2- Dangerous water

Aiden felt something sharp poke his side, just under the abdomen. He was feeling dizzy and his vision was blurry but he still looked at what was poking him. When he opened his eyes, Aiden saw hundreds of broken pieces of wood and metal surrounding him and a little bit further, he could see a half destroyed ship.

Seeing a destroyed ship wasn't particularly rare if one was near or going toward the New world since all form of danger could be found over there, but if a ship was destroyed so badly, it could only mean Aiden was somewhat close to his former desired location. But it wasn't a smile or any form of joy forming on Aiden's face but an expression of horror.

When he was still young, Aiden loved to read nature and geology books about the New world. At the time, it had already been 10 years since it's discovery and many scientist and explorer wrote down the new species of plants, monsters or animals and even rocks in small to big manual that they sold oversea. Aiden also had a big interest in the particularly weird and magical events that happened over there and one of them was the deep sea monster effect.

If one was to be peaceful and not worried about being on top of the most dangerous sea ever known to man for too long, one could meet one of the most fearsome creature found near the New world : the abyss demon. Thought to be a giant fish by some, other thinking of it as a literal demon. Some even theorized that at the bottom of the sea there might be a portal to hell or something. In any case, encountering this creature would be the equivalent of dying to Aiden who didn't even have a system or any magical tool to help him.

Feeling stressed by the possibility of dying to some sea demon and also not knowing where he was, Aiden started to swim in the opposite direction of the ship. While doing so he tried to stay as quiet as possible ; he read all about the New world and knew that those creatures could sense fear, so he did his best to stay calm and not think about it.

Unfortunately, the despair and fear he felt wasn't something he was able to hide and when he started to think that he was maybe overreacting and that it was probably just a random ship, he felt something grab his legs. The moment he felt something touch him, he started to punch and kick the water randomly in a desperate try to defend himself. But no amount of kicking and punching made the thing loosen his grip over his feet and quickly enough he was getting pulled deeper and deeper into the sea.

When he was fully submerged, he tried to look at what was grabbing him and he instantly screamed, even though no one could hear him.

A humanoid fish, the size of a fully grown, muscular man, with two yellowish eyes and a curved horn was grabbing him with his frog like hands. His grip was so strong that no normal human could get out, so even if Aiden's kick did hit the demon, he wouldn't let go. As he was getting dragged deeper and deeper into the ocean, Aiden started to lose consciousness and when he closed his eyes, thinking he was already dead, his amulet lightened up.

The gem in the middle shined with the bluest of light illuminating everything around him and blinding the fish. The amulet detached itself and started floating in front of Aiden. Meanwhile to try to minimise the damage, the demon stopped grabbing Aiden's leg to protect its eyes with his hands.

Stop.

The demon stopped moving, the current and the waves stayed on hold and the clouds were stopped in motion. When Aiden finally reopened his eyes all he saw was his amulet and everything around frozen in time. He let out a sight of relief and then realised he could breathe again, it felt like an air bubble was around him and when he came to the conclusion that his amulet somewhat saved him, 'it' started speaking.

A feminine voice, almost robotic came out of the gem.

"Hello Aiden. You have reached the outer region of the New world and are now eligible to awake."

Aiden looked at his amulet, dumbfounded, and muffled :

"Who are you? What are you?"

The gem took a pause.

"I am your system. You have awakened."

Pfiooou

*

Name: Aiden Gambetta

Level: 1

Title: none

Class: Thief

Stats

Hp: 8/10

Mp: 5/5

Str: 3

Con: 2

Int: 4

Agl: 4

Luk: 5 + (1)

Skills

Active - Sticky fingers (S)

Passive - Quick thinker (B)

Passive - Lucky star (C)

A white screen appeared before Aiden's eyes. On it was written all sorts of information. Aiden started reading it and was amazed and happy that he became an awakened. He could become a legend now and prove that the Gambetta family was a name to fear and respect.

As he read his info card, Aiden was surprised, when he looked at his native skills he saw an 'S' tier skill.

'S' tier skills were the best of the best, the cream of the cream when ranking skills. If someone got an 'S' tier skill his future would be great and many of the clans and guilds in New world would try to get them on their side. But someone who had a native 'S' tier skill would be on the road to become a ruler, a king or an emperor.

He quickly clicked on his Sticky fingers skill to look what it did and he was taken aback.

'Allow the skill user to steal anything from anything or anybody at random. The skill user must touch what he is trying to steal from. The more luck the user has, the more chance he got at stealing something useful to him. Can only be used once per target and one time per level.'

Aiden was overflowing with joy. With this ability he could become really powerful if he was lucky. After that, Aiden read his two other abilities, which were also really good. Quick thinker let him think a little bit faster in dire situations and Lucky star gave him plus one Luk stat for every other five Luk stat he had, which really comboed well with his Sticky fingers.

While Aiden was celebrating his newly gained system he heard the voice again.

"Time restarting in 10, 9, 8. . ."

Aiden suddenly remembered where he was and what he was fighting against. He now had his new skills and system but if he didn't survive this it would all be for nothing, as he would be dead.

Aiden used his remaining time wisely and Quick thinker automatically activated itself. He tried to think of the best way to win against the abyss demon and thought of using his skill to try and get something out of the fish. He quickly went toward the monster and placed his hand on the horn of the demon and used Sticky fingers.

'You have 1 charge left, do you wish to steal from the abyss demon ? Yes/No'

A text card appeared before him when he thought of using his skill and he pointed on yes.

'You will steal from the abyss demon in 3 seconds'

Aiden was thrilled to see what he would get but at the same time he heard:

"3, 2, 1, 0. Time has started again."

The amulet went back around Aiden's neck and the monster started moving again. Aiden was also coughing because he tried to breathe in air but he was underwater.

The monster was now under Aiden, while he was still touching the horn of the monster. Said monster, who wasn't blinded anymore went straight for Aiden's waist trying to grab him deeper again. Aiden still touched the horn and when the countdown finally touched zero, he hears a beep sound in his ear and a text card appeared.

'You've stole from 'Abyss demon', you earned 'Abyss demon's horn' (C)'

The horn detached itself from the head of the fish and landed on Aiden's hands. The item info was then projected in Aiden's face but he didn't have time to read it since he was fighting for his life. Aiden took the horn by the base with his two hands and started stabbing the poor fish. The demon was bleeding all over and started to loosen his grip on Aiden's waist. Aiden continued to stab the head of the fish continuously and also poking his snake like eyes.

After a good fifteen second of constant stabbing the demon finally let go and started to sink. Meanwhile, Aiden was about to lose consciousness from the fighting and not being able to breathe. So, he swam up and he heard a beep sound again, followed by a text card.

'Abyss demon killed'.