The poor scorpions
Nick did as he was told though, as he awkwardly got up and started looking around for this little brother of hers. Nick wanted to thank Lily's brother very much, the middle-aged man had helped him dearly and had been fighting to save him yesterday.
But no matter how hard Nick looked, all he could see outside was a little boy no older than 15 holding a spear, and jabbing at something on the ground.
Unable to find his savior Nick walked over to the boy, to ask him where the brother Lily mentioned was, he had figured that this must be Lily's other brother. Which made him wonder how many people live in this tiny rundown shack.
Nick walked over and patted the kid's head. Nick had decided to treat the kid nicely since the boy's elder siblings had saved his life. So, he said, "Let me handle it, kid, it takes a real man to handle this kind of work."
Nick had said this without even looking down at what the boy was stabbing. Instead, he started inspecting the boy, and soon established that he was a good-looking boy, unlike his sister, making him certain that the two didn't share the same mothers or fathers.
Only then did Nick look down to see what the boy was doing with his spear, which caused Nick to release an unmanly shriek. The little boy was standing there in front of a trap buried in the sand, and in that trap were hundreds of scorpions snapping and squirming!
Clearing his throat to make his shriek sound as natural as possible, Nick reached his trembling hands out to the boy's spear. And the boy didn't resist but shoved the spear into Nick's hand instead.
"Slowly turn them over and aim for the stomach." Nick was wondering on whether he should just stab down ruthlessly, or if he should just give the scorpions a few pokes to taste the waters, when he heard that familiar middle-aged voice, ringing right by his ear.
Surprised, Nick yelped and dropped the spear. When did that man get so close to him?! But, no matter how hard he looked, the only person standing there was the little boy, who was grinning and giggling like a child who had pulled a successful prank.
"I scared you, didn't I?! Hahaha, you should have seen your face, it was priceless! So, how was I, did I sound like a middle-aged man to you?!" The boy spoke in his usual childish sounding voice as he laughed and ran circles around Nick excitedly.
When Nick realized that the person speaking with that deep voice was just a little kid, he reminded himself that he was now living in a magical world, where anything and everything could happen, so he should always expect the unexpected. But Nick's surprise had yet to die down when he was served with another one, as the spear he had dropped earlier hit an already injured scorpion and killed it.
Ding! Exp+50
Ding! Congratulations host for leveling up to Spirit realm Rank 1!
Ding! Congratulations host for leveling up to Spirit realm Rank 2!
Ding! Congratulations host for officially stepping on the road to cultivation- Reward-Gift bag!
Ding! Congratulations host for reaching the Spirit realm-Reward-Spirit realm Gift bag!
As soon as Nick saw he had leveled up twice from killing a single scorpion, he just couldn't stop himself from laugh uproariously, after all, he had mistakenly leveled up twice!
Mike began regretting the prank, he had thought he would frighten the new guy a little then they would both laugh about it. But he had driven the poor man crazy, this guy had started yelping like a little girl on one second, then would laugh like a lion in the next.
And Nick quickly proved him right as he began massacring the scorpions, even though he looked scared of them just a moment ago! Nick was stabbing each one repeatedly with his eyes closed and his ears perked up waiting to hear the system notification awarding him experience points, and once he did, he would burst out laughing in joy, before going to the next scorpion.
Nick was having the time of his life listening to all the beeps the system was making, he was even singing to the beat a little.
"His palms are sweaty, knees weak arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface, he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
He's choking how, everybody's joking now
The clocks run out, times up, over, plaaw!
Snapback to reality, oh there goes gravity" (A/N: This is Eminem's rap song-Lose yourself, for those that don't know.)
Nick began rapping joyfully as he skillfully flipped the scorpions and stuck the spear into their chests cruelly! In fact, when one saw the sinister look in Nick's eyes, and the fear in the eyes of the scorpions, one would assume Nick was a villain, set out to eradicate the scorpion race!
Mike had never heard this kind of music before, and even though he didn't know why, he suddenly got the overwhelming urge to bop his head back and forth, and even though he tried to stop himself, his body refused to listen as the rhythm took control of his body, this was just torture!
Nick was having the time of his life right now. What kind of progress was the most exciting? Of course, it was the fast kind, if one could see and feel their muscle growing with every pushup, then would there even be obesity in the world?
Right now, Nick had lost himself to the excitement and couldn't even bother to turn his head and look at Mike's expression.
He had already reached the seventh rank in the spirit realm and the number of Exp points the scorpions gave him had drastically decreased, but he was still madly stabbing and even sometimes stomping on a few weak-looking ones, there was just too many of them so he had to use every limb available.
Finally, fifteen minutes later Nick stopped, his arms felt extremely sore, but that didn't last long, since rich spirit energy washed over his muscles and meridians, returning them to their peak state. Nick then looked at the twenty scorpions left behind, and after a quick mental calculation, he killed five of them, and just as he expected…
Ding! Exp+5
Ding! Exp+5
Ding! Exp+5
Ding! Congratulations host for leveling up to Spirit realm Rank 9!
Just the thought of how he had leveled up nine times in just a few minutes made him want to kiss the scorpions in front of him...but Nick just thought of doing that, he didn't actually do it, he wasn't cruel enough to kiss the scorpions after killing all their friends and family, that just wasn't right!
Nick was about to drop the spear and leave the remaining scorpion alone since they wouldn't contribute much anymore, but then…he noticed a look of anger on the faces of the living scorpions.
The look on their face was saying, 'what do you mean by this, are you perhaps looking down on us because there are too few of us now?! Come, kill us if you dare, we the mighty scorpions will never fear a weak little human like you!'
And although the scorpions had said none of this using their words, Nick still believed this was what they were saying about him in their little hearts.
Nick was furious upon interpreting the looks on the scorpions' faces, how could he allow a bunch of tiny scorpions to insult him?!
Filled with rage, Nick then went on to kill them, he needed to show them who was boss!
But if the scorpions knew the reason Nick made up to kill them, they would have haunted him even when they became ghosts! 'what do you mean we insulted you?!
We haven't even gained intelligence yet?! But you dare to claim we insulted you by just observing our faces, we can't even make facial expressions, our skins are permanently stuck like this...we were born this way...just like you were born with the personality of an asshole! If you wanted to kill us so badly just do it like a man, why come up with silly excuses just to make yourself feel better?'
After finishing off the scorpions, Nick turned around and walked back into the house with the posture and air of an expert, but then he heard something that made him stumble a little in surprise.
Ding! Congratulations host for gaining the title 'The Slayer of Scorpions'-Reward-All Creatures with even a hint of scorpion blood in them will have their powers halved when in close range, and feel instinctual hate for the host.
The title does sound beneficial…but to make an enemy of an entire race...forget it, at least I can be considered as an official cultivator now!
Mike and Lily didn't notice he was breaking through because the system covered the energy fluctuations he released, but their senses told them he had somehow gotten stronger, even though they didn't believe them. How could someone become stronger by killing scorpions?
Nick walked back into the house and sat down in front of the dining table once again, then he started checking his new stats.
[Status]
[Name: Nick Michelson
Title: The Slayer of Scorpions
Energy cultivation: Spirit realm rank 9
Physical Body Cultivation: None
Cultivation Techniques: Star Devouring Dragon manual
Physical Body Skill: None
Experience points:28
Domineering points: -1000(In debt, please pay it back as soon as possible. Thank you.)
Bloodlines: Heaven devouring Ancient Dragon bloodline]
Nick could see some changes had appeared on the stats panel, like the new addition of the title bar, and the increase in his level, but what made him truly excited, was his bloodline which had lost its inactive status, he would have to experiment later to find out what its use was.
Mike suddenly woke up from his daze outside, so he ran in and began throwing questions at Nick, " Big bro, what can I call you?"
Nick gave a side glance at this naughty, annoying boy that he had once believed to be a middle-aged man, the contrast to the images in his mind and the ones in reality, was just too vast, even though it wasn't nearly as big a contrast as the image he had built up of Lily.
"The name is Michelson...Nick, Michelson." Nick spoke in a cool James bond manner.
"Oh, hi big bro Michelson Nick Michelson, I am Mike, and that is my sister, the Beauty Empress of our old city, Lily, but I guess you already knew that. Also, big brother, I hope you consider our newfound friendship and promise not to pursue my sister!"
Pfft...it suits him right. 'Michelson Nick Michelson'? Who told him to use a movie reference in another world, these people didn't know the cool way he introduced his name, they just thought he had a stupid repetitive name.
Nick could also see that the boy wasn't joking or being sarcastic when he called his sister, the Beauty empress. Nick then began to wonder whether the boy had another sister that wasn't here, but the boy was clearly pointing at Lily as he spoke.
Nick even started doubting if it was his eyes that were failing him, as for the promise about not pursuing the boy's sister, Nick could only say, 'Roses are red, violets are blue, I have five fingers, the middle one is for you!'
Mike Jefferson, was born from a different mother. But he loved the sister of his dearly. He had also at one point questioned his sister's looks. So, he went to his dad's study to consult with his father about his doubts. He just couldn't understand how so many people were praising his sister when she looked so…
Hearing his son's doubts, his father put on a loving smile, gently walked to the door, and locked it, as if what he was going to tell him, was a huge secret!
Then two days later, Mike limped out of the study with bruises all over his body. His father had thought him, that what his sister had was what one might call 'Abstract' beauty, and he needed to learn to see it. And after that loving lesson, Mike found his sister looking better and better every time he saw her somehow!
Nick didn't know that Mike's father had brainwashed the poor boy, but he knew one thing for certain, by the looks Mike was giving him right now, if he didn't quickly promise not to pursue his sister, Mike would definitely bite him.
"My name is not Michelson Nick Michelson, just call me Nick, okay, and I swear to you if I ever pursue your sister, may the heavens castrate me!"
Hearing Nicks solemn vow Mike relaxed, but he didn't feel it was the slightest bit excessive. His sister was a beauty after all, and no one can stay clear-headed in her presence for long.
"Okay, then brother Nick, what was the song you were singing before? It made me want to find a couple of bullies to trash! Did you come up with it?" Mike asked.
"Oh that, a personal friend of mine called Eminem came up with it." Nick answered cockily, but, this lie might have garnered him attention if he was back on earth, but here, no one knew who that man was so no one really cared whether he was Nick's friend or not.
"Really?! That friend of yours must be a genius! Hey, by the way, do you want to come and work a job with us?" Mike had taken a liking to Nick and wanted to keep him. The man can sing and cleans the traps with passion. What��s there not to like?!
"Are you crazy?! Mike, think before you speak, will you?! How can we bring him with us?! We don't even know who he really is, so how can we trust him?! Don't forget he came from the Devils Anus, who knows if he's even human?!"
Lily had been silently cooking the whole time, but when she heard Mike planned on bringing Nick along for their little mission, she finally erupted.
"Big Sis, you're overthinking things, according to you, he has no cultivation, then how did he safely travel through the hole...most probably someone injured him and threw his body in the garbage dump, hoping to bury him with the trash." Mike came up with a more believable story, which Nick felt will have to do for now.
"But luckily you were there to save his life, big Sis. You even used your ultimate technique, the Naughty beauty empress technique to drive away the other scavengers!" Mike spoke as if he was talking about his idol, not his sister.
Hearing her brother mentioning her technique, Lily couldn't help but strike out her chest in pride.
Lily had created this technique by accident when a scavenger wanted to fight her for a broken treasure. Back then she had removed her silk mask and pouted to distract the scavenger long enough to steal the treasure and run away.
But who knew the scavenger would scream all of a sudden, and run away before she could even get close?
And after countless trials and errors, Lily finally perfected the technique.
"Naughty empress beauty technique? May I ask what that is?" Nick asked. The technique sounded so sexy.
"Oh, you want to see?" Asked Lily in an arrogant tone.
Nick nodded, waiting to see what all the fuss was about.
"Don't say I didn't warn you?!"
Lily let go of her cooking utensils and assumed the aura of an expert as she moved her hip seductively, smiled, then moved each of her brows up and down, one after the other provocatively. Then, as the icing on the cake, she placed her hands on top of her head then moved them slowly downwards…
Nick only had one thought in his head at that moment.' What a scary technique indeed…'