Chapter 26: Abyss Creatures

A neon-blue iridescent cube appeared before Roy and spun measuredly on its axis. Only he could see it, of course.

~Tap to sign in~

There was a simple phrase in a dark blue panel displayed before the system cube. It had been like this since yesterday.

Roy clicked his tongue, disappointed at Pierre’s incompetence, and requested to view his personal information.

+

[Host Data]

Name: Roy Mclloyd

Age: 16

Level: 1

EXP: 560/1000

Stat Points: 0.0

Number of Sign-ins: 3

Skills: Link (Active), 2x Multiplier (Passive)

Linked Hosts: 1/1

Overall Stats: Physical = 4.0, Willpower = 1.0, Attack = 1.0, Defense = 1.0, Chance = 1.0 >> Total = 8.0

Overall Rating: “A weak, edgy loser who was lucky to be granted a unique system.”

* You have (2) unclaimed rewards.

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’Whoa, I’m already close to levelling up!’ Roy sneered inwardly, suddenly looking forward to leaving to find more abyss creatures to gain exp from. It was then that he realised this was what his teacher was trying to accomplish before the end of the day.

’…But he didn’t have to let me get hurt.’

Donny was close by, and suddenly asked with a unique expression, “You said ’system’ earlier. Did you call for your system?”

Roy instinctively frowned.

“I need some me time. Can I get some privacy?” He voiced with annoyance underneath his tone. ’You turned against me so shamelessly back there. Get lost!’

“But I was just wondering… what’s the colour of your system? And the shape?” Donald asked, with a childish wonder evident in his eyes.

“Can you leave me alone?” Roy quickly retorted, his displeasure quite evident. He wasn’t going to entertain such a back-stabbing individual.

“…”

“Sheesh,” he muttered and focused on his system. A new panel opened in response to a thought.

[Sign-In Rewards]:

[+3.0 Stat Points (Claimed).]

[Apples ×2 (Unclaimed) ~Tap to claim~.]

[Cursed Rag-dolls ×2 (Unclaimed) ~Tap to claim~.]

Looking at the two-times factor on the tier-1 consumable, he frowned.

’Can’t I just claim one of the two apples?’

[No, host.]

“Dammit.” Roy cursed under his breath. ’But where will I keep the second one? I don’t have an inventory…’

[…]

“What happened? What’s your system saying?” Donny eagerly asked, whereas Roy just gave him the side-eye.

’And is it even wise to claim the apple in the midst of Master Abraham and Donny? They will wonder how I got this item without levelling up. Goddammit, they are smart enough to notice something off with my system,’ Roy carefully thought, already devising ways in his heart to work around this.

However, the solution was dead simple.

He tapped on the consumable item to claim it, and in a second, two juicy-looking red apples appeared before him… and Donald, who got up in shock and pleasant astonishment.

“Roy! How did you get this?” Donny quickly asked.

And Roy gave his contingent excuse. “I was rewarded with an item after killing one of the Veinback Rippers.”

“You were?” Abraham peered into the back.

“I was. Seems like my system gives rewards like this, too,” Roy added. It was best he began cooking the grand lie earlier.

“Did it give you anything else?” Donny eagerly asked.

But Roy clicked his tongue and said, “No. Can I just be left alone? I can’t move my shoulder, so right now the last thing I want to do is answer annoying ass questions, please! My goodness…”

Pissed, he faced the apple in his hand. It looked quite regular, but unlike normal apples, both were the exact same in shape, roughness, weight, and all. They were practically identical.

Under Donald and Abraham’s gaze, Roy ate one of the apples, using his movable left hand.

And a few seconds after, he tore off the shoulder cast and immobiliser and flexed his shoulder, a wide smile appearing on his face as he did so.

“Whoa…” Donny voiced, while the D-Class Executioner just stared.

’Now, where will I keep the other one?’ Roy thought, shirtless but feeling whole and hearty.

[System items can return to the Nullspace.]

Initially surprised, he then learned that, actually, this was a feature all systems had. He just never knew about it since he always saw executioners holding their weapons on their bodies, hence he concluded as such.

All system items could return on command, but not all systems gave weapon items despite their capabilities. Hence, the reason why several executioners acquired regular weapons. An example was Roy’s netherstone dagger.

However, an executioner with a dedicated inventory could also put in non-system items and weapons. Another example was Master Abraham’s Array.

So, Roy sent a mental command, and the other apple dematerialised into blue blocks.

’Wow. I guess you really do learn every day.’

Shortly afterward, Abraham directed Roy to an outfit in an enclosed box, smaller but similar to his black, assassin-like get-up made of bulletproof material. However, it didn’t have the half-mask that covered the lower half of the face.

The matte black body suit was quite flexible, not at all restraining Roy’s movements. And his dagger was sheathed in a holster at the back of his waist.

Abraham observed Roy in the attire and nodded, “This is yours now. You handled killing abyss creatures for the first time well, for someone related to Donald Mclloyd.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Donny butted in with a frown.

Roy smiled and nodded. “This is cool. Thanks, Master Abe.”

Abraham squinted at being called that but didn’t say anything.

Thirty seconds later, they came down from the APC again. Time was just some minutes past five, meaning their hunt was going to touch some nightly hours. Roy brought this up as a concern because Abyssals tended to be more ferocious at night, but the D-Class Executioner said they should be more scared of him at night. Oddly enough, Roy knew that was true.

“How much do you know about abyss creatures?” Master Abraham asked, he and Roy walking down an abandoned road, with deadened cars, signposts, streetlights, and more. The scene about them was one of a fallen modern civilisation.

Roy scratched his chin.

“Um, just what everyone else knows, I guess. Some abyss creatures are stronger than others. I know they’re graded, but no one other than Executioners actually cares about learning all that.”

“You have to learn them now because it may seem like executioners are powerful when fighting, but it’s only because we choose our battles wisely,” Abraham explained.

“Now, there are nine threat levels the system uses to rank abyss creatures. They are: Weak, Strange, Mutated, Fallen, Corrupted, Cursed, Great, Ancient, and Calamity.

“And then, they are divided into five classes, which are: Beast, Monster, Undead, Demon… and Devil.

“Each more wicked, more evil than the last.”

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