Reaping what others sow

As I waited, I slowly began shifting my location to one of those tall branches in the trees. I passed with some difficulty, as even if I can float to a certain height, I can't fly, you see. But never fear, because [Soul Force] IS HERE!

As I began wondering about how to climb the tree, I had an idea. Using the Shapeshifting of [Soul Force], I created some ghost-like tendrils from my wisp-like form, and with such, I began climbing one of the tall trees.

It was arduous, my tendrils didn't have that much strength in them, just enough to pull me from my floating height to one of the thick branches. (And the feeling of having tentacles is very strange, like having boneless arms, but maybe it can be useful in bed- I mean, battle, yes, battle.) As soon as I set my figurative feet on the branch surface…

[*Ding!*]

[ Special skill [Soul Force] leveled up to level 2!]

'Aah, the addictive feeling of power coursing through me. Okie Dokie, now all I need to do is wait till one of those behemoths is almost dead, then I will finish him…' And then I waited, and waited, and waited. '…WHAT'S WRONG WITH THESE BEASTS! WHY DON'T THEY JUST DIE ALREADY!! I'M WAITING HERE FOR A WHOLE HOUR! HOW CAN THEY HAVE SO MUCH STAMINA!?'

I was just baffled with how long these beasts could go on a fight, in the sixty minutes that I waited, they almost tore each other multiple times already. In turf wars they just snuggled a little then the Dreadfull pickle will go John Cena on something. The aftermath is: they're weakened, the perfect scenario for a Kill steal.

But it's not like things didn't change. Both of them were already panting with wounds all over their bodies, but even then, the bloodlust just intensified the longer the battle went on. After some more Waltzing, they finally reached an epilogue, with the lion falling to the ground, exhausted.

*GRAAAGAGAGAAAAAAAOOOO*

The triumphant roar of the wyvern resounded, pushing the dust from the surroundings, and giving me the best view of my target. With the free time I obviously wasn't just waiting, how could I? A gamer in nature would grind the hell out of his skills when he gets some free time, wouldn't he?

[*Ding!*]

[Special skill [Soul Force] leveled up to level 5!]

[*Ding!*]

[Certain conditions have been achieved, Normal Skill [Stealth (LVL 1)] has been rewarded!]

[*Ding!*]

[Host's actions have been recognized by the system! The Host has been bestowed the title {Attentive One}!! Normal skill [Analysis (LVL 1)] has been rewarded!]

Reaping the rewards of my grind, I could now manipulate my mass to form an infinitely more complex construct than tendrils, and now, my new baby is aimed directly at a certain bastard, just according to keikaku. 'Then… NOW!'

*BANG!!*

*GUUURWAAAAAAAAAAAA!!*

[*Ding!*]

[Certain conditions have been achieved Normal skill [Marksmanship (LVL 1)] has been rewarded!]

'BOOM HEADSHOT!!' Good ol' memes aside, that really was a good shot. The weapon I made is nothing more and nothing less than a sniper as it was my favorite weapon in every FPS I played. What, you thought I just played RPG and etc? For your information, I'm a well-cultured player, and as such I mustn't judge a game for its gender!

As chivalrous as it sounds, the truth is that the time my PC broke, I borrowed an old notebook from my neighbor, and the only thing the ancient creature could process was the equally old CS (Bless Valve). So, much to my despair, I was forced to play it and surprisingly fell in love with (Sniping bastards from afar) the gender. After that, I did what I do better, played every single game of the gender and similar, obviously, after repairing my PC.

And about my weapon? I modeled the sniper to resemble a Dragunov, the Soviet babe, Mama Russia's best gift for Snipers. And befitting my headhunter title in games, I got a magnificent headshot… In the scaly bastard, obviously.

Oh ho, so you think I should have reaped the lion first? Oh my little grasshopper, if I did, how would I kill the furious Big ass Wyvern after? I could just land this shot because he lowered his guard, thinking he had already won, otherwise I would be pretty much screwed when he evaded or blocked my ghost bullet. And don't worry, I had plans for the lion already, but only after I finished the Vitas-in-scales that was actually thrashing around in pain. Soul damage is scary…

While the wyvern was rolling around, its head was leaking fountains, not of blood but of soul power. Soul power, by my humble research, is the power the soul collects during the life span, not its structure or its true essence. The soul damage I just inflicted the wyvern, is dealt to the soul structure, which is more like a cardiovascular system that pumps soul power instead of blood, and the center is in the head. And I shot his head, where the soul power is more concentrated.

The scene was somewhat magical. Jets of multicolored wispy plasma were gushing from its head, the once fearsome amount of pressure of the wyvern being reduced by the tics of the clock. How the mighty have fallen, indeed. The wyvern kept struggling, but before he could somehow stop the soul leak he was already in half the capacity. What a fearsome tool soul damage is, to reduce a behemoth of a being to one struggling to stay on its talons.

After getting up, the wyvern was wary, scanning everything in its surroundings, searching for the source of the damage he just received. Sadly for him, it was already too late. 'System, activate [Soul Siphoning]!' without delay, my soul mass began to compress and compress, till my basketball-sized wisp reached a size of a grape. A powerful force surrounded me like I had just become some sort of soul black hole. But it seems it wasn't all, as after shrinking I began to spin like crazy.

Immediately after it, a type of shockwave resounded from me. With the first, the wisps from the wyvern, which were floating around, came rushing to me. With the second, they shot like bullets to me, so fast that they left a trail of light after then, like a bunch of shooting stars, finally hitting me. The feeling is, how can I say it? It's like being burned from inside out, but half the pain is pleasure, (I'm NOT an M. I guess) filling me the with burning feeling of power. But it was not over.

With the third *THUMP*, I felt the strange force changing the scenery. The wyvern, who was astonished by the scene, began tripping over his own talons while the lion was being pulled from its spot on the ground. The two behemoths were pulled to me, but fortunately for them, they got a hold of some trees. A futile struggle for what came after.

With the forth *THUMP! *, The trees where they were holding began to break, loud *CRACK* noises came from their roots. The wyvern, who managed to stop the leaking soul power, had a sour surprise in this one. The fountain of plasma came back to life and began draining him so quickly that in a bat of an eye, he fell lifeless in the ground, not being pulled anymore. 'System, stop. That's enough for now.'

As suddenly as it came, the pulling force stopped. The lion fell again on the ground, even more exhausted than before.

[*Ding!*]

[Congratulations host! Your soul power rose from 500 to 940! Lesser Fire Dragon Soul acquired! New attributes have been unlocked!]

[*Ding!*]

[Special skill [Soul Force] leveled up to level 6!]

[*Ding!*]

[Host's actions have been recognized by the system! The host has been bestowed the title {Black Horse}!! The Normal skill [Surprise (LVL 1)] has been rewarded!]

[*Ding!*]

[Host's actions have been recognized by the system! The host has been bestowed the title {Predator}!! The uncommon skill [Predation (LVL 1)] has been rewarded!]

'Guehehehehe, yes, power, give me more POWER!' Giddy with the prospect of my newfound power, I felt something else being drained from the wyvern corpse, and here's the surprise, because after that…

[*Ding!*]

[Host has killed a foe! System has absorbed its life energy! As it's host's first kill, a commemorative gift has been given! Host has been rewarded 25 Status Points and 3 System Points!]

[*Ding!*]

[Host has leveled up to 5! Host has achieved the max level for its current species!! Evolution System has been enabled!! Now host can transcend its existence into higher ones!!]

[*Ding!*]

[The surplus of life energy absorbed has been stored by the status system.]

'GODDAMMIT!! I SHOT ALL THE WAY TO LEVEL 5!! AND THERE'S STILL EXCESS OF ENERGY!! HOW STRONG WAS THAT WYVERN?! Wait… I CAN EVOLVE TOO?! DID I BECOME A POCKET MONSTER NOW?!?! WILL SOMEONE TRY TO CATCH ME?!' Have you ever thought about being the pokemon being captured? Well, that was the first time I had such an epiphany.

'Ah! Fuck it, what matters now is that I'm stronger, let's get so strong that even Chernobyl's Ashe Catchum from the horny dragon show will not dare come close. And that reminds me…' I then change my focus to the lion laying down on the ground, even more exhausted than before. The tree in which it got to hold was all cracked and with deep claw scars. Well, they destroyed half the forest already, so what's an extra tree in the equation.

'Let's catch him' At this moment I felt like a certain forever 10 years old kid, eager for a new sla-, I mean, friend. How the table has flipped, huh? At this moment you may be thinking 'But Vasta-chan, you don't want to be ensla-, captured, so why would you do it to him?' have you ever come across a legendary in a random bush? Didn't you want to capture it too? So, let's get to the hypocritical pit together, mah Bros and sis, sisses, sies, siesta? Yeet it, whatever is the plural of sis. (Does it even have a plural?)

As I moved towards the Lion, I expected him to just keep laying down, like a fallen colossus, but it seems it's not that easy. As soon as I got out of my miraculously (plot) intact branch, the lion got back on its paws weakly and began growling towards me. But it's growl was strange. Like it was not just a threat from a cornered beast, it was trying to transmit something beyond it.

"Pl… please… run… now… don't… look back… !" 'What? Why would I have to run?' The fight probably put the fear of God (heh) in the surrounding fauna for as long as my senses can pick and sent them all running away, so there's nothing to be afraid for now. 'And wait a minute, how can I understand it?'. But as soon as the thought came, I perceived that as it turns out, the plea was not meant for me.

*wosh* *wosh *wosh*

*crack* *crack*

I heard something getting near us, and it came up with a very unexpected thing. Or to be more accurate an unexpected encounter.

*Swaash*

*crack* *crack*

From the bushes, three wild orange-skinned children appeared! But that's not the most shocking part, the real shock came with what they said after. (And the fact I could somehow understand the native language from underworld aborigines)

The taller child came before the towering lion, and to my surprise, opened his arms in front of it, like he was blocking me. "DON'T HURT MAMA!!"

'For fuck sake...'