image [https://cdn.midjourney.com/9b4a6b6d-2de2-42e5-8414-9d5b629ad26f/0_3.png]

----------------------------------------

The pleasant surprise was he was indeed able to see in darkness. On the other hand, he didn't feel stronger at all.

the System said, reading his mind.

"How am I supposed to find it? It's a bloody stick, in the woods."

the System projected the map into Peter's brain.

The Totem was lit up on the map, about a thousand feet further North-West. Three moving red spots were due North. The Wargs, Peter guessed. Fortunately, he reached the Totem safely, raised it, and put it back in place. It was just a matter of planting the pointy lower part in the ground.

"Totems are not force fields, they're repellants," Peter said. "Humans can go in and out at will."

The first part of the quest is cleared. You've reached level two and gained two free Attribute Points.

"O…K…. How come I got more points at level two?"

"Why?"

"I think it's better to hunt them in the day, while they're sleeping," Peter grimaced. Confronting a beast with a girl's life at stake was one thing, putting himself in danger when there were other choices, was another.

the System said.

"What about three of them?" Peter answered back, annoyed. The System didn't reply at all.

He re-entered the woods, trying to sneak as silently as possible, and got rewarded with a: You have unlocked the skill Sneak, uncommon message.

The System must've jinxed it, as all three red dots stopped, then changed direction, aiming for Peter with increased speed.

the System screamed.

The first warg appeared a second later, running toward the young man. Seeing the monster face-to-face, fangs barred, and approaching fast was the scariest experience Peter ever had. He aimed and threw his javelin nevertheless.

Impulse: Kinetic, activated

The missile caught the mutated wolf square in the chest. It threw the monster back, and not only that but stuck the dying wolf against a tree, the spear going at least ten inches into the wood.

You have slain—

A simple intention dismissed the notification, and Peter threw the second javelin at the next incoming hostile. It went a little to the left, because of its bend, but it still dispatched the warg easily, going through the monster's body like through paper. Only one beast left.

Peter pulled the gun out, knelt, aimed, and fired. His great expectations were crushed. Instead of dying on the spot, the mutated wolf continued his charge, soaking up the bullets. Only at the fifth one did the warg falter, falling on his knees. The inertia carried the animal forward, and a second before it died, the warg managed to bite hard on Peter's shoulder, hitting him with its weight at the same time. He discharged the last bullet in the animal's head, point blank, then tried to push himself away from the trashing monster, using his feet. The pain, however, was unbearable, and he lost consciousness.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

----------------------------------------

You have slain Warg, lvl.2 x2. You have slain Warg Elite, Lvl. 5 x1. You are now level 4. You have 0 Attribute points to invest. Quests completed.

The notification was the first thing Peter saw when he opened his eyes. The warg was lying next to him, immobile.

Fuck, I fainted again…

the System said.

There were a lot of bad words hanging on Peter's tongue, about the System putting him in jeopardy in the first place.

the System continued before Peter had the chance to speak.

"The gun is crap, I need a larger caliber, with more stopping power," Peter said, letting his anger fade.

"What next step? I thought it's over."

"I know how to skin game, I hunted with my family," Peter said.

Groaning, the young man dove into the gruesome task. It took some time, the folding knife was everything but a hunting blade, and the Warg pelt was hard. An hour later, he was staring at the objects he had looted from the carcass: the pelt, the canines, the claws, and a shiny round object, a beast core he had extracted from the brain with great pain.

the System asked.

"It won't fit."

Quest reward: Your backpack has become a spatial storage. Weight reduction: 90%. Slots: 20. Stack per stock: twenty-five similar items. Maximum weight: 500 lbs. Upgradeable.

"So neat!" Peter jumped with joy.

"Err… Impulse also loots? What kind of ability is this?" Peter asked while the body was starting to separate into components by itself.

"Thanks… I guess!"

"I don't even know her name," Peter confessed.

< Theory: The Cultivation Sect ruling Earth did something to break my code into countless tiny bits, denying me the 'Install into Mana' and 'Self-repair' functions. However, either by happenstance or unknown circumstances, there was a fragment of code still viable in you: the Impulse. The stress of fighting magical monsters activated it, and in the process, me. Now concentrate on sending the loot into storage. In time, every command will become second nature.>

Ten minutes later, the remaining two carcasses had been cleared, even the javelins stored in the backpack, with a simple thought. The monsters' corpses were disintegrating before his eyes. The smell was—to Peter's surprise—not one of rot, but more like ozone. The recycling of Mana, the System explained. It also reminded Peter there was a fourth warg to loot, the one that bled to death in the forest.

Finding the last warg proved hard. Peter had to return to the sports area and track the blood spots until he found the warg, a thousand feet farther, stuck under a bush. As soon as he looted the last carcass, growls, and then high-pitched barks started. A small furry head was staring at him with red eyes.

"Oh, no, a puppy," Peter wailed. "I killed its mother… Sorry, little buddy… Not my fault she tried to eat somebody."

"Really? You're not saying it to make me feel better, right?"

"You looked under his tail?"

"Won't he bite me?"

Reluctantly, Peter willed a granola bar out of his backpack, unwrapped it, and offered half to the pup. The transition from growling to tail wagging was instant and the food disappeared in the creature's mouth. After the second half of the granola bar was consumed, Peter patted the animal's head and asked: "Hey, little buddy, do you want to come with me?"

"Woof!" the pup barked back, wagging his tail even more strongly.

A contract has been established between you and Elite Warg Pup. Minimum requirements for a warg pet: feed them twice a day, groom once a week, and walk thrice a day.

"As long groomed doesn't mean I have to lick you," Peter said.

"Woof!" After the second bark, the pup jumped into his arms.

"You're so cute!" Peter said, ruffling the little warg's fur.

You have reached level 5. 5 Free APs are available.

"A full level for getting a pet?" Peter said. "Wow."

"I see…"

"Where do you think I should put them?"

"INT? I mean… it's my lower stat."

Your Mind is now 15

The System suggested.

After returning to the Campus and delivering the gun—ignoring the guard's inquisitive gaze over his torn clothes and the little warg—Peter went to his small study, showered and changed, then left the pup in the room and went out to buy some dog food and a leash, from the same deli slash all rounded shop he visited before. It was well over midnight when he returned, finding his best pair of sports shoes half-eaten. Sighing, he opened a can, fed the animal again, then went to sleep.