Chapter 3

All Ethan did was blink and the whole ward had vanished and he was now in a different environment. The soft, silk sheets of his bed were now replaced with the cold, wet, reddish soil underneath him. Realizing the situation his eyebrows furrowed and a vein popped out on his forehead. His face contorted into a frown while he wore a sarcastic smile on his face. 

"What the hell?"He gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath. He sat On the ground and folded his arms, "System? Take me back", he ordered and in response a message popped up.

[Invalid request]

[User must complete quest]

[Quest: Labor 1>>0\1]

He gritted his teeth harder, grinding them against each other. Another vein popped out on his forehead again and he was turning red with anger. He wasn't in the mood for any of this and he wasn't going to comply with the system.

"If you don't take me back right now, I'll..." just as he was about to finish his sentence he suddenly felt an overwhelming presence in the area. If sent chills down his spine and he was covered in goosebumps and all his hair was standing on end.

[Host is sensing a malicious presence]

[Danger imminent]

Suddenly Ethan felt a gush of hot air from behind him, the pure force of the air ruffled his hair. He didn't even have to turn around before he knew but he did anyway. He turned around slowly and as he did, he started to see the beast from the corner of his eye until he was fully turned and now facing the towering eight foot lion. The lion was a big one, it had an exotic mane like that of a regular adult male lion, but its fur was thick and golden. It was panting heavily and was watering at the mouth, its eyes blazed with anticipation as he stared at its dinner.

Ethan was consumed with fear and was trembling as tears welled up in his eyes. Every bone nerve in his body was screaming for him to run but he couldn't even lift a finger. Just before he could utter a sound, the huge beast slammed against him with its enormous paw, sending him flying across the cave and crashing against the wall. 

The impact of the slam was so tremendous, he could hear his ribs crack as soon as his back hit the wall causing him internal bleeding and making him cough up blood. He felt his organs rupture within him, he felt concussed as his vision was starting to blur and double and he felt a sharp pain in his head. He was trying to focus when the system window popped up a notification.

[HP 20\50]

[Activating passive skill: Regeneration]

Ethan's body suddenly felt warm and the pain was starting to subside. His vision stabilized again and now he could see the gigantic beast that was slowly striding towards him. Out of instinct he jumped to his feet and then he took a fighting stance. Then his brain took over again. "Did I seriously just put my hands up to try and fight a lion?". Then another notification popped up again.

[HP 15/50]

"15 HP ? This thing cut my health to half with just one strike," he stared at the window as his eyes widened in disbelief."There's no way I can win against this thing".Then he heard a loud, ear piercing roar emit from the lion. It was so powerful the shockwave sent him flying once more like a rag doll across the cave. His body hit the floor then bounced and hit it again before rolling to a stop. Not only that, the roar had an effect that allowed it to stun its prey.

[HP 10\50]

[Activating passive skill: regeneration]

[Hp 5/10]

The message displayed, he knew there was no hope for him anymore. He was on his last legs. He can't use regeneration again and if he took another hit he would die, Instantly. Even if the system revived him again the outcome would still be the same. He was just too weak. Then when he was about to give up, The system popped up again.

[Skill: Regeneration, has leveled up]

[Regeneration LV 2]

[New skill has been acquired. 

Skill: Mental fortitude.]

[You have gained 300 XP]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[Host : Ethan Grayson Lv 3]

[Xp 60\200]

[You have completed hidden quest :

Survive 5 minutes in the lion's den]

[You have received 10 stat points]

He was flooded with the notifications he didn't even have time to think. Before he could even process the information the lion was coming in for another round. If Ethan didn't know better he would have thought the lion was smiling. He didn't see Ethan as a threat but rather as a play thing. It was toying with him like how a cat plays with a mouse right before having it for a snack. 

Cold sweat dripped from the side of Ethan's face down to his chin. The lion let out another power roar, hoping to stun its prey. Even Ethan had braced himself for impact. The shockwave from the roar hit him once more and he could feel his body being pushed back by the powerful force, which pressed him against the wall. But something was different this time around. He wasn't affected by the stun effect.

[Mental fortitude is resisting stun effect from skill: Intimidation]

The message appeared and the new skill Ethan had gained earlier was a passive skill, one that seemed to be quite handy at the moment. But it still dealt him some damage.

[HP 20\70]

[Activating skill: Regeneration LV 1]

[Hp 15\70]

[Skill: Regeneration has leveled up]

[Skill: Regeneration LV 2]

Ethan's HP had increased , he deduced that it was possible from him leveling up. And his regeneration skill had leveled up. Everything was moving too fast for him to focus. The lion had noticed that the stun effect failed on its prey, out of anger it lept at Ethan with its powerful hind legs with the goal of overwhelming him and finishing him off. But Ethan saw this and jumped to the side and out of the way. He landed on his shoulder and slid on the ground. The lion had crashed into the cave's wall with a loud boom and smashed it causing large chunks of rocks to fall on its right paw and giving it a hard time to free itself. 

The dust was starting to clear and Ethan was able to see the lion struggling with its paw. He saw this as an advantage and decided to take it. His mind was racing, looking for a solution. His eyes darted around the cave looking for something that could aid him in this battle. Then his eyes caught a large sword in its sheath. It was attached to a skeleton. Most likely one of the others before him, who fell prey to the Nemean Lion. Come to think of it, the whole cave was littered with bones and carcasses. 

Ethan put the thought aside and lunged for the sword. He pulled it from the sheath and held it in his hands. He hesitated at first but then he let out a battle cry and charged towards the beast. He struck the sword against the lion's back, but to his disappointment he dealt zero damage. In Fact it was the sword that broke. He stared at the broken blade in his hands in disbelief and just then the Lion had managed to free its paw and swung it and hit Ethan, sending him flying upward and across the cave. His body hit the ceiling of the cave sending a shocking, paralyzing pain across his body.

He coughed out blood as he fell from the ceiling. His body hit the ground with a loud thud that echoed across the cave. 

[HP 5\70]

[Hp too low, cannot activate passive skill: Regeneration]

This was it. It was the end. Ethan reminisced as he laid there helpless as the lion slowly approached him. He was going to die, again. "At least the system will be able to revive me." He said in a slight, pained chuckle. He was quite disappointed though. Even if he got revived – which would take two days according to the system, he might not still be able to fight against it. "Just when I was thinking of all the cool stuff I could get for myself with that bribe money", "only God knows how long I'll be stuck here for" he lamented.

His HP was draining fast. His consciousness was starting to wane. He hoped for an out, maybe a hint or a clue on how to beat something that was seemingly unbeatable. If only he had paid attention in class when they were teaching Greek history. Then his eyes caught something. The lion had not approached him yet but instead it was licking its paw, the one that had been trapped in the rubble. Looking closer Ethan could see that it was sort of deformed and out of shape, like it was broken. That's when it hit him .

He struggled and fought against the pain to get up. He managed to stand on his feet but was a bit wobbly. He was panting heavily as he set his sight on the distracted lion. "System," he raised his hands to the side of his face in a boxing stance. "Add 7 points to strength".

[Adding points to strength attribute]

[Strength 3+7=10]

He stared the beast down with not a trace of fear in his eyes. "Here goes nothing".