5 System - Part 2

Two hours had passed since Arden started hunting for food in the river. His hunger was growing by each passing second, and after such effort, this was the second fish he had been able to kill.

Escalor is a dark brown or black fish which is found on planet Draugr. It is very swift and agile in water making it hard to capture or kill.

The one that Arden had just captured was no big than three feet. It was most likely still growing.

....

After having a tolerable meal, Arden was ready to complete his quest and gain those stat points.

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<14/100 creatures>

<Reward: 10 Free stat points + 100 exp>

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'Hmm, killing the Escalors was worth more than I thought.' Arden thought while showing a satisfactory grin on his face.

As he was checking his stats, he saw the third tab, Store. He had forgotten about it since he was hungry.

'First stage of evolution?! What does this even mean? Will I evolve into a species which is superior than the humans? I still don't know about many terms the system uses.' Arden racing his mind to come to conclusions relating to the system's terms.

"Umm, system, tell me everything about you and the terms you use." Ordered Arden, wanting to understand the system.

No reply came.

Arden was confounded. The system usually replied to any query he had, but this time, it didn't.

"Explain stats." The bewildered Arden tried again.

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<Stats:

Stats represent the host's physical and mental conditions in simple numeric data for better understanding of the host's abilities and limits.

The attributes mentioned are explained as following:

Energy: Host's energy pool. Energy is required for activating skills.

Energy regeneration: The rate at which the host's energy pool recovers.

Stamina: The ability to sustain prolonged physical and mental exhaustion/effort.

Strength: The representation of muscle potency. Increasing strength can make you go faster, jump higher, strike stronger and take hits more easily.

Agility: Host's ability to move swiftly and skillfully manipulate movement.

Endurance: Numeric values representing the healing factors and defense.

Intelligence: Intelligence represents the mental capacity. Increasing intelligence doesn't affect IQ but improves memory and comprehension abilities. Intelligence also affects the base size of the Energy pool.

Senses: Host's sensing ability including the five senses and instinct. Can't be increased through normal methods.

The points representing these attributes can be increased using the free stat points which the host can receive upon completing Daily Quests, Extra Quests and leveling up.>

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'So now it replies', Sighing.

The eye-widened Arden, quickly read through the information that the system had provided. He now had confirmed his understanding of the terms which the system used. But two things pointed out by the system, intrigued him greatly. One was Energy.

Ability users like Rudolf could use their abilities up to a certain limit. This was because of the mutated cells present in the ability user. These mutated cells were called Opio. They are necessary cells required to activate one's ability. An ability-user having large amounts of Opio in their body can use their ability for longer duration and can even make stronger and larger attacks. Ability-users are classified as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Saint, King, Emperor, God rank ability users based on the amount of Opio they have in their body. Opio are the limiting factor for an ability user. The amount of Opio in one's body gradually increases with age and could also be increased through specialized training.

But Arden was not sure whether Energy and Opio are the same thing, since Opio are found only in ability users and Arden had no abilities, until he received the system. Moreover, Arden wasn't even sure whether the system he has received is an ability or not, since such an ability was unheard of.

The second one was the Senses attribute. It represented his five senses: smell, touch, hearing, taste and sight; but also included an additional sixth sense, Instinct. According to the system's description, it cannot be increased by merely using the free stat points. It requires other processes which weren't revealed by the system.

Arden concluded that he will know more about the system after he reaches 'first stage of evolution', and for now, he had satisfactory amount of information.

.....

Few hours passed and night fell, darkness scattered over the entire sky with stars appearing like sparkling gems embedded on a big wide black surface. The moon was covered by the clouds, illuminating light from time to time, trying to bring light to the planet shrouded in darkness. A ceaseless pleasant breeze was present.

<Congratulations! You have leveled up.>

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Stats:

<User: Arden Ryder>

<Race: Human>

<Title: None>

<HP: 20/20>

<Energy: 28/28>

<Stamina: 13/13>

<Strength: 13>

<Agility: 13>

<Endurance: 13>

<Intelligence: 18>

<Senses: 5>

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Skills:

<???>

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'Hmm, three times my current speed. Sounds good!' Arden thought, paying no attention to the one free stat point he had gained by completing one of the Daily Quests.

Arden had been hunting and killing Dustcrawlers throughout the evening to complete the Extra Quest, and in the process, had leveled up twice. He also encountered another Plingy. Arden didn't leave his chance and hunted the Plingy mercilessly. He kept the Bezoar stone for emergency situations, since he might get poisoned again.

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<0/1 miles>

<Reward: 1 Free stat point>

<1/1 creature>

<Reward: 1 Free stat point><Rewarded>

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<68/100 creatures>

<Reward: 10 Free stat points + 100 exp>

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'Sigh. Even though I have been hunting Dustcrawlers and other creatures for hours, I still couldn't complete the quest.' Arden thought with a disappointed look on his face. 'I will head towards one of the settlements tomorrow, and hopefully, I will be able to complete this quest by the time I reach there.'

Arden with this thought started making preparations for the night. He spread out a few leaves to sleep on. He ate the remaining Escalor which he had left during his afternoon meal. He stretched his body and looked at the dark night sky, the stars and the full Moon.

As he set his eyes on the full Moon, a stinging pain rushed through his body.

"Arghhhh!" Screamed Arden.

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