First kill and skill leveling up.
I should have accounted for this, I really should have. Like a bird throwing its child out of the nest. And us? Were one of the biggest, meanest, toughest, and most ferocious enemies in the wasteland. I mean, Death is in our name.… But even knowing this.
'She just left me here? Isn't it a bit too spartan? I mean, I'm one.'
I contemplated to myself as I stared blankly into the direction mother disappeared.
'She really expects me to just fight like that?'
I shake my head in exasperation.
'I suppose It isn't too far-fetched for Deathclaws to leave weaker enemies to their children. In a sense, It's like a parent trying to teach their children how to ride a bicycle. Then just subtly letting go when the child doesn't know it.
'Only in my situation. She was never holding on to begin with. And she wasn't being discreet about it either.'
Looking towards the town, It was covered in a thick green fog. It was almost hard to see. I contemplated what I should do. I will admit. I felt a bit fearful. The nervousness was growing inside of me again. I took a moment of time to breathe calmly and suppress the feeling.
'Alright.'
'I was going to have to do this eventually. Only now it's going to have to happen a bit earlier than I originally anticipated. I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds. And when I opened them again, I was calm. I prowled forward.
The town was in ruins. Old decrepit houses and buildings had been weathered away chipped apart by something. No doubt a combination of the bombs and mother nature.
Approaching the first house I rubbed the faded white paint. It was flaky. The once pristine home had practically been stripped of its color. It was almost gray. But strangely, the wood only rotted a bit… It was still pretty fresh. Which was strange. These buildings looked destroyed, but they weren't all that bad either. Could this actually have been a settlement of some kind not too long before mother moved in?
Hmm, I can probably find the answer if I investigate a bit. Creeping up against the wall I walked on the side of the building quietly. Slowly I peeked my head around the corner looking down a relatively empty street. Nothing. I stress my ears but don't hear anything.
'It should be safe.'
The fog was heavy… But with my enhanced vision I wasn't completely blind.
I rounded the corner and continued walking slowly. The empty town felt almost unnatural?
'I could only assume how many people might have lived here before.'
I erase the unnecessary thought from my head and avert my focus back to the task at hand. Staying vigilant, I Look around another corner. Still, there was nothing.
'I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.'
Quickly and quietly, I moved across the road and into a small street alley. Just as I did I finally heard something.
*Fof, FofFofFofFof*
A strange buzzing sound entered my ears. It wasn't too far away but it wasn't very close either. Is it an insect?
'It could be dangerous…. But mother wouldn't have brought me here if it was, right?'
'Even so. I'm a deathclaw. Although I'm not very powerful yet. Neither am I defenseless. And If the situation does go south then I'll immediately retreat.'
'I can also gain some important battle experience. It is better to be experienced when I am weak than inexperienced when I am strong. I can't let these early chances escape.'
In the alley, my temperament position. I was still careful, but I didn't hesitate when moving forward. Slowly crossing and crossing through the alley I eventually reached the edge of a wall and peered outside. The first living creature I saw in this world other than my mother appeared in front of me. What's more, there was a name and health bar above its head.
----Radroach Lv1(Red)----
HP 5/5
'It seems I was apprehensive for nothing.'
The antenna on the bug's head seemed to twitch for a moment…. It seemed to immediately notice me and charged forward. Before it could bite me with its mandibles I raised one of my clawed feet and strongly brought it down.
*Splat!*
A disgusting noise.
-You have killed Radroach Lv1.-
-You gain 5 exp.-
My clawed foot flattened the Radroach to the floor. The sound of its carapace being crushed was disgusting. It was very crunchy. The only thing I could liken it to was stepping on a bunch of Cheetos.
My foot was covered in some strange goop.
Although I didn't get the battle experience I needed.. I did get Exp. Next time, I'll use a skill to increase my proficiency.
'Let's see my combat skills are Scratch[1], Bite[1], Tail whip[1] and Tear[1]'
'Well, if it's Radroach, Bite is definitely out. There's no way I'm putting one of those things into my mouth. They'd probably taste horrible anyway. I guess the best option is to just alternate between the other three. Or perhaps I should focus on a single one. I should also be able to use Glare and Hiss, right?
Looking around, I didn't see any more bugs. I was in the middle of a backstreet that was connected to a few buildings.
'There must be a few more somewhere. They usually traveled in small groups if I remember correctly.'
I didn't move, instead I waited for about a minute or so.
*Fofofofofofof*
'Just as I thought…..'
Three more of the small bugs rounded the corner. They Paused only for a brief second, Then suddenly, they began charging towards me. They must have sensed their dead comrade.
The critters made their way over, though this time I wouldn't kill them immediately. Aside from leveling up my skills, I might as well test a few other things.
The bugs fluttered… Coming close they attempted to latch onto my skin. I didn't make any moves to stop them. Their tiny mandibles tried to sink into my skin. Try is the keyword.
It was a strange feeling, Them latching onto me. Trying to tear my skin apart. Failing yet not giving up. Curious, I opened my status page.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
HP: 543/543
-.1
-.1
-.1
-.1
-.1
-.1
HP: 542.6/543
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
'It appears they only do .1 damage. Well, I'm not surprised, to begin with, there already one of the weakest creatures in this world. Let alone a Deathclaw, even a human can easily kill them.
I used both glare and hiss. They seemed to shiver a bit but they didn't stop biting me.
'Hmm, it seems my skill level is too low right now. They only appear to be a bit afraid. It didn't really affect them at all.'
That's enough. I'm done with them now.'
I activated scratch 3 consecutive times. The bugs that wouldn't let go suddenly burst apart, falling to the ground dead.
-You have killed Radroach Lv1.-
-You gain 5 exp.-
-You have killed Radroach Lv3.-
-You gain 15 exp.-
-You have killed Radroach Lv3.-
-You gain 15 exp.-
-Scratch[1] Levels up to Scratch[2].-
-Glare[1] Levels up to Glare[2].-
-Hiss[1] Levels up to Hiss[2].-
'That was faster than expected. Even though I only used Scratch three times it leveled up. As for Hiss and Glare, I only used it once.'
'It seems that while battle-related skills can't be raised outside of fighting they level up much faster when they are used in combat. Not to mention Glare and Hiss affected all three of them at once. Does this mean as long as I look at people it counts as me using the skill on all of them?.... So staring down 1000 people at once with glare would be the same as using scratch 1000 times?'
'Hmmm, Info page'
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SP: 1200/1200
-You used skill Glare[1]-20sp
-You used skill Glare[1]-20sp
-You used skill Glare[1]-20sp
-You used skill Hiss[1]-20sp
-You used skill Hiss[1]-20sp
-You used skill Hiss[1]-20sp
-You used skill Scratch[1]-10sp
-You used skill Scratch[1]-10sp
-You used skill Scratch[1]-10sp
SP: 1050/1200
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
'Ah, I see. Since I didn't focus on a single target, the skill activated 3 times. That would make more sense.'
Thinking that, I was about to continue onward when I noticed something shocking.
'Wait… What!? What's with this Stamina consumption? If it's like this, I can only use Scratch 100 times before I'm tired. There must be something wrong. When I first learned the Tail Whip skill, I swung My tail at a wall 212 times. I remember being exhausted but right now my stamina is much higher than it was then. What on earth happened?
Trying to wrack my brain around it. I came to a possible answer.
'Or maybe.... Using a skill and normally attacking are two completely different things. Yes, that sounds much more reasonable. My strength wouldn't just randomly take a hit. The skill might just be some kind of empowering ability. I may still be able to use normal attacks without activating their respective skills. In actuality, I should be able to Scratch something thousands of times before I start feeling tired. Same with Glare and Hiss I may still be able to use them to scare my opponents but to a lesser degree than when powered up by a skill.'
'Yes, That's reasonable. But, I haven't confirmed anything yet. I'll need to try it out. I need to find another enemy first.'
End Of Chapter 8