First Encounter

Northern felt himself ever so slightly touch down on the ground, where he laid as he was for a while, his mind blank, as he gazed at the virtual words before him.

[Outlaw System Activated]

Is this part of the game, or have my system actually awakened? Was the question his mind revolved around. 

In majority of the 'System' books he had read, this was usually the first message the protagonist received, as soon as it merges with his soul. But, as this is a game, it wasn't supposed to be able to influence his avatar, right?

Definitely. I'm just overthinking this, Northern scrambled to his feet and began dusting his strange beginners robe while surveying the scorching hot environment.

[Ding! Skill detected 'Supreme Extraction' |SSS]

"Huh, th-that's the cool-name skill from the system!" Northern exclaimed in surprise, at the game system detecting his mysterious skill.

—

[WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT]

'Northern Lord' is The First Player To Successfully Create A Skill!

—

"Wh-What the hell!" Northern exclaimed in shock, looking up to the announcement in the sky.

[+10 Star Point]

The notification flashed on his vision.

He felt a tingling sensation on his right wrist, and on looking down at it in alarm, he saw the black tattoo of '10' neatly inscribed on it.

[Ding! Congratulations on being the first Being to achieve Star Points. You have made the Human race proud]

[Ding! You have been gifted the Unique skill 'Mist' for being the No.1 player on the Leaderboard]

Northern stared with wide eyes, the series of notifications afloat before him. He wasn't so sure on how to react to the sudden turn of events. 

From getting cast away for not logging in when everyone else did, to bagging the first world achievement and getting rewarded with a skill, barely five minutes into the game.

He sucked in a cold breath as informations on his new skill 'Mist' clouded his thoughts.

—

Mist: SSS+

Summon a mist gate which leads to a demi-plane under your control.

Cost: —

Duration: —

Cooldown: —

—

"…"

He wanted to speak, to at least say something, but no coherent words came out his mouth as his thoughts flew all over the place.

'Mist,' though not a combat related skill or the sort, was the best skill one could ever ask for. A spatial domain under one's control. 

Not only could he decide to build the safest and most profound guild base there, or even rent it out for a massive amount of hard currency, but he could easily escape battles and trap mobs within for easy leveling as all odds would be stacked with him.

Pfft. A snorted chuckle escaped Northern lips, as he slowly began laughing to his own amusement. His chuckles soon becoming a maniacal cachinnation which reverberated loudly throughout the barren land, disregarding the 'danger zone' warning he had received earlier.

Swoosh! The sudden sound of a projectile breaking the wind suddenly came from a direction.

"Mist!"

Northern who was rocking in laughter just as the swift attack was executed, quickly composed himself and on following his mere instincts, stretched his arm forth in a direction and activated the 'Mist' skill.

The dark spear effortlessly sifted through the cloud of gray mist spiralling before Northern, which he deactivated as soon as it went through, quickly reactivating it to his side where the dark spear made to continue it's trajectory out, when he tightly clasped at it's shaft and brought it up, stamping it hard on the floor. Thud!

'You know that tingling sensation one gets whenever you're being watched? Northern had been getting that from the moment he had landed. And as to not alert the other party he was aware of their presence and provoke them to attacking him, he had to play dumb and give out the impression he was unsuspicious—of which the game's notifications had played a big role—to figure out the other party's intention.'

All thanks to his system for making him smarter than the laypersons.

Tsk. Though Northern tried as much as he could to keep his expression neutral, he was internally writhing in anguish as the skin on his palm tore and blistered; as a result of stopping the flying spear with his bare hand.

He looked up to a high ground where the dark spear had come from, to see a humanoid figure with the characteristics of a lizard. It's tail swinging from side to side, as it bared it's deadly fangs and talons at him.

Several other similar creatures began revealing themselves from the surrounding high grounds, intercepting every possible escape route as they encircled his position from a distance; all armed with leather armours and cold weapons.

Th-This… isn't good, Northern mused as his brows furrowed to a deep frown. His grip tightening on the shaft of the spear as his heart rate climbed with each passing second.

He had never been to a battle before, and hadn't witnessed one either. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know how it felt being cut or impaled, or worse, captured and tortured for who knows how long.

['Supreme Extraction' Skill Activated]

"Huh…"

[You have extracted the innate skill 'Black Disaster' from the 'Spear of Leviathan']

"Th-This is…" Northern eyes widened as informations on the new skill clouded his thoughts.

—

Black Disaster: C+

Summons a barrage of spears from the dust of hell to take out your target from a distance.

Cost: 35SF

Duration: 15sec

Cooldown: —

—

An AOE skill! Northern exclaimed internally, "Just what I needed," he muttered in resolution.

"Shred him to pieces!"

With a loud roar, the lizardmen creatures broke into a sprint as they charged wildly at Northern, waving their weapons menacingly as they besieged him from all sides.

Northern felt his heart skip a beat as he watched the lizardmen warriors charge at him. He was frozen at the spot in trepidation, when he was reminded this was all in-game—not reality.

'Even if he were to be overpowered and die here, he would always respawn at a safe zone with nothing to lose: not a level, not or loot; as he had none.

So why not have some fun trying to take down as many as he could, before they got to him.'

Northern shut his eyes and took a deep breath, holding it in for a moment as he cleared his thoughts of all potential distraction. 

He then exhaled a shaky breath as his eyelids flicked open. His deep brown eyes burning in profound determination as his lips curled up to wide grin. 

The rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

He raised the dark spear above his head, as he positioned it in a direction of the lizardmen creatures. And with a loud roar to dispell his lingering fear, he activated his latest skill with a powerful thrust.

"Black Disaster!"