Free Web NovelChapter 10: Chapter 10: The hunt... and the dream
Night pushed himself up with a heavy groan. Beside him, Death’s towering skeletal frame visibly slumped, clearly disappointed by the sudden loss of physical contact.
He closed his eyes and focused on dialing back the overwhelming smells assaulting his brain. It felt surprisingly natural, almost as if he was born with the ability. Just like the skill name suggested.
Once he adjusted the sensitivity, he felt fantastic. The damp, rotting scent of the forest faded.
Instead, he could faintly smell the raw ambient mana drifting through the air. It was intoxicating.
If I can get more passive skills like this, it might make up for my weak body, he thought.
He wondered if everyone started their evolutionary journey this weak, but doubted it. This felt entirely unique to him.
He looked up at Death. She was still staring down at him like she had just been robbed of a priceless treasure.
"Let’s hunt some more monsters," he suggested. "If I get some decent skills, I might actually be of some use to you guys."
He quickly checked his interface to see how much energy he had left.
[Energy Value (EV): 31.0] freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Should I wait here and recover safely, or go on the offensive and risk it?
After thinking it over for a few seconds, he decided the potential rewards were worth the danger. He stood up, and Death immediately followed. Suddenly, Night threw himself directly at her.
Surprised but infinitely pleased, the giant skeleton hurriedly caught him and smoothly hoisted him back into a comfortable princess carry.
"Let’s find something to hunt," Night said with a smile.
Moving silently through the dark forest, Night closed his eyes and relied entirely on his new nose to track their prey.
Soon, he caught a foul scent lingering just ahead. He tapped Death on the shoulder, signaling her to stop. Hiding behind a thick tree trunk, Night peeked around the bark and spotted three massive beasts in a clearing.
"Three Lvl. 2 Berserk Hyenas," he whispered.
Death gave a sharp nod.
Night tugged at the connection in his soul. Two swirling black portals opened in the shadows, and Eve and Lilith stepped out.
By the time the metal warriors fully materialized, the three hyenas had already snapped their crazed eyes toward the sudden spike in magical energy.
Night realized something fascinating in that brief moment. The energy I use feels completely different than the wild mana in the world. It’s infinitely purer. Even its scent is different; my energy smells like dark roses, while ambient mana smells like wet earth and ozone and its keeps changing.
Wasting no time, Death, Eve, and Lilith charged out of the brush. With only three opponents, the fight was completely one-sided.
Eve and Lilith intercepted two of the beasts. Meanwhile, Death effortlessly sidestepped a brutal lunge from the largest hyena.
She grabbed it by the back of its neck, hoisted its heavy body into the air, and ruthlessly slammed its skull into the dirt. She kept slamming it down with earth-shattering force until the creature went completely limp.
[You have slain Lvl. 2 Berserk Hyena | +20 EXP]
Without missing a beat, she rushed over to help the two robotic brawlers. With Death rejoining the fray, the battle ended in seconds without a single scratch.
[You have slain Lvl. 2 Berserk Hyena (x2) | +40 EXP]
[Congratulations! You have reached Lvl. 2]
Suddenly, Night felt the energy inside his tiny body become intensely vibrant. The heavy, invisible tether connecting him to his Nightmare Domain grew stronger.
He also noticed his base devouring speed had increased slightly. If he was previously generating 0.1 EV every ten seconds, his new baseline was 0.101 EV.
He immediately pulled up his full status.
Status
Name: Night (Nightmare)
Race: Homunculus (Artificial Human)
Class: Unlocks at Lvl. 10
Level: 2 (EXP: 20/200)
Energy Value (EV): 39.05 (+10%)
Aspect: [Nightmare]
Skills: [Sensitive Nose (Lvl. 1)]
Unique Skill: [Nightmare Domain], [Devour]
Summons: [Eve], [Lilith], [Death]
Title: [Awakened]
Between the previous corpse being passively devoured and the energy spent during this short fight, he still had a comfortable buffer of nearly 40 EV remaining.
He walked over to the fresh carcasses, placed his hands on their fur, and absorbed all three directly into his domain.
Once they were secured, he opened his skill menu again. When he focused hard on his newest ability, a hidden sub-menu expanded.
[Sensitive Nose (Lvl. 1)]
[Upgrade to Lvl. 2: Cost 20 EV]
So the skill can be directly upgraded using EV, he realized with wide eyes.
EV really is my most precious resource. My skills, my growth, and exactly how long my summons can protect me; it all depends on it.
He tried focusing on the other text fields to unlock more hidden menus, but nothing happened. Only the Skills option responded.
The System is clearly run by that grand cosmic entity, but it refuses to talk to me, Night sighed. I really wish I had a guiding voice in my head. With my gullible personality; I am definitely going to get scammed by everyone I meet.
× - × - ×
Somewhere far away, hidden within a surreal, dream-like dimension completely isolated from the known universe, an ancient cosmic entity suddenly sneezed.
"Did someone just curse me?" the entity muttered. Its voice vibrated like grinding tectonic plates.
The entity did not possess a physical body. Instead, it looked like a swirling, furious storm made of pure starlight.
"Why did I ever think sealing my soul inside a Unique System was a foolproof backup plan?" it grumbled, sounding thoroughly annoyed. "For the Goddess’s sake, it has been at least three entire eras since I died."
Suddenly, the swirling storm paused.
It felt a microscopic ripple in the endless River of Destiny. In its severely weakened state, it normally wouldn’t have noticed.
But this tiny wave carried a faint, almost impossible thread of connection back to the entity itself.
However, the entity also sensed that the universe was about to violently snuff out this fragile wave before it could grow. It was the first ripple in countless ages that had anything remotely to do with its own existence.
"Oh, no you don’t" the entity boomed.
Completely desperate for entertainment and salvation, it tapped directly into its own dwindling reserves to forcibly alter fate. It had to ensure this tiny anomaly survived long enough to cross paths with it in the future.
"Survive, little one, and reach me. This place is literally boring me to death." freewebnøvel.coɱ
Exhausted from plucking the strings of destiny, the grand storm settled down, and the entity fell back into a deep, silent slumber.
× - × - ×
Back in the dark apocalyptic forest, Night had just recalled Eve and Lilith to conserve energy when he suddenly felt a strange, echoing whisper brush against his mind.
He blinked and looked frantically around the empty clearing. There was absolutely no one there except his towering skeleton.
Shaking off the eerie feeling, he wrapped his small arms tightly around Death’s cold neck. She effortlessly scooped him up and carried him deeper into the shadowy woods.
