Saiyan Gamer
Chapter 3: Furry Problem
Escaping extremely persistent meta-wolves was a lot harder than I expected. My energy was low so I couldn't fly for very long, or very far, so every time that I stopped they weren't far behind. After some time, I was only able to get away for longer than a few seconds when I managed to get halfway up the mountain and the terrain changed to pure crystal.
The trees stopped at that point, and the ground went from grassy blades to purple and blue gagged rocks. The terrain got rapidly steeper, and that made it much harder for the wolves to chase me. When they were out of sight, I dipped into the mouth of the first cave that I saw.
"They better not find me here," I grumbled as I slid down the side of the nearest wall and wiped the sweat off of my forehead. It felt relatively safe at the mouth of the cave, but if they found me in here, I'd likely have to retreat further in.
I gave the cave a better look after I managed to catch my breath. Its crystals were a very dark shade of purple, unlike the lighter shade on the ground outside. Blue lights shimmered in random places with the occasional glare of yellow. It looked like nothing I'd ever seen before.
My ship showed me pictures of Planet Plant, but it didn't go into much depth. I'd seen the mountains and the general look, but that didn't compare to actually seeing it in person. When I put my hand down to feel the texture of the stones, it was warm to the touch and pulsated as if it was alive.
Turning and glancing further into the cave didn't show me much. The lights bouncing between the crystals illuminated some of the ways, but at a certain point, pure darkness awaited me. Well, darkness as most others would see it. For me, it just looked like a barely cast shadow.
Darkness isn't a problem for me. I looked away and at the wall in front of me. Planet X-32 was so extremely dark that my eyes were capable of seeing in what most others would consider impossible places. I was confident that if I gave the cave a look longer than a glance, I'd be able to see its entirety without a problem. My hesitation was mainly because I wasn't sure what creatures lived inside the cave. Considering the fact that a 6-month-old animal did a number on me, I wasn't too keen on exploring. However, if there isn't anything too dangerous, this can be my home.
Territory Claimed
Name Your Territory!
What's going on? The world slowed to a crawl, and then a pause; the same as last night.
Territory Chosen Name:
What's going on?
Confirmed
Territory Effects:
Inability to be killed while you sleep in your territory
You cannot be sneak attacked in your territory
Tip: Taking over stronger territories can give you strange rewards based on the territory's previous owner.
Well, that's interesting, if it's true. I looked further down the cave again with a newfound interest. Does that mean that everywhere that I go that isn't already someone else's territory will become mine?
No answer came, but I was decently sure that I understood.
It was barely a minute later when I heard scuttering at the mouth of the cave. When I turned to look, a meta-wolf ran into the cave and bolted towards me. I knew that it wasn't like the others because of its wagging tail and almost smiling lips. Is that No Name?
"Crap! You're going to lead them right to me!" I hoped to my feet and glared daggers at the meta-wolf in front of me. In response, it simply kept wagging its tail and turned to the entrance. It didn't seem like I could kill it, but I still didn't want it anywhere near me.
Not long after, the pack of wolves started to appear at the mouth of the cave. I felt within myself that my Ki had restored a decent amount, so in preparation, I opened my mouth wide and pointed my head in the direction of the entrance. However, the meta-wolves simply stalked back and forth, staring at me with bared their teeth.
Why aren't they coming in? I closed my mouth very slowly, drinking my energy back into my body while I did. Can they not see in a cave this dark?
I started to believe that I was safe, until a larger, more ferocious-looking meta-wolf appeared behind the pack of cubs. Something inside of me knew that it wasn't as limited as the rest, and that was confirmed when it casually walked right past the mouth of the cave and into my territory.
Observe Skill Leveled up!
Observe Lvl 2 - When using Observe on living things, it now provides you with a small description of the creature.
Meta-Wolf Adolescent
HP - 882
Level - 7
Power Level - 189
This meta-wolf was hunting food for its Queen when it saw a cub being attacked by a Saiyan. It decided to intervene.
Is currently ready to rip your throat out.
The battle began when the wolf charged me with bared fangs. It was faster than No Name, but this time I was prepared. There wasn't much room for the animal to maneuver in, so I knew that my first attack would hit. I lifted my fists as if I was going to attack it head-on, but when it jumped at me, I dodged to the left and turned, opening my mouth and allowing my energy to explode; colliding with it head-on and sending it into the wall.
The cave held firm, not shaking in the slightest. I held up the beam for a few seconds, before dropping it and throwing up my fists.
Critical Hit!
The numbers that represented its health dropped by about a quarter. The wolf stood up from the ground with a renewed anger, but before it could attack me, No Name came out of nowhere and slashed the bigger wolf across its face like it had done to me a few hours earlier.
It's helping me fight? I raised a curious eyebrow at No Name but snapped back into the fight when she got slapped away deeper into the cave. The scratch did some damage, thankfully. Purple blood dripped from the wolf's closed eye and its health dropped some more.
I opened my mouth to perform another beam attack, but it was much closer to me this time. The slippery creature ran directly at me but instead of jumping, it dived for my ankle. I didn't have time to dodge it its teeth digging deep into my leg.
"AH!" I yelled in panic as I fell to the ground. In response, the meta-wolf started to shake its head violently with my leg in its mouth, tearing into it more and more while it did. I didn't read the numbers that popped up; it being much easier to ignore when my leg was being chewed off.
With my free leg, I swung and kicked it in its side, but it didn't let go. It barely did any damage, and like before when I had punched No Name, it took some of my health when I hit it. C'mon! I've taken out an entire planet! I've killed billions! I'm not going to let a stupid animal make me look weak!
My eyes landed on its injured eye and without thinking, I swung my fist and punched it as hard as I could. Immediately, its grip loosened and it let go of my leg. It looked startled, and that gave me enough time to punch it again, this time with enough force to get it off of me.
I propped myself onto my arms and flipped into the air, using my energy to keep myself afloat. No Name came crashing into our enemy from deeper in the cave, sending it skidding across the ground. The beast didn't look too bothered by the cub's attack, if anything, it only made it more confused. From the looks of it, it finally realized that the cub was fighting with me.
"Hmm.." I looked down at No Name and studied it for a few moments. It stood in front of me defensively, teeth and fangs bared. I can't believe I tried to kill this little badass earlier.
I wasn't confident that I could kill this opponent on my own, but with No Name, I felt a little more reassured. We'd hit the beast more than a few times, and it had only barely reached halfway through its health. In contrast, one attack from it put me in about the same category. I couldn't risk being hit again.
Without hesitation, No Name pounced on the enemy, but the meta-wolf span in a circle and wacked No Name through the air and into me. I caught her, just in time to see the meta-wolf spinning again, but this time something changed. The fur on its tail straightened out like knives, taking on a silver color when it did.
A sinking feeling washed over me, and I did the first thing that came to mind. With No Name still in my arms, I turned left and flew as fast as I could further into the cave. As I expected, my eyes adjusted to the darkness in seconds, allowing me to see easily what was in front of me.
Something flew by the side of my head while I made my retreat, alarming me. I didn't have time to examine it, but I knew that it must have been a weapon when I felt something extremely sharp dig into my leg and my HP drop.
Not far into the cave, it opened up into a large circular cavern with many different paths that branch out from there. Conveniently for me, it seemed to be the darkest place in the cave. Not for me though…
I let No Name down and flew up into the center of the cavern, keeping my eyes on the entrance that I'd just came in from. I waited patiently for the meta-wolf to enter, and once it did, I smirked darkly.
My favorite hunting tactic on Planet X-32 could only work on a single day a year when sunlight reached the surface. They weren't used to the sudden light, so their eyesight was severely stunted. That gave me the special advantage of being able to sneak into their cities and, as long as I was quiet enough, I could sneak up on them individually and take them out. That way I could take out entire cities without triggering a mass exodus.
In theory, this would work in the same way, except in reverse. The cavern was devoid of any sort of light, and even if meta-wolves could see in slight darkness, this should be completely overwhelming. Based on the way it looked around erratically, I gathered that it had no idea what was around it.
I pulled the sharp thing out of my leg and looked down at it.
Metallic Fur Spike
Status - Very sharp
Damage - Strength Stat + 14
Piercing Damage
Description: This piece of hardened Meta-Wolf fur is as sharp as a blade. With only one pointed end, it is only effective for stabbing or as a throwing weapon.
This will do. I gripped the spike tightly in my hand while floating down to the meta-wolf. It didn't take me long to get right above it. I floated horizontally on top of it, before reaching down and grabbing the beast by its throat, and tilting it up. Simultaneously, I jammed the spike into the side of its head, directly into its ear. It effortlessly slid all the way in, a loud squishing sound echoing throughout the cave as it did.
Blood trickled down out of its ear, while the meta-wolf itself started twitching and its legs buckled underneath it. I yanked the spike out of its head, watching as it fell onto its side convulsing. Still, it wasn't dead yet, so I lowered myself closer to it and stabbed it until the twitching stopped and blood-soaked my hands.
Enemy Defeated!
5500 EXP!
The world froze once again, apart of my 'status' sheet popping up this time.
Level Up!
6 Stat Points Awarded
Stat Sheet
HP - 400
KI - 300
Strength: 10 +
Endurance: 10 +
Charisma: 2 +
Intelligence: 10 [Basic] +
Available Stat Points: 6
Power Level: 120
I stared at the sheet in front of me, trying to figure out what it meant. The numbers had plus signs next to them, which wasn't there before. I looked at the strength stat and smirked slightly. Whatever all of this was, it had proven to be true. If the plus sign means what I think it means…
All six of the 'stat points' went into my strength stat, increasing it from ten to sixteen. My power level rose to one-hundred and fifty-six, along with my health also increasing, followed by my Ki. My body vibrated violently, yet the feeling was comforting. By the time it ended, the world went back to normal and the sound of scuttering feet aroused my attention.
When I turned to my left, I saw No Name staring forward at a sheet similar to the one I'd just seen. She gets her own too?
Very quickly after, she shook her head and the sheet disappeared. Her body shifted slightly, but I noticed the small growth. Her health and power level increased along with her body mass, bringing it up to just above one hundred. Her level also jumped from five to six, like mine.
Instantly Loot
The other two options are gone. I realized, a little disappointed. Oh well, I wonder what loot does.
Upon clicking that option, the dead meta-wolf body at my feet simply vanished. In its place, many objects lay in wait. Looking at each one of them, I realized quickly that they were various parts of the meta-wolves body. Having killed plenty of creatures and people, the innards were easy to identify.
I wasn't sure what they were called, but that didn't matter. I knew what tasted good and what didn't and what I could use. Interestingly enough, the longer I tried to sift the bad from the good, the quicker I realized that none of the bad stuff had been left behind. It's like, by choosing to loot the body, I instantly took all of the bad stuff and left the useful things.
Its teeth, its extremely hard fur, and all of the edible pieces of meat lay before me. The teeth could be useful as throwing weapons, seeing as they were too small to be held in my hand. The fur was durable, evident by the battles earlier, but it didn't look nearly as hard as the spike that had pierced my leg. There's not that much of it, so it could make an interesting cloak.
I picked up the fur and immediately, a description popped up.
Meta-Wolf Fur [Adolescent Size]
Status - Great Quality
Durability - 14 Armor
Description: This is fur from the meta-wolf that you killed. It provides armor equivalent to its strength stat.
[Craftable]
2X Meta-Wolf Fur [Adolescent Size] = Meta-Wolf Body Suit
2X Meta Wolf Fur [Adolescent Size] = Meta-Wolf Pants
4X Meta-Wolf Fur [Adolescent Size] = Meta-Wolf Full Body Suit
[More…]
More… My eyes widened considerably at the MUCH larger list that formed in front of me. I closed it out pretty quickly, deciding to take a look at it later. Fighting two meta-wolves and running away from the rest was tiring. I just wanted to relax for longer than a few hours without being attacked.
I just want to relax. I realized dryly. The last four years of my life were a constant battle of murder and survival. When I wasn't recovering from a battle, I was traveling towards it. My body was in constant strain and pain in my rush to return home. All so that I could relax, even if it was just for a little bit.
Instead, I got home and was met by a family that didn't want me. Not that it really mattered, family didn't mean much to me right now anyway. It was just a word, which right now was associated with my limbs being broken.
I didn't have a family on Planet X-32. I didn't realize it for a long time, but when they found me after my ship landed, they had separated me from the majority of the civilization and put me on an island with just a small population.
On that floating town, I lived on my own but was provided fish and reluctantly taught how to clean water enough for me to drink. Whenever I wandered the town, people would avoid me or ignore me. For a while, I wondered if they could even see me, but that was proven wrong when I tried to touch the person who brought me food and they screamed at me.
I never understood their language for the entire time I lived there, so I didn't know what he had been yelling, but his facial expressions told me everything that I needed to hear. I didn't understand it until my ship called to me from deep in the ocean and revealed my mission, while also educating me so that I wasn't a complete idiot. Whether the native people knew what I was sent to do or not, I wasn't sure. If they did, they would have killed me, I was sure. That's what I would have done, anyway.
My existence went from wondering why I was even alive if I didn't belong, to finding my purpose and working my ass off to exterminate them. Now, I knew who my species finally was and where I thought I belonged, only to get here and be rejected because I was 'weak'.
Perhaps I had been hoping for too much. I'd only cleared one planet. Compared to Brussel's more than a dozen, it looked pitiful in comparison. She cleared an entire planet when she was just four. It wasn't entirely fair, considering I didn't even know about my mission until I was 10, but it still happened and was the reality.
There was also the fact that my power level was only 100 when they measured it, and apparently, that was very low for Saiyan standard. The problem was, they didn't tell me what Saiyan standard was, so I didn't know what to work towards. The fact that a full-power blast to the face didn't bother Brussel in the slightest concerned me deeply. Would I have to get that strong just to be accepted? Can I even get that strong?
Do I have to get that strong just to belong?
I stared at the roof of the cave, receiving no answer.
