With the earthworm in front of him, Toby’s first reaction was.

“Earthworm? Yummy yummy. Gotta get me some of that yummy earthworm.”

NOT.

“Bloody fucking hell.” Toby slapped his flippers on the floating water platform, causing the water to splash everywhere. This made the platform destabilize and collapse into normal water, causing Toby to fall and slam his belly on the ground.

“Ouch ouch ouch, my poor chubby belly.” He lamented.

He raised his head to look at the worm. From its round, featureless head a mouth with rolls upon rolls of sharp, serrated teeth showed itself. Since it was almost as big as Toby, he thought the worm would attack him right then and there. But instead, the worm had a sneer-like smirk.

Toby’s eyes opened so wide, he could fit a turtle egg in there.

“Bloody hell. Even a worm is looking down on me.” He cursed.

Fine. You’re dead meat you damn worm. But could he kill it? That was the question. From his knowledge of games, he knew that a series of question marks meant he wasn't strong enough to see what was hidden.

“Hey System, the question mark next to this worm’s name means my level is lower than it, right?”

[Yes. The question mark indicates the user’s level is lower than the target.]

“What are the differences between a lower level and a higher level?”

[Level comes with status boost. The higher a sentient being’s level, the higher their status.]

“I see. Thank you, System.”

[Turtle Systems is glad to help. If the user has any more questions, the user can ask Turtle System at any time.]

Ok, that means brawling with that worm in close combat is out of the question since it has higher level and stat than me.

But he couldn't give up here, he should test something first.

Toby used [Magic Hand] to scoop up a ball of water and throw it at the worm. The ball flew at the worm and hit it with the force of a balloon ball hitting a child. The water was gone, but a pissed-off worm was still there.

“Floating platform,” Toby yelled as the worm lunged at him with its nightmare-inducing mouth wide open.

The water from the creek next to him flew under his belly, turned into a platform, and lifted him. Just barely in time before the worm reached Toby and tasted some turtle meat.

Looking at the worm below him, Toby couldn’t help but break into cold sweat. Even though he had no sweat glands.

“That was so dumb and reckless,” He said with a sigh.

The worm crawled around the spot where Toby lifted himself from. Most likely, without eyes, the worm couldn’t locate where Toby went. From high above, Toby used [Magic Hand] again, but this time, he picked up a rock and poured more Mana into the skill.

Once he thought it should be enough to kill the worm, he threw the rock.

But when the rock hit the worm, it bounced right off like how a child threw a tennis ball toward the wall and the ball bounced off, leaving the wall spotless. This made the worm turn its head around some more.

“No dice, huh?”

Seeing that his throw had no effect, Toby went back to the drawing board.

He thought about what he could do, but he got nothing. So he started to observe the worm again. After a while, the worm couldn’t find Toby so it started eating the ground. This made Toby watch it even more intensely.

One minute, two minutes, five minutes.

The worm ate the ground, creating a tunnel just enough for it as it dug itself down. Seeing that the worm dug its own grave, Toby smirked and picked up a rock big enough to block the hole and placed it underneath him.

Following his instinct, he controlled [Floating Water Platform] to draw out water from the creek. But he didn’t create another platform. Instead, he poured water down the hole that the worm dug.

He kept pouring water into the hole nonstop. Finally, the worm dug itself up.

“Now.” Before the worm could let even one-third of its body out from the ground, Toby dropped the rock and himself onto the worm. Using both his and the rock weight, he smashed onto the worm.

The impact made him feel like he just got a gut punch. But it was worth it as most of the worm was trapped. Only a small part of its head was still wiggling beneath his rock.

“Not so tough now, ain’t ya. bitch.” Toby spit at the worm.

Now he just needed to wait until the worm died. One minute, ten minutes, thirty minutes.

“Hey System, how long can this worm survive like this without food?”

[Turtle System can not calculate for questions about a specific lifeform before the user can use Rank 1 Skill - Insight and acquire said information. The only exception is when the user kills a being. When that happens, Turtle System can read the being’s information.]

“…Ok? What about the average time an earthworm can survive without food?”

[Information locked. The user needs more Life Exp.]

“On Earth then, how long can an earthworm on Earth survive without food? I read about that before.”

[Locating information. Information found. On Earth, an average earthworm can survive four weeks without food.]

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Toby dropped his shoulders in dejection. He believed he was smart when the idea struck him.

But then the world just had to say “LOL, nope. That ain’t gonna cut it, bro.”

Toby looked at the wiggling earthworm again. His entire body felt like it was on fire and he just had to let that fire out. So he slapped the earthworm. “Why. Do. You. Have. To. Be. So. Damn. Tough. Just. Die. Already.”

He slapped the earthworm after every word he said.

He repeated his cursing and slapping until his flippers felt like they were going to fall off his shoulder.

As if some god answered his profanity-filled prayer, the earthworm wobbled, then fell to the ground. Unmoving.

“Eh? That worked?” Toby was confused.

[Calculating… New skill created.]

[Rank 1 Skill – B*tch Slap acquired.]

[You killed a Rank 1 – Earthworm for the first time]

[Reward: 10 Exp. Exp 0 -> 10]

[Reward: 10 Life Exp. Life Exp 20 -> 30]

[You have Level Up: 1 -> 2. Reward: 10 Distribution Points]

“Yes.” Toby raised his flipper high to celebrate.

With just one kill, he level upped, got a new skill, and gained a small amount of Life Exp. It was a great success.

Toby R. Moriarty

Race: Calamity Turtle

Level: 1 (0/10) -> 2 (0/25)

Rank: 1 (0/50)

Life Experience (Life Exp): 20 -> 30

Path: The Dark Lord / Healer

Status

Strength: 16 (+0)

Dexterity: 4 (+0)

Resilient: 30 (+0)

Charisma: 11 (+0)

Mind: 18 (+81)

Mana: 9 (+90)

Distribution points: 10

It was always nice seeing your stat went up. No matter if it was in a game or real life.

Now that Toby had stat points he could play with, he should think about what kind of build to use. Since he was a turtle, the first thought was to be a tank. But that sounded boring, so he would think about this a little more.

Before he used his point, Toby checked his new skill.

===

Rank 1 – B*tch Slap (None)

Your slap will inflict physical and EMOTIONAL DAMAGE on the target.

===

Toby read the skill’s description once, then twice, then thrice.

All the happiness he got from killing that worm suddenly disappeared like clouds on a clear summer day.

It was fine to deal physical damage and mental damage. But why did it have to highlight the word emotional damage in rainbow colors and write in all caps? It wasn’t like he was going to scream that part out loud like a certain Boutuber.

But fine, a skill is a skill. He would take it.

When he was done reading, Toby felt his belly rumbling. This caused him to focus back on the matter at hand. He had come here for a reason, and that reason was laying dead on the ground beneath him.

He looked at the worm. At first, he thought it looked scary and creepy. But the more he looked at it, the tastier it became. The worm’s skin looked so crispy and smooth, the meat beneath must be so soft and filled with juice.

Maybe one bite, just one bite. If it didn’t taste good, Toby would go find some plant to eat.

He thought he could slip down from the rock elegantly and landed on his feet. But instead, the moment he tried to slip down, he fell to his side and landed on the ground with his shell. With both his flippers and belly facing the sky, Toby was truly a turtle on its back.

Toby tried to shake his body from side to side, hoping he could get up on his own.

But that proved to be a fool’s errand.

With no other choice, he used [Magic Hand] to flip himself over and get back on his feet. Or rather, flippers. Once he was steady again, he moved closer to the worm and opened his mouth. He didn’t bite down right away but kept his mouth open for a while. Finally, he closed his eyes and bit down.

Toby ripped the worm’s skin and flesh out of its body with his mouth and began to chew.

Just as he thought, the skin was as crispy as fried chicken’s skin soaked in frying power. The meat was a bit chewy but was filled with juicy liquid. With every bite, the meat got softer and softer as an earthy scene ran up from his mouth to his brain, making Toby feel like he was being transported to a grassland that expanded as far as the eye could see.

One bite after another, Toby ate and ate. When he was done with the part on the ground, he used his mouth to grab the worm and pulled the rest of it out.

Soon, he finished his meal. Nothing was left of the worm except for the hole it dug.

“Thanks for the meal,” Toby clapped his flippers together.

With that done, Toby thought about what he should do, and what should he aim for. He was a stranger in a new world. He knew nothing of this world other than it had magic, monsters, and monster-like animals roaming around. It was a dangerous world, as far as Toby was concerned.

As he walked along the creek, the sound of flowing water calmed him down greatly. Toby looked around. This is nice.

A forest with an abundance of life. Verdance trees rose as tall as skyscrapers, their canopy almost blocked the sun. Red fruits that look like footballs hang from their branches. Despite the cloud-like leaves blocking the view of the sky, sunlight still passed through the leaves and pained a line of glowing yellow in the air. The ground rustled with every step he took as the leaves beneath him crushed and bent, becoming food for the ground and finishing its life circle.

The gentle scent of flora and fauna lingered around Toby’s nose, but he didn’t smell them clearly until the scent floated down his throat and out of his mouth. The soft wind brushed against his shell felt like having a feather brushed along his hair.

Fish were lazily swimming in the creek, some even playfully jumped through the water's surface, knocking droplets into the air. Sunlight shone on those droplets, reflecting seven colors of light all around, diving the world with brilliance.

Maybe a slow turtle life isn't so bad.

Toby smiled as a big fish that looked like a tuna jumped up from the water. But then, the fish disappeared mid-air without a trace.

He looked around, trying to find where that fish went. He expanded his senses until he noticed a feathery figure sitting on a tree branch. With the fish he just saw in its talons.

Toby looked up, and the hawk looked down.

It stared at Toby as it brought the fish into its mouth. The fish tried to break free but couldn’t. The hawk bit down, blood splashed against its sharp and ruthless eyes as the fish jerked around like an electric current was continuously running through it.

The hawk bit down once more, this time, completely serve the fish’s head from its body. Blood and inward fell like rain from inside the fish. What looked like a line of guts got stuck on something inside the fish as it dangled from the opened and gutted body.

Throughout this whole ordeal, the hawk never removed its eyes from Toby.

If Toby could sweat, he would surely sweat buckets at that moment.

Without another second to waste, Toby threw himself down the creek and dived as low as possible. But it didn’t help much as the hawk shot down from the tree branch like a rocket and stabbed its talons into the water, hitting the creek’s floor.

Toby moved fast and agile in the water so he was barely able to dodge the talons. But it still ripped part of his flippers and shell away. His blood seemed to excite the hawk as it let out a frenzied screech.

“System, how many uses of [Magic Hand] do I have left?”

[The user has three more uses of Rank 1 Skill – Magic Hand.]

“Get me the fuck away from here, PLEASE. I’m gonna die. I’m seriously gonna die this time.”

[Understood. To get the user the fuck away from here, the user needs to move along the creek for twenty-four more feet until Turtle System can initiate three usages of Rank 1 Skill – Magic Hand to deliver the user to safety.]

“Twenty-four fe… Fuck.” Toby couldn’t finish his exclaim as the hawk hit his shell with its beak.

The hawk hit Toby again and again but failed to break his shell. It still hurt like hell though.

Seeing that it couldn’t break Toby’s shell, it grabbed him with its beak and took to the sky. With Toby in its beak, it flew higher and higher until it soared through the canopy.

“Get the fuck away from me.” Toby roared as he used [B*tch Slap] and slapped his flipper on the beak.

It shook the hawk but it didn’t do much else. So Toby used another charge of [Magic Hand] and poked the hawk’s eye. This time, it was much more effective as the hawk let out a pained screech and dropped him.

Falling in mid-air, Toby couldn’t find the time to admire such breathtaking view as he saw islands floating in the sky. Rivers ran in the air, connecting the floating islands and the ground.

“System. Help.” Toby screamed as he skydived without wings or a parachute.

[Calculation complete. Initiate a safe route with one usage of Rank 1 Skill – Magic Hand.]

Toby felt that invisible force again as he was thrown toward a river connected to the floating island he was on.