming and exuding a comforting, almost heavenly warmth.
A minute later, every pore of his body was coated in a thin sheen of sweat, but he felt none of the residual effects of what he could only describe as artificial bodybuilding.
“This seems like more advanced biology than magic…,” he absentmindedly remarked, still completely flabbergasted by the sequence of events that had just taken place.
Out of pure curiosity, he threw a punch forward. Unfortunately, the intended invocation that he had called upon while screaming magic bolt earlier didn’t materialize this time either. His punch wouldn’t shatter brick walls either, but….
If he had to guess, Griffin had just skipped months of weight training, leaving him behind only with the results.
“I guess the rules, atleast, are consistent.”