THE GNOME WAR

Draco woke up with a jolt as if from a nightmare!

sweat was trickling down his brows despite the low temperature in his room.

the sun was drifting lazily from his window, which could only mean it was almost setting.

he recalled the system instruction that he was supposed to unlock level one before 6 pm.

After arriving at his new home and withstanding a boring birthday celebration where he was forced to munch a dozen of frog-shaped chocolates, he had excused himself and went to his room.

being exhausted, it didn't take long to drift into a slumber on the comfy lavish bed.

whatever else this Draco fellow was, his family was well loaded.

he let out a long yawn and jumped out of his bed.

what was the time?

surely even wizards had to have a watch or some means of recording time.

He could feel his energy dwindling.

Hadn't the system said that he could navigate it with his thoughts?.

he focused on opening the system display. the display shimmered for a while before appearing in front of him. he noted that it wasn't bright like before and it kept shimmering as if it wanted to disappear.

Navigating to his profile, fear suddenly washed all over him. His magic reserve was certainly draining at a high rate.

it was now at 20 from 40.

no wonder he felt very weak.

He was not like the naturally born wizards. the only thing that sustained him in this universe was his magical reserve in his magic predator system. if he did not manage to unlock level one by 6 pm Draco was certain that he would fade into nothing.

a red alert appeared on the top right corner of the display.

he was shocked to note how little time he had,

the display read:

countdown to fade;30:59

and the seconds were trickling down fast.

quickly navigating to the bottom of the profile tab, he read the quest instruction.

the instruction read;

level 1 unlock quest:

kill one thousand gnomes to activate level 1 and receive the first quest

reward: 5exp

magic boost;40

time limit;60 min

countdown till fade;27:48

Draco realized that he faced more than one problem. first, despite the quest 60 minutes time limit, he only had less than 26 min to accomplish it since he had slept the best part of it.

his second problem was he didn't know what gnomes were and whether he could find such a huge number within the time limit.

things were not looking good for him.

The second problem was however solved by the system. the display blipped and presented him with an information tab that read;

QUEST INFO;

A gnome is a small magical beast commonly known to infest the gardens of wizarding households.

Alternative names: Garden gnome Gernumbli gardenski

Ministry of Magic Classification: Beast; XX

Distinction: Potato-like heads, Sharp biting teeth;

ps: gnomes live in burrows and are avid breeders.

bellow the information was a wide map that displayed in red dots the current location of gardens infested with gnomes.

the nearest was less than 100 meters away and according to the system, it was infested with 5600 gnomes.

whatever gnomes were, they were sure avid breeders.

checking the countdown before the fade, he noted that he only had 23 minutes.

now he knew what gnomes were and where he would find them.

but how the hell do you kill a gnome?

for some reason, the system did not display that information. he decided maybe because the system did not give a damn how he killed them.

however, from the description of those creatures, he couldn't help thinking they would kill him first.if not by ferocity,it would be by sheer numbers.

He minimized the system but did not close it entirely, he wanted to follow the map to the infested garden. he rushed downstairs already fighting time.

luckily, he encountered no one so he was saved the trouble to explain where he was headed.

leaving the Malfoy's manor, he followed the map in the display which was pointing at the wall which separated the Malfoys mansion from the neighbouring home.

Draco did not have time to think. he could see that he only had 20 minutes now

the wall was a low one so he did not have trouble jumping through. he landed in the garden on the other side.his knitted sweater was now filled with blackjacks from his fall.

sharp pain on his heels made him jump as he stifled a yell.

he looked down to see a creature with a potato-like head and its razor-like teeth sank on his heels.

they had begun hunting him before he brought them the death deal.

with a mixture of pain and anger, he bent and tore the gnome from his heel.

"gerrof me gerrof me" the creature yelled.

Draco dropped it in shock. what the hell. these things could talk?

the gnome took advantage of his momentary hesitation and took a second bite at his other foot.

he was now burning with range.

grabbing the gnome by its feet, he swung the creature hitting it against the wall until its head bust open and its entrails scattered,

the display that he had minimized to his left. blipped and began another countdown beneath the time limit, it read;

kill ratio;1/1000.

countdown to fade;15 minutes.

Draco couldn't believe his bad luck.

how was he going to kill 999 beasts that were biting and fighting like hell within such a short span of time?

even had he not slept, one thousand was still overkill.

maybe the system wanted him to have some sort of game plan. but it could have made it known to him .he could feel his magic reserve dying.it was barely enough to keep him walking. let alone kill a murderous gnome.

the time limit was now at 12 minutes and the kill ratio was still one

there had to be a way.

Draco knew he couldn't rely on magic anymore.

his reserve was too low.

he had to find a way of annihilating such a huge number within the time limits.

It was almost impossible. but almost is not entirely undoable. so long as he had the tiniest chances of survival, he would take hold of it to his dying breath.

spotting a hosepipe that was pouring water on the grassy lawn. he suddenly felt thirsty.

he rushed no longer caring whether he was spotted or not.no one seemed to be home after all.

grabbing the horse pipe, he drank until his belly swelled with water.

suddenly an idea occurred to him.

maybe water isn't life alone!

It could also be death!

he reopened the map tab on the minimized display and observed the distribution of the gnome in the garden.

one spot on the far left of the garden was marked with 1500 gnomes..he recalled the quest information tab had said that gnomes live in burrows underground, surely even gnomes can suffocate with lack of air.

he recalled how he had died by drowning. if he was going to fade, he was going to give someone a taste of it.

he took hold of the horse pipe and pulled it towards the direction indicated on the display..he stared at the display and saw that the countdown was at 8 min. he couldn't help wondering if the gnome could drown in less than 5 minutes.

they had to, it was now his solo bane of existence. his last hope.

a dying man's straw, it had to work!

he was already feeling dizzy, his magic reserve had now dwindled to 14\100.

having found the opening of the burrow, he dropped the pipe inside. and pushed it further to make sure it stayed in.

he wasn't thinking anymore his action was now being coordinated entirely on instincts. he was on autopilot.

Draco rushed back to the tap and opened the water to full pressure. he then ran to press the pipe on the burrow.

4 minutes.

There were yells from the borrow and a crowd of gnomes emerged rushing for the surface,

he grabbed a huge stone that lay beside him and hit the first gnome to emerge within his entire strength.

it fell back with a thud on top of its mates who were trying to reach the surface before the water covered it.

Draco pressed the opening of the pipe intensifying the pressure. he smushed the stream of water to the oncoming gnome which made the rest rush back to the awaiting doom.

they weren't that witty after all.

the water was now almost at the surface.

2 minutes,

still no death

Draco began to panic. he had done all he could and still, nothing was working, perhaps he had got it wrong. maybe the gnomes could not die by drowning.

he fell on his back in resignation awaiting his fading.

death wasn't new to him after all, he had hoped to accomplish much with his second chance but it seemed fate was against him.

suddenly the display blared and the kill ratio began to accelerate at a terrific speed it was n0w at 250\1000and going fast .

1:59 second

the kill ratio was now at 470\1000.

Draco was now holding his breath in anticipation. would the kill ratio outpace the countdown to his fade?

1:20 seconds

the ratio was now at 669/1000

his magic reserve was at 4\100

30 seconds the kill ratio was at 889\1000

his vital tab began glowing with a red light

10,9,8,7,6.....

Draco was suddenly thrown back as a brilliant light burst from his system display. the female synthetic voice was now back.

was this the fading?

'CONGRATULATION Draco Malfoy you have activated level 1 by a kill ratio 1500\1000

you have been awarded:

reward: 5exp

magic boost;40

you have successfully unlocked level 1

he felt his entire body rejuvenate. he could see clearer now. the level one tab that had been locked initially was now unlocked he couldn't hide his joy he had made it.

it had been a death match but he had finally made it!