After having taken the time to 'neutrally' and 'objectively' analyse my life from the moment I was aware of my surroundings (and myself) until now, I realized that I was not a really fortunate guy. I would even say that I am somewhat cursed by someone who the majority of the population refer to as "Lady Luck".
Just to give a sample of my misery, my name would suffice. I am Dick Daniel Junior. And right now, I am in the process of dying.
You know, when your life story begins flowing in front of you and all you can do is just watch and accept it. Well, let us say that I am not very fond of what I am seeing if that wasn't already clear.
Orphan at six. My parents died in a car accident. Since then, my uncle took me. You know, just like in those clichés movies, he was exactly the always drunk uncle. Hitting his wife, his kids, me. Well, you get what I mean to say. His company was not very 'enjoyable'. Very far from it.
Then there were my cousins. Not even worth being called family. But at the same time, I understood where they were coming from. With what they had as an education, I was almost surprised by their behaviour. Always picking on me. What made it worse? They were older than me by 3 years, and they were twins. So you get where I am going. And I wouldn't even get started on my aunt.
But if I were to tale you my whole life story, we would not get anywhere and you would get bored pretty fast.
So let's skip to the cause of my demise and how it happened.
I was just taking a little walk on a Sunday when I noticed something blurry on my left. Not paying it any attention since...it was just something blurry. I continued my little stroll. Humming a little song to entertain myself.
Then BLAM! Something just sent me flying around like a ragdoll, I ended up smashing against something really hard. Probably breaking my back and neck in the process. Then that was it.
The pain didn't last long. I wasn't even sure of what truly happened.
Then I blinked, and up. Suddenly, I was standing beside my bloody carbon copy, I remarked a strange chain protruding from my chest as I was busy checking myself out and panicking.
But then a strange howl-like noise attracted my attention. Bringing me out of my confused mind. That's when things began going to shit. Well, that's what I believed. As I shifted around, I noticed a ridiculous monkey-like thing just about 20 meters away from me. A skull-like mask with grinning white teeth in its...face? Not giving it a second though, I began running for my life. Not even 10 steps away and my chest was crushed rather viciously by one of its members.
And that's how I ended up reminiscing about my life as my assassin slowly and deliberately brought my corpse close to its face. With how fast it all happened, I could only stare as it opened its mouth and then I knew no more than darkness.
That's how I died.
Or so I believed until a red screen appeared in front of my face.
* Warning: Soul Merging Detected *
I don't know how long it took
* Dominating Hollow Souls *
Could have been years, yet could have been seconds.
* Domination Successful *
* Congratulations! You have successfully dominated the hollow! You have been reincarnated as a regular hollow! *
But then, my brain seemed to finally reboot. I was finally able to think coherently.
* New status acquired *
'What the fuck is this?' I kept asking myself as I, rather dumbly, continued to stare at the screen in front of me. From an outsider's viewpoint, I would have appeared to just blankly stare into the open maze that was the Menos Forest. Not that I could tell where I currently was.
Shaking my head rapidly to clear away my confusion, I returned to stare blankly at the screen. Reaching out tentatively with my hand, I was startled to see a dark furred appendage appear in my field of vision. A squeal is what I would like to call what came out of my mouth but I knew it wasn't one. It didn't have the slightest resemblance to a humanly possible voice.
I wanted to panic, or, at least, felt like I needed to. But I was strangely calm. Too calm even.
' what the hell is wrong with me?' I meant to voice those thoughts and yet again, only grow-like noises came out of my mouth.
After taking a moment to really calm myself, I decide to focus on the screen that has yet to leave my field of vision and brushed my 'hand' on the last line of words. I was not even surprised when another screen popped up. But instead of being red, this one was bright blue while the words were colored in dark gray.
* Would you like to see your status screen? *
I blinked. This seemed oddly familiar.' Why not?'
The words were replaced by new ones, it looked like this thing was responding to my thoughts.
Name: Dick Daniel Junior (Dick)
Race: Basic Average Hollow
Lvl 15 next [0%]
HP: 1500/1500 reg/min (1%)
Reiatsu: 750/750 reg/min (1%)
Str: 25
Dex: 20
Sta: 25
Int: 10
Wis: 10
* Skills *
- Gamer's Mind (lvl max) (passive): Keeps the mind calm. Prevent mental status from taking effect.
Note: This skill make of you an oddity amongst hollows as you do not suffer the hunger felt by all your peers.
- Gamer's Body (lvl max) (passive): Allows the user to live like a game character.
Note: This skill make of you an oddity as you are able to evolve even if bitten by your peers.
- Garganta Creation (lvl max) (active): Allows the user to rip space to travel between the three worlds. Reiatsu cost per use: 10
- Weak Hiero (lvl 01)(45%) (passive): Harden the user's skin. This skill is always on but it can be activated for a higher protection. Cost per higher use: 50 R per minute.
* Perk *
Hollow Absorption: Allows the user to freely absorb others via bite.
Okay, if it really is what I think it is, then I did good in reading 'The Gamer' and watching SAO. Just to be sure (because it was rather disbelieving to say the least) I reopened my status again. Then closed it. And continued like that for about a dozen times until my doubts subsided.
I didn't know how to feel. It was strange to either be trapped in a videogame or becoming a game character. It was troubling. There was some part of me that felt happy for the change. And there was some other parts that were suppressed by Gamer's Mind.
Anyway, I still haven't figured out what happened to me. Did I die and got reincarnated? Thinking about it, maybe the game had an answer to that.
Bringing out my status screen once again.
* Basic Average Hollow: like its name indicates, it is the basest and weakest form/class of a hollow. *
' Okay, what is a hollow.'
* A hollow is a soul which have had too many regrets to pass on peacefully and move to the afterlife otherwise known as the Soul Society. *
I blinked and reread it several times to be sure that I understood what was presented to me. ' So let's just assume that I died and got my soul transformed into a devil. A weak ass devil.' My assumption made, I began scanning my surroundings for the second time. I was a dark sandy forest. The trees were huge and there was no visible sky in the horizon. Not sure where the lights were coming from though.
Just as if waiting for me to cope with my current predicament, a quest decided to appear before me.
* New Quest: Evolve 1 ! *
* You have been reincarnated as the weakest possible version of a hollow. Starting from scratch, you have to fight for your survival and evolve into an Adjuchas in two months.*
* Your current predicament prevents you from suffering mental deterioration, as such, you will skip the basic transformation into Guillian and immediately become an Adjuchas upon evolution *
Success:
- Evolution into Adjuchas.
- 2 perk points.
- 100 stats points.
Failure:
- True Death.
I knew stuff like that would happen soon. Well, better start finding out what I can do with my current body.
As if answering me, a hollow appeared in front of me out of nothing. It appeared to have taken quite a beating if the way it was clutching its stomach and howling madly was any indication.
Strange how I was provided with a weakened enemy to begin with. Meh, might as well consider it a tutorial of some sort. Acting quickly since it didn't seem to have noticed me yet, I lunged at its unprotected back and punched with all my strength. The beast doubled over and fell forward. I did not waste time and kicked. It let out another pained shriek and caught my foot as I went in for another hit. The hollow gave it a quick tug and tackled me. We rolled on the sand and out of idea, I instinctively jagged my teeth at the base of it's neck while it let out a howl from the pain. And began flailing its arms around. Trying to push me away but it could do little to shrug me off. I bit down with all my might and managed to tear off a part of its neck while doing my best to keep it from doing the same to me. I did not stop there though and continued devouring it mercilessly. It was over quickly. The hollow could not do anything in its injured and battered form while I kept sucking away its strength.
Thankfully, Gamer's Mind exists. I wouldn't be able to cope with any of these if not for that skill. I did not even know how I was capable of eating or where the idea came from. I just ate.
[Name: Dick Daniel Junior (Dick)
Lvl 15 next 90%]
Wow, if this was this easy to level up, I would only need to eat around a couple of dozen of these weaker hollows to evolve. So I thought but I didn't know yet that to evolve into an adjuchas would take thousands of them. The problem was, where to find them.
I wouldn't try to just wander around, simply because I don't want to meet a hollow stronger than me.
After thinking about it for awhile, I decided to wait here for them to show up. If there weren't any hollows nearby, then I would assume that this was some kind of safe zone for now.
And waiting I did. And damn, I got bored pretty fast. So I brought up my skill screen to see if I could try to grind them while waiting.
'Weak Hiero it is then'. I didn't even know how to activate it so, to test it out. I first pinched my hand to test the resistance, then
'weak hiero'. Since the game was responding to my thoughts, I figured out that I could activate it like this. And so, the minutes were but mere seconds to me.
I managed to get hiero to a decent level of 4 by the time another hollow decided to show up via another garganta.
Though, this one was immediately aware of my presence, I wondered why. I made quick work of that one too, I realized after fighting it for a few seconds that it was just a mindless beast. It made my job way too easy for me. Though, I had to use my teeth once again. Plus, I had Hollowed Absorption. I'm pretty sure that's why I'm so inclined to bite my opponents.
* Congratulations! Your level went up by one!*
* Congratulations! You gained the skill detect presence!*
* Would you like to allocate your stat points?*
' Hell yeah!'
Name: Dick Daniel Junior
Lvl 16 next (70%)
HP 1600/1600 (reg 16/min)
Reiatsu 800/800 (reg 8/min)
Str: 25
Dex: 20
Sta: 25
Int: 10
Wis: 10
Stat Points: 10
With a mask probably on my face, I couldn't really grin. But I still felt like laughing like the crazy guy I became. And God, It came out like some horrific sounds.
I wouldn't try laughing once again for a while.
Anyway, I dumped all my stat points into strength since I didn't really see the use for the likes of Int and Wis for now.
With that, I checked that new skill of mine that would quite probably come in handy.
Detect Presence lvl 1 (0%) (active): Allow the user to detect other beings. Beware, there are beings which can hide their signature presence, as such, detecting them would require a higher level of this skill. Current range: 10 meters. Cost: 10 R/min.
*R stands for Reiatsu.*
At level one, it would be pretty much useless. But with such a low cost, I would activate it as long as I could.
'Detect Presence' And so I activated it. And was quite disappointed. I felt nothing special around me. But seeing the slight dent in my reiatsu, I guessed it was activated.
For now, I would wait here and practice on these two skill until I get them into a decent level or another hollow shows up and see if I could get to create any skill just from practicing.
Too bad, another hollow decided that instant to show up. And damn it if this one was not ugly.
It was like the combination of a cockroach and a larvae. Felt like throwing up, but gamer's mind intervened. Plus, I do not even know if I could still vomit.
In the end, the hollow proved itself not to be so different from the others before. It just shrieked and lunged at me.
I decided to make a gamble, activating my Hiero for extra protection, I too, ran at it. I haven't realized up until now, but I was quite fast. I dodged its first appendage that tried to right hook me, I caught the other one, and with a growl, I made a demonstration of my newly acquired strength and hefted it over my shoulder.
It crashed in the ground with another shriek. Not giving it the time to recover, I proceeded to madly trash its head with my foot. With a final shriek, It gave out.
I quickly began devouring it and watched with fascination as it disappeared in a black mist after I was done.
Cue, blue screens.
* Congratulations! Your level went up by one!*
* Congratulations! You created a skill!*
* Foot Trashing was created!*
'The hell?' I created a skill by repeatedly bashing a hollow's unprotected head with my foot? I didn't quite know how to feel.
Sighing (witch didn't came out like one), I opened my status screen.
[Name: Dick Daniel Junior (Dick)
Lvl 17 next (50%)
HP 1700/1700 reg/min (1%)
R 850/850 reg/min (1%)
Str: 35
Dex: 20
Sta: 25
Int: 10
Wis: 10
Stat points: 10]
Well, let's just dump all into strength again. It worked for me, why should I stop? Now, for that new skill.
Foot Trashing lvl 1 (0%): Repeatedly and rapidly strike a foe with your foot. Max number of strike 5. Cost per use 50 R.
So 10 R per strike it was then. Let's see.
'Foot Trashing' I watched with fascination as my foot almost moved by itself and beat the air rapidly in front of me. All in seconds. All these skills and level ups were getting me excited. I felt like cackling, but I refrained myself.
Now, let's pick up where I left off before I was so rudely interrupted. Activating Detect Presence, I repeatedly used 'Foot Trashing' until I was short on reiatsu. Which was pretty fast, but that was expected. I turned off all active skills to rest a bit.
*Skills*
Detect Presence lvl 1 (80%)
Foot Trashing lvl 2 (20%) max strike 6. Cost 54 R
Weak Hiero lvl 4 (45%)
Well, I was doing pretty good but I knew it would become harder to level my skills up as I become stronger. After a while, around 45 minutes if my reiatsu was to be believed, another weak hollow showed up. Easy picking.
I also discovered that I had a tail. Kind of like Goku's. Which led me to believe that I have taken over that monkey hollow that 'killed' me.
I also gained another level which replenished my reiatsu pool. Which led to another grinding time and so on.
I continued on like that for at least three days. How I knew that? Well, the time sensitive quest provided me with notification each time a day has passed.
Now, I was on level 23. I did not advance much, but in my defense, it became harder to level up each time I did gain a level. And I could only meet so much hollows while staying stationary. I also gained a few information about my whereabouts. I was currently in a place called Menos Forest inside of Hueco Mundo. The information popped up when I tried to use garganta once.
[ Name: Dick Daniel Junior (Dick)
Lvl 23 next (10%)
HP 2300/2300 reg/min (1%)
Reiatsu 1150/1150 reg/min (1%)
Race/Class: Basic Average Hollow
Str: 75
Dex: 30
Sta: 45
Int: 10
Wis: 10
*Skills*
- Storm Kicks lvl 2 (30%): A higher level of Foot Trashing which allows more the use of more blows and deals more damage. Max number of kicks: 12. Cost 49,5 R
- Might Punch lvl 6 (95%): Channels Reiatsu into your hand to deal a devastating punch. Cost 30 R to 55 R
- Higher Detection lvl 2 (3%): An evolved version of Detect Presence which allows the user to detect an enemy's approximative reiatsu level. Range: 120 meters
- Hierro lvl 2 : Tougher skin. Cost per higher use: 50 ]
Feeling a bit satisfied with my current progress, I decided that it was high time for me to start hunting for hollows rather than wait for them to come to me.
And with Higher Detection, I should be able to avoid anyone stronger than me before they notice my presence.
My decision taken, I headed deeper into the forest. And I was quite rapidly frightened and harshly reminded that my current level meant nothing for the various predators that lurked the land. Why? Well, there was a reason why this was called the Menos Forest. There were tons of them lurking around. I suddenly felt like a fly going around spiders ready to suck me dry the moment I crossed their threads.
I lost my confidence boost and for a moment, I wondered if should go back to my little hunting heaven. I shook my head. Now was not the time to cower away in fear. Concentrating on my Higher Detection, if felt various beings around me that dwarfed my current ability.
I made extra care to keep my distance from them as far as possible and zoomed in to the one that I felt equaled my strength. The battle was quick. As always.
The fool was unaware of my presence until I Might Punched him into submission. I immediately realized the difference. I was already past halfway into leveling up again while it have taken around 8 to 9 hollows to reach level 23. Suppressing yet another desire to cackle madly (old habits die hard) I immediately took after another one in the vicinity. Made quick work of it then was on my way once again. In the end, I reached level 30 quite rapidly when something caught my attention.
* Congratulations! You reached level 30!*
* You are no longer considered Basic Average Hollow!*
* You are now an average Hollow!*
* You gain a perk point! Do you want to use it?*
Mirroring my first reaction when I discovered my first screen, I stared stupidly at the screen.
Recovering quickly as not to leave myself open for any fool to attack, I decided to see what perk there was to use first.
* Perk Shop 1*
- Raging Hollow: You are a hollow which passed away with great rage and pain, as such, for each level you gain, you gain an additional 4 str and 4 sta.
- Tough Hollow: You gain an inner understanding of Hierro. As such, for each level you gain, your Hierro gains another lvl 2 str.
- Blaster Hollow: You became a proficient user of the Hollow's signature move: cero. Gain the skill cero 1 level in the skill per level up 20R.
- Flash Hollow: Speed is your ace. Gain skill Sonido which grows according to your level 2 Dex.
At that exact moment, time stopped for me. It was love at first sight. How come did I miss this Perk Shop? Plus there were more than one shop. Damn, I'm so going to become awesome.
The next few minutes were wasted as I kept torturing myself over what perk to choose. They all seemed awesome. Raging Hollow was awesome because of the boost in strength and stamina per level. But there was Tough Hollow which, with time would make me practically invincible. Let's not forget about Blaster Hollow, just the name was enough to send chills down my spine. And there was Flash Hollow..
'SHIT!' I can't bring it to myself to choose just one of them. I felt like a child right now. Torn between 4 different cookies all with different yet wondrous tastes.
Sighing to myself, I closed the screen and turned towards the specific direction where I felt a Hollow sneaking up on me. My eyes narrowed, if they were smart enough to use stealth then they must be troublesome.
If I could still speak, I would have told it to come out, sadly, I did not possess such luxury. Activating higher Hierro, I prepared myself to rush it when it suddenly came out flying at me from the shadows. Acting fast, I lunged aside. I managed to dodge it and immediately retaliated with Storm Kicks, the hulking hollow took my hits like a boss but I knew I did some damages. Sparing its level a look, I was reassured to see that it was still in my league even if it was 4 levels higher than me. The dark figure took hold of my foot while I was in the middle of throwing another Storm Kicks and threw me away.
I crashed against the bark of a tree, a shriek coming out of my mouth. I hurried to my feets and prepared for an eventual attack but none came. For a moment I considered it gone when the hollow once again came flying at me. This time, I was prepared. I side stepped it once again and Might Punched it on the side chest with the full 70R and was satisfied to hear it let out its first howl of pain. Not relenting, my second hand was already in motion. And so I was able to score two hits when it suddenly sent me crashing away with a kick to the abdomen and rushed at me. I recovered quickly and took it head on. It was much more like a brawl rather than an actual fight. We were approximately equal in strength and the bastard had retained some kind of its intellect to keep me from outrightly gaining the advantage. But I was winning, it was subtle but, I kept scoring hits on its legs with my reiatsu enhanced tail. Who said it was an useless appendage?
Anyway, with a vicious kick to its leg in exchange of a Puch in my chest, I managed to make it lose its footing and proceeded to use one of my favorite finisher (my only finisher actually). Mainly bashing its head repeatedly with my foot.
With a final shriek, the beast-y monster went down and gave its strength to me. In the end, he just delivered two levels for me.
[ Name: Dick Daniel Junior
Lvl 32 next (90%)
Race/Class: Average Hollow
HP 3200/3200 reg/min (1%)
Reiatsu 1600/1600 reg/min (1%)
Str: 95
Dex: 50
Sta: 65
Int: 10
Wis: 10
Stat Points: 30
Perk Points: 1
*Skills*
- Gamer's Mind lvl max (passive)
- Gamer's Body lvl max (passive)
- Might Punch lvl 9 (55%)
- Storm Kicks lvl 4 (92%)
- Higher Detection lvl 6 (3%)
- Hierro lvl 3 (40%)
*Perks*
- Hollow Absorption
A.N: My first fic. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Leave a review to let me know what you think of it!