CHAPTER 3
Gideon slowly opened his eyes and and found himself on the floor.
"Wha- where am I." Gideon mumbled in a daze as he sat up.
Suddenly, memories of what happened flashed in his mind, and after that, he turned to the side and vomited.
"H- how the hell am I still alive." he said still very confused and scared. Suddenly, he saw something in his vision that looked like some sort of icon.
He focused on it briefly but the second he did, a semi translucent window appeared in front of him displaying the following information.
[Name: Gideon Kingston]
[lvl: 1 0/100]
[Age: 16]
[Hp: 200/200]
[Magical Affinity: Poison]
[Stats]
[Str: 6]
[Agi: 5]
[Dex: 7]
[End: 4]
[AP: 50]
[Attribute points: 0]
[Skills]
[Poison Manipulation lvl1, (cost 5 Ap)]
[Poison Immunity (passive)
[Poison enhancement lvl1.* (cost 10 Ap)]
When Gideon saw this, he freaked out and tried to swipe the screen away but his hand went straight through it.
"What the hell is this!?!" the shouted scared.
[It is you system interface host] The voice said.
"Who said that?!" Gideon asked wearily while looking around him.
[No need to be alarmed host, I am your system.] The voice reassured.
"What the hell is a system? Why are you in my head? Where did you come from? Why am I alive." Gideon bombarded the system with questions.
[To answer host's first question, I am a tool to help you become stronger, second, I entered merged with your body through pure coincidence, third, unable to answer due to lack of information, lastly, I used the emergency healing process to save your life] The system answered him patiently.
Gideon then took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
"Okay, so your goal is to make me stronger, right?" Gideon asked.
[Yes host.]
"So how will you do that?" He asked again.
[Host will need to kill Astral beasts and other threats to level up, when host does that, he will receive attribute points which could be added into his attributes to make himself stronger.] The system replied.
"I see, so it's just like a game huh?" Gideon said to himself before smiling.
"In that case, this was a blessing in disguise, I can become stronger and make a name for myself, I would like to see who would try to bully me then." Gideon said happily.
[Would host like to open starter pack?] The system asked and Gideon's eyes shone. Though he was still skeptical about the system, he decided to trust it because he would be dead without it.
"Open it please." He said excitedly.
[Ding, host has opened starter pack, host received. Mithril dagger, Advanced Kevlar combat vest, ×5 cooked Chicken, ×5 water bottle, and Wind boots] The system listed out the items and Gideon felt his scalp go numb
"Such good items for a starter pack. System, how do I get these." Gideon asked.
[Host just needs to think about them and they will appear] The system explained.
"Okay then" Gideon replied and thought about the mithril dagger. Suddenly, a pure black dagger with a beautifully carved handle and a straight sharp blade that was a foot long appeared in his hand. Gideon looked at the dagger and couldn't help but whistle.
"Damn, this can probably cut through steel with ease. system, what are wind boots, I know what the advanced Kevlar combat vest is already, same for the water and chicken." Gideon asked.
[Wind boots: A set of boots that offer low protection but can increase the user's speed by 5%] The system explained.
"Nice." Gideon remarked before bringing out the advanced Kevlar combat vest as well.
The best was blue in colour and looked very light, it was made in a way so that it would protect the user while not hindering their movements.
Gideon put it on and felt a bit safer before putting on the boots as well.
"Okay, now that I feel safer, I think I will try and find a safe place to camp." Gideon thought.
One might ask why he didn't go back to the train to get supplies, the answer was simple. Since it was a military train, there is a high chance that they have already arrived at the scene, plus if Gideon suddenly walked out of the forest, they would most likely kill him as there is no way he could have survived the fall, so they would say he was either a monster or a bandit and murder him.
Just as Gideon wanted to walk, he suddenly heared a loud grunt from behind him and turned around, when he did, he immediately became hostile.
He saw an iron hide boar, it looked like a boar but it was much larger and had fur that was as tough as iron, hence the name.
The boar saw Gideon and immediately charged at him at high speeds. But Gideon easily saw that it could only go in a straight line and had difficulty turning at the speed it was going at.
So Gideon quickly casted poison enhancement on his dagger and it got covered in a green coloured aura.
Then Gideon waited for the boar to get close, and just as it was about to hit him, he quickly side stepped it causing it to barely miss him. He then slashed its side just as it passes him, the mithril dagger cutting through it's fur and skin with ease.
The injury caused the boar the squeal in pain and it tumbled and fell on the floor. Gideon quickly took this opportunity to rush to it and stabbed it's head, the dagger hitting the brain, killing it instantly.
[+20 exp] A notification popped up.
"So I need to kill four more of those to level up, neat." Gideon said happily.
Suddenly, he heard rustling from his left and right and immediately entered a battle stance. Then, two iron hide board came from his left and right, both squealing angrily.
'Seems like it was a group.' Gideon thought as he looked at the two board and quickly made a strategy. After being bullied for a good portion of his life, he had learnt numerous ways of fighting.
At the same time, the two board charged at him at high speeds. Once again, Gideon waited for when they were just about to hit him and rolled forward at the last second.
The two board had no time to evade or slow down so they directly ran into each other, stunning themselves and falling on the floor.
Gideon once again took this opportunity and swiftly stabbed the board in their heads, killing them.
[+20 exp]
[+20 exp]
"Dang, this dagger is overpowered." Gideon said happily.
But then just as he said that, he felt something ram into his side at high speeds causing him to fly sideways and then tumble on the floor.
[-20 hp] The system alerted, though Gideon was slightly dizzy from the impact.
'Ugh, what the hell was that.' Just as Gideon had that thought, he suddenly felt danger and forced his body to move, narrowly avoiding something.
He quickly got his bearings and got into a stance and faced what hit him.
He saw another boar, it looked similar to the previous ones, but was larger and had fur that looked much tougher than the other ones.
"Steel hide boar." Gideon said as he began to sweat. Unlike the iron hide boar, steel hide boars have higher defense and are much stronger than the former.
'System, can my mithril dagger penetrate it's hide?' Gideon asked quickly.
[Yes, but host needs to add more power, else he won't be able to cut very deep.] The system advised.
'Noted.' Gideon responded and once again activated poison enhancement.
The steel hide boar charged at him at high speeds, faster than the others, and then a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
Gideon forcefully fed his poison enhancement more astral energy, causing it to glow brighter. He then swung his dagger at the boar while forcing the energy inside it to discharge. Then a crescent shaped slash made of poison left the dagger towards the boar.
The boar had no time to dodge and took the attack head on. The attack sliced into its head easily and split it in half, blood and brain matter splattering everywhere.
[+40 exp]
[Level up]
[+3 attribute points]
[New skill created: Poison slash (costs 20 AP)]
Gideon saw this and breathed out a sigh of relief before sitting down.
"System show me my stats' Gideon said and his stat window popped up, but there were some changes.
[Name: Gideon Kingston]
[lvl: 2 0/200]
[Age: 16]
[Hp: 280/300]
[Magical Affinity: Poison]
[Stats]
[Str: 7]
[Agi: 6]
[Dex: 8]
[End: 5]
[AP: 100]
[Attribute points: 3]
[Skills]
[Poison Manipulation lvl1, (cost 5 Ap)]
[Poison Immunity (passive)]
[Poison enhancement lvl2 (cost 10 Ap)]
[Poison slash lvl1 (cost 20 AP)]
Gideon who saw this was overjoyed, not only that, he could feel his body become stronger than before.
"System, how do I use attribute points?" Gideon asked.
[Host just needs to add them to a specific stat and it will increase.] The system answered.
"Well then, in that case, put 1 point In strength, one in agility, and one in endurance." He ordered.
[Confirm?]
"Confirm." Immediately he confirmed, he felt his strength rise again and once again checked his stats.
[Name: Gideon Kingston]
[lvl: 2 0/200]
[Age: 16]
[Hp: 280/350]
[Magical Affinity: Poison]
[Stats]
[Str: 8]
[Agi: 7]
[Dex: 8]
[End: 6]
[AP: 100]
[Attribute points: 0]
[Skills]
[Poison Manipulation lvl1, (cost 5 Ap)]
[Poison Immunity (passive)]
[Poison enhancement lvl2 (cost 10 Ap)]
[Poison slash lvl1 (cost 20 AP)]
Gideon saw this and was immediately confused.
"System, how come my health went up by fifty?" He asked.
[One end point is equivalent to 50 hp, your AP is similar, but you add attribute points to it directly.] The system explained and Gideon understood.
"So my end is basically my health, that makes sense since it basically means how much damage I can take." Gideon said while nodding.
"Now to skin these boars." Gideon said as he walked towards the boars
"Wait, where do I keep the meat?" Gideon pondered.
[System has an inventory function and has 10 cubic meters of space.] The system said and Gideon was happy.
"Storage rings are for the weak." Gideon said smugly before walking to the boars.
It was a bit messy but he got the job done, he also removed the meat from it and put it in his inventory which he just needed to think about.
[Ding. Would host like to make "Steel Hide Coat" with the hides he had just gotten.] The system asked.
"This is broken, I can literally make stuff out of what I get. System, what can the coat do?" He asked happily.
[Coat can make user immune to the cold as long as it isn't below 2 degrees Celsius and can also offer protection.] The system explained.
"That's pretty good, make it." Gideon said.
[Initializing... Complete, would host like to fuse it with his , Advanced Kevlar combat vest?] The system enquired.
"Hell yeah!" He agreed without hesitation.
[Fusing... Ding, Advanced combat steel hide vest complete.]
Immediately the system said that, the vest he was wearing immediately changed. It looked like the one he was wearing previously, but was thicker and sturdier, but also more flexible, and had a silver luster to it.
"Well then, I think it's time I find a place to hunker down.* Gideon decided before picking deciding to head east as the trees there were thicker and taller.