Stranger Danger

"Give this old man some fun then." Jack grinned. "If only we could see the level of that thing, I really want to just simply look at it from a close distance, you know. I'm just really curious…"

[I'm sure that this is the reason why male humans have a higher chance of dying than their female counterparts.]

<>

"Okay, now we know the level of that thing, that's neat." Jack realized that it was slowly coming after him. "Wait, that is definitely not neat!"

With a tentacle between his legs, he dashed out and decided to search for more prey in another place. He might craft a map for the sake of it if he had the excess materials due to the recon he performed. The former old man felt like his childhood had been reignited again.

Because he was more prepared than yesterday, he decided to take some of the time to forage some herbs and mushrooms throughout the forlorn and fauna. Because he knew that his stomach was an innate black hole, he wasn't afraid to take a bite and then regret the taste afterwards.

After numerous findings and meetings with animals that were impossible to hunt, he finally encountered something sizable and decently manageable for the time being.

"It's been a while since I've eaten any pork. Well, more like a million years of not eating anything until that bland steak."

[Your face looked like you were in heaven when eating that bland steak, though.]

It was a big boar twice the size of an adult man. Its tusk could even impale a lion. With a delighted expression, the boar feasted on the giant black truffle it dug up.

Jack could only drool by the sight of two ingredients in front of him.

Feeling creative, he tried to use the tentacle suckers to help him climb onto the tree near him.

[Petra Tentacle> Kinetic Strength: 33kg(+3)]

He carved his own path through the numerous intersections of the large branches meters above ground. Slowly but surely, Jack was close enough to deliver a surprise attack at the boar.

With two swords on each hand and the double bladed staff on his tentacle, he jumped.

"We'll dine with a fine wine tonight!"

[But we have no wine.]

"That is an expression!"

<>

Both blades sunk into the boar's skull upon first impact, shattering the bones effortlessly as it came out through the roof of its mouth. There was no struggle, no turning of any sorts. The moment Jack landed, the boar was as good as dead.

[Petra Tentacle> Length: 115(+2) | Weight: 16(+1)]

[Petra Tentacle acquired new body feature> 'Weapon Usage']

"Ohoho! Petra knows what's up now! That is fast."

Just like that, Jack acquired both the giant truffle and the peculiarly giant boar.

Only then he met a predicament.

"Now how in the world do I bring these two heavy things into my place?" Jack smiled with confusion.

[I did remember you said that you want to get yourself 'jacked', Jack. Why not do some exercise by just brute forcing them?]

"I'm thankful for the advice." Jack sarcastically widened his smile as he squinted. "But it would be better if I still have my back intact."

In the end, he decided to skin and take a small chunk of the meat, the hide, tusks, and the giant truffle back to his base. His tentacle seemed to be able to hold a heavy enough object to help carry.

[Petra Tentacle> Kinetic Strength: 37kg(+4)]

It would be more fascinating if he could acquire all of the materials but there was so much a small infant like him could carry, tentacles or not. He was still, physically, a ten-year-old. Although thanks to Sephiroth's lack of knowledge upon human anatomy, he was actually stronger than a normal human at his age.

Not to mention, he growth his strength faster thanks to the unique digestive system he had.

When he arrived at his base, he was met with four unfamiliar figures. Jack only caught a glimpse of them but he didn't want to let himself be seen so he immediately hid between trees.

Due to his own curiosity, he began moving through the small patch of woods carefully. He left some of his boons behind, tucked away behind shrubbery as he quietly approached the silhouettes. He was now several meters away from them.

But before he even had the chance to peek through the bush, a notification appeared in his view.

<>

'Player?'

A second later, a strange sound of a dwindling fuse fizzled. Followed by a flaming projectile aimed at Jack's location.

'The hell!?'

The projectile exploded, sending numerous fragmented blades. Jack couldn't move fast enough to avoid the blast completely.

[Petra Tentacle's Health> 70%(-30)]

The shockwave threw him onto another tree, giving him a nasty wound and a broken spine. One of the sharp blades mutilated his left hand. He was speechless, breathing the smoke of the gunpowder mixed with the smell of his own blood.

[Hurry, Jack! Redeploy the Petra Tentacle!]

At first, Jack didn't know what his partner meant. His head was clouded with headaches and quakes. Pushing through the daze, he finally realized that by deploying Petra Tentacle, he could stop the bleeding.

Jack replaced his missing arm with a tendril. It felt a lot weirder to him than having the tentacle placed anywhere else, but it didn't matter as much if it was able to save him.

Sadly, that alone wasn't enough.

He was almost on the brink of his consciousness, until he heard a female voice and a blurred humanoid figure covering his sight.

"The heck you're doing you moron!"

Jack then felt a surge of energy being transferred to him. The energy began to accelerate his healing and slowly patch his wound.

Jack then heard a man's voice, it was a little bit cocky to his taste.

"Woah, woah, just chill a little bit, Vea." The man with a dense fur cloak approached, still holding his giant cannon with both arms. "It's just an NPC, not like we'll get a hidden quest or something. Wait, holy shit! We might get a hidden quest or something!"