The Forest
Bursting out of his house, Taka ran with the ferocity only seen in wild animals.
Though Taka's house was part of a neighbourhood, his neighbourhood was situated in an odd position, right next to a large forest; exactly where he was heading.
Whether being driven there by instinct or running there on purpose.
The more he ran the more strength he released and the faster he got.
With his heightened senses, working on overtime, he had very little to worry about.
His heightened vision made everything seem like it was moving in slow motion.
His heightened hearing enabled him to hear everything in a 1 mile radius.
Another one of his skills, silent steps was active; which he'd yet to realise. To him, people appeared to be moving incredibly slowly, but to other people he appeared like a phantom, there and gone in a split second, making no noise just disappearing almost like a ninja.
The forest, where Taka was heading was about 5 miles away from his house.
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Arriving at the forest.
Taka didn't appear fatigued at all. No shortness of breath, no shaky legs.
Despite the distance he'd run, no visible signs were showing
If any professional athlete saw this they'd be coughing up blood or just have their heads explode.
The fastest ever 5 mile or 8,000-metre record on a road course is 22 minutes and 2 seconds.
Yet Taka had just run 5 miles in twelve and a half minutes.
Averaging 22 miles per hour as he ran. completely destroying the world record by close to 10 minutes.
Finally checking his watch and calculating how fast he'd run.
He was shocked.
Not by the speed he'd run but by the fact he didn't realise he was running that fast. Due to his enhanced vision, everything appeared slow but he moved as normal, not realising that the reason everything appeared slow was not just because of his enhanced vision but because he was moving so fast.
Sucking in a chilled breath, his mind seemed to focus.
As he ran he'd remembered one of the rewards he'd obtained when the system had merged with him.
Opening the system.
Taka: System, show me my rewards?
System: Understood.
There was a brief pause before the rewards loaded.
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[Rewards loading]
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[Rewards loaded]
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[Premium reward pack]
[Premium talent pack]
[Premium endurance pack]
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Immediately Taka clicked [Premium endurance pack].
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[Host wishes to open [Premium endurance pack]?]
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[Host please confirm?]
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Pressing confirm, the pack opened.
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[Premium endurance pack opened]
- [DING]
[Gamer mind Acquired]
[Hosts mind now impenetrable to Manipulation]
[Hosts Will strengthened]
[Calm mind- Hosts decision-making capability greatly inproved]
- [DING]
[Gamer's body Acquired]
[Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game]
[Health bar now visable]
[Stamina bar now visable]
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Deciding to not waste time in the future, he proceeded in opening all of his rewards.
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[Host wishes to open [Premium reward pack] and [Premium talent pack]?]
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[Confirm?]
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He confirmed, notifications rang out.
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[Premium reward pack opened]
- [DING]
[Immunity to the elements Acquired]
[Elements can no longer harm host]
- [DING]
[Animal Affinity Acquired]
[Animals now feel great affection towards host]
[Animals can no longer harm host]
- [DING]
[New skill acquired]
[With the combination of [Able to speak all languages] and [Animal Affinity] a new skill was created]
[Talk to the animals Acquired]
[Host now able to speak to all animal's great and small]
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[Premium Talent pack opened]
- [DING]
[Martial arts (Rank: Advanced Acquired]
[Host is now a proficient fighter]
- [DING]
[Parkour (Rank: Mastered) Acquired]
[The world is now your playground, play to your heart's content]
- [DING]
[Telekinesis (Rank: Mastered) Acquired]
[Host do I really need to explain this one?]
[. . . . . You're not stupid, right?]
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Surprised by the systems sudden witty comments Taka couldn't help but laugh.
The system was beginning to gain a personality, which he was waiting for.
His system was now becoming like the systems in the novels he'd read in his previous life.
He was anticipating the fun he could have when it did.
Opening his skill window he began to study it.
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[Passive skills]
--Able to speak all languages
--Heightened senses
--Silent steps
--Pain tolerance
--Gamer's mind (New)
--Gamer's body (New)
--Immunity to the elements (New)
--Animal Affinity (New)
--Talk to the Animals (New)
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[Skills]
--God level Hacker-(Rank: Maxed)
--Combat Proficiency-(Rank: Advanced)
--Weapon Proficiency-(Rank: Mastered)
--Vehicle Proficiency-(Rank: Advanced)
--Martial arts (Rank: Advanced) (New)
--Parkour (Rank: Mastered) (New)
--Telekinesis (Rank: Mastered) (New)
--Observe
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Now noticing his prowess growing, elation filled his mind.
While he was dancing and jumping around in happiness a growl brought him back to reality.
Turning toward the direction of the growls what appeared in front of him out of the shadows of the forest was a pack of wolves. Calling them a wolf pack was an understatement because there were about 20 of them, all baring their fangs ready to attack at any time.
What confused Taka was why they were doing this.
According to his understanding, this shouldn't be happening mainly because of his skill [Animal Affinity] but clearly these wolves were growling at him.
Not doubting his skills, he observed his surroundings.
Only now realising that there was an incredibly small creature hiding behind his legs. After taking a closer look it appeared to be a wolf cub.
Seeing this he became puzzled.
Studying the wolf packs body language they clearly felt that this tiny wolf cub was a threat especially the alpha of the pack.
With a scar across his right eye, he innately projected the aura of a king, domineeringly strong but this strong king was threatened by this small creature hiding behind Taka's legs, in a way it was kind of funny. One phrase came to mind 'Even the weak can become strong'.
So rather than stay confused he did the smart thing.
Looking at the wolf cub he used the "Observe" skill but what appeared only confused him more.
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[Name: ???]
[Female]
Age: ????
[Level: ????}
[The rest of the status cannot be read as the target of 'Observe' is to a high level.]
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Still confused, Taka bent down to pick the cub up. However, it appeared the wolf cub had the same idea as it had already jumped into his embrace and snuggled its little head into Taka's chest.
Noticing the intimate feeling the cub held towards him, Taka decided to keep the cub, obviously, it wasn't wanted here.
Lifting the cub up and placing it on his head where it lay comfortably he turned and glared at the rest of the wolves who were still growling.
Knowing that thanks to his skill he could speak to the wolves.
Taka spoke two sentences that scared the wolves into submission.
"This kid is one of mine. BACK OFF!!!"
When the words left his mouth they sounded normal but to anybody else, who heard it, it sounded like the bark of the hound of hell, Cerberus.
The ground appeared to physically shake under the influence of the roar.
Unlike the other wolves who were trembling in fear, the cub on his head remained completely unaffected.
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[Ding]
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[New skill acquired due to action]
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[Intimidate (Rank: Intermediate) now Avaliable]
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Lying there on Taka's head its eyes flashed with intelligence and a slight sneer could just barely be seen. Feeling Taka stroke its little head the look faded, its eyes soon held a glimpse of overflowing affection.
Turning and walking away Taka disappeared into the forest as quietly as he appeared.
After he left, the wolves released a sigh of relief not because Taka had left but because that little devil had finally left. The little devil, being the wolf cub or as the wolves knew it as. Fenrir. The legendary wolf from Norse myth.