Hiding Skill got to Level 3!

  It felt good to have his skills leveling up, especially when Matheus wasn’t really doing anything special. He’d just found a new type of monster for the first time, and was taking some time to come up with a good plan.

  Two Headed Mantis - Level: 2

  You DON’T want to be punched by it.

  Health: 10/10

  Mana: 2/2

  Extremely aggressive and quick. Make sure to kill both brains.

  Matheus was unsure of his next move. He’d just got his Skull Collector Skill, so hunting Stuffed Koalas was a no-brainer. Except, he had the feeling they would barely give him any exp.

  He was still feeling a little guilty for wasting his first days and wanted to level up quickly to increase his Base Stats.

  But who could say what tricks this monster may have? And it had 2 MPs! What if it could cast a fireball or something similar? Matheus wasn’t about to risk it.

  It was good having confirmation that increasing his Connection would gradually make the System more useful. At his current stage, information was the key to Matheus' survival.

  For example, seeing how fast this Mantis was, was all Matheus needed to know none of his usual tricks would really work. He wasn’t prepared for this fight.

  Maybe he could try sneaking from above, high on the trees, and smash them with a surprise boulder. But it would be very difficult to hit something from such heights, and the Mantis could always dodge.

  Then what? Could Matheus really out-run it jumping from branches to branches?

  Not at his currently climbing level, he was sure.

  Slowly, Matheus started retreating, deciding to hunt easier prey first. Maybe after putting some more levels in Strength, he would be ready.

  A loud crack sounded, and with horror, Matheus saw the twig he had broken in two, careless stepping on it on his way out.

  Both of the Mantis’ heads turned and stared directly at him.

  “Fuck”. Matheus groaned.

  With a screeching noise, the Mantis started running towards him.

  Matheus got in position, holding a branch with both hands. He followed the Mantis movements with his eyes and stuck at it just as it jumped to his direction.

  The Mantis dodged, effortless. And punched him right on the nose.

  - 1HP

  Matheus yelped. The blow hurt less than what he expected, but it unbalanced him. Aimlessly, Matheus waved his arms around, hoping to get a lucky shot. The Mantis avoided all his strikes, jumping from one place to another and punching him whenever it had the chance.

  - 1HP - 1HP

  It wasn’t taking much damage, but was slowly draining his health away.

  He needed to focus before it was too late. Just hit it once to make it stop moving, and finish the job with a strong quick or smash it with a stone.

  Matheus felt something weird in the air, and before he could really process what he was doing, he made his head sized rock appear in front of him, just as the Mantis’ fist started glowing a deep blue light.

  The rock exploded with the impact and Matheus was thrown several feet away, falling on his back. He lost 4 points of HP, even blocking it! If he had taken a direct hit, he was sure he wouldn’t have survived it.

  What the hell was that? Wasn’t he supposed to have only 2 strength?

  The glow…Matheus quickly Analyzed the Mantis again, and saw that he’d used half of its MP.

  So it could greatly increase its attack power, but only twice. Matheus had to escape it one more time, but now he didn’t have any way to block it.

  Could he really dodge something from something that fast? He needed a distraction, a way to buy some time. The Mantis was running in zig zag towards him, preparing for its next attack.

  Before it had the chance, Matheus took one Stuffed Koala Head from his Inventory and threw it at the monster's general direction.

  The Mantis went crazy. It almost instantly leaped at the head and punched it three times in quick succession while still in the air, launching one of the Koala’s button eyes away with the impact.

  It landed on the ground still punching, completely tearing the head apart until its first glowed blue with power and exploded the head in tiny little pieces.

  The Two Headed Mantis stood there, trembling, visibly satisfied with the carnage.

  Matheus hit it with his branch, smashing half his body.

  - 5HP

  One of its heads was already completely destroyed, but the other twitched, looking at him.

  Matheus hit it again.

  - 5HP

  You’ve killed a Two Headed Mantis!

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  Matheus kept hitting, not sure if he was screaming or not. Each strike turned the Mantis a little more into an unrecognizable mass of gore. He didn’t stop until the branch broke and he fell on his knee, hyperventilating.

  What the Mantis did to the Stuffed head… if he had acted a second later, his head would be open on the floor, his brain spilled on the ground. Matheus looked at the button a few feet away, and imagined his mutilated eyeball in its place.

  He was so terrified he forgot to be sick with all the blood.

  There wasn’t anything left of the Mantis that could be stored on his Inventory. Matheus couldn’t let himself get carried away like this again. He needed to work with the skills he had, and at this moment, that meant collecting enemies' skulls.

  He let himself cool down, gathering his thoughts. It had been close, but he had won. He’d known from the beginning he would have to put his life at risk. This was nothing.

  Except, this was just a small part of what was bothering him.

  Matheus had always believed if he were ever to get reincarnated or summoned to a different world to live his own adventure, all his problems would disappear. He would have a great time, get powerful allies, learn real magic and enjoy every second of it.

  He was definitely not enjoying every second. Quite the opposite.

  Matheus had hated camping all his life, seeing no point in staying outdoors when he could be in the comfort of his room. He didn’t have the latest console or a state-of-art computer, but Matheus never had been hard to please.

  Give him a good novel, a warm drink and a comfy place and he would ask for nothing more.

  But, as it turned out, reading about a great adventure was way less tiring than experiencing one.

  Sometimes, Matheus caught himself wishing he could be on his bed, wrapped in blankets, following someone else's story.

  Exactly as he had done his entire life.

  It was weird being the “protagonist” for the first time. At best, Matheus had always imagined himself as a side character, briefly appearing as part of someone’s chapter. Just a small comic relief, or maybe a lesson the others had to learn.

  Finally, the story felt like it was about him. And he wasn’t liking it.

  Yes, the game-like mechanics were addicting, and there were advantages. Monsters may be trying to kill him, but not a single one made fun of him. Not that he was really expecting the monsters to start taunting and mocking him, but after so long, it was hard to let his guard down.

  But Matheus was starting to get somewhat bored with his routine. Everyday he practiced, hunted monsters, leveled up his skills, explored new territory, experimented with the System… until the day was over, and it was time to start it over again. And again, and again and again.

  It should have felt great, but it didn’t.

  He wondered if this endless cycle was his life now.

  Everything was so tiresome. Where was his worthy tale of fantastic deeds and endeavors?

  It didn’t feel like a story he’d be interested in reading. Would others?

  Matheus imagined people watching him, following his movements and thoughts like words in a book. Maybe they even pretended they were him, like he used to do.

  He hated this idea.

  It wasn’t just weird being in the spotlight. It was horrifying.

  Trying to lose this train of thought, Matheus checked the System. He didn’t get any new levels after killing the Mantis. Part of him wanted to hunt a little more and at least level up once before going back, but he felt drained for the day.

  He had gone farther to the north this time, trying to scout new areas and expand the map he was beginning to form on his head. Not sure if he would come back here again soon, though. Fighting a monster that could do magic was too unfair for.

  Not wanting to get lost, Matheus decided to check the way first. He went to the tallest tree he could find and climbed to the top.

  There it was, he recognized the cluster of trees with the red leaves he started using as a reference point, and some yards away there was the short hill with his cave.

  Matheus realized this was the highest he had ever been since coming to this world. He was maybe 40 feet high. And he noticed something familiar, just a few hours away from his position.

  He couldn’t believe his eyes. Strong walls surrounded it, with towers double its height on every corner. It had many buildings inside, and some were ever taller than the towers.

  There was no mistaken it. He had found a city.

  And inside it, there were humans. Even from this distance, he could see guards on the gate, merchants in the stores. Humans, working, talking and going on with their lives,

  Matheus was looking at a human city.

  Flashes of his old life went through his head, memories of a world he thought he had left behind.

  With despair, he felt his blood go cold.