Finally, evening came again. Steve slowly regained consciousness, blinked, stretched, and walked out of the dream. In fact, he slept deeply. He was getting ready to have breakfast and then go—
oh. He is still a kitten. So it wasn't a dream, was it? young. I guess fuck it. Still didn't wake up at all. It's a subtle metaphor for death, in case anyone didn't realize it.
Now, it's time to check on his status. Although there is still some pain in my chest, it is now under control. Maybe they did break before...hopefully there won't be any lasting effects. status?
status:
|Unnamed|
Level: 4 -> 5
Type: Common Mopava
title:
HP: 14/17
MP: 15/15
Speed: 16/25
Strength: 6 -> 8
Vitality: 7 -> 8
Agility: 10
Agility: 14
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 6
Willpower: 3 -> 5
Luck: 8
Ability points: 11
Skill points: 450
Gold Award: 203
Once again he is very happy with his latest level. It's a very good sign to see his points accumulation increase. It just gives him an extra layer of security if he finds himself in trouble. Unlike his skill points, of course he wants to spend some now!
As soon as he thought of this, the skill store opened, with a long list of skills and prices neatly arranged on it. Although now he is actually only interested in two abilities: long-range combat capabilities or the offensive traps he can set. that's it. Something like telekinesis or spider silk. In fact, they all exist, but unfortunately, they all cost 3000 skill points.
Well, shit. The only ranged ability he could find that he could afford that might be of some use was. The ability to throw objects costs 300 skill points. It’s not cheap, but then again, throwing things is a very powerful ability…
Of course, he tried to make money before buying from the store. For a complete. damn it. Hour. Unfortunately, apparently him scooping up rocks with his claws and throwing them doesn't qualify as a thrower, even with the grace period. Finally, he gave in and decided to buy it with his points. After all, throwing still makes humans the dominant species on Earth, versatile and powerful.
[Acquire skills from the skill store. ]
Excellent. It's still better than nothing. At least he can do some damage from a distance. Now let’s check it out in detail. !
[Throwing: A skill that allows the user to throw objects with which they are in physical contact. Object speed and maximum weight depend on the user's skill level and strength statistics. Spends Sp based on the weight of the object. Throwing motion is recommended but not required. Objects can be launched through simple physical contact. The initial upward and forward momentum will be provided by additional Sp charges. ]
hehe. It's interesting. Did the skills change specifically for him, or is this the case for everyone? Now how exactly does it work?
He let out a big yawn, stretched for a long moment in the evening sun, and then stepped off the log, ignoring the dull pain in his ribs. He tapped his claws tentatively on a piece of bark on the floor, reaching out to feel the strange sensation he knew was associated with his skill. !
For a while, nothing happened, until the piece of bark emerged from under his paws, floated to the height of his face, and then launched forward. Every sudden movement was accompanied by a slight feeling of exhaustion in him, almost like he was lifting weights. It felt weird, like he was a battery, except for what he was actually doing.
Considering he had just thrown a piece of bark, the rock might have flown a little slower. But how do skills work? He can take advantage of this, and even make good use of it. It's almost perfect as a starting skill until things escalate.
If he needs to imitate the effect of a skill in order to gain it, it also makes sense that he doesn't gain it by throwing things himself. After all, he hasn't fully achieved the function of his skills yet.
After purchasing the skill, he thought it might be time to collect some ammo, namely rocks, but then his stomach intervened. He quickly finished the mouse he had set aside yesterday, took out the venom from the stock, and carefully placed it on the ground. This time he needs a slot for the stone.
Using itself, he transports rocks to his base and stacks them there. After a while, he finally made a rather large rocky mountain - from the cat's perspective of course. Therefore, as a first step he must check his status.
HP: 15/17
MP: 15/15
Speed: 11/25
It seemed that during the time he was collecting stones, his HP recovered faster, but his SP actually dropped. Well, then again, he did use a fleet of rocks to transport him, so that does make sense. Alas, with this pile of pebbles, there was really only one thing left to do, so he put his paw on one of them a meter or so away from the log and issued the command.
Immediately, the stone was thrown towards the tree trunk. It flew faster than he expected, hitting the wood hard and bouncing away a little. But the reinforcements held on. The impact left only a small dent. Steve smiled at that. His work paid off.
He smiled and turned back to his pile of rocks. If his home was in good enough condition, he might be able to wait a little longer and fortify it further. Instead, he'll do some target practice on the regular trees surrounding his little base. With some difficulty he moved the pile between two thick trees so that he could throw them back and forth. He also carved a purpose into each one.
After thinking about it, he also wanted to strengthen these trees to prevent him from falling down accidentally. Some of the rocks are quite sharp. When he tracked the first rune, he didn't rely too much on skills. He has now memorized the rune and can carve it himself, a skill that is only really needed when magic is infused. After carving two of them, one on each tree, he decided to check his status to see his Sp.
Speed 12/25
Although he only recovered a little, it was expected, because he moved all the rocks and carved some runes, and it was actually better than expected. Now, Steve starts throwing rocks until he can no longer throw them, then meditates and carves runes until he regains some strength.
He repeated this process for several hours. By the end, he had carved six more runes, three for each tree, and he had reached level three. He guessed he was pretty good at throwing rocks now. About eight meters.
Although he was out of breath at the end of the day, he still stuck to his principles and kept throwing stones. In his past life, he was sure he would draw a surreal picture of a kitten floating and shooting rocks. But he quickly shook off the thought, feeling himself energized by his growling stomach.
Come to think of it, he hasn't tested how well the rocks work on mice. He could only think of one way to find out...
So, taking a stone from his inventory, he set out to find one. Luckily, their numbers seemed to be increasing every day, and after only a few minutes he saw one scurrying about on the ground. He waited until it smelled the air and then threw the stone at it. And, according to the dead rat he then ate, rock didn't just beat scissors.
With that, Steve went to bed with his journal in hand. My belly is full and I still have a stone in my inventory.
When he woke up the next night, the weather had changed for the first time. Outside the comfort of his dry log, the grass was very wet, and there was a silvery mist floating in the air that grew thicker as he looked. Listen carefully, and you can vaguely hear the sound of a handful of tiny raindrops falling. He tried to check the sky, but the fog was so dense that he had no idea how the rain would develop. Steve sighed inwardly.
Sure, he enjoyed the rain occasionally, but he didn't like getting wet, especially when every part of his cat was screaming at him to hurry up and escape from the evil liquid dripping down from above. In short, he really, really didn't want to hunt that day. Sadly, his stomach didn't give him much of a choice, because it immediately whined when Steve considered not going out. He sighed again, this time much longer.
In fact, he finally decided to go hunting. However, his plan was foiled when he stepped out of the log. Through the patter of rain, he heard heavy footsteps and the sound of someone breathing. But judging from the footsteps, they didn't seem to come from any animal he had ever seen. There's no double tap or anything, instead they look very bipedal.
Steve concentrated more, staring into the mist, trying to see if it was a person or something else. He has no idea what kind of species there are in this world. The sound was quiet, forcing him to lean further away from the log, ignoring the droplets of water hitting his head.
As he did so, a deafening roar shook the forest, signaling the end of his brief reconnaissance mission, and he retreated into the logs. There was something out there, and it was bigger than him, and very unhappy.
After the roar, he could hear a second set of footsteps, which were actually louder and heavier than the first. They also come from things with four legs. Well, the roar he heard wasn't exactly humanoid either. After a few more seconds, he suddenly heard something hit his log, followed by a human cry and a wet splash. It looked like someone had just fallen off his house. Don't they know it's rude to kick someone else's house? Oh my god.
For a moment, Steve pouted, but he quickly lost the chance to do so when he heard another growl nearby, along with something huge and breathing heavily. OK Looks like some damn idiot decided to piss off a bear and got chased here. They then fell and landed directly on the ground, now being approached by it. Well done, dearest human being. 10/10 works. excellent. Really, congratulations. It must have been an impressive series of stupid decisions.
Steve sighed again when he heard slow footsteps and the roar of a bear. Now this is a dilemma. He really didn't want to go out, because it was raining, and humans should probably lie down on the ground, but he couldn't just let them lie there... Could he outrun the bear? Maybe he could climb a tree? No, aren’t bears excellent climbers? Oh, fuck!
Steve immediately stepped outside, the rain pattering against his fur. He stared for a moment at the cautiously approaching bear, his human view blocked by its huge body. Sure enough, as he thought, it was the black bear he saw drinking water by the pond. Is it really worth it to be an enemy of that thing for a stranger?
Well, he already had a migraine. He thought his head might explode if he kept this up, so he simply ran over to his pile of rocks and fired at about ten of them as fast as he could, all of which shot forward, hitting the bear on both sides. Side and ass.
The black giant stopped. It paused, then slowly turned its head towards the place of disturbance, gnashing its teeth and roaring. Just then, another stone hit its teeth hard, shattering one of its fangs. The bear didn't even take a second to growl angrily at the kitten that dared to throw something at it, and immediately charged at it stupidly.
Steve himself just ducked behind a tree, causing Muscle Brain to hit his head against the tree. Normally this should work, but I was unlucky this time. The tree shook but did not break. Perhaps it should normally break under the weight of a bear, but there is one deciding factor. runes.
After shaking its head, the bear roared again, this time louder and angrier, and its eyes darted around again, looking for the kitten. It spotted Steve in the distance, and when its eyes fell on him, he darted away. Of course, it chased after him without hesitation.
Steve, on the other hand, was scared shitless. He didn't expect this bastard to be powerful enough to break a tree. He was really lucky to have picked the right one, otherwise it might have fallen on him. Then he got lucky again and confused the bear. He didn't want to take any more chances, so he walked far enough away to barely see the thing, waited for it to notice him, and then he started running away.
He immediately rushed out at full speed. There was no way that thing was slower than him, absolutely no chance. That thing needs to take one for every five steps it takes. He didn't even have time to stop for a second. Even if the agility is high, the overall speed may be slower.
He didn't even have time to look back as he hurtled between the trees, taking the most difficult turns he could, without even thinking about stopping. When he was out of breath, a vicious roar came from behind again. The distance is not that far. Not far at all. Maybe a few steps. Has the distance between them... shortened? He has also launched <Sprint>!
Eyes wide with fear, Steve yelled who he was. He is very, very anxious to allocate 10 points to Agility. This was repeated until he finally heard a "ding" and a small box appeared.
Agility 14 -> 24
In an instant, his speed increased explosively, so fast that his brain couldn't keep up and he almost lost his balance. He stumbled for a moment, then tripped. He saw the ground rushing towards his face as time slowed to a crawl. If he fell here, he would die instantly. The story ends like this.
He...he doesn't want this. He didn't like the idea at all. With that moment of determination, Steve kicked the ground with all his strength, threw himself into the air and propelled himself forward. When he hit the ground, he had regained his balance.
Then he rushed forward, almost twice as fast as before, so fast that he kicked up mud behind him. As soon as he took his first step, he could almost feel the bear behind him being stunned. With the second one, his anxiety eased some. By the third step, he knew he was faster than the bear, and from the fourth step onwards, the distance between them quickly widened. The black giant could only watch helplessly as the little thing it considered insignificant surpassed it and disappeared into the mist.
Steve didn't stop running. His blood surged in his ears, his heart beat harder than ever, and he used every ounce of his strength. Even after he left the bear behind, his anxiety didn't go away. He thought he could still hear the footsteps behind him, thought he was still on the verge of death, thought he had no way to escape——
It wasn't until his Sp ran to a place not far ahead that he suddenly stopped running and finally landed on the ground, close to his face again. This time, instead of kicking the ball, his face actually kissed the ground for a moment before he collapsed and slid forward a few steps.
His panicked breathing didn't stop. He painfully stood up again, but his bruised legs collapsed to the floor again. Is it this one? He closed his eyes tightly and tensed every muscle in his body, waiting for the pain of death. But then, it didn't come.
Seconds turned into minutes as he waited. His breathing slowed as the panic subsided. It's slowly sinking in. He escaped. He had escaped that huge and terrifying thing that even now made him tremble.
Then the pain finally hit and Steve frowned. He fell hard, and the wet dirt, covered in debris and rocks, wasn't gentle to him. His fur was torn in places and he had more scratches and bruises than he could count. Additionally, he now felt his legs shaking violently from overuse.
Hell, all this for someone he didn't even know and would probably never see again. Uh, damn. He's too good a guy for his own good. He even felt his cat screaming at him.
Still, he wouldn't hesitate to do it again. When he thought about this, he understood. He had a chance at a better life. Even if it's a bit miserable, he can tolerate it, as long as he can be proud.
But not long after, Steve found himself jolted out of his reverie as another wave of pain shook his body. Yes, now he needed to know how bad things were. status.
Health: 5/17
MP: 15/15
Speed: 0/25
Damn it, his health is so low, it will definitely take more than a day to recover. damn it. He needed to find a safe place to rest, he couldn't just fall asleep in the middle of the forest. He must endure patiently until he has at least a single Sp and can walk back to his log. At least that's what he thought as the slow steps approached him gently. Then, when a pair of clearly human but dirty hands reached out to him, his vision became blurred and his consciousness disappeared.
