Awareness (1)

Chapter 30: Awareness (1)

"You died," Richard smiled upon seeing Jake logging into the game world.

Since the young man appeared close to the wooden cabin, it could only mean that he'd suffered death at the hands of the legendary boss of the hidden room.

Which wasn't weird.

It was the legendary boss whose likes were rare to see. Ender also hadn't fought many newbies because his hidden room could be found in only so many ways.

Had it not been for Richard's advice and Jake's absurd idea to cut a path toward the Unconquerable Mountain, his chances of meeting Ender would have been minuscule.

That said, Jake had the legendary quest to find traces of other legendary summons. The quest didn't specify the number of legendary traces, but Jake believed he'd still find Ender because of it.

It wasn't that important now that he found him anyway.

"Yeah," Jake nodded, feeling bitter. 

He didn't expect the second boss he met in his gaming career to be this strong and unique. He felt like killing Ender was doable the moment he had noticed his stats, but Jake obviously hadn't taken his legendary skills into account.

It felt pretty shameful now that he thought about it.

Richard just grinned while listening to Jake's disorganized thoughts.

Inhaling deeply to calm himself down, Jake explained his experience and views of the eagle boss, "It was dark, but the shining letters provided me enough light to see the boss, and my eyes also adapted somewhat. But the problem is that I can't fight back well, and he has an edge because of the darkness around the room. He's smart and even speaks human language!"

"That's the legendary boss for you," Richard chuckled. "Remember that legendary bosses can't be respawned. This one is a special case since he appears on the tutorial island, but overall, there's only one type of legendary boss. Ender's special enough that you might meet him again on the mainland."

Jake nodded, "Got it."

"Have you gotten any ideas to defeat him?" Richard asked.

Jake nodded again, "The more I think about it, the more I believe I can't use Joker to fight him. I need higher strength, endurance, and means to limit Ender's angles. Anything I put down in this cave can be drowned in his darkness, so just any trap won't do… I need like insta traps. But that's difficult. Nothing comes to my mind, and I still need to be on time."

"Sounds like a good test for your Master and Soldier Forms. What you need is a perception skill," Richard smiled. "It's rare for newbies to learn about it on the tutorial island as the island's purpose is different. First and foremost, players learn about themselves here."

Jake agreed with the newbie helper.

His forms were the best proof that this worked well. Jake didn't even have archery class yet, but he already had his own vision of it and what he wanted to pursue with a bow and arrows.

Richard gleefully nodded, "The perception skill, thus, is a skill players learn from the martial statutes on the mainland. This is where they apply their vision of themselves to the teachings from experienced mentors and players to shape themselves into what they want to become. I, however, will help you learn perception here so as to you can defeat Ender. Interested?"

"I am!" Jake clenched his hands, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Alright. Ever felt like someone's watching you from behind?" Richard asked, cutting straight to the chase.

Surprised, Jake thought for a few seconds before nodding to him.

Richard smiled, "That's more or less it. The perception skill allows your third eye to pick up anything directed at you. The more familiar you get with other skills and environments, the easier it will be for you to develop this skill. Likewise, you can purposely develop it against anything you want. To help you visualize it, this skill is like an invisible passive bubble around you, and anything you're prepared for will be noticed by you upon breaching this bubble. Some players cannot learn it because they get motion sickness and headaches, though I doubt you're one of them."

Jake fell into thought.

The skill was more convenient than he thought.

"It'd be so good if anyone could control darkness here… I really want to get used to it," Jake muttered, and then a sudden idea clicked within him.

He opened his inventory system and took out a steel ax.

He extended it toward Richard and smiled, "Let's start learning the perception skill with you throwing this ax at me!"

Richard took the ax confusedly, "Are you sure?"

Jake nodded, "Yeah! It's because Ender has a white, shiny beak. This ax's steel is the closest I have to anything shiny, so I want to adapt the perception to it and catch him off-guard! I didn't focus too much on it during the battle because the darkness overwhelmed me… but that beak is his weak spot! Even if it isn't, just because it's so shiny, I can learn how to 'notice' him before he makes any move on me!"

"It's still too early for you to train with the steel ax," Richard said, passing it back and trying to calm Jake's excitement.

Which was quite tricky.

He sighed and said, "I'll use wooden arrows to give you a sense of perception. I will make flat arrow ends so you don't get damaged, and I will make up for this 'unsatisfactory' method with more speed. Happy?"

"Yeah!" Jake nodded. "It should help me get used to the eagle's high speed! Thanks, Richard!"

"Seriously… you're getting too excited," Richard sighed again before curving his lips up, "I guess you know that you can't give up on Ender, so you are positively overwhelmed to see the prospect of you defeating him in the near future. That's so you that I'm about to act along with your child-like excitement. You should see how Odin does… he saw you dying for the first time, and he's just a puppy."

"That's true," Jake nodded.

Once Odin appeared on the scene, however, Jake's excitement vanished.

Odin didn't look up at him with his tongue lolling out and happiness clear in his eyes. Instead, he hung his head low, and tears streaked down his furry face…

Woof… he softly shrieked, saying, 'Sori.'

Jake's heart was squeezed by sadness. The weight of it was so great that he dropped to his knees and instantly took Odin into his arms, tightly cuddling him to his chest.

"Odin…"