----Lukas's POV----
Hernesto and I have been walking for about 20 minutes, getting as far away from the city as possible to increase our chances of finding the insects.
I have "experience" killing one of them, so even if we encounter one by surprise, we won't have much trouble dealing with it.
As if they could hear my thoughts, two of the insects we were looking for appeared in front of us, climbing the trees. Not a second after being noticed, they began to make their typical vibration. Predicting this, I took out my wand and pointed it at them, intending to cast a spell.
"Finally, they're here! Try this—AHHH!"
Before I could even do anything, I was dragged backward and thrown against a tree. Hernesto stood next to me, hiding from the bugs.
"Hey! What was that?"
Without intending to answer me, Hernesto just pointed to where we had been standing, which was now completely covered in glass.
"There are more."
He pointed to the other trees in front of us, where you could see five or more bugs peeking out of each one.
"Damn, there are a lot of them."
"That's right, what do we do?"
Hhmmm... I didn't expect so many to appear so suddenly. I thought we would hunt them down little by little... Looks like that plan went out the window.
"If I create a fireball, I can burn them all..."
"And us too!"
-Slap!
My 'little idea' didn't sit well with Hernesto, as he slapped me across the head with his open hand. I was about to complain, but the sound of the slap caught the attention of all the insects, who came down from the trees and lunged at us.
"Idiot, look what you've done!"
"Shut up! Throw the damn fireball at them, we'll worry about the rest later!"
Following Hernesto's words, I began to prepare a fireball at the tip of my wand. From what little I had experienced, the magic of this world was the same as in others: imagination was used to create each spell. So, using that fact, I compressed the fireball as much as I could.
"Take this!"
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed throughout the forest as soon as the fireball made contact with the creatures. We also took advantage of the smoke from the explosion and ran in the opposite direction from the insects. Although I made the fireball tiny, smaller than my pinky finger, the amount of mana I put into it was large.
Thinking about this, a status window unconsciously opened in front of me.
Name: Taren (Lukas)
Age: 5
Gender: Male
Race: Human-Half Oni
◇ Health: 200 / 200
◇ Stamina: 40 / 50
◇ Mana: 50 / 100
◇ Qi: 1 / 1
◇ Body Type [Unknown]
"Get out of my sight!"
I shouted out of pure instinct. The window had blocked my view, and because of that, I ended up tripping over a rock.
"Lukas!"
Fortunately, Hernesto quickly noticed my fall and turned around to help me.
The smoke from the explosion began to clear, allowing the insects to see us again. Several of them lunged at me and Hernesto, who had to stop them with the dagger he had bought earlier.
-Kriiik!
To my surprise, Hernesto made several movements and cuts that I considered "elegant." With the dagger, each of the insects was sliced like hot butter.
"That's it, I told you that dagger would work!"
"Shut up and help!"
Even though Hernesto was cutting down several insects, they kept coming, so I stood next to him and started creating small, less powerful fireballs. The goal was to set them on fire to disable them and clear the way for Hernesto to cut them down.
My last-minute plan quickly began to bear fruit, as after the creatures pounced on us, only to be set on fire, cut down, and replaced, the number of insects quickly decreased. But this had its consequences: each fireball took away 3 mana points, and since they were launched so quickly, my tank was empty in an instant.
◇ Health: 200 / 200
◇ Stamina: 40 / 50
◇ Mana: 10 / 100
◇ Qi: 1 / 1
◇ Body Type [Unknown]
"Hernesto, I'm almost out of mana!"
"I'm tired too!"
We were both exhausted and panting, still waiting for more insects to attack us. At that moment, I could see that behind the bugs, the crystals they had lost were returning to their bodies.
"Damn, I forgot they did that!"
"Never mind, run!"
In a last attempt to slow them down, Hernesto threw his dagger at them, which hit one of the bugs squarely in the body. Unfortunately, killing one didn't stop them and, if anything, made them even more enraged.
We ran with everything we had, using our last bit of energy to get as far away from the insects as possible.
"Don't look back!"
I yelled at Hernesto, who was doing the opposite of what I told him to do. I guess it was the adrenaline, but in an instant we were close to the edge of the forest.
Not far away, several crystals began to stick to the trees around us. Some grazed my skin, causing small cuts.
-Kriiik!
With a jump, we got out of the forest. When we turned around, we could see how the insects had stopped at the edge and were watching us. They didn't give us a minute's grace, as each and every one of them began to vibrate again, expelling the few crystals that remained in their bodies.
"Run!"
Hernesto shouted, lifting me up by the collar of my shirt and dragging me across the ground until we disappeared from view.
"Uffff... We almost didn't make it out alive..."
I nodded at Hernesto's words.
"Yeah... My body hurts."
My body had been healed 100%, but for some reason the fatigue and pain felt much worse now. I guess it's because of the short recovery time.
"Hey... we didn't collect any of the hearts."
Oh, that's right... Damn it, all that effort for nothing.
[I wouldn't say that.]
Goddess! Please tell me you'll give me something good!
My pleas were quickly heard, as a status window appeared in front of me.
[Saved by the skin of your teeth! Escaping such great danger must be rewarded.]
[Reward: Wheel of Fortune (Rank B)]
Another roulette!? Can't you give me a fixed reward?
[Mortals... And gods love to gamble and risk everything. I am feeding your vile desire]
Each and every one of the goddess's words was imbued with a contemptuous and arrogant tone.
Shut up! And what the hell is Rank B!?
[It's the quality of the roulette wheel. I didn't think I'd have to explain it. You disappoint me more and more.]
Fuck you!
Without thinking twice, I spun the roulette wheel without looking at its contents. After several spins, it finally stopped at...
[Congratulations! You just won: Improved mana storage!]
Following that, my status window opened.
◇ Health: 200 / 200
◇ Stamina: 50 / 50
◇ Mana: 10 / 500
◇ Qi: 1 / 1
◇ Body Type [Unknown]
✦ Attributes ✦
ᚠ Strength [STR]: 10
ᛗ Mana [MAN]: 25 + 100
ᚱ Stamina [STA]: 50
ᚹ Vitality [VIT]: 20
ᛋ Speed [SPD]: 10
ᛏ Reaction Speed [REA]: 10
ᛇ Intelligence [INT]: 15
ᚾ Mental Strength [MEN]: 20 /25
Well... At least it's something. Now I won't have so many problems with my mana running out. But I think something like mana regeneration would have been better.
[I'm not surprised. No mortal is ever satisfied with what they're given. Not even when it's free.]
Ignoring the goddess's comment, I looked at Hernesto, who was looking at his own status window.
"Did they give you something?"
"Yes, look at it."
With that, Hernestos came over and showed me his reward.
[Reward: Intermediate Fencing, Rank C!]
"This is the first time I've seen a rank subdivision in something that already has one."
"This is my first time with all of this... What did you get?"
"This."
In front of me, a status screen spread out, displaying the reward for my mission.
"That's good."
Hernesto said with a sigh before collapsing to the ground. Since he didn't look unconscious, I just sat next to him as before.
"I almost died."
"This is the second time I've experienced something like this... Let's go, I'm hungry."
"All right."
With a groan of pain, I stood up and helped Hernesto do the same. As soon as we started walking, another announcement appeared in front of me.
[Friend of Death! Even at a young age, you have had two near-death experiences.]
[Reward: Body Type (High-Ranking Oni)]
...Huh????