The silence was loud..
Paul did not say a single word after Michael’s question. Whatever it was, it knew it had been found out.
“Ha..hahahaha” Paul’s laughter erupted, the sound more akin to a shriek than a laugh.
“Was it that obvious?” He said, barely containing his laugh.
All the while Michael just stared at him, not quite sure what to do, he was aware that whoever that was, it was not Paul.
‘The monster?’ Michael thought while thinking back on the system’s words.
‘A monster who uses illusions.’
Was that even possible? What he was seeing now looked nothing like the illusion earlier, it felt real.
Though as real as it may be, it had not moved once, the most it had managed to do so far was move its head, with its ever present eerie smile and blank eyes.
Michael’s thoughts were interrupted by Paul’s contorted voice.
“Are you scared?” The voice echoed in the seemingly quiet forest.
Though Michael was surprisingly calm, staring back into Paul’s blank eyes.
Michael saw something, a figure in the corner of his eyes, it had a tall and slender body, yet its face only contained a single red eye in the very middle.
It hid amongst the trees, you would not be able to notice it unless you paid really close attention.
The figure was not moving, it seemed it was cautious of being found out by Michael.
And he was going to use that to his advantage, Michael pretended to stumble and began his little act.
“P-please don’t hurt me!” he let out and noticed the mysterious figure moving closer.
All the while Paul’s smile widened further “Don’t be afraid, I am not going to hurt you.”
Michael picked up a rock and threw it straight at Paul, landing right on his face, though even with that, the smile didn’t seem to disappear at all.
In fact, it was growing even wider.
‘Why is that fucking thing moving so slow’ Michael exclaimed in his mind, still keeping sight of the figure in the corner of his eyes.
It was close now, only a few meters away, inching ever so closer.
Suddenly it stopped, just as it was nearly next to Michael. Paul’s voice resounded out, the smile finally disappearing from his face “Hmm? You are not afraid?”
Michael took this chance to charge straight at the figure, catching it off guard.
Its singular red eye widened, it tried moving back but it was too late.
-Bam
Michael’s punch connected with its red eye.
“Aaaaaah” the creature’s shrill contorted scream rang out.
All of a sudden a dozen of all different kinds of eyes appeared around Michael, staring at him with Malice, though he ignored them, this monster’s illusions were ineffective on Michael.
-Bam
Michael punched it in the face.
-Bam
Again.
-Bam
And again.
Eventually, it started waving its hands, looking as if it was weaving something, when all of a sudden Michael could hear something coming at him from behind.
-Crack
Bones were breaking and twisting, and all the while Paul charged straight at Michael, his eyes lifeless, his body in shambles.
He ran up to Michael and swung his longsword diagonally, aiming to sever Michael’s head.
Though he was unsuccessful, no matter how strong a person was, if he couldn’t control his strength he was nothing but a mindless brute.
Michael didn’t even need to dodge the attack, it was so far off from his head that it was nearly laughable.
It seemed the monster couldn’t control Paul’s body as it wanted to, its red eye showing traces of panic.
Paul continued to swing his sword, but it was always either too far away, or close but not close enough, as if a toddler picked up a sword for the first time.
-Crack
Another crack could be heard, followed by,
-Thud
Paul’s body falling down, finally breaking apart, and dropping his Longsword close to Michael.
Michael punched the monster in the face one more time before grabbing the longsword, and stabbing it right into its singular red eye.
Instantly, 2 separate blue boxes flooded Michael’s vision.
[Mind Stalker [Level 50] Killed! +10000 EXP]
[Generating New Title!]
-DING
+–+
Ruthless Combatant
# Raise all your damage by 10% when facing enemies at least 30 levels above you
+–+
Michael had received a new title and a level up from merely killing a single monster.
‘10000 EXP in minutes when it took me several months to get it while healing..tragic’ Michael couldn’t help but grumble.
Congratulations, you killed it.
‘Yeah I killed it, no fucking thanks to you!’ Michael exclaimed at the system.
Relax, you saw how weak it was, besides, you have a skill that negates some mental magic, it was enough because the monster used most of its power on the others, he used very little on you, so you were able to easily dispel it.
‘A heads up would have been really nice, besides that, why was it so weak anyway? It said it was level 50’ Michael grumbled and asked the system curiously.
Chalk it up to luck, you just so happened to meet a monster that fully relied on its magic powers, those being related to the mind.
‘Right, but aren’t his physical abilities supposed to be stronger? It felt like I was brawling with a child’ Michael asked.
Its physical capabilities were in the level 15-20 area, It seemed like it had never fought before in its life, hence why it panicked so much.
Don’t let it get to your head, you were lucky.
Michael nodded, he knew he was lucky, if only the monster did not underestimate him because of his age, if it was even a little bit good at close combat, he would have died.
Michael stood up and looked down on the monster, after its death it had shrunk to the size of a little doll.
As for Paul, he was already beyond saving, Michael cast his Greater Heal twice on him, but there was no response, the golden light merely enveloping him, before disappearing completely.
‘Pity’ Michael thought, Paul was arrogant and trashy, but he was a decent swordsman, for what it was worth.
Michael then raised a question to the system ‘Why am I getting 50 EXP now after using my Greater Heal?’
The higher the rarity of your skill, the more EXP you get when using it, anyways go check your status, you leveled up.
Michael nodded and opened the status interface.
+—+
Name: Michael
Age: 9 years old
Race: Human
Class: Healer [Common]
Level 11 [150/11000 EXP]
Titles:
Ruthless Combatant
# Raise all your damage by 10% when facing enemies at least 30 levels above you
-Stats
HP: 416/498 [+50] / Regen 58 HP Per Hour
MP: 770/870 [+50] / Regen 120 MP Per Hour
STR: 50
END: 58
AGI: 47
INT: 114->120 [+10]
CHA: 16
-Skills / [Skill Merging]
Hand to hand combat [Level 5 971/2500 EXP] [Common] [Passive]
# Increases STR by 5% when fighting using only your hands
Discipline [Level 7 800/3500 EXP] [Uncommon] [Passive]
# Mental magic has a 7% reduced effect on you
Shooting mastery [Level 6 0/3000 EXP] [Uncommon] [Passive]
# Any kind of projectile has a 6% increase in velocity
Greater Heal [Level 1 50/500 EXP] [Uncommon] [Active]
# Heal your target / Restore 500 -> 600HP
Cost: 20 MP
Purify [Level 0 0/100 EXP] [Rare] [Active]
# Purify the target, curing all diseases and illnesses
Cost: 100MP
+—+
Aside from shooting mastery, most of Michael’s skills received a boost in experience.
He also noticed that he managed to take a little bit of damage, though he could not feel any different, nonetheless, he still used a Greater Heal on himself.
Sadly he didn’t receive any EXP from that, but it was whatever, he could always heal others in the recovery center now that his skill gives more EXP.
He thought it was finally about time he asked for a promotion, to Emergency Room 2.
Ever since the first time he healed, his progress increased by leaps and bounds, he was now confident in not being a burden but an asset.
Though in reality he just wants to earn more EXP.
You are becoming a little shameless.
Michael ignored the system’s snarky comment
It seemed he was also able to Heal people as long as they didn’t instantly die, which was the reason why Joanna and Zane were still alive.
Michael turned to his party members, or well what was left of them anyway.
Joanna and Zane had yet to wake up, as for Eric? He was still staring into nothingness.
What was he supposed to do now though, his teammates were out of commission, and this dungeon was still uncharted territory for him. He did not know a single thing about dungeons, aside from that they were dangerous for the current him.
Just stay here, eventually, someone will come and find you, probably.
‘Probably? You really know your stuff don’t you?’ Michael said sarcastically.
But he started waiting nonetheless, the alternatives were too dangerous to attempt alone.
—–
After Michael left the orphanage, Rebecca trailed him, wanting to find out what Reinhardt’s plan was.
Though as she went on, nothing out of the ordinary happened, aside from her, she couldn’t feel any other people looking for Michael.
‘Strange..’ She thought as she managed to sneak into the facility, following Michael through the halls, she noticed something was amiss, though couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Michael’s group went through the door, she wanted to wait for a little bit and then go through herself, she couldn’t risk one of the people supervising their party to be a traitor working for Reinhardt.
After a couple of minutes of waiting she went through the door, expecting to be in a training room, however, she was not.
A white room that seemed endless at a glance, and a single note placed on the ground in front of her.
She raised her guard and picked up the note, reading it.
—–
Glad you made it Rebecca, Hilda told me about your change of heart, you didn’t really think you could escape from us, did you? Besides that, you betrayed the cult, so I hope you enjoy this little room I prepared just for you. You will be in here for a while -Reinhardt
—–
Reading the note, her expression contorted, she ripped up the note and began using her Telekinetic skill, trying to destroy wherever she found herself in.
Though even as a Level 120, she couldn’t make the white walls budge an inch.
‘I am trapped’ the realisation dawned upon her.
Rebecca ran to one side, then another, trying to escape this white room, however, no matter how much she ran around, the exit was nowhere in sight.
She once again walked back to the very middle, where the ripped up note was supposed to be laying on the floor.
However, as she got there, she noticed the ripped up note was gone, replaced by a new one.
She picked it up out of frustration and read it, though there was only a single line.
—–
You can’t escape.
—–
It was written with a red color, as opposed to the earlier note written with black.
As she flipped over the note to see if there was anything else, she felt a bit of prickle in her thumb.
It was a small cut.
Taking a glance at the edge of the note, she saw a drop of blood, her blood.
‘A paper cut?’ Rebecca thought as her heartbeat rapidly sped up, realizing what this room actually was.
It was a sealed dimension, particularly one that restrains the abilities of another.
Even the strongest awakened could fall into this room, as the moment they are inside, they return to being normal humans without powers.
‘No..’ despair finally kicked in, she was confident in her strength, however now that she was completely powerless?
The only choice she had left was to wait, either to be let out or for her to somehow find a way out, which was highly unlikely.
Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, hands shaking to the point where she could no longer hold the note.
‘What was I thinking..’ Rebecca thought with a defeated expression. She rushed into the unknown, not expecting her enemies to be so well prepared.
Now all that was left to her were her thoughts, and white all around her.
‘I am sorry Michael..’
