Rolling around
Another day went by, yet my HP did not replenish! My mana had been fully restored, but my health remained the same: 3 HP. On an unrelated note, I had lost my personal mount.
‘Bye Limy, I’ll never forget you.’
I didn’t really feel any kind of attachment to that disgusting blob. It was just useful for transportation. What bothered me was that losing it greatly hindered my mobility once again.
‘Turns out I am gonna have to get back to training to learn telekinesis, fly or something of the sort after all…’
But first things first, I needed to find a way out of this forest. By leveling up, my MP had increased quite a bit, and by adding my mana well reserves on top of that, I could move a lot further… but my mobility was still pretty lackluster!
I topped off my mana well, and after waiting for my mana to fully replenish, I started to roll towards what I hoped was the exit of the forest. On my way here I hadn’t encountered many enemies, so hopefully, I would not find many on my way out either.
Just in case, I kept the mana well filled and rolled around using only my own mana pool. That meant I couldn’t move as fast as I would have liked, but as a precaution, I wanted to keep some mana reserves so that I could at least defend myself if something attacked me out of the blue.
[Ability “Roll” is now at level 2.]
After a long time rolling, stopping and waiting for my mana to replenish, this felt like a godsend. I guess with all the rolling I had been doing, leveling the ability up was bound to happen sooner or later.
‘Helpy, how does reaching level 2 affect the ability?’
[Mana cost is reduced and speed is increased.]
Just as I expected, a higher level meant that the ability performed better and more efficiently. If it leveled it up a bit more maybe moving wouldn’t be so painstakingly slow.
However, my good luck shortly ran out. I froze the moment I heard the familiar sound of something crawling across the forest.
‘It can’t be… another one of those insects...’
I started to sweat in my mind as I searched for the source of the sound. Something was off however. The sound was a bit different and it seemed to come from different places at the same time.
‘There is more than just one this time…’
Even though I was a rock, this time I broke a cold sweat for real. I was surrounded by insects. I wished that none of them would come close to my position… but of course, I did not get that lucky.
Just as I expected, very soon a centipede appeared. However, it did not attack me. It just walked past me without even looking at me. It wasn't the same type of centipede as the one I faced before. This one was completely black and slightly smaller. I inspected it immediately.
[Black giant chilopod: A common giant centipede monster. They are not very strong and, despite having venom, it is only a weak hemotoxic poison used to hunt their prey.]
Status:
Name: -
Kind: Centipede | Race: Black giant chilopod
Level: 13
HP: 37/37 | MP: 14/14
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‘What is the meaning of this? Its stats are nowhere near close to the other centipede’s. Oh, right! After all, the other was a rare species.’
I could deal with these bugs with ease, so I approached as sneakily as a living stone could.
‘Eat this, you shitty bug!’
I shot the mana cannon from behind as soon as it got within firing range. I did not intend to give it any chance of escaping.
[You have gained 432 experience points.]
[Your level has risen to 4. Due to your kind, your stats can’t go up.]
‘It’s an incredibly weak monster!’
I had gained a lot less experience than I did with the previous centipede, and this one died with just a partially charged shot of Mana Canon. This confirmed that it was not very strong, or at least not very resistant. In spite of all that, the experience I gained was enough to level up one more time.
‘If these centipedes are that easy to kill, leveling up here is going to be a walk in the park.’
Suddenly, all my worries were gone and my motivation surged. However, the next level required 1012 experience. I would need to kill a few more of those to level up.
‘Whatever, they aren’t dangerous at all, so I should be fine. By the way, Helpy, can you explain why it gave me less experience despite having a higher level than the white one?’
[An experience bonus is added depending on the difference between your grade and the enemy’s. The higher the grade of the enemy, the more experience you will receive. On the contrary, the lower the grade, the less experience you receive. If the difference is too large, it is entirely possible to not gain any experience at all.]
‘Got it… In other words, you’re telling me that I’m weaker than an insect… That can’t be right! What is my grade?!’
[You are a simple stone, grade 0.]
‘That made me feel depressed, you don’t know how much… but I’ll take it as an advantage…’
I was about as depressed as I was upset, but I kept rolling around, looking for three more of those centipedes. Once again, I had forgotten about my HP, I was focused on leveling and leveling alone.
Apparently I had wandered into their nesting ground, since I could sense a handful of them nearby. It didn’t take me long to find another. Rolling at a brisk pace, I stopped in front of him.
When it saw me arrive, it seemed surprised and started looking around, probably looking for whomever had thrown a stone there. Since it couldn’t find anyone nearby, it became interested in me. It slowly moved towards me and brought its head closer.
‘Hi!’
Paf!
My Mana Cannon hit it square in the head, making it explode into a thousand pieces.
[You have gained 363 experience points.]
Satisfied, I rolled towards the next one. Like the one before, I attacked it head-on and made its head explode.
[You have gained 432 experience points.]
It had taken nearly all of my mana to kill them with one shot, so I didn’t think it wise to go on. I hid for a bit and waited for my MP to replenish before continuing my search for the last centipede. It took me a while to find it, but I finally did it. Completely unaware of the danger, the insect crawled on the ground, oblivious to my presence.
‘Finally! Now die for me!’
I was so eager to level up that I rushed in and missed my shot.
‘Shit!’
This time it was impossible for the centipede to not realize where the shot came from, so I prepared myself for a direct confrontation… but the bastard turned tail and ran away!
‘Wait! Where do you think you are going?!’
I Immediately started my rolling chase. Even if it cost me all of my mana, I would catch it. And this is how a stone and a bug with too many legs started a dumb game of cat and mouse.
The centipede nimbly avoided the trees in the forest. It was a lot tougher for me and I even crashed into a tree a couple times. At least that didn’t hurt, so I kept rolling like a madman (or a madstone should I say) chasing after the centipede.
‘Ahhhh, at this rate I will never catch it!’
[Ability “Roll” is now at level 3.]
‘Just in time! I don’t know who made this system, but I love you!’
With my enhanced ability, I was able to roll faster than that insect could run. Taking advantage of the speed increase, I changed my direction a bit and managed to overtake the centipede, who did not realize what just happened. I cut off its escape route and laid completely still waiting for it to arrive. It didn’t take more than three seconds for the centipede to appear in front of me. The stupid bug stopped on its tracks and stared at me dumbfounded. Apparently it thought I looked familiar.
‘If you suspect it’s me, don’t just stand in front of me, asshole!
And boom, all over its mouth.
[You have gained 192 experience points.]
[Your level has risen to 5. Due to your kind, your stats can’t go up.]
I hadn’t even bothered inspecting it, but considering the experience I gained from killing it, it must have been a monster of a far lower level than the others. At least it gave me enough experience to level up.
‘Damn these crappy bugs with disgusting legs. The white one was dangerous, but the black ones are child's play. They are neither smart, nor strong, and they cannot withstand a single blow. Pieces of garbage! The only thing they can do is panic and flee when they see me! Muahahaha, tremble in fear before me stupid bugs. Feel the wrath of the living stone. I won’t stop until I kill every last one of you! Die for me, die for my level!’
[New title acquired: Racist.]
‘... I take what I said earlier back, this system sucks! If I ever meet whoever invented it, I will show him how hard a stone is!’
Suddenly, all the motivation I had for going on with my rampage was gone. I just kept rolling through the woods aimlessly, until I found something else. I stopped abruptly as the ground a few meters in front of me started shaking. Some kind of yellowish green colored lizard emerged from there.
‘A lizard? Let’s have a closer look.’
[Green stone eater: A species of lizard that normally lives about three meters below the ground. Despite their appearance, they are quite hardy and difficult to kill because of their diet, stones. They sometimes surface in search of tastier stones.]
Status:
Name: -
Kind: Stone eater | Race: Green stone eater
Level: 14
HP: 173/173 | MP: 63/126
————————————————
‘Ah? Wait… What?!’
It didn’t take long for the monster to become aware of my presence and, to no one's surprise, it lunged straight at its food.
‘You have got to be kidding me. How does a thing like this exist?!’
I rolled away from the lizard as fast as I could. I had no intention of being eaten again, especially not by that thing that seemed to come directly from a bad joke.
I ran like a bat out of hell. After a while, when I thought I had put enough distance between us, I looked back to check on the lizard. It didn’t seem to have been able to keep up with my speed.
‘Well that was terrifying…’
And sure enough, as I kept rolling while looking backwards to keep track of the lizard… I feel off a cliff.
‘Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!’
Splash!
… Straight into a river.