Stuffed Koala - Level: 1
Don’t you wanna hug it? Just don’t squeeze too hard!
Health: 8/8, Mana: 0/0
Matheus had been staring at this creature for a long time now. He was stunned. Was this the big monster he had been running away from? It was barely bigger than a normal Teddy Bear!
Still, something about it terrified him. He’d always thought the idea of toys gaining life was frightening. Nothing had more potential to be creepy and eerie than things that weren’t supposed to be scary in the first place. Like nuns and clowns.
And he still wasn’t sure what his attack strategy should be.
Hiding Skill got to Level 2!
Matheus was grateful for another level, but couldn’t it be called the Stealth Skill? The System always seemed to be mocking him.
Anyway, he wasn’t about to rush it. Better to be safe than to regret it later. If he was to fight, Matheus would do it on his terms. Patiently, he held his position, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Just as the cute abomination stopped to examine some trees, not near enough to see him, but also not far enough he would easily miss, Matheus got up, picked the pebble from his Inventory, took aim and threw it with all his might.
Incredibly, he managed to hit his target!
A “- 1 HP!” message appeared briefly over the creature's head.
Hell yeah, he did some damage!
The creature roared, and Matheus' blood went cold. Now that it had opened its mouth, Matheus could see columns of sharp fangs. It went running in his direction.
“Shit” Matheus said as he got the Old Branch and hit the monster square on the face as soon as it approached. Matheus hit again, and again, not losing his momentum.
- 1 HP! - 1 HP! - 1 HP!
It was working! He was really doing it, he was winning his first fight!
Then there was a loud crack, and the branch broke in many small pieces. Matheus stared at the useless wood on his hand, now barely bigger than a stick.
The Koala launched itself onto him.
Matheus tried throwing the stick at it, but it did nothing. Too small to do any damage. The Stuffed Koala jumped at his arm and closed its jaw, biting deeply.
-4HP
Matheus let out a curse, his arm burning in pain. He jerked it around until he finally managed to cast the creature away. He felt blood starting to soak his shirt, his stomach churning. He couldn’t deal with it now.
The creature was already attacking again, this time aiming at his legs. Matheus leaped away, and at the same time took the rock from his Inventory. It was way heavier and the size of his head.
Matheus made it appear right next to him, just where the Koala landed. The rock smashed the monster, pinning its body to the floor.
-3HP
It worked! He had the idea while practicing earlier, but he wasn’t sure he could time it right. A simple trick, really. But very efficient when done properly.
Matheus let himself fall to the floor, painting. His arm hurt like hell, and he still was avoiding looking at the wound. He had lost one third of his HP with this fight, so he was eager to go back to his safe cave and eat some of that herbs trash. He wondered if the wound would close as his HP increased.
Wait, something wasn't right. Shouldn’t he have gotten some notification after killing it?
With dread, Matheus realized that in the thrill of the battle, he’d forgotten to count the damage notifications.
The Stuffed Koala still had 1HP left.
Matheus heard a snarl, and turned just in time to see the monster jumping at him, mouth wide open.
He couldn’t react in time and again screamed in pain as this time the creature’s jaw closed on his neck.
-6HP
For a second, Matheus thought he would pass out. The pain was easily ten times worse than the bite on his arm. He instinctively grabbed the monster, desperate trying to avoid another bite. One more, and he was done.
Matheus did the only thing he could think of. Before the Koala could finish him off, he wrapped his arms around it and squeezed.
It growled in fury, trying to get space to chew his flesh again, but he wouldn’t let it. He held firm and kept squeezing with all he had, until finally the Koala exploded with a huge ‘pop’, cotton and blood raining everywhere.
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You’ve leveled up!
You’ve met the prerequisites to a new skill: Death Hug. This is a conditional skill.
Matheus felt a wave of energy go through his body, suddenly taking part of the pain and tiredness away.
He did it! Matheus managed to kill his first monster, and got his first level and another conditional skill in the process!
“Yessss” Matheus exclaimed, then noticed the blood dripping from his hands, arms and even face. He was completely covered by it.
Falling on his knees, Matheus puked until he was with an empty stomach. Damnit. Why did it need to have this much blood? The body explosion had been so visceral, the Koala’s head had been launched a few meters away.
He stayed some time on the ground, controlling his breathing.
That was close. Way closer than what he would have liked. He tried everything he could think of, and in the end he barely survived.
After a few more seconds composing himself, Matheu checked out his notifications.
Death Hug - Conditional Skill
Skill Level: 1
Effects: Double Strength and +1 Will when you are trying to crush someone to death. It only activates when your prey has less than half its original HP.
This skill is granted to all Champions that have hugged a Monster to death on their first kill. Your love is so big, it kills!
“That wasn’t a hug, damnit!” Matheus complained. He doubted he would be trying that with anything not made of cotton, but a new skill was a new skill.
You’ve reached level 2. You have 1 Skill point and 1 Soul point to assign.
His first Skill point to assign! Finally, he could start improving his abilities. He figured Strength was his best bet for now. All his stats needed work, but it annoyed him how little damage his attacks did.
Matheus also noticed his HP had gone back to 6, half his total. Was this an effect of leveling up? He wondered if it would always increase 4HP or would it always go back to half. He hoped for the latter, for obvious reasons.
For the Soul Point, he still only had guesses of what they did, but Matheus felt investing in Connection was the safest bet. No point in increasing random stats until he knew what the hell they did.
“Assign 1 Skill Point to Strength and 1 Soul Point to Connection.”
Matheus felt no visible changes in himself. He would have to do some tests later, see if he could lift more weight or throw things farther away. He needed to know his limits.
But he should go back to the cave first, prepare a meal and recover the rest of his HP.
Now he had three empty spaces on his Inventory. He stared at the Stuffed Koala head for a moment. It still had its mouth open, its face an eternal snarl. He analyzed it.
Stuffed Koala Head.
Sick.
What the hell. Better than the crap he had been storing. To the Inventory it went!
He only hoped the other koalas wouldn't track him down for revenge after that.
Matheus would have to replenish the rest of his supplies later. Until he managed to get a proper weapon or some real attacking skills, relying on rocks and branches was his safest best.
But he shouldn’t worry about future problems. He just had his first victory! He deserved a celebration. How often does someone kill their first monster? Surely not every day. Especially not someone like him.
Maybe this was a sign of a different path ahead. A different Matheus.
A Matheus that wouldn’t run away from his fights. Someone not only with the courage to face his enemies, but cunning, bold and powerful enough to end up as the one standing.
Perhaps if he believed it strongly enough, he could make it reality.
For now, he could only hope.
Proud of himself for beating the shit out of a small, adorable children’s toy, Matheus went on his way, dreaming of becoming stronger.
Who knew?
Maybe in a few days he would be punching action figures and kicking dolls.
