20 Apeshit

[Your request has been confirmed,] The system said.

After that point, he knew what to expect. Upgrades loved to tag pain along, but this time he wanted to be prepared for that.

Yet, contrary to what had been expected, William wasn't inflicted by any foul aches whatsoever. Surely this result confused the boy, it was nerve wracking to be under-informed.

[Upgrade complete, three-hundred and twenty system points have been consumed.] The system suddenly assured.

And then added, [Three-hundred and eighty system points remain.]

It felt unexpected to hear such a notification, especially since he requested this same purchase just a few seconds ago. The whole upgrade was implemented through a few blinks!

"Okay... now what?" He slightly mumbled.

It was difficult to understand this attribute, even now while it was under his possession. Likewise, he got ready to ask the system for more specifics.

But before he could even think of a question, the same lady was swift to spread out the first portion of a guide.

[Try to find an easy target, maybe a bug? It's best if you pick a very small opponent.] She advised.

"Uh, okay?" William agreed, half-mindedly.

Details lacked greatly and proved difficult to obtain, that aspect was uncomfortable. But the system did put in effort to explain, so the boy didn't want to complain just yet.

Likewise, he cooperated and stalked the area for a creature to battle. Coincidentally, a ratbug crawled across the ground, right at that moment.

It poked the mud with its tiny feet, just a couple of meters away, and fairly minded its own business.

[Think about the target's brain, and firmly decide to attack it with the neuro-shock ability.] The system aided once more.

Unapologetically, William sassed. "Yeah because that makes sense."

With that same mocking pace, he heeded the given instructions. "Suffer, evil rat. I'm attacking you with my brain power, or whatever?"

Surely the young man proved difficult to a certain extent, but he barely understood this procedure, so it was hard to cooperate. His questions weren't properly answered either, so that took away a great chunk of his willpower.

But even though his enthusiasm for this matter wasn't overly active, the results still proved themselves lethal!

It was clear that the ratbug had been inflicted by some degree of discomfort, especially since it hurriedly ran towards some random direction.

Through that same panic, the rat's squeal reverberated across the air, it was powerful and sounded unnatural as well. William didn't think that such a tiny creature could have powerful vocal-cords, but clearly he stood corrected.

"Guess we walked too far from the peace-pyramid, that little thing went nuts." Olivia commented.

"Yeah, we're probably far." The younger one added, he had to act clueless.

But in actuality, he thought. "What the hell was that, system? Did I pinch that bald rat's brain or something?"

[Well, not exactly.] The other answered.

And then she slowly deciphered, [The neuro-shock ability, tries to fry an opponent's brain. It can be a lethal weapon, especially if you have a fight with some beast.]

"Because I can burn their dumber minds?" He followed along, the idea sounded accelerating.

In a blink, the lady described. [Yes actually. The neuro-shock ability, seeks the weakest portion of an opponent's brain, and tries to fry it whole. In this case, the ratbug's senses of paternal orientation had likely been burned down.]

The concept sounded amazing, but the boy wasn't entirely convinced.

Likewise, he had to criticise through a thought. "The ratbugs went ape shit before, one of them bit Olivia. So did I really fry anything's brain?"

Unintentionally, the system shamed this fine guest, as she answered. [Well, they're wild animals after all. You won't see big differences now, especially since you never studied behavioural patterns of any animal.]

And as she grew even more ignorant towards her own ways of expression, this fine mental mechanism continued to make her points clear.

[This attribute lets you attack from a comfortable distance. That aside, it can become a deadly weapon after your own brain's neuron cells expand, and branch out.] She said.

In the meantime, the lady typed down each part of her explanation, on a blue tab in front of the boy's vision.

At the end, the system weighed in. [The neuro-shock attack, like every other intelligence-oriented attribute, can only be as powerful as your own brain.]

"Thank you for calling me stupid in like ten ways, I'm humbled." The boy joked, but his ego was surely shattered.

He wanted to explore the other upgrade option, just so he could shake away this silent embarrassment, perhaps the topics could shift that way.

Likewise, William was ready to shift topics. Yet before he could do so, his attention was enslaved by something else. Thankfully it wasn't a bear this time, but this scene wasn't any less horrid.

"Ouch,'' The younger one loudly whispered.

His foot bumped on some thick, hard material. Worse yet, this was the same foot he had hurt in the very beginning. It was almost healed, up until a moment ago at least.

That aside, the situation they had walked into seemed deadly, quite literally. The couple of snakezoids had barged into a big pile of bones, or close to it at least.

The yellow and white features of these numerous skeletons, surely were difficult to miss. This death-coated ditch of remains was uncomfortably big, over thirty meters wide even!

This scene was nerve wracking, so William eventually demanded. "Someone here had a big lunch, we don't have to meet them. Let's go, this place smells."

His request was crystal clear, but perhaps poorly timed, as an uncomfortable sight was swift to pierce upwards. Three living creatures popped out of this pile, and surely shocked the couple of observers.

These... animals were bulky, hairy and greatly angry. Clearly, these one-meter tall beasts didn't favour any guests.

While Olivia glared at the creatures, she softly scolded her own friend. "You just had to talk, didn't you? I didn't want to touch these bones either, you didn't have to convince me to get out of here!"

William wanted to talk back but felt at a loss for words, he was too shocked. The animals in front of them were just too bizarre!

At first sight, these things seemed a lot like dark-furred gorillas. But when one looked closer, they would be creeped out by other details.

These short beasts had four arms! Their limbs were thick, firm, and somewhat immobile as well.

"Can you kill them?" William finally asked.

Surely, he didn't want to fight these apes, it was better to have an albino-snake handle them.

But before the lady could answer, one of these beasts finally broke the nervous tension. In exchange, the situation developed into something worse, a potential disaster!

One of these gorilla-like animals, smashed its four palms against the ground, and unleashed several high pitched screams through those few seconds.

Yet even though the creature portrayed an unyielding, aggressive front, it didn't actually charge. Instead, these loud shouts seemed more like a method to assert dominance.

Nevertheless, William acknowledged it as a threat, and he didn't want to take any chances either.

That was why he thought, "Oh hell no, I ain't dealing with this shit."

Afterwards he focused on the problematic gorilla, and thought. "Neuro-shock! Burn you filthy beetle-looking bitch!"

In response, the said attribute charged towards its target, and inflicted every wave of damage available.

But regardless of what he desired, the results turned out as if they were the exact opposite. William thought that this opponent would go brain-dead, and hopefully crash for good as well.

On the contrary, this creature swiftly became hostile. It howled and charged forward with a powerful pace, and a crave for violence.

In other words, one of these opponents went apeshit.

Through that small pocket of time, the system notified. [Great, you burned down the only thing that was helping you, the mud ape's weak, anger management senses.]

While William glanced at the enraged enemy, he sighed. "Of course, I'm not even surprised. That's just my great luck!"