“Stab! Stab!” Matheus screamed while stabbing the defenseless Stuffed Koala.
Nothing happened when he said the Skill out loud, but that was Matheus’ first useful attack and he was proud of it.
You’ve killed a Stuffed Koala!
Hunting was easier than ever, the monsters were practically jumping into his knife. Matheus looked at the body of his latest victim, sighed, and started the process of sawing its head off.
The System would only let him store them on his Inventory if they were separated from the main body. He was already full, with more safely kept in his Cave, but he lost nothing keeping more.
The Buff from his Skull Collector was so big, he was one hitting all the Koalas.
Matheus took a moment to think on his next step. He had been killing those creatures for hours and managed to get his stab skill to level 2, but he still hadn't leveled up.
And he made no progress into his quest whatsoever. Apparently killing half a dozen of them wasn’t enough to “Stop the Stuffed Koala growth in the region”.
Well, what the fuck was he to do then? Would he need to kill all of them? That didn’t seem feasible.
No matter. When in doubt, keep grinding.
Matheus decided to keep going forward, holding the severed head with one hand and his knife with the other. One or two more kills, and then a short rest to eat and organize his inventory.
He stopped midstep, open-mouthed.
There was a very big Koala, sitting on the top of a tree. It wasn’t just big for a Koala, it was big enough to be at least five times Matheus' size.
And it wasn’t just a normal tree it was sitting on. It was a cotton tree. In fact, all the trees around it were made of cotton, and the Koala was furiously eating the leaves and branches, non stop. It kept eating like it was his last meal in this world.
Until his whole body shook and green water erupted from below it, in a burst that lasted many seconds.
When it finally stopped, Matheus saw three Stuffed Koalas emerging from the mess.
“What. The. Fuck.”
Koala Momma - Level: 10
It just want to eat and have children.
Health: 40/40
Mana: 10/10
As long as it is alive, it will birth more Stuffed Koalas into this world.
Why? Why does such a thing even exist? Monsters needed no mothers. They just respawned. There was no need for whatever that thing even was.
Before Matheus could do anything about it, big momma locked eyes with him, food midway to its mouth.
It stared for a few seconds, spittle dropping.
Then it screamed with a very high-pitched voice, and Matheus screamed together with it.
He didn’t mean to do it, but the creature was so fucking loud he acted automatically. Instantly, the newborn Stuffed Koala started running to his direction.
“Fuck” What should he do? Running away was tempting, but he was already many seconds too late.
The first creature jumped at him, and Matheus stabbed it right through its eye. Matheus avoided being bitten on the face by slamming the second creature with the head he was holding, hitting it until only gore was left.
The Momma went back to eating, now barely munching and mostly swallowing everything it could reach. Before Matheus managed to kill the third Koala, another green explosion happened and this time four of the creatures sprang from the remains.
Without thinking, Matheus charged.
He kicked the first monster, stabbed the second and was tackled to the ground by the two remaining, his knife flying away. Luckily, they were small enough he managed to embrace them both, and a strong squeeze was enough to finish them off.
He wasn’t unscathed, though. Blood dripped from his torso, where he had been bitten twice. He was insanely strong against those creatures, but every damage received put him close to defeat. He was already with only two thirds of his HP!
And more Koalas were born, this time 3. They were coming faster and faster.
It was pointless to keep on killing the minions.
Matheus picked his knife, stored it and started climbing.
The monsters came after him, however his level 3 climbing skill was enough to give him an advantage. Matheus still wasn’t particularly fast or agile, but his grip was solid, and his instincts helped to choose the best way forward.
He almost fell when a Koala grabbed his foot and stuck its fangs, but Matheus held on and thrashed his leg until it let go. He just needed to get a little higher, just a little bit closer.
The Momma gave birth to 4 more Koalas, all the while screaming, eating and staring at Matheus intensely.
He ran and jumped straight at it, aiming for its head, knife appearing on his hand.
“STABSTABSTAB” Matheus bellowed maniacally, creating holes into the monster’s face. The creature raged, jerking uncontrollably from side to side. It kept slapping itself trying to take him off, but Matheus didn’t care. He kept stabbing until his knife was smacked from his hand and Matheus was left unarmed.
He quickly involved himself around its head like a snake, his leg partly inside the beast’s mouth, and he pressed.
He only stopped when the head exploded.
This time, there was no cotton, only blood and brain, and a half dozen notifications.
You’ve killed a Koala Momma!
You’ve leveled up!
You’ve leveled up!
You’ve completed a quest! Return to the City Master.
Stab has reached level 3!
Death Hug has reached level 3!
Climbing has reached level 4!
He fell holding onto the Koala’s corpse, managing to soften his fall. It still hurt
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The Stuffed Koala got so enraged, they started killing themselves the moment big momma exploded. Thanks to the Gods, because Mathes wasn’t in a condition to keep fighting. He recovered most of his HP leveling up, but he felt extremely tired.
After some minutes laying in the same position, Matheus got the simple herbs mix from his Inventory and ate in silence, filling his health a little more.
Once that was done, he got up and started the hike back to the city.
The smart thing to do was to go back to his safe cafe and recover the rest of his HP, but he was too anxious to finish the quest. It was his first quest, and he’d bled for it. He deserved the rewards.
When he arrived, he went straight to the City Master.
“It’s done.” Matheus said the moment he got in front of him.
The City Master seemed surprised to see Matheus back this soon, raising one eyebrow. Saying nothing, he started rummaging through his drawers.
He picked the note Matheus had given to him earlier, officializing his decision to start the quest. He stared at him intensely until the paper combusted on flames, resting only ashes on his hand.
The City Master nodded, satisfied.
Did he just cast a spell of some type? What the heck.
“Here are 5 silver coins. Congratulations on completing your first quest. As an official contributing member of Tartaros, you’re welcome to take your morning meal and your supper from the City Hall and rest in the Guilder’s Inn. Do you want to accept your next quest?”
“Fuck no. I need some time first” It took Matheus some seconds to realize what he’d said, and he quickly added “sir”.
The City Master didn’t seem to care. “As you wish. Now leave me be, because there’s much work to be done.”
Matheus was excited to check his reward, but the prospect of eating something that wasn’t grass was even more attractive to him.
He quickly went to the City Hall and took a portion of what was offered.
Warm soup, with vegetables, bread and a piece of meat. The smell was incredible, and every bite was more delicious than the last.
He savoured it happily, until he noticed he wasn’t alone.
There was a cat, looking at him with one hungry eye. He only had the right one, the left was an empty eye socket.
As it approached, Matheus noticed it was also missing one leg. The cat was practically crawling.
Matheus sighed. He cut his bread in half and gave it to the cat.
It finished the meal in mere seconds, and stared, wanting more.
Matheus hesitated, but ended up giving a piece of the meat too. The cat ate hungrily.
“There’s nothing more.” Matheus said, showing his empty plate. He had been so hungry, he’d finished most of the food by the time he saw the cat.
The animal sat and started licking itself.
After a while, Matheus decided to pet it, but the cat hissed and tried to scratch him, missing and falling to the ground. It hissed again and moved a few meters away, looking at him.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt you.” He said, but the cat didn’t answer.
Maybe that was for the better.
Now that he was full, Matheus let himself check the System.
The money and food were nice, but the real prize was the notification that popped up when he officially finished the quest.
You’ve been rewarded with a Simple Skill! Are you ready to accept your reward?
That was different. This was the first time the System was asking his permission before giving him something. Should he wait a little more?
No. He’d earned it.
“Yes” Matheus knew he didn’t really need to say it out loud, but he was far enough from everyone else and it helped him feel in control.
Three choices have been created! You have 30 seconds to decide.
Tongue Whip!
Echo Clap!
Hand Launcher!
What were those options? The System wasn’t giving him any extra information.
Tongue Whip just sounded gross. Would his tongue grow like a frog? Matheus shuddered. It could work as a surprise weapon, but there was no way he was choosing something like this without knowing exactly what it would do to him.
Echo Clap had an interesting ring to it, but it was too vague for him to know if it could really be useful.
Hand Launcher had a similar problem. Was it a powerful punch, or would his hand literally be launched at his enemies?
Could he really cope with his body doing stuff like this?
He desperately needed more power, but Matheus couldn’t accept modifying himself. Not yet.
He only had 2 more seconds to choose.
“Echo Clap” Matheus said quickly. He couldn’t risk the time going off. The System could choose randomly, or worse, refuse the reward altogether.
You’ve been rewarded with the Echo Clap Skill.
Skill Level: 1
Effects: Produces a powerful sound wave after clapping. It has a fifteen minutes cooldown.
Well, it was definitely an improvement from his Death Hug.
Should he spend his stats points before going to sleep?
No, he’d dealt with too much in a single day already.
Better to go to bed. He had a room now, afterall. He could decide what to increase after practicing with his new skill.
If he had some luck, it could be just what he needed.
You’ve been rewarded with a Simple Skill! You have 30 seconds to decide.
