The Gore-Hound Alpha, a monstrosity of flesh and bones lunged, its massive claw aimed at the smoking crater where Quinn lay. In that same moment, the booming, tactical voice of the System echoed in his mind, overlaying the entire battlefield.
[HOST: QUINN. THREAT LEVEL: CRITICAL. ADVICE: UTILIZE NEWLY UNLOCKED MOBILITY DATA.]
Quinn's body was still weak, bleeding, and shattered—but the System was moving. As the Alpha's claw dropped, the electric-blue energy that had sealed his chest wounds surged again, not into raw muscle, but into his nerves. The world seemed to slow down, stretching time like warm jelly. He didn't think, I must dodge; the System simply fed the data to his muscles: Initiate Evasion Pattern 7-Delta, Vector 3-Right.
His body obeyed instantly.
He didn't just roll away; he flashed. He compressed his entire body into a tight coil and exploded sideways, moving so fast that the Alpha's claw whistled harmlessly through the air he had occupied a hundredth of a second before.
He landed on his feet fifteen meters away, agile and completely silent, something his bulky militia boots should have made impossible. The intense burst of movement cleared his mind, and the pain in his chest, though present, was incomparable to his excitement .
The Alpha, confused by the sudden disappearance of its prey, turned its multi-faceted eyes, its gaze flickering across the perimeter.
[ACTION SUCCESSFUL: CRITICAL EVASION.]
[REWARD GRANTED: 5 EXP (First Activation Bonus), 1 Point allocated to AGILITY.]
Quinn felt a strange, deep-seated click in his core, followed by a surge of light physical energy. It wasn't the raw power of an Alpha's mana surge, but a clean, efficient upgrade to his physical hardware.
The Status Screen, still visible only to his eyes, shimmered with the update:
[HOST STATUS: QUINN]
LEVEL: 1 (EXP: 105/100)
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL: 2 (EXP: 5/200)
ATTRIBUTE POINTS AVAILABLE: 5
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength (STR): 11
Endurance (END): 11
Agility (AGI): 16 (+5)
Willpower (WIL): 12
Ethereal Mana (EMA): 0 (LOCKED)
SKILLS:
Tactical Sprint: Level 1 (0/100) (New!)
Rifle Proficiency (Rail): Level 4 (400/800)
TITLE: Zero (Initial)
NOTE: All base human attributes start at 10. AGI is now significantly above baseline.
He had leveled up instantly, just by avoiding death. The immediate power felt intoxicating, overriding his fear.The Gore-Hound Alpha spotted him and charged again, its speed unhuman- at least it wasn't. The rest of the squad, including the recovering Captain Vorn, could only watch in terror.
Quinn didn't panic. His rifle lay discarded, so he reached for his last resort—his sidearm, a standard-issue energy pistol.
[WARNING: HOST ACCURACY IS LOW FOR HEADSHOT. TARGET CORE WEAKNESS: Unarmored Joint on Foreleg (7% chance).]
[ADVICE: INITIATE TACTICAL SPRINT + TARGET-LOCK.]
Quinn didn't know what Target-Lock was, but the moment the System suggested it, a fine, thin blue wire of light extended from his sight, snapping onto the Gore-Hound's weak joint—a delicate piece of flesh connecting its foreleg to its joints.
He fired, not once, but three times, while running full-out toward the beast, relying on his boosted Agility. He wasn't aiming; the System was.
Fzzzz. The first energy bolt clipped the joint.
Fzzzz. The second bolt struck exactly where the first had, deepening the damage.
S K I R R T! The third bolt hit square, and the joint snapped.
The Alpha screamed—a piercing sound that momentarily stunned the entire battlefield—and collapsed onto its side, its massive limb thrashing uselessly.
[ACTION SUCCESSFUL: TARGETED WEAK POINT STRIKE.]
[REWARD GRANTED: 10 EXP, Unlock: Target-Lock Skill.]
Quinn didn't pause. He vaulted over the thrashing beast and grabbed his discarded rail-rifle. With the Alpha immobilized, the rest of the pack hesitated.
He looked down at his Status Screen: ATTRIBUTE POINTS AVAILABLE: 5.
He didn't hesitate. I need to be able to hit hard enough to finish this thing and impress the Iron Brigade.
[ALLOCATING 5 POINTS TO STRENGTH (STR)]
A second, more profound jolt of blue energy flooded his system, expanding his muscles and hardening his skeletal structure. He felt a sudden, profound density—the weight of his rail-rifle, previously a burden, now felt like a child's toy.
He spun, brought the butt of his rifle down in a heavy, controlled arc, and slammed it directly onto the Alpha's armored head.
K-CRRRACK!
The sound was not a muffled thud, but a sickening crunch of chitin. The Alpha's thrashing instantly ceased. Its purple carapace was cracked, and its massive body went limp.
[TASK COMPLETE: ELIMINATE THE ALPHA THREAT (Lvl 12 Elite).]
[REWARD GRANTED: 100 EXP, Primary Combat Skill Tree Unlocked.]
[LEVEL UP!]
STATUS UPDATE:
LEVEL: 3 (EXP: 15/300)
ATTRIBUTE POINTS AVAILABLE: 5
Strength (STR): 16 (+5)