Second Encounter

The messages were quite cryptic as he saw them initially, but they started to make more sense as he saw his new stats.

[User: Lycanos (Ramio) Damaskus]

[Level: 1]

[XP: 0/10]

[HP: 12/12]

[Lunar Empowerment: 1]

[Regeneration: 1]

[Strength: 1]

[Speed: 1]

[Durability: 1]

[Stat Upgrades: 1]

[Energy: 105/105]

[Talents: 1] [expand]

He had received this special stat upgrade but wasn't too sure what it would do. His system wouldn't really give him any information on the things he'd see, and he'd have to discern the purpose of things himself.

Not being particularly smart, this wasn't an easy thing for him to do. However, the stat upgrade seemed rather self-explanatory the more he thought about it, and he had years of experience from videogames to aid him.

"Place my stat into strength." He stated.

He put little thought into his decision, and just wanted to be stronger to make his daily quests slightly easier.

He did feel like he had greater strength to complete them, but the process of gaining strength was quite slow.

Looking at his stats again, he was met by a few changes.

[User: Lycanos (Ramio) Damaskus]

[Level: 2]

[XP: 0/10]

[HP: 12/12]

[Lunar Empowerment: 1]

[Regeneration: 1]

[Strength: 2]

[Speed: 1]

[Durability: 1]

[Stat Upgrades: 0]

[Energy: 105/105]

[Talents: 1] [expand]

Now, the pain that he'd experienced was completely gone, and he just fell soundly asleep.

He had slept at around 10pm, which was much earlier than he would usually sleep. With the litre of human blood now within his system, he felt rejuvenated and replenished.

However, the sight of that woman's dead body horrified him. Would he go to jail forever? What if someone saw him do what he did?

It plagued his mind, and he just couldn't think of anything else.

Just waking up to a breakfast made by his auntie, his uncle was invested in the news that was on.

"A 22-year-old woman is found dead at Kol Heights, with the bite marks of a supposed mountain lion or wolf. There are many possible suspects, and the investigation is ongoing."

Lycanos' heart felt heavy as he heard the words being stated.

'How did they already find suspects? Am I one of those people?' He wondered, looking back to the TV.

"It's just terrible. Why do people decide to do this to innocent people?" Samson asked, drinking a can of beer.

"Her family must be going through so much, god bless them." His auntie said.

Lycanos continued to eat his breakfast, with quite a tremble in his hands. It was all going too fast for him, and he just lifted to quickly get ready for school.

Returning to school, he felt calmer and didn't feel like eating quite as much as he wanted to yesterday. His senses weren't also overwhelmed by human blood, and he could think rather calmly now.

Luckily, the investigation didn't seem to be amounting to much for now, and he kept tabs on its progress. Kol Heights didn't have the money for strong security and only made up for this with heavier, more brutal policing.

What he noticed now was that he would constantly think of the man that killed him. His face started to be implanted into his brain, and he wasn't exactly sure for why this was the case.

As he continued to think about him, he would feel a deep sense of hatred grow within him. After causing him so much pain and agony, while also hitting that helpless woman, he is furious.

'Why does that guy get on my nerves?' Lycanos thought to himself.

Clenching his fist, his eyes flashed with a blood red glow. His irises returned to their usual dark brown colour and Lycanos hadn't even noticed this change.

'I'm gonna find that guy, and I'm going to kill him!' Lycanos declared, within his room.

The pain he felt that day was truly traumatising, and he was now going to use his newfound power to get revenge.

The days went by, and he continued to complete his daily quests. He continued to push off the drinking of human blood, but he was beginning to near the end of his week.

It was now 5 days after he had murdered the woman, and the investigation still hadn't amounted to anything. It was getting harder to find information on the case, since it was no longer filling the local headlines.

Deaths like those in Kol Heights weren't rare, and so were only briefly reported.

He was hoping to be let off scot-free, but this stress and pain infuriated him.

He soon started to feel a collide within his mind when it came to his power.

It was invigorating his body with newfound strength, and he could feel himself being stronger and healthier than ever. However, if that was at the expense of others and even their lives, was it worth it?

Strolling from a local corner store after buying some meat, he heard commotion out in the darkening streets. It was a gang once again, and upon further inspection, the same girl was being circled by these people.

"We gave you 5 days and we received nothing! We're going to crush you!" One of the gang members declared, slamming their bat onto the wall beside her.

Her body quaked once they did this, and she just broke down into tears.

"I'm so sorry, I'll do anything, please!" She pleaded, with her arms up to try and protect herself.

'These douchebags are back at it again! Can they not just leave her alone?!' He wondered, confidently stepping ahead.

Now, he could complete his runs in a little over 23 minutes and he could feel his power growing. He felt confident, and these gangsters noticed his appearance.

"Let her go." He ordered, with a bold, affirmative tone.

The crew of mobsters just started laughing, before one of them stood forward.

He wore a suit and looked to be 6'0, while being quite buff.

"What are you gonna do, kid?!" He asked, gripping more tightly onto his metal bat.

Remaining still for about a second more, Lycanos then pounced.

He launched himself forward and walloped the man in his face with as much force as he could muster.

His punch looked sloppy and out of form, but his fist whipped through the air with immense speed.

The man was now bleeding from his mouth, and he fell back slightly before holding his mouth in pain. He could hear light chuckles of contempt from his comrades behind him, enraging him.

He took a tighter grip onto his metal bat and furiously swung down at the teen. However, he evaded his attack with his greater agility and landed another punch to his face once again.

The punch clearly stunned his opponent for a moment, then he kicked him right in the side of his knee.

"ARGH!" He shouted, falling onto that hit knee.

Lycanos rushed forward with newfound confidence, only to receive a full power metal bat swing to the face.

Several swings followed, and the gangsters wildly unloaded all of their power in these swings. They had no sympathy for the boy, and were thrilled from taking out their anger on the helpless child.

He had become more powerful, but still lacked any form of fighting skill or experience.

The swings hurt significantly less than they did when receiving them for the first time, but he could do very little to stop them.

Even after receiving numerous swings to the head and body, he remained standing and continued to stare down the gangsters around him.

"Just die already!" One gangster shouted, stabbing him in his stomach.

Blood dripped out from his mouth and he fell to his knees, with the blade implanted into his gut.

With his head aimed down at the ground, they assumed that the job was done

The man slowly retreated, and the crew were preparing to leave, but Lycanos firmly placed a foot back on the ground. Leaning forward, he pushed and lifted back up to both feet, ripping the blade from his stomach with a maniacal smile.

As he did so, he could feel the wound sealing up, and the pain was fading at an insane rate.

"Did you think I was done?" He asked, giving off a keen grin

Whoosh!

Dashing forward, he forced his arm ahead and stabbed the man not in his gut, but his chest.

Impaling his heart, blood was released from his mouth and nose more profusely, before he stumbled to the floor.

[Low-level gang member defeated]

[+2 XP]

[Hidden Quest Complete!]

[True First Blood]

[Kill your first enemy in battle]

[+6 XP]

"Come on then!" He shouted, beating his chest.

The mobster collectively roared and charged back at Lycanos, but he was ready.

The first man to throw a bat at him was slow and predictable. He swiftly stepped back and the bat whipped right past his face. Subsequently, he pounced and landed another haymaker that dropped the man to the floor this time.

On the floor, he savagely kicked him in his face to knock him out cold.

[Low-level gang member defeated]

[+2 XP]