Rewards After Death

Bang!

Fwoosh!

Thud!

A small Lupus died with a headshot. It immediately started to disintegrate into particles. The particles then multiplied and formed another middle sized Lupus.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Seven more Lupii fell onto the ground and disintegrated into shiny particles as they were headshot.

I looked at the huge army of various sized grey Lupus approaching towards me. The number was so big that it was uncountable!

Howl! Howl!

There were multiple howls in the air.

My arms were sore from all the shooting I did with the Baruga. As I placed my right hand inside the left pocket of my jacket, I noticed that they were empty. I had already used up all of my darts and bullets.

It had been around 7 days since I had arrived in this realm. The sun never actually set but I was able to guess the flow of time due to the biological clock of my body and my bowel movements.

With the help of the sedative concoctions, I was able to take care of the food and my bowel routines. However, sleep became a luxury to me, three hours a day was all I was able to receive.

I had also been scratched by the paralyzing nails of the Lupii multiple times but I found out that the blue antibiotics that Carlo had, actually nullified the paralysis. Because of those pills, I was somehow able to survive for the seven days, but I had already used them all up so I no more had any cure for the paralysis.

Most of the items that I had stacked were now all used up. The antibiotics were gone and only two of the pain killers were left. All of the darts and the bullets have now been used up. The only concoctions that were left were the green and the yellow ones, which were useless to me in this situation.

There was no more food left in the inventory as I had to eat them to compensate for my rapidly draining stamina. Though, the water was still enough to last me for quite a bit.

I was extremely tired. My vision was slightly blurry. My whole body was covered with dried red blood and flesh. My right leg was extremely swollen. The effect of the painkiller was subsiding. There was no sign of Delta. All in all, I was f*cked.

My thoughts were empty, my mind unfocused. I lifted my head and looked at approaching disaster. Then a strange smile welled up on my face as I said, "If they want me dead, then so be it!"

I put back the blood coated Baruga and took out two dulled out daggers from my inventory. My right hand held onto the black one while the other held onto the curved one.

AAAAAHHHH!

HOWL!

With a battle cry, I ran towards the expanding number of the Lupii. They also responded my battle cry with a loud and concordant howl.

As soon as I entered the group, I yelled, "Agility!" Just as my speed increased, I also screamed, "Dagger Thrust!" as I thrusted my dagger into a very large Lupus infront of me.

Bang!

Pooch! Pooch!

The Lupus and the other Lupii surrounding it decimated into flesh as a strong energy wave hit them. Meanwhile, the Lupii had already started to gash at me with their paralyzing nails.

"Dagger Thrust! Dagger Thrust! Dagger Thrust" I yelled as multiple Lupii got destroyed. Both of my arms were now moving like they were dancing, killing as many monsters as they could.

Ding! Ding!

There were also some notifications from the status window but I couldn't see them. My vision had already gone dark.

Pooch!

Thud!

My body was slowing down when my left arm got suddenly cut down and it fell onto the ground.

Pain? There was none of it. All there was, was a man smiling as he emptied out all the stamina he had.

Thud!

My consciousness started to fade. My right arm also got cut off and fell. I used my teeth to gash at the monsters. I could feel them biting down on my body as it fell.

I was no longer able to move my body. The Lupii were now biting away at my organs. As I died, I started to feel a sense of freedom developing inside me. My face was still smiling.

Then, a Lupus came and bit down onto my face, finally ending it all.

***

Ding!

"Fuaa!" I woke up while gasping for air.

Huff! Huff!

As I took in heavy breaths, I looked at my surroundings. I was strangely floating inside a dark black void. It was as if there was no gravity in this place.

The two daggers that I had dropped in my last battle were now floating infront of me in this space.

Instantly, I looked at my arms and my body. All of it was still strangely attached to me. There was no more blood or flesh on me; I looked like as if I had just taken a bath. My body was still in one piece. Infact, all my fatigue, my drowsiness and the congestion I felt due to the medicines was gone too! It was as if I never actually went inside the 'nourishing realm'!

'What happened? Didn't I die? Is this the place people come to when they die? But, why are my daggers here too? Are they just an ethereal copy of the ones that I used?'

As my brain raced with multiple thoughts, I put my hand forward and grabbed the daggers. They felt as materialistic as the real ones.

I then whispered, "Space 1, Slot 2, store!" Just as I called upon my inventory, a red vortex appeared and the daggers turned into glowing particles which were then absorbed by the vortex.

Those particles reminded me of the Hell I had just gone through. I stared at the spinning vortex and said, "Space 2!" The vortex then disappeared. Without wasting any more time, I flicked the index and pinky fingers of my left hand and my status screen appeared.

[HOST INFO:

Name: Alex (Deniel)

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Level: 2

Fate Points (FP): 40/500

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STATS:

Health Points (HP): 210/210

Mind Power (MP): 0/0 [Locked]

Strength: 0(+22) = 22

Defense: 0(+19) = 19

Senses: 4(+17) = 21

Health: 9(+12) = 21

Mind: 0(0) [Locked]

Free Stat Points: 0

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SKILLS:

Passive Skills:

[Mining] Level 3:

You have grown proficient in handling mining tools. Your proper form and long practice makes you able to mine various minerals with ease. As the skill level grows, the ease of mining increases.

[Starlight Harvesting] Level 2:

Due to constantly practicing this skill, your proficiency has significantly increased. After reaching level 2, you can now grow the yellow variety of the Starlight fruit effortlessly and in any type of soil.

Due to spending so much time studying the fruit, you can now recognize other varieties of the Starlight fruit.

[Dagger Arts] Level 5:

You have battled and survived in a 'nourishing realm' with daggers for a long time, a remarkable feat. Due to all those experiences, your skill has grown to the final stage before a breakthrough. You are now a master in handling daggers.

There will be a medium boost in all your stats while handling daggers.

You can now dual wield daggers or throw them with precision. Daggers would now feel like an extension of your own body, like another limb.

[Baruga Shooting] Level 5:

You have battled and survived in a 'nourishing realm' with a Baruga for a long time, a remarkable feat. Due to all those experiences, your skill has grown to the final stage before a breakthrough. You are now a master in using the Baruga.

You will receive a minor boost in your senses while equipped with a Baruga.

Three stat points added to the Sense stat.

Active Skills:

[Dagger Thrust] Level 3:

You have trained thrusting your dagger multiple times in the 'nourishing realm'. Your muscles have now been set in the direction of providing a strong thrust. Due to this, you can now provide a very strong thrust with your dagger. Also, with the increase in your stamina, the skill successfully leveled up.

This skill can only be used maximum for 7 times in 24 hours. It depletes stamina so you should not use it when your stamina is low.

[Agility] Level 5:

Due to constantly using this skill in the 'nourishing realm', your proficiency with this skill has significantly increased. . Due to all those experiences, your skill has evolved to the final stage before a breakthrough.

Your agility and evasiveness can now even cross the limits of multiple beasts and monsters once this skill is activated.

Your speed increases by 50% and your evasiveness increases by 40% every time this skill is activated.

With your current stamina, this skill can only be used for a maximum of 15 minutes after a minimum cooldown of 1 hour.

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INVENTORY: LEVEL 1

Space 1: (0.59m³/1m³)

• Slot 1 - □ (0.01m³)

• Slot 2 - □ (0.02m³)

…

Space 2: (0.14m³/0.25 m³)

• Slot 1 - □ (0.11m³)

]

'My HP is full now. Also, look at the skills and my stats! They tell me that all of the battle was not for nothing! Atleast I was able to achieve something in my life… Sigh… Well, let's just accept death. Maybe spending all of the eternity in this oblivion is my punishment…'

Vroom! Vroom!

Fushh!

As soon as I had accepted my death, a portal appeared on my right and sucked me in.