A Branch
Walking around the forest , Fang noticed a big tunnel entrance that was made out of a tree trunk. The trunk was carved out , leaving only the outer layer as it laid on the ground , perfectly creating a path way through the wall of trees. "It look awfully familiar.. System , is there anywhere I can get a weapon?" [Weapons are everywhere , a rock , a leaf or a branch.] 'How do I fight something with a leaf....' After organizing his thoughts , Fang came up with a list of important questions as he walk slowly through the forest. "System , what are you exactly?" [ I am called the Epic Quest & Epic Loots system , I am in charge of your rewards and levels , other than that , I cannot access any more information about EE (short for my full title).] Fang came to a halt as he heard a very important word. "Level?? System What is my level?"
[Da Fang - Human (Earthling)
Level - 1
STR - 1
VIT - 9
INT - 4
DEX - 1
Charms - ??
Luck - 1
Potentials - ??? ]
Looking at the ui that appeared within his visions , Fang could see simple information along with numbers. "Hmmm My charms and potentials are non existence...? Why is there more question mark on potentials.." The young man resumed his search as he memorized his stats. 'I can level up.. like those games that my 2nd sister used to play..' For some reason , the thinking about his sister brought him a sense of guilt and heartache. "Mhmm , I should find a way to level up before fighting a boss..."
After walking around for about an hour , I finally realized that there was only 5 of these thick giant trees and with the impenetrable walls that surrounded the whole area , my only way in or out is that laid down tree trunk. "Now that there is no danger confirmed , I am going to scavenge around for any type of usable weapon."
After Fang went through the bushes and searched around the corners of every roots , he could not find anything useful other than giant leaf that were on the ground. "Do I really have to fight with a leaf..?" With a crouch , Fang reach out for the big leaf that was as big as him and a ui appeared. [Pick Up *Ol' Leaf* ?] Not knowing what to do , Fang tried to press in the air and wave his arms without any result. [Please say Yes or Nod] The system seemingly ran out of passion for the dumb fool as it waited for his confirmation. "Yes.." With a tear drop of guilt , the leaf disappeared as a new ui popped up."This is my inventory...?" Looking at the small leaf icon , Fang could determine that he was right , with only 6 slots available , including the leaf , Fang only had 5 slots left to work with.
"System , How do I bring out the items from my inventory?" [User just have to think about the icon or name , repeat while thinking of the word *store*] With a simple thought of a big green leaf , the Ol' Leaf appeared in his right hand. Holding onto the leaf tightly , he could feel a slight weight pressing him down.' A heavy a** leaf that's what it is!' Fang saw that in his ui , the leaf was also on the human silhouette right hand. "Hmm.. Interesting.." After storing his useless leaf , Fang came up with another bright idea. "System , can you show me a map?" [Toggle map On?] With a nod , a small circle appeared on the bottom left corner of his vision. "I see... It mapped out where I already visited.." Other than the red arrow in front of the dark area that the map did not draw out , Fang could see 5 big green circle that represented the trees and a small tiny yellow dot on one of the roots.
"What is that? A weapon?!" Running toward the yellow dot , he noticed that the root went a little bit upwards before diving down into the earth , leaving a small round gap. "It's in that gap.. Do I have to crawl through there...." Looking around suspiciously , Fang could see a small tunnel that went slightly downward. 'Well.. I guess I got to crawl.' Crawling inside the dirt tunnel for about 30 minutes now , Fang began to get more and more tired. 'Huff.. When is this going to end..' Just as he was about to lay flat on the dirt , a notification appeared as he heard a weird ding sound. [Ding! VIT Level up! Congratulations for achieving a level 10 stats! Would you like your reward now?] Feeling his tiredness fade away , Fang was now filled with energy as he shook his head , resulting his head planting onto the dirt ceiling. "Gahh nasty... Peh peh" As he blew the dirt away , he saw another new ui appearing in the middle of his vision. [VIT Rewards..?...???..????? Congratulations ! You have gained a active potential! - Ninja Steps-]
"Ohhh! A potential!" Fang was feeling pumped with the mood that the system was tricking him into. "Quickly show me my levels , SYSTEM , LEVEL." [Please User , no need to yell , you can just simply think of *stats* next times.. geez..
[Da Fang - Human (Earthling)
Level - 2
STR - 1
VIT - 10
INT - 4
DEX - 1
Charms - ??
Luck - 1
Potentials - Ninja Steps (Hold your breath , run like the wind) ]
"Sorry.." Feeling apologetic , Fang murmured quietly as he stared at his new potential and level. "Thank god I can't run at the moment." The young man complained with a sarcastic remark as he resumed his adventure of the dirt tunnel. After another 30 minutes , Fang finally reached the end of the tunnel. "Thank god that tunnel was straight!" With a stretch , the young man switched his focus to the map. 'Hmm.. So the yellow dot is the tunnel entrance..' Looking around , he realized that he was in some kind of maze with the giant stone walls leading to many different path. "Hmmp , luckily I have the map." Before venturing into the unknown , Fang tried holding his breath and ran. With no change and answers from the system , he felt slightly scammed. "Ah.. what a useless potential!"
Giving up on activating his skill , he slowly roamed into the maze with his alert fully to the maximum. 'The map is only drawing on the pathway I visually see..' As he walk toward different path , he always made sure to sharply turn his head to let the system draw the top view of the map. After going around for maze for the purpose of clearing the map and for hope of weapons , he could not find anything worth while other than one path that he haven't took yet. "I guess that's the exit.. what a dumb long maze." Easily reaching the new path , he walked along the stone walls that stretched further than usual. ' Odd.. is this going to lead me straight to somewhere.. I hope is not as long as that dirt tunnel.'
Reaching a part of the wall that was slightly broken with a gap to fit a small boulder , Fang quickly continue his journey as he did see anything that was abnormal from the hole in the wall. Another 10 minutes went by until he felt a slight tremor from the ground. 'What's that? An earthquake?' The tremor kept getting stronger as he heard a loud sound that was quickly approaching him. Squinting his eyes into the far end of the wall , he saw a gigantic boulder that was rolling towards him. "Holy Buddha!!" Fang quickly turned around and ran for his life. 'A quiet atmosphere and a sudden trap!! What a merciless maze!'
Seeing that the boulder was quickly catching up to the him , he felt something on his feet and tip over to the ground. "WHO PLACED THE MUSHROOM THERE?!" Feeling that he was being played , Fang knew for sure other than the gap , there was nothing else in these long halls. 'I guess I will die for real this times..' Closing his eyes , he accepted death and as he heard the boulder approaching him , the young man held onto his last breath.
After a few seconds , nothing happened to him and the sound also disappeared. 'What.. is happening..?' Opening his eyes slowly , he saw the boulder that was about 5 meters away from him. He hurriedly crawled backwards and stood up. "It really stopped..Phew.." As soon as he released his breath , the boulder started to move again. "What!?" Thinking about his one and only potential , Fang took and deep breath and held onto it once again. Staring with his wide eyes at the boulder that was an inch away from him , he could feel a drop of sweat going down his back. 'I understand! My potential is awesome!!!' Looking at the bottom side of the boulder , he could see a small gap and with his long practice of crawling , Fang easily made his way through and released his breath.
"Pheeeeeeeeeew" The boulder resumed it's journey as it disappeared in the far horizon of the maze."Good bye rocky.. and thank you for teaching me.." With a formal bow that one would normally give to their teacher , the young man bid his farewell to the rock as he continue through the maze. 'Ah right! That damn mushroom!' Looking at the mushroom , he angrily stomped his way over and kicked it. "Ahhhh! Why is it so hard!" [ The Boulder could not crush it , why would your puny feet be able to?] "I didn't say system!" The system who seemingly once again , had enough of the dumb user , questioned his brain process.
With a theory in mind , Fang crouch down and reach out his hand to the mushroom. [Pick Up *Young Hearthy Mushroom*?] With a big evil grin , Fang nodded and the mushroom disappeared into his inventory. Thinking about his inventory , the ui appeared and he focused his vision on the mushroom. 'You murderer.. wait until I get home and boil the evil out of you!' As his gaze stared long enough to trigger something , a new ui appeared with the mushroom detail. [Mature in 3 Hours / Current Effect STR + 2] "What! It can actually boost my stats?!" The eyes of the young man sparkled as he started at the mushroom with a cheerful smile. "I pray for you to grow quickly and healthy." With his prayer for the mushroom over , the young man happily skipped like a child and reached the end of the straight long path. "Hmm? Is that a chest?!" Fang was happy at the sight of the wooden chest that was placed on a small stump in the middle of the square room.
"I wonder what's in the chest.. a weapon perhaps!" Bending over to lift the upper half of the chest , Fang realized that he could not budge it , even with his entire strength."Ughhh! Why is it so hard to open a chest!" After trying everything , blowing it a wave of the giant leaf and hitting it with the mushroom , Fang ran out of idea as he sat breathlessly beside the chest. "Ah.. Ho..How do..I..System how-" [User , please.. , gently kick the chest to open it..] "Why didn't you say so earlier! And why did you pause after the User and Please?!" Fang angrily stood up and gently..softly bumped the chest with the front of his shoes. *Kachin* The chest opened up with a bright light coming from within the inside. "Ahh! Too bright!!" With his eyes covered with his hands , Fang sneakily peeked over a small gap in his fingers and saw a golden branch inside the chest. With the light slowly fading away , he crouched down to pick up the branch. [Pick Up *A Gold Branch*?] "Yes..." With sweat and tears , Fang finally got his weapon.