Free Web NovelChapter 5: One Hit Kill
Alex read the effect several times to make sure he wasn’t misunderstanding it. The effect sounded absurdly powerful. Without wasting any time, he picked the orb from the ground, and chose to use it.
It melted into his arm. A warm sensation spread throughout his entire body. Alex instinctively braced himself for pain, expecting the transformation of his body—Physique—to hurt. Instead, the sensation was incredibly pleasant.
The warmth spread through every muscle and bone, leaving him relaxed and refreshed. When it finally faded, Alex flexed his fingers and examined himself. Nothing appeared different on the outside, but he could tell something had changed.
The feeling was difficult to describe. If he had to put it into words, it felt like learning spells should be more natural now. To test the idea, he activated Body Reinforcement Spell once again.
Mana flowed from his heart into his hand. This time, he noticed small inefficiencies in the process. Some of the mana was leaking from his arm before reaching its destination.
Instead of just forcing the mana forward, Alex consciously guided it and tried to keep it contained inside his arm. The adjustment was small, but the effect was immediate. A notification appeared before him.
[Body Reinforcement Spell has leveled up. Level 1 → Level 2]
Alex almost whistled. The Origin Spell Physique was even better than he had expected. If his spells could improve this quickly, then he had a real chance to survive this place.
After checking his status one final time, Alex gathered his belongings. He took off his shirt, wrapped the biscuits inside his shirt to suppress their scent, then slipped the footwear onto his naked feet. The No Shit Pill went into his pocket for later use.
Just as he finished organizing everything, another notification appeared before his eyes. His expression immediately became wary as he read it.
[Ten Minutes have passed since the summoning.]
[Tutorial Quest 3 issued: Reach Level 10.]
Alex stared at the floating screen for several seconds. His gaze drifted toward the corpse of the Level 3 Netherclaw Prowler that had nearly killed him. Even lying motionless on the ground, the monster was enough to remind him of how close he had come to dying.
"...This tutorial is trying really hard to kill me."
Looking back at everything that had happened since his arrival, he felt it was a completely reasonable conclusion. Why else would there be a monster at the place where he woke up?
Even so, he intended to complete the Tutorial Quest 3.
The Guide had said that his previous Reward Boxes came from Tutorial Quests. That meant completing quests earned rewards, and rewards meant more power. In a place where monsters could kill him at any moment, becoming stronger was not something he could afford to ignore.
Alex noticed his hands were trembling slightly. His body had been healed, but the memory of dying remained painfully clear in his mind. He could still remember the agony of being torn apart and eaten alive.
The memory made him uneasy, but it also strengthened his resolve. If he stayed weak, monsters would continue treating him as prey. Getting stronger wasn’t a choice anymore. It was the only path available to him.
There was also a small part of him that was excited by all of this. He was a Mage now, someone who could actually cast magic. Yesterday, that would have sounded absurd, but now it was his reality.
Who knew what kind of spells he might learn later?
Maybe the next Reward Box would contain something incredible. Something like shooting fireballs, or summoning a meteor. The thought was enough to push aside some of his fear. After taking a few deep breaths, Alex picked up a hard stone from the ground and resumed moving through the ruins.
The castle stretched endlessly around him. Massive broken walls rose from the earth like the remains of an ancient civilization, while sunlight poured through countless gaps and cracks. Trees, bushes, and patches of grass had claimed large sections of the ruins, giving the place an almost dreamlike atmosphere.
The air felt surprisingly fresh. Alex had never paid much attention to air quality back on Earth, but now the difference was obvious. Compared to the pollution-filled streets of San Francisco, every breath here felt clean and refreshing.
At least the apocalypse had some benefits.
For the next fifteen minutes, he moved carefully through the ruins while keeping an eye on his surroundings. Eventually, he spotted movement ahead and immediately crouched behind a bush. Through the leaves, he saw two Netherclaw Prowlers.
One was resting near a giant stone in a small clearing. The other moved constantly, leaping from branch to branch while scanning the area.
’So they can climb trees.’
His expression darkened. He had briefly considered sleeping in a tree whenever night arrived, but that idea clearly wouldn’t work. Finding a safe place to rest was becoming a bigger problem with every passing minute.
Alex tightened his grip on the stone. His plan was simple: wait until one monster wandered away, then attack the remaining one. Fighting both at the same time would be suicide.
As he waited, his heart continued pounding against his chest. Every instinct urged him to leave and find somewhere safer. The memories of near-death kept replaying in his head. Yet he remained hidden in the bushes, forcing himself to stay calm while watching the monsters.
The blood from his previous battle still stained his clothes. He could not wash it away. He would have to throw the clothes away to remove the smell, but he wasn’t willing to walk around with his booty naked in a monster-infested ruin. Some standards were difficult to abandon, even during a life-or-death struggle.
Fortunately, the wind was helping him. It flowed from the monsters toward his position, carrying their scent instead of his. As long as that continued, they shouldn’t be able to smell him.
Suddenly, the Netherclaw Prowler moving through the trees froze. Its head turned sharply toward a bush several yards away, and its posture lowered. It looked exactly like a predator that had detected prey.
Alex frowned and followed its gaze.
The Netherclaw Prowler jumped from the tree and slowly approached the bush. Every movement was careful and deliberate. The second Netherclaw Prowler also became alert, rising its head from its resting position to watch.
A moment later, the first monster entered the bush.
An angry shriek echoed through the clearing.
The Netherclaw Prowler immediately jumped backward, and Alex spotted the reason. A claw trap had snapped shut around one of its front legs. Blood dripped from the wound as the creature struggled against the metal teeth.
The second Netherclaw Prowler instantly leaped to its feet. At almost the same moment, a young woman burst out of the bush with a spear in her hands. She looked around twenty or twenty-one years old, and determination filled her face as she lunged forward.
Her spear shot directly toward the injured monster’s eye.
The Netherclaw Prowler reacted just in time, twisting aside and avoiding the attack. Before she could recover, it slashed at her.
The claw struck her stomach.
The woman flew backward and crashed against a tree trunk. A scream escaped her lips before she coughed up blood and slid down the bark. The injured monster limped toward her, slowed by the trap but still dangerous.
Only a few seconds had passed since the ambush began.
Meanwhile, the second Netherclaw Prowler was fully alert and preparing to join the fight. Alex’s mind raced as he assessed the situation. This was the opening he had been waiting for.
One monster was injured. The other was distracted. The distance between them was fairly big. If he attacked the distracted one, the injured one wouldn’t be able to arrive on time.
If he acted now, he might actually have a chance.
Alex made his decision and immediately flooded his legs with mana. The burst of power sent him surging forward so quickly that the scenery blurred around him. For a moment he nearly stumbled from the sudden acceleration.
Then the pain arrived.
It felt as though every muscle in his legs had been torn apart at once. The agony nearly made him cry out, but he pushed through it and continued running. By the time the sensation registered fully, he had already crossed the clearing.
The second Netherclaw Prowler looked up in surprise.
Alex was standing directly in front of it.
Before the monster could fully understand what was happening, Alex was already swinging the stone in his hand.
Pain tore through his body. His legs felt as if they had been ripped apart from the inside. A part of him wanted to scream, collapse onto the ground, and give up, but cold, painful logic kept him moving. He had already thrown himself into the fight, and backing down now would only get him killed.
Adrenaline surged through his veins, mixing with fear, excitement, and desperation. Somehow, it allowed him to push through the pain that should have crippled him. His mind focused entirely on the monster standing in front of him.
The Netherclaw Prowler reacted quickly and tried to dodge by moving its head aside. Alex immediately flooded his arm with mana and concentrated as much of it as possible into the swing. The stone accelerated halfway through the attack, catching the monster completely off guard.
A loud boom echoed across the clearing as the stone slammed into the side of the monster’s head. The impact crushed its skull instantly, and the Netherclaw Prowler collapsed to the ground without even managing a final cry.
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