Chapter 24 - Into The Wilderness (1)

After taking the bracelet for himself, Zok headed to retrieve the spear and the same thing happened again. Another glowing screen appeared in front of him, but this time it was showing information about the spear.

__

Item: [Reforged] Spear of Searing

Type: Weapon

Strength: +40 while equipped for use

Rarity: Very Rare

Effect(s):

• Attacking enemies using this weapon exposes them to burn damage from acid. (Ineffective on Elite beasts).

• Grants the user the passive skill: <Locked>. (Kill 10 A grade beasts to unlock this skill.)

• Grants the user the active skill: <Locked>. (Kill 100 A grade beasts to unlock this skill.)

__

"Man do you really need to lock every-darn-thing? Even if I don't know why will that affect me, it's still a bit... weird."

After checking the stats and placing the spear in his inventory, Zok and Kaira walked out of the cave and as they did, they saw something. Taheton's direwolf was still waiting for its master to return. For a second Zok almost felt bad for the wolf because no matter how long it waited there, Taheton would never walk out of the cave. He could die there waiting.

"If you people were as loyal as the beasts... sigh, you deserved a better master, my friend." Zok mumbled before petting the wolf, "Sadly, I can't help you. I don't have enough what was it called... ah, I got it. I don't have enough control points to tame you. But I wish you all the luck to survive in the wilderness alone."

The wolf looked hungry and was tired from waiting outside the entire day, all alone. Sadly, Zok had nothing to feed the wolf, nor water to give to him. Zok gave the wolf a sympathetic pat on the head and was about to move on. But then a sadist plan hit him. Well, not him but the system.

[Emergency Quest: Kill the B-grade Direwolf in front of you.]

[Rewards: EXP +100]

[Additional rewards will be awarded for depravity.]

But just killing the wolf wasn't enough for Zok. He wanted that additional reward as well, so he rushed back inside the cave and when he was back, he was carrying Taheton's severed arm with him. He wasn't as heartless to let a wolf die without having a heartfelt reunion with whatever remained of his master. Zok threw the arm in front of the wolf and waited to see what happened next.

At first, the wolf was confused, his hunger forced him to sniff the arm. But he jumped back as soon as he recognised the smell of his master. It took the wolf a couple of seconds to realise what was going on, and as soon as he did, he began growling at Zok. Something which Kaira didn't take lightly, but Zok stopped her from attacking the wolf.

[Objective accomplished! Additional rewards will be awarded after killing the beast.]

"I heard one of the tribesmen say... when a beast starts growling at you, you better make sure to kill it before it kills you. Looks like he was correct." Zok smiled as he brought forth the spear to take care of the wolf, "If we are going to survive in the wilderness, I would need to sharpen my non-existent hunting skills. I guess I'll just start with you."

The wolf jumped at Zok showing off his claws. Zok on the other hand remained calm and angled his spear behind him. The moment the wolf was within his range, Zok dodged the attack before jumping over the wolf and stabbed his spear right into his head. It was a clean strike. The spear got embedded in the wolf's head. However, it was still alive.

'Kaira, would be kind enough to do the honours.' Zok used the Hivemind ability to communicate with Kaira, who immediately lept at the half-dead wolf, killing it with no mercy.

[You have slain a level 7 B-grade Direwolf. Agility +1.00. Exp +80]

[Your familiar <Kaira> has slain a level 7 B-grade Direwolf. Exp +80]

[Your familiar and you will share an equal amount of EXP from kills. But only you will receive the stat points.]

"I really am becoming a sadist... and I don't feel bad about this... weird. Did this 'system' messed with my head as well?" Zok vigorously shook his head as if doing that would fix his new personality, "Either way, I guess we have enough food to last us a couple of days?"

Zok kneeled down next to the corpse of the wolf and he didn't feel any remorse for what he did to the loyal beast. None whatsoever. Even at that moment, he could only think about roasting its meat and feasting on it. But first, he needed to find a safe place to do so.

Both of the suns, that planet Occuna revolved around, were slowly going down and soon darkness would rule the wilderness. Zok didn't know what he should expect in the dark. But he wasn't going to let anything scare him off. But before that, he needed to store the carcass somewhere safe, where no one would be able to find it.

"Oh, I can use the inventory again. It said I can store organic things in there as well. Now, what did I have to do... imagine putting this thing inside a box and... done!"

The wolf's corpse disappeared without a trace following a small indistinguishable flash of light. Zok checked his inventory just to make sure that the wolf carcass was stored in the inventory or not.

"Woah... it took 3 slots to store one corpse? Still, it seems reasonable considering the spear took four. Come on Kaira, let's find a place to sleep... although I don't think it would be easy to do so."

[You have unclaimed rewards: Title x1]

'Claim?'

[You have received the title: [Lazy Bast*rd]: Actions consume less energy.]

".... I don't like this anymore."