Hunting

The weekend finally arrived. The trainees were allowed to do as they wished. They were always encouraged to use this time to keep training.

Eric sat on his bed, bent over. If he sat straight up, he would hit his head. The rest of his squad had already left, doing whatever they wanted. The library, the city, training, or the cafeteria were the common places for people to go.

He was sitting there, just taking the time to think. Thinking about what path he should take in life. A military career showed promise but also did the mercenary life. Thinking about the mercenary life reminded him that he had a beast gem. That was what mercenaries were usually called for—beast hunting and retrieving beast gems.

He got up and walked over to his chest, which was at the end of the bed. He opened the lid and dug down to the bottom. There was the beast gem he got from the razor rat. It still had a faint glow.

He closed the lid and went to the chai in the corner of the room and sat down. He just sat there looking at the gem, holding it with this forefinger and thumb. He pondered what to do with this gem. Keep it to use it for a weapon or armor or to sell it. As he sat there starring at it, his system responded.

<Consume Beast Gem>

<Yes > <No >

"Consume? What does that even mean? If I say yes, what will happen," Eric thought.

So far, the system has only helped him. He doubted that the system would allow him to do something to hurt him. The unknown gave him slight anxiety.

"Let's take the gamble; what's the worst that could happen?" he said quietly to himself.

He chose yes.

The gem's glow began to glow brighter. It became painful to look at. Then it disappeared. His body had a faint glow for a second.

<Best Gem Consumed>

<+10 EXP>

<30 160 EXP>

<+2 Stat points>

"Hello," an old, deep voice said in his head.

Eric's frowned in confusion. "Hello, who is that?" Eric said it out loud, standing up and looking around.

There was no answer. He stood there and waited. Still no answer came.

<New Quest Received>

<Unlock A.I.>

<Current Progress: 1%>

"A.I., was that the voice I heard?" he asked himself.

Knowing that consuming a low-base-level beast gem only gave him 1 percent, that means he would need a lot more of those. Not only that, but what would stronger beast gems do? A lot of questions went through his mind. It's not like the system came with an instruction manual.

"What to should I do with the 2 stat points?" he thought.

He noticed that since his radiation and stamina hit ten points or further, he noticed a major difference. He had more precise control of his shadows, and it was his; he could solidify the shadows even more now.

He was also able to run for a lot longer now. He was able to outrun all the people in his platoon. He wasn't the fastest but could run at a good pace longer than everyone. He had the endurance of a marathon runner.

One stat point had to go to defense and that would bring it up to ten. "That will help me take less damage," he thought. "

He had to think about the other stat point. When he had the heat-edged knife in hand, his attack would go up by 3 points. When his sword was in his hand, it would go up five points. Since the beast gem with fire power infused it has been placed in it, the saber now puts his attack up 7 points, bringing the total to fifteen attack points.

If he placed it in dexterity, he would be faster and would be able to react quicker. To Eric, it didn't seem like his attack points needed help. Being able to react faster could make the difference in life and death.

The decision was made. He put one point in defense and one in dexterity.

<Attack: 8>

<Defense: 10>

<Dexterity: 8>

<Stamina: 10>

<Radiation: 12>

<45 45 HP>

<70 70 RP>

Eric took a moment to look at himself, making a fist. It was as if he were looking at a new person. He could feel a difference in his body. It was harder, thanks to the defense stat point. But it felt slightly lighter as well because of the dexterity stat point.

The feeling was addicting. His body and power were different from when he first came to the academy. It was better.

"How far can I go? What is the limit?" He wondered.

With those thoughts going through his head and knowing that he can absorb beast gems to make himself more powerful, he finally knew what he was going to do with his weekend.

He went to his chest again, opening the lid and pulling out the backpack he arrived with. He put it on. Then he pulled out the knife and saber and strapped them on. Then he went to the door and opened it.

There stood Hurst with his arm out like he was about to open the door.

"O Hey, where are you going? To the city?" Hurst asked.

"No, I'm going out," Eric said, trying to be short with him.

"Uh. Hey, can I come with you? We need to talk."

"That's probably not a good idea."

"It has to do with Acer."

Eric could care less about Acer, but he was always a sucker for gossip. But if Hurst was planning to give a message from Acer again, he would just give him another beatdown.

"Fine, I guess. You'll need to grab a bag and your weapons."

Hurst turned to the side, jumped inside the room, and ran to his chest, pulling out a duffle bag and his knife and saber. He strapped his weapons in a hurry. Then the two of them were off.

"Where are we going?" Hurst asked.

"First stop, the cafeteria. We need to get some rations for the trip."

"For the trip?"

"I will tell when we are on the way. You need to grab food that doesn't need to be cooked or go bad."

"O, okay." Hurst replied.

The two went to the cafeteria and started together gathering food. They grabbed apples, jerky, chips, and a few ration packs. They paid for the food since it wasn't part of their normal meals.

Eric was glad that we received monthly pay from the military. It wasn't much, but without it, he couldn't do what he wanted to do this weekend. They both quickly left the cafeteria and started down the road toward the city.

After a mile down the road and no one was in sight, Eric turned and went off the broken road. He was headed toward the woods.

"Wait, where are we going?" Hurst asked, "You said you were going to tell me what the trip was."

"We are going to go beast hunting." Eric replied with no emotion.

"What?!?! I know you have fought a razor rat and won a few weeks ago, but people at our level... well, you all got lucky," Hurst said, almost in a panic.

"If it is just one, I will be fine. With you here, I'm pretty sure that we can handle 2. You're much stronger than what you give yourself credit for."

Hurst just starred at Eric in amazement.

"How can he be so confident?" Hurst thought.

"Anything more than 2, we will be in trouble. Also, if it isn't a razor rat, we will be in trouble as well."

"Ok. Ok. I go along with your crazy plan. But before we go, I need to tell you about what's going on with Acer," Hurst said.