Chapter 25: Like Candy
The two skeletons were in an unenviable situation; each was surrounded by five or six giant wolves.
Since the beginning of Aiden's battle with Arkan, the skeletons had remained in a purely defensive stance. Every time they tried to attack, their limbs were severed or crushed in the jaws of those wolves as if they were brittle candy. The battle was just a continuous push and pull: one would retreat while the other advanced, then they would swap roles… and so it had been until now. But the scale was clearly tipping in favor of the wolves.
"Hmm… I think they need some help!" Aiden said playfully, casting a quick glance at the scene.
He looked at Arkan's corpse lying on the ground, then pointed, and it disappeared into his Dimensional Storage. Then he turned to search for anything he could use as a weapon.
Oh!
His attention was drawn to a collection of shattered window glass and iron rods protruding from the crumbling walls of the dilapidated buildings. He needed at least ten weapons to deal with that many wolves surrounding his skeletons.
He moved forward and began gathering a few glass shards, rocks, and some iron rods. He found a suitable spot for an attack, then prepared to launch.
Because he had been fighting Arkan, Aiden's body had now reached its limits. After all, this was his first battle against a monster from another world. Additionally, he had a relatively weak body, barely able to keep up with current events. So, he avoided engaging in close combat and decided to target the enemy with relatively long-range attacks.
He picked up a glass shard and began aiming at one of the targets. Aiden wasn't picky, so he chose the first one that caught his eye, then began to prepare.
"Hoooh…"
He took a deep breath, pushing himself to focus.
[Will of the Multitude]
[Strength]
By activating "Will of the Multitude," Aiden gained a 5% enhancement to all his attributes. In addition to activating "Strength," which tripled his physical damage, this was the strongest attack Aiden had launched so far.
Boom!
The shard shot out like a bullet, tearing through the air with a sharp sound, heading towards its chosen target — a giant wolf about to pounce on one of the skeletons from behind.
Shlik!
The sharp shard pierced the wolf's neck and embedded itself in its thick flesh. The blow wasn't fatal, but it threw the wolf off balance and stopped it in its tracks for critical seconds. The skeleton seized this opportunity and unleashed a [Bone Cleave] strike towards the wolf's belly, splitting it in two.
Dong!
A small blue screen appeared before Aiden's eyes:
[Ding! Fate Point +1]
Aiden smiled. Even when the skeletons kill, it counts for me.
But he hadn't forgotten his main objective: to eliminate this nuisance, then get some rest.
He initially thought he would continue attacking from a distance like a sniper, but that dream had now evaporated. The wolves he was facing weren't the stupid type; they had realized something was lurking in the shadows, though they didn't know where. So they began to retreat and became cautious.
"Sigh… I'm really, really tired!"
He thought for a moment, then an idea flashed in his mind:
"Oh! Why don't I use that!"
He was referring only to the things he had just obtained from Arkan: "Experience Crystals."
He took out a large collection of crystals, held them in his hand, and began examining them, then muttered:
"Hmm… how do I use them?"
"Consume!"
"Hmm, nothing… then what about…"
"Absorb!"
"Swallow!"
Nothing worked. He felt a wave of embarrassment from his strange shouts.
"Hmm… what if…"
He took one of the crystals and put it in his mouth, then began sucking on it as if it were candy.
"Mmmm…"
His eyes shone with a bright light.
"It worked!"
Aiden felt an incredible wave of joy. He sucked on the "candy," enjoying its taste — it tasted like strawberries mixed with bananas, truly delicious.
...After a few seconds, the crystal completely dissolved in Aiden's mouth.
He immediately felt a strange surge in his body — as if a warm current of energy was flowing through his veins, nourishing every muscle and cell. Before he could think, a new blue screen appeared:
[Ding! Consumed "Experience Crystal"]
[All Attributes +5!]
[Speed +5!]
[Flexibility +5!]
[Strength +5!]
"Amazing!" he whispered, feeling the exhaustion that had almost overwhelmed him partly evaporate, replaced by a sense of renewed vitality.
He had gained an enhancement of about five points to each of his attributes from just one crystal.
He looked at the remaining crystals before him and cheered triumphantly:
"Yahoo, let's continue the work…"
---
After several minutes of hard work consuming the crystals, Aiden took a deep breath and opened his status window to see how much progress he had made.
[Name]: Aiden
[Strength]: Mansion
[Speed]: 200 meters/second
[Flexibility]: 200
[Talents]: Language Learning
[Skills]: Strength (Level 4), Swift as Light (Level 5), Healing (Level 3), Summon Skeleton (Level 2), Thrust (Level 5), Rabbit Jump (Level 7), Sandstorm (Level 1)
[Imaginary Skills]: Comprehensive Formation
[Power Rating]: Rank C
[Fate Points]: 26
"Hmmm…"
He scratched his head nervously, then said:
"I really don't understand this status window anymore…"
"Hey, Revealer, please reformat it in an easier way!"
[…]
[Ding! Updated]
[Name]: Aiden
[Strength]: 200
[Speed]: 200
[Flexibility]: 200
[Talents]: Language Learning
[Skills]: Strength (Level 4), Swift as Light (Level 5), Healing (Level 3), Summon Skeleton (Level 2), Thrust (Level 5), Rabbit Jump (Level 7), Sandstorm (Level 1)
[Imaginary Skills]: Comprehensive Formation
[Level]: Rank C
[Destructive Power]: You can destroy a mansion with a single blow!
[Fate Points]: 26
"Alright, now everything is clear…"
From the update to his status window, Aiden now had a better understanding of the power system he was going through. He started at Rank F, then needed 50 points in all his other attributes to break through to the next rank, and so on for the rest of the ranks. This tiered power system was familiar to Aiden; he felt like he had encountered it in many stories he had read.
"Ahem… now is not the time to think about this. We'll think about it after we finish what we have at hand!"
---
He took a deep breath, then stood up from his spot and began observing the battle before him. His body was stronger now, and his skills were sharper, but the enemy before him was still fortified and superior in numbers. The wolves had stopped retreating and began to regroup, as if they had guessed that the source of the distant attacks had weakened or stopped.
But Aiden no longer felt anxious. The new power was flowing through his veins, demanding to be tested.
"Alright…" he said quietly, stepping into the open area. "Let's test this new power."
He no longer needed to hide or attack from afar. This time, he decided on a direct confrontation.
[Swift as Light]
He launched. It wasn't just a quick movement this time — his speed was now something different. He disappeared from his spot and suddenly appeared in the middle of the wolf pack, like a ghost piercing through time. The wolves didn't even see how he got there.
The first wolf that sensed his presence was already too late. Aiden's fist, charged with [Strength], pierced through its ribs as if they were paper. The sound of breaking bones was heard, and then the wolf fell to the ground, gasping from the shock.
[Ding! Fate Point +1]
The other wolves turned quickly, their growls rising in anger. Four of them leaped towards him simultaneously, claws extended and jaws open.
But Aiden didn't retreat. Instead, he turned swiftly, raised his leg, and slammed it down on the ground with force.
[Sandstorm]
The storm wasn't as strong as when Arkan used it, but it was enough. A whirlwind of dust, dirt, and small rocks erupted around him, covering the area in a dense haze. The wolves that had been leaping towards him got lost in the darkness, colliding with each other and losing their sense of direction.
And in the midst of this chaos, Aiden moved.
He was like a shadow within a shadow.
He appeared beside another wolf, his hand like a claw as he struck its neck with force. [Thrust] — this time, he didn't need a weapon; his hand was the weapon.
Crunch! The wolf's neck snapped and it fell.
[Ding! Fate Point +1]
He moved again. This time, he targeted a wolf trying to escape the sandstorm. A single [Rabbit Jump] put him above it, then he came down with all his weight and force onto its back. A muffled sound was heard, and the wolf stopped moving.
[Ding! Fate Point +1]
The sandstorm began to subside. The dust settled, revealing the scene. Five wolves lay on the ground, either dead or dying. The remaining five stopped at the edges of the area, growling but with a different tone now — a tone of fear.
The wolves looked at Aiden, who stood in the center, his breathing steady, his eyes glowing with the effect of [Secrets Revealer], which allowed him to see their positions clearly. They had seen how their comrades fell in a matter of seconds.
The wolves felt that their chances of winning against this opponent were almost nonexistent. After all, they were only Rank E+, not like Arkan, who had been at the same level as Aiden initially. So the wolves began to step back slowly, exchanging glances — a clear signal to retreat.
But Aiden wasn't about to let them get away so easily. He picked up an iron rod from the ground, wound his arm back, and hurled it with all his might towards one of the fleeing wolves.
Whoom!
The rod shot out like a cannonball, pushing the air aside like a fan.
Swish!
The rod pierced the first wolf and passed through it without stopping, directly hitting the wolf behind it. It crushed the internal organs of both, then lodged itself in the second wolf's body. Both wolves fell motionless.
[Ding! Fate Point +1]
[Ding! Fate Point +1]
The remaining wolves panicked and decided to split up in different directions.
"Hmm… a good plan, but unfortunately it won't work on me!" he said with full confidence, then shouted loudly: "You two, you should have gained some strength by now, even if just a little! Each of you, take one!"
This was directed at the skeletons, without a doubt. After all, they were summons closely linked to Aiden; if Aiden's power increased, theirs would increase proportionally. Not to mention — let's not forget their ability to use Aiden's skills as well, something that had simply astonished him at first.
Without preamble, the skeletons accepted the command and split up in the same instant. Then they activated [Swift as Light], and their speed multiplied until they caught up with the two fleeing wolves. Without hesitation, they used [Bone Cleave], and the heads were separated from the bodies in the blink of an eye.
[Ding! Fate Point +1]
[Ding! Fate Point +1]
And on the other side, Aiden also managed to catch up with the last wolf and crushed its head with his bare hands alone.
Silence fell.
Aiden stood in the middle of the square, surrounded by scattered wolf bodies. His breathing was heavy, but it was the breath of a victor. He looked at the two skeletons, who had returned to their positions, then gestured for them to rest. The task was complete.
He turned towards the building where the survivors were hiding. Darkness had fully descended, and calm had returned to the area — but it was a different calm this time, a calm born from the end of the immediate threat.
"Good…" he whispered to himself, wiping the blood from his hands. "But the real battle hasn't begun yet."
He remembered the distant green gate and those strange plant creatures waiting. He had only four days to prepare — four days to become strong enough to face an entire world of enemies.
He headed towards the scattered bodies around him, waved his hand, and stored them in his Dimensional Storage. After all, these bodies would also yield a few experience crystals, even if just a small amount.
After finishing the storage, he turned his back to the scene and headed towards the building. He was in desperate need of rest, careful planning… and more Fate Points.