Chapter 9
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"Brother." I said in a low tone. "Do we really need to fight those Abnormals. It's not like they are blocking our way or something. Shouldn't we focus on going back to Neha as soon as possible"
"It's not as simple as you think little brother." Rahul said. "In case you've no yet realized it, the world that we lived in is gone. If we don't become powerful then even if we get back home, it won't make much of a difference as we'll still be in danger."
"At this point, these Abnormals are at their weakest state. This is the best time to get ourselves some crystals and become stronger. If we let this chance pass by, then they will only continue to become stronger and the situation will become even more dangerous." He said
"So as we are going back home, we should search and grab as many opportunities as possible to get those crystals. Do you understand." He said.
"Yes." I said. "I understand."
Since we started moving south, we'd been maintaining a fixed distance from the highway as it was filled with Abnormals.
Rahul told me that if any abnormals walked astray from the highway and came to the forest, then we would be able to hunt it and take it's crystal.
He also told me that he might be able to deal with one or two abnormals, but no more than that.
If we try to attack a group of 3 or more Abnormals, then even if we kill 2 of them in quick succession, the 3rd one will definitely hear the sounds and find us.
After all just because they have a bad eyesight doesn't mean they're blind. They're still able to see someone at a close distance of 3-4 meters.
If an Abnormals sees us, then it'll start shrieking before even attacking.
This was an inherent quality that could be found in all the Abnormals.
If they find a prey, then they'll shriek before the start attacking it so that the rest of the abnormals can know about it as well.
Thus, if we make a mistake and got the whole horde into our trail, then that would be potentially disastrous for us.
So even though we're walking along with the highway, as it would lead us home, we still maintained a fixed distance of 100 meters from it and had been extremely vigilant all the while.
That way, we could remain in the dark while still keeping an eye at the situation and look for any opportunity where some Abnormals might have trailed off from the highway and got away from the rest of the horde.
And after walking for three hours, our patience had paid at last.
—————
'One, two, three, four. There are four people in the car. I guess I should say four Abnormals now.'
'There are only three. One of them don't have any vital signs of life.' Lily's voice rang in my ear. It seemed she had finally decided to come out of her cocoon.
'You're can read vital signs from such a distance.'
'Not really. But I can see that his head burst open when the car collided with the tree. No human will be able to turn into Abnormal after that.' She said with a snort. 'You're really an idiot aren't you.'
'Ahh! I didn't notice that. Guess I'm still too nervous. You're a smart girl Lily. Good job.'
'Hmph. It's not me who's smart. Just you who's too foolish.' She said with disdain.
'Alright. I'm not gonna fight with you anymore. I'm too mature for that.' I said and once again stared at the Car that had trailed off a fair distance away from the highway.
Looking at it's condition, I could guess that the people inside must have been driving on the highway when the Severe pain hit them. The driver must have lost control due to extreme pain, and thus the car got off the highway and drifted off in the forest. It must have been travelling at a fast speed as it travelled a long distance before crashing into that sturdy tree.
'Hearing the sounds they're making from inside the car. It seems like none of them are a human anymore.' I thought.
'Now that I look closely upon them, doesn't it look like they're eating the driver. Or is it just my imagination.'
'It's not your imagination.' Lily said. 'Abnormals have the tendency of eating any kind of corpse. It doesn't matter who it belonged to as long as it had meat and bones.'
'So aren't they like scavengers in a sense?' I asked.
'There are. Except that if you go near them then they'll eat you too.'
'So. Three Abnormals. One at the frontseat. Two at the backseat. The driver is effectively 'dead' and won't be getting up again. I think that's good enough for my first scouting mission.' I thought and smiled.
'Hmph.' Lily snorted but didn't replied.
'I'll take that as a yes.' I slid back to the bushes and merged with the darkness.
—————
"Not bad." Rahul said as I told him about the result from my scouting mission. "But there are still a lot of things that you still need to learn."
"First. Your positioning. You scouted them from the distance of 20 meters. But the Abnormals don't have a good eyesight and can only see at a 3-4 meter distance at night. You could have easily stayed 5 meters away from them and still remained unnoticed."
"Second. Your smell. You forget to take that into consideration. Although low tier Abnormals don't have a highly sensitive nose, high tier ones and Mutant Beasts do. So next time, stay on the opposite direction of the wind."
"Third. Lack of details. Just knowing that there are 3 Abnormals in the car and their position is not good enough to execute our mission."
"Fourth…" After pointing out a dozen mistakes in the report which I'd considered to be perfect, Rahul finally stopped.
"Despite that. I think you did well for your first mission." He said.
I could already sense the veins in the forehead bulging. It had been a genuine compliment. But a compliment given after pointing out a dozen mistakes in your work, makes it sound more like sarcasm then a compliment.
'Alright. Let's not think too much about it.' I thought and put the thing out of my mind.
"So. What are we going to do next." I asked.
"The shriek of a newborn abnormal can usually travel up to a 100 meters or so. But after changing into an Abnormal, they lose some of their hearing ability. Thus, an abnormal will only be able to hear another's shriek at the distance of 50 meter.
"But their car has drifted off to a distance of more than 80 meters. At such a distance, they can be considered to be isolated from the horde in the highway. So we will attack them." He said decisively. But then added something unexpected.
"But I can only take on two of them. You'll have to take care of the third one."
"What? Me…" I was a bit shocked he I heard that.
I had no confidence in my abilities to fight against a man eating monster who had two times my strength. If something goes wrong then our team of two will really be in big trouble ah.
"Oi brother. I don't think I can…"
"Relax." He cut me off and said. "I know what you're thinking. Don't be so worried. I won't give you an impossible task. Let me tell you. This mission will be far easier than you can think. Do you know why that is?"
"Why?" I asked.
"Because they're trapped. They do not know how to open the door and the windows are only partially open so they won't be able to attack us at all."
"And the one I'm asking you to deal with is even easier as it is wearing a seat belt. So, as long as you maintain a good distance from it and swing you Axe properly, you should not have any problem in killing it. Now do you understand."
"Is that so." Now I understood that my mission will be a bit easier then I had previously assumed.
I also understood what he meant when he talked about 'Lack of Details.'
We had both gone off to scout at the same time but he was able to learn far more things than me.
'But that's alright. I'm a fast learner. I won't stay behind him forever.' I consoled myself.
'I somehow doubt that.' Lily chimed in.
'Shut up twerp.' I said
'What did you call me?' she asked in rage.
'Twerp.' I replied nonchalantly.
'How dare you call me a…'
'Twerp twerp.'
'Anhhh. I won't talk to you anymore. Bye.' She said and went silent.
'What a feisty girl.'
—————
"Oi. Brother. Is it really necessary for me to wear these two blankets over me hands?" I said as I looked at the car in the distance.
"Yes. It's for your safety. Although a scratch from them won't kill you, it can still become infected and hamper your movements. So safety first." He said. "Now. You remember what you have to do, right?"
"Yes. Maintain a distance. Slice it's head."
"Good. Just follow my lead and everything will be alright. Come now." He said and started moving in the direction of the car with his axe.
I was feeling a bit panicky when I started following him. We were going to fight against Abnormals after all. I tried to calm my heart as he raise his speed by and bit and swung his axe at the unsuspecting Abnormal.
—————
Contrary to the nervousness I was feeling at the start of the battle, the whole thing went rather smoothly.
In fact, it went so smoothly that even I was shocked by it.
It couldn't even be called a proper battle.
In just a few seconds, we had both finished the three Abnormals without any accident.
But after the battle, I realized that telling me to attack the Abnormal at the front was his way of giving a free crystal to me since I won't take them without any contribution.
And just as he had informed me. The abnormal I fought was a young girl of about Neha's age who was tightly strapped to the seat with the seat belt.
Aside from roaring and flailing her hands, she was not able to do anything else and after I finished battling against the morals in my heart, I chopped her head in half.
She died instantly and Rahul finished the third Abnormal with his superior skills shortly after that.
I looked at the black crystal in my hand that I gained from killing the young girl. I have a feeling that I'm going to remember her face for a long time. She was my first kill after all. And even though I know she was an abnormal and not a human being, that still doesn't make me feel any better.
'Hah!' I sighed in my heart and wondered what I should do with this crystal. Eating it would add 0.1 mana to my stat but at this point, without any skill book, it would just be a waste.
'You can exchange it to another crystal in the black watch.' I heard Lily words in my mind.
'What, I can exchange it?' I asked in surprise but she didn't said anything in reply. It seemed like she was still angry with me for calling her a 'Twerp'.
'It seems like I'll have to search for that on my own.' I sighed and started to search the interface.
It was not difficult at all. After finding the Exchange Crystal option, I went and showed it to Rahul who was a bit surprised to see this.
He searched his own interface but realized that he didn't have a similar function in his black watch.
'Huh! That's another feature of my watch that he doesn't have.'
I don't know why, but comparing the two Black watches gave me the feeling that his was a basic version while mine was the upgraded version.
My watch had a lot of new functions that his watch didn't after all.
'Well, maybe we'll talk about it some other day. Right now we've more important tasks in our hands.
"So Rahul, what should I exchange this crystal for?" I asked and his answer surprised me a bit.
"You should exchange it for the crystal that increases your Perception." He replied without even taking the time to think.
"Wait! Why Perception? Why not strength, or Agility, Or even Endurance." I asked.
"Well, do you know why I'm so confident in defeating those Abnormals even though they are much more stronger than me."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because of my high perception. Truth be told, if I knew that you had such a function in your watch earlier, I would have exchanged all of my crystals for the Yellow ones."
"A high stat in perception allows you to have better awareness about everything."
"The higher your perception, the more reaction speed you'll have. When you reach a high level of perception, you'll even be able to see everything moving around you in slow motion."
"Under such a state, killing an Abnormal is not very difficult."
"Now. Here's my two crystals. Exchange them both for the Yellow ones." He said as he gave me a Green and Blue colored crystal. "Don't worry, I won't take benefit of your services for free. I'll give you crystal for every ten of mine that you help exchange."
"No that…"
"Don't say anything. My mind is made up. So far, you're not of much help when it comes to battle. If you stay like this, you'll just be a burden for me. So grow stronger as fast as possible and then we can fight those Abnormals together. What do you say?"
"Alright." I raised my hands in defeat as his words really did made sense. Even though I didn't wanted to admit it, I was indeed not of much help when it came to battles.
"Then take one of these crystal as an advance payment." He said.
I didn't reject his request. And thus, after the exchange, I had two yellow crystals.
I consumed them both with any further delay.
After gulping them down with some water, I sensed a warm feeling travelling throughout my entire body. It was a very pleasant feeling and filled my heart with warmth.
I was feeling ecstatic and had a faint sense of anticipation in my heart as I felt the warmth provided by the crystal dying down. I really wanted to know whether those crystals really worked or not.
After the process ended, I tried to move around a bit and was really surprised to find that my Perception of the world has really increased.
Everything around me seemed to have become much more clear.
Even the time around me seemed to have slowed down, and I realized that my reaction speed have gained a huge boost. Now I could do many things that I would not have been able to do before.
I jumped in the air, flipped back and landed on my feet without a hitch.
Completing a back flip had been by goal for a long time and but had never succeeded in doing it before. But now, doing so seemed really easy.
It was so easy that I was stumped for a moment.
Earlier I was sure that I would lose a one on one fight against an Abnormal. But now, I felt that I had a 60% chance of defeating them.
'But this… Isn't this change a bit too radical.'
'Can the difference of a 0.2 stat in perception really bring such enormous changes?'
I opened my hologram and looked at my status.
User name:- Ashok Singh Rana
Stats:-
Strength - 0.9
Agility - 0.9
Endurance - 1.0
Perception - 1.5 (0.9)
Mana - 0.0
Skills:-
None
Equipments:-
None
Wealth:-
None
'Huh!' I was surprised to find that my Perception had increased by a total of 0.6 points. 'Wait! Wasn't I only supposed to gain 0.1 stat point from each crystal? How come I got 0.6 stat points instead?'
'Don't be so surprised.' Lily's words rang in my mind. 'The first crystal that you eat will give you five times more benefits. This is one of the newer functions that your brother's watch don't have.'
'Is that so. That's awesome!' I shouted in my mind.
'Don't get too excited though as this will only work for the first time and since you've already used your first crystal, from here on, any crystal you eat will only increase you stats by 0.1 point.'
'Oh! So that's how it is.' I nodded in realization.
A 0.6 stat difference is indeed large enough to bring out drastic changes in anyone.
This unexpected reward made me really happy and I showed it to Rahul with a gloating smile.
"Huh!" Rahul was a bit shocked when I told him that the first crystal will give five time the stat points. But then he calmed his emotions and said "That is a very good thing."
"Congratulations. Your perception have now become three times that of an Abnormal." He said and then explained. "An abnormal might be stronger than us but it's perception is very low. About half of an average male adult at around 0.5 stat point."
"At this point, you should have a good chance of winning a one-on-one fight with those Abnormals." He said and laughed. "But of course. Only a fool would fight head on against them."
"Very well then. After this upgrade, I'm even more hopeful for your future. Now let's continue on our journey. You don't want Neha to wait for too long do you."
"You're right." I said with a voice filled with confidence. "Let's get moving."
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
"Brother." I said in a low tone. "Do we really need to fight those Abnormals. It's not like they are blocking our way or something. Shouldn't we focus on going back to Neha as soon as possible"
"It's not as simple as you think little brother." Rahul said. "In case you've no yet realized it, the world that we lived in is gone. If we don't become powerful then even if we get back home, it won't make much of a difference as we'll still be in danger."
"At this point, these Abnormals are at their weakest state. This is the best time to get ourselves some crystals and become stronger. If we let this chance pass by, then they will only continue to become stronger and the situation will become even more dangerous." He said
"So as we are going back home, we should search and grab as many opportunities as possible to get those crystals. Do you understand." He said.
"Yes." I said. "I understand."
Since we started moving south, we'd been maintaining a fixed distance from the highway as it was filled with Abnormals.
Rahul told me that if any abnormals walked astray from the highway and came to the forest, then we would be able to hunt it and take it's crystal.
He also told me that he might be able to deal with one or two abnormals, but no more than that.
If we try to attack a group of 3 or more Abnormals, then even if we kill 2 of them in quick succession, the 3rd one will definitely hear the sounds and find us.
After all just because they have a bad eyesight doesn't mean they're blind. They're still able to see someone at a close distance of 3-4 meters.
If an Abnormals sees us, then it'll start shrieking before even attacking.
This was an inherent quality that could be found in all the Abnormals.
If they find a prey, then they'll shriek before the start attacking it so that the rest of the abnormals can know about it as well.
Thus, if we make a mistake and got the whole horde into our trail, then that would be potentially disastrous for us.
So even though we're walking along with the highway, as it would lead us home, we still maintained a fixed distance of 100 meters from it and had been extremely vigilant all the while.
That way, we could remain in the dark while still keeping an eye at the situation and look for any opportunity where some Abnormals might have trailed off from the highway and got away from the rest of the horde.
And after walking for three hours, our patience had paid at last.
—————
'One, two, three, four. There are four people in the car. I guess I should say four Abnormals now.'
'There are only three. One of them don't have any vital signs of life.' Lily's voice rang in my ear. It seemed she had finally decided to come out of her cocoon.
'You're can read vital signs from such a distance.'
'Not really. But I can see that his head burst open when the car collided with the tree. No human will be able to turn into Abnormal after that.' She said with a snort. 'You're really an idiot aren't you.'
'Ahh! I didn't notice that. Guess I'm still too nervous. You're a smart girl Lily. Good job.'
'Hmph. It's not me who's smart. Just you who's too foolish.' She said with disdain.
'Alright. I'm not gonna fight with you anymore. I'm too mature for that.' I said and once again stared at the Car that had trailed off a fair distance away from the highway.
Looking at it's condition, I could guess that the people inside must have been driving on the highway when the Severe pain hit them. The driver must have lost control due to extreme pain, and thus the car got off the highway and drifted off in the forest. It must have been travelling at a fast speed as it travelled a long distance before crashing into that sturdy tree.
'Hearing the sounds they're making from inside the car. It seems like none of them are a human anymore.' I thought.
'Now that I look closely upon them, doesn't it look like they're eating the driver. Or is it just my imagination.'
'It's not your imagination.' Lily said. 'Abnormals have the tendency of eating any kind of corpse. It doesn't matter who it belonged to as long as it had meat and bones.'
'So aren't they like scavengers in a sense?' I asked.
'There are. Except that if you go near them then they'll eat you too.'
'So. Three Abnormals. One at the frontseat. Two at the backseat. The driver is effectively 'dead' and won't be getting up again. I think that's good enough for my first scouting mission.' I thought and smiled.
'Hmph.' Lily snorted but didn't replied.
'I'll take that as a yes.' I slid back to the bushes and merged with the darkness.
—————
"Not bad." Rahul said as I told him about the result from my scouting mission. "But there are still a lot of things that you still need to learn."
"First. Your positioning. You scouted them from the distance of 20 meters. But the Abnormals don't have a good eyesight and can only see at a 3-4 meter distance at night. You could have easily stayed 5 meters away from them and still remained unnoticed."
"Second. Your smell. You forget to take that into consideration. Although low tier Abnormals don't have a highly sensitive nose, high tier ones and Mutant Beasts do. So next time, stay on the opposite direction of the wind."
"Third. Lack of details. Just knowing that there are 3 Abnormals in the car and their position is not good enough to execute our mission."
"Fourth…" After pointing out a dozen mistakes in the report which I'd considered to be perfect, Rahul finally stopped.
"Despite that. I think you did well for your first mission." He said.
I could already sense the veins in the forehead bulging. It had been a genuine compliment. But a compliment given after pointing out a dozen mistakes in your work, makes it sound more like sarcasm then a compliment.
'Alright. Let's not think too much about it.' I thought and put the thing out of my mind.
"So. What are we going to do next." I asked.
"The shriek of a newborn abnormal can usually travel up to a 100 meters or so. But after changing into an Abnormal, they lose some of their hearing ability. Thus, an abnormal will only be able to hear another's shriek at the distance of 50 meter.
"But their car has drifted off to a distance of more than 80 meters. At such a distance, they can be considered to be isolated from the horde in the highway. So we will attack them." He said decisively. But then added something unexpected.
"But I can only take on two of them. You'll have to take care of the third one."
"What? Me…" I was a bit shocked he I heard that.
I had no confidence in my abilities to fight against a man eating monster who had two times my strength. If something goes wrong then our team of two will really be in big trouble ah.
"Oi brother. I don't think I can…"
"Relax." He cut me off and said. "I know what you're thinking. Don't be so worried. I won't give you an impossible task. Let me tell you. This mission will be far easier than you can think. Do you know why that is?"
"Why?" I asked.
"Because they're trapped. They do not know how to open the door and the windows are only partially open so they won't be able to attack us at all."
"And the one I'm asking you to deal with is even easier as it is wearing a seat belt. So, as long as you maintain a good distance from it and swing you Axe properly, you should not have any problem in killing it. Now do you understand."
"Is that so." Now I understood that my mission will be a bit easier then I had previously assumed.
I also understood what he meant when he talked about 'Lack of Details.'
We had both gone off to scout at the same time but he was able to learn far more things than me.
'But that's alright. I'm a fast learner. I won't stay behind him forever.' I consoled myself.
'I somehow doubt that.' Lily chimed in.
'Shut up twerp.' I said
'What did you call me?' she asked in rage.
'Twerp.' I replied nonchalantly.
'How dare you call me a…'
'Twerp twerp.'
'Anhhh. I won't talk to you anymore. Bye.' She said and went silent.
'What a feisty girl.'
—————
"Oi. Brother. Is it really necessary for me to wear these two blankets over me hands?" I said as I looked at the car in the distance.
"Yes. It's for your safety. Although a scratch from them won't kill you, it can still become infected and hamper your movements. So safety first." He said. "Now. You remember what you have to do, right?"
"Yes. Maintain a distance. Slice it's head."
"Good. Just follow my lead and everything will be alright. Come now." He said and started moving in the direction of the car with his axe.
I was feeling a bit panicky when I started following him. We were going to fight against Abnormals after all. I tried to calm my heart as he raise his speed by and bit and swung his axe at the unsuspecting Abnormal.
—————
Contrary to the nervousness I was feeling at the start of the battle, the whole thing went rather smoothly.
In fact, it went so smoothly that even I was shocked by it.
It couldn't even be called a proper battle.
In just a few seconds, we had both finished the three Abnormals without any accident.
But after the battle, I realized that telling me to attack the Abnormal at the front was his way of giving a free crystal to me since I won't take them without any contribution.
And just as he had informed me. The abnormal I fought was a young girl of about Neha's age who was tightly strapped to the seat with the seat belt.
Aside from roaring and flailing her hands, she was not able to do anything else and after I finished battling against the morals in my heart, I chopped her head in half.
She died instantly and Rahul finished the third Abnormal with his superior skills shortly after that.
I looked at the black crystal in my hand that I gained from killing the young girl. I have a feeling that I'm going to remember her face for a long time. She was my first kill after all. And even though I know she was an abnormal and not a human being, that still doesn't make me feel any better.
'Hah!' I sighed in my heart and wondered what I should do with this crystal. Eating it would add 0.1 mana to my stat but at this point, without any skill book, it would just be a waste.
'You can exchange it to another crystal in the black watch.' I heard Lily words in my mind.
'What, I can exchange it?' I asked in surprise but she didn't said anything in reply. It seemed like she was still angry with me for calling her a 'Twerp'.
'It seems like I'll have to search for that on my own.' I sighed and started to search the interface.
It was not difficult at all. After finding the Exchange Crystal option, I went and showed it to Rahul who was a bit surprised to see this.
He searched his own interface but realized that he didn't have a similar function in his black watch.
'Huh! That's another feature of my watch that he doesn't have.'
I don't know why, but comparing the two Black watches gave me the feeling that his was a basic version while mine was the upgraded version.
My watch had a lot of new functions that his watch didn't after all.
'Well, maybe we'll talk about it some other day. Right now we've more important tasks in our hands.
"So Rahul, what should I exchange this crystal for?" I asked and his answer surprised me a bit.
"You should exchange it for the crystal that increases your Perception." He replied without even taking the time to think.
"Wait! Why Perception? Why not strength, or Agility, Or even Endurance." I asked.
"Well, do you know why I'm so confident in defeating those Abnormals even though they are much more stronger than me."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because of my high perception. Truth be told, if I knew that you had such a function in your watch earlier, I would have exchanged all of my crystals for the Yellow ones."
"A high stat in perception allows you to have better awareness about everything."
"The higher your perception, the more reaction speed you'll have. When you reach a high level of perception, you'll even be able to see everything moving around you in slow motion."
"Under such a state, killing an Abnormal is not very difficult."
"Now. Here's my two crystals. Exchange them both for the Yellow ones." He said as he gave me a Green and Blue colored crystal. "Don't worry, I won't take benefit of your services for free. I'll give you crystal for every ten of mine that you help exchange."
"No that…"
"Don't say anything. My mind is made up. So far, you're not of much help when it comes to battle. If you stay like this, you'll just be a burden for me. So grow stronger as fast as possible and then we can fight those Abnormals together. What do you say?"
"Alright." I raised my hands in defeat as his words really did made sense. Even though I didn't wanted to admit it, I was indeed not of much help when it came to battles.
"Then take one of these crystal as an advance payment." He said.
I didn't reject his request. And thus, after the exchange, I had two yellow crystals.
I consumed them both with any further delay.
After gulping them down with some water, I sensed a warm feeling travelling throughout my entire body. It was a very pleasant feeling and filled my heart with warmth.
I was feeling ecstatic and had a faint sense of anticipation in my heart as I felt the warmth provided by the crystal dying down. I really wanted to know whether those crystals really worked or not.
After the process ended, I tried to move around a bit and was really surprised to find that my Perception of the world has really increased.
Everything around me seemed to have become much more clear.
Even the time around me seemed to have slowed down, and I realized that my reaction speed have gained a huge boost. Now I could do many things that I would not have been able to do before.
I jumped in the air, flipped back and landed on my feet without a hitch.
Completing a back flip had been by goal for a long time and but had never succeeded in doing it before. But now, doing so seemed really easy.
It was so easy that I was stumped for a moment.
Earlier I was sure that I would lose a one on one fight against an Abnormal. But now, I felt that I had a 60% chance of defeating them.
'But this… Isn't this change a bit too radical.'
'Can the difference of a 0.2 stat in perception really bring such enormous changes?'
I opened my hologram and looked at my status.
User name:- Ashok Singh Rana
Stats:-
Strength - 0.9
Agility - 0.9
Endurance - 1.0
Perception - 1.5 (0.9)
Mana - 0.0
Skills:-
None
Equipments:-
None
Wealth:-
None
'Huh!' I was surprised to find that my Perception had increased by a total of 0.6 points. 'Wait! Wasn't I only supposed to gain 0.1 stat point from each crystal? How come I got 0.6 stat points instead?'
'Don't be so surprised.' Lily's words rang in my mind. 'The first crystal that you eat will give you five times more benefits. This is one of the newer functions that your brother's watch don't have.'
'Is that so. That's awesome!' I shouted in my mind.
'Don't get too excited though as this will only work for the first time and since you've already used your first crystal, from here on, any crystal you eat will only increase you stats by 0.1 point.'
'Oh! So that's how it is.' I nodded in realization.
A 0.6 stat difference is indeed large enough to bring out drastic changes in anyone.
This unexpected reward made me really happy and I showed it to Rahul with a gloating smile.
"Huh!" Rahul was a bit shocked when I told him that the first crystal will give five time the stat points. But then he calmed his emotions and said "That is a very good thing."
"Congratulations. Your perception have now become three times that of an Abnormal." He said and then explained. "An abnormal might be stronger than us but it's perception is very low. About half of an average male adult at around 0.5 stat point."
"At this point, you should have a good chance of winning a one-on-one fight with those Abnormals." He said and laughed. "But of course. Only a fool would fight head on against them."
"Very well then. After this upgrade, I'm even more hopeful for your future. Now let's continue on our journey. You don't want Neha to wait for too long do you."
"You're right." I said with a voice filled with confidence. "Let's get moving."
"Brother." I said in a low tone. "Do we really need to fight those Abnormals. It's not like they are blocking our way or something. Shouldn't we focus on going back to Neha as soon as possible""It's not as simple as you think little brother." Rahul said. "In case you've no yet realized it, the world that we lived in is gone. If we don't become powerful then even if we get back home, it won't make much of a difference as we'll still be in danger.""At this point, these Abnormals are at their weakest state. This is the best time to get ourselves some crystals and become stronger. If we let this chance pass by, then they will only continue to become stronger and the situation will become even more dangerous." He said"So as we are going back home, we should search and grab as many opportunities as possible to get those crystals. Do you understand." He said."Yes." I said. "I understand."Since we started moving south, we'd been maintaining a fixed distance from the highway as it was filled with Abnormals.Rahul told me that if any abnormals walked astray from the highway and came to the forest, then we would be able to hunt it and take it's crystal.He also told me that he might be able to deal with one or two abnormals, but no more than that.If we try to attack a group of 3 or more Abnormals, then even if we kill 2 of them in quick succession, the 3rd one will definitely hear the sounds and find us.After all just because they have a bad eyesight doesn't mean they're blind. They're still able to see someone at a close distance of 3-4 meters.If an Abnormals sees us, then it'll start shrieking before even attacking.This was an inherent quality that could be found in all the Abnormals.If they find a prey, then they'll shriek before the start attacking it so that the rest of the abnormals can know about it as well.Thus, if we make a mistake and got the whole horde into our trail, then that would be potentially disastrous for us.So even though we're walking along with the highway, as it would lead us home, we still maintained a fixed distance of 100 meters from it and had been extremely vigilant all the while.That way, we could remain in the dark while still keeping an eye at the situation and look for any opportunity where some Abnormals might have trailed off from the highway and got away from the rest of the horde.And after walking for three hours, our patience had paid at last.'One, two, three, four. There are four people in the car. I guess I should say four Abnormals now.''There are only three. One of them don't have any vital signs of life.' Lily's voice rang in my ear. It seemed she had finally decided to come out of her cocoon.'You're can read vital signs from such a distance.''Not really. But I can see that his head burst open when the car collided with the tree. No human will be able to turn into Abnormal after that.' She said with a snort. 'You're really an idiot aren't you.''Ahh! I didn't notice that. Guess I'm still too nervous. You're a smart girl Lily. Good job.''Hmph. It's not me who's smart. Just you who's too foolish.' She said with disdain.'Alright. I'm not gonna fight with you anymore. I'm too mature for that.' I said and once again stared at the Car that had trailed off a fair distance away from the highway.Looking at it's condition, I could guess that the people inside must have been driving on the highway when the Severe pain hit them. The driver must have lost control due to extreme pain, and thus the car got off the highway and drifted off in the forest. It must have been travelling at a fast speed as it travelled a long distance before crashing into that sturdy tree.'Hearing the sounds they're making from inside the car. It seems like none of them are a human anymore.' I thought.'Now that I look closely upon them, doesn't it look like they're eating the driver. Or is it just my imagination.''It's not your imagination.' Lily said. 'Abnormals have the tendency of eating any kind of corpse. It doesn't matter who it belonged to as long as it had meat and bones.''So aren't they like scavengers in a sense?' I asked.'There are. Except that if you go near them then they'll eat you too.''So. Three Abnormals. One at the frontseat. Two at the backseat. The driver is effectively 'dead' and won't be getting up again. I think that's good enough for my first scouting mission.' I thought and smiled.'Hmph.' Lily snorted but didn't replied.'I'll take that as a yes.' I slid back to the bushes and merged with the darkness."Not bad." Rahul said as I told him about the result from my scouting mission. "But there are still a lot of things that you still need to learn.""First. Your positioning. You scouted them from the distance of 20 meters. But the Abnormals don't have a good eyesight and can only see at a 3-4 meter distance at night. You could have easily stayed 5 meters away from them and still remained unnoticed.""Second. Your smell. You forget to take that into consideration. Although low tier Abnormals don't have a highly sensitive nose, high tier ones and Mutant Beasts do. So next time, stay on the opposite direction of the wind.""Third. Lack of details. Just knowing that there are 3 Abnormals in the car and their position is not good enough to execute our mission.""Fourth" After pointing out a dozen mistakes in the report which I'd considered to be perfect, Rahul finally stopped."Despite that. I think you did well for your first mission." He said.I could already sense the veins in the forehead bulging. It had been a genuine compliment. But a compliment given after pointing out a dozen mistakes in your work, makes it sound more like sarcasm then a compliment.'Alright. Let's not think too much about it.' I thought and put the thing out of my mind."So. What are we going to do next." I asked."The shriek of a newborn abnormal can usually travel up to a 100 meters or so. But after changing into an Abnormal, they lose some of their hearing ability. Thus, an abnormal will only be able to hear another's shriek at the distance of 50 meter."But their car has drifted off to a distance of more than 80 meters. At such a distance, they can be considered to be isolated from the horde in the highway. So we will attack them." He said decisively. But then added something unexpected."But I can only take on two of them. You'll have to take care of the third one.""What? Me" I was a bit shocked he I heard that.I had no confidence in my abilities to fight against a man eating monster who had two times my strength. If something goes wrong then our team of two will really be in big trouble ah."Oi brother. I don't think I can""Relax." He cut me off and said. "I know what you're thinking. Don't be so worried. I won't give you an impossible task. Let me tell you. This mission will be far easier than you can think. Do you know why that is?""Why?" I asked."Because they're trapped. They do not know how to open the door and the windows are only partially open so they won't be able to attack us at all.""And the one I'm asking you to deal with is even easier as it is wearing a seat belt. So, as long as you maintain a good distance from it and swing you Axe properly, you should not have any problem in killing it. Now do you understand.""Is that so." Now I understood that my mission will be a bit easier then I had previously assumed.I also understood what he meant when he talked about 'Lack of Details.'We had both gone off to scout at the same time but he was able to learn far more things than me.'But that's alright. I'm a fast learner. I won't stay behind him forever.' I consoled myself.'I somehow doubt that.' Lily chimed in.'Shut up twerp.' I said'What did you call me?' she asked in rage.'Twerp.' I replied nonchalantly.'How dare you call me a''Twerp twerp.''Anhhh. I won't talk to you anymore. Bye.' She said and went silent.'What a feisty girl.'"Oi. Brother. Is it really necessary for me to wear these two blankets over me hands?" I said as I looked at the car in the distance."Yes. It's for your safety. Although a scratch from them won't kill you, it can still become infected and hamper your movements. So safety first." He said. "Now. You remember what you have to do, right?""Yes. Maintain a distance. Slice it's head.""Good. Just follow my lead and everything will be alright. Come now." He said and started moving in the direction of the car with his axe.I was feeling a bit panicky when I started following him. We were going to fight against Abnormals after all. I tried to calm my heart as he raise his speed by and bit and swung his axe at the unsuspecting Abnormal.Contrary to the nervousness I was feeling at the start of the battle, the whole thing went rather smoothly.In fact, it went so smoothly that even I was shocked by it.It couldn't even be called a proper battle.In just a few seconds, we had both finished the three Abnormals without any accident.But after the battle, I realized that telling me to attack the Abnormal at the front was his way of giving a free crystal to me since I won't take them without any contribution.And just as he had informed me. The abnormal I fought was a young girl of about Neha's age who was tightly strapped to the seat with the seat belt.Aside from roaring and flailing her hands, she was not able to do anything else and after I finished battling against the morals in my heart, I chopped her head in half.She died instantly and Rahul finished the third Abnormal with his superior skills shortly after that.I looked at the black crystal in my hand that I gained from killing the young girl. I have a feeling that I'm going to remember her face for a long time. She was my first kill after all. And even though I know she was an abnormal and not a human being, that still doesn't make me feel any better.'Hah!' I sighed in my heart and wondered what I should do with this crystal. Eating it would add 0.1 mana to my stat but at this point, without any skill book, it would just be a waste.'You can exchange it to another crystal in the black watch.' I heard Lily words in my mind.'What, I can exchange it?' I asked in surprise but she didn't said anything in reply. It seemed like she was still angry with me for calling her a 'Twerp'.'It seems like I'll have to search for that on my own.' I sighed and started to search the interface.It was not difficult at all. After finding the Exchange Crystal option, I went and showed it to Rahul who was a bit surprised to see this.He searched his own interface but realized that he didn't have a similar function in his black watch.'Huh! That's another feature of my watch that he doesn't have.'I don't know why, but comparing the two Black watches gave me the feeling that his was a basic version while mine was the upgraded version.My watch had a lot of new functions that his watch didn't after all.'Well, maybe we'll talk about it some other day. Right now we've more important tasks in our hands."So Rahul, what should I exchange this crystal for?" I asked and his answer surprised me a bit."You should exchange it for the crystal that increases your Perception." He replied without even taking the time to think."Wait! Why Perception? Why not strength, or Agility, Or even Endurance." I asked."Well, do you know why I'm so confident in defeating those Abnormals even though they are much more stronger than me.""Why?" I asked."Because of my high perception. Truth be told, if I knew that you had such a function in your watch earlier, I would have exchanged all of my crystals for the Yellow ones.""A high stat in perception allows you to have better awareness about everything.""The higher your perception, the more reaction speed you'll have. When you reach a high level of perception, you'll even be able to see everything moving around you in slow motion.""Under such a state, killing an Abnormal is not very difficult.""Now. Here's my two crystals. Exchange them both for the Yellow ones." He said as he gave me a Green and Blue colored crystal. "Don't worry, I won't take benefit of your services for free. I'll give you crystal for every ten of mine that you help exchange.""No that""Don't say anything. My mind is made up. So far, you're not of much help when it comes to battle. If you stay like this, you'll just be a burden for me. So grow stronger as fast as possible and then we can fight those Abnormals together. What do you say?""Alright." I raised my hands in defeat as his words really did made sense. Even though I didn't wanted to admit it, I was indeed not of much help when it came to battles."Then take one of these crystal as an advance payment." He said.I didn't reject his request. And thus, after the exchange, I had two yellow crystals.I consumed them both with any further delay.After gulping them down with some water, I sensed a warm feeling travelling throughout my entire body. It was a very pleasant feeling and filled my heart with warmth.I was feeling ecstatic and had a faint sense of anticipation in my heart as I felt the warmth provided by the crystal dying down. I really wanted to know whether those crystals really worked or not.After the process ended, I tried to move around a bit and was really surprised to find that my Perception of the world has really increased.Everything around me seemed to have become much more clear.Even the time around me seemed to have slowed down, and I realized that my reaction speed have gained a huge boost. Now I could do many things that I would not have been able to do before.I jumped in the air, flipped back and landed on my feet without a hitch.Completing a back flip had been by goal for a long time and but had never succeeded in doing it before. But now, doing so seemed really easy.It was so easy that I was stumped for a moment.Earlier I was sure that I would lose a one on one fight against an Abnormal. But now, I felt that I had a 60% chance of defeating them.'But this Isn't this change a bit too radical.''Can the difference of a 0.2 stat in perception really bring such enormous changes?'I opened my hologram and looked at my status.User name:- Ashok Singh RanaStats:-Strength - 0.9Agility - 0.9Endurance - 1.0Perception - 1.5 0.9Mana - 0.0Skills:-NoneEquipments:-NoneWealth:-None'Huh!' I was surprised to find that my Perception had increased by a total of 0.6 points. 'Wait! Wasn't I only supposed to gain 0.1 stat point from each crystal? How come I got 0.6 stat points instead?''Don't be so surprised.' Lily's words rang in my mind. 'The first crystal that you eat will give you five times more benefits. This is one of the newer functions that your brother's watch don't have.''Is that so. That's awesome!' I shouted in my mind.'Don't get too excited though as this will only work for the first time and since you've already used your first crystal, from here on, any crystal you eat will only increase you stats by 0.1 point.''Oh! So that's how it is.' I nodded in realization.A 0.6 stat difference is indeed large enough to bring out drastic changes in anyone.This unexpected reward made me really happy and I showed it to Rahul with a gloating smile."Huh!" Rahul was a bit shocked when I told him that the first crystal will give five time the stat points. But then he calmed his emotions and said "That is a very good thing.""Congratulations. Your perception have now become three times that of an Abnormal." He said and then explained. "An abnormal might be stronger than us but it's perception is very low. About half of an average male adult at around 0.5 stat point.""At this point, you should have a good chance of winning a one-on-one fight with those Abnormals." He said and laughed. "But of course. Only a fool would fight head on against them.""Very well then. After this upgrade, I'm even more hopeful for your future. Now let's continue on our journey. You don't want Neha to wait for too long do you.""You're right." I said with a voice filled with confidence. "Let's get moving."
