The whole battlefield erupted with a powerful explosion consuming both cockatrices and goblins alike.
Leo covered his ears so he wouldn't get deaf from the earplitting sounds.With his eyes shut, he grinned heartily enjoying the sounds of system notification ringing in his head.As soon as all his bombs had finished exploding, Leo opened his eyes to see the damage he had caused.His mouth shot open, the whole place was like a scene from hell, trees on the ground, leaves caught on fire, body parts of goblins and cockatrices everywhere.The explosion had killed about 80% of the monster below and the remaining were far too injured to be a threat.He turned towards, the cockatrice boss and goblin, and saw they were still alive. But they were still fighting with each other despite the chaos.He noticed the Cockatrice was stealing glances in his direction while defending the attacks from the goblin. Leo figured the cockatrice boss knew he was the source of the explosion but couldn't do anything about it as the goblin boss was a persistent brute still oblivious to his presence.Leo then made a note to keep an eye on the cockatrice boss, so as not to be caught off guard by unexpected attacks, as it seemed rather shrewd. The remaining cockatrices alive had either lost their tails, wings, and limbs or were burnt to a crisp and barely hanging. Only two of the goblin had managed to survive and Grey could only consider them lucky, or not, as they looked like they were in agony.Leo nodded at this, yep his ability was lovely alright. The scene was horrific, but what about it?These monsters exist to be hunted, to make players stronger, and they wouldn't hesitate to kill him if they got the chance, so he had no remorse.With a wicked grin, he took out his sword. At first, he contemplated finishing them up with [Exploding Touch], but he itching to get some experience with his weapon.He had no one to train him, so he should practice shouldn't he?They were like practice dummies roaming around the field so why not?Leo jumped off the tree and landed on the ground with a heavy thud getting the attention of the cockatrice close by.“System add ten points to strength” He instructed and charged towards the nearest cockatrice. The cockatrice could not even react, Leo swung his sword, and the beast's head fell off his body.With his strength boosted Leo's sword went through it like butter.He turned to the next, a goblin with half its body burnt. It grunted at him, but Leo responded with a kick to the chest, that sent it to the afterlife as its body slammed into a tree[Level up!]“Nice,”Like this Leo kept taking down the injured beasts. One by one they met their demise. They simply didn't stand a chance.Meanwhile, the cockatrice and the goblin boss were still fighting, despite the surprise explosion and the injury it dealt.“You idiot stop! there's a new enemy,” the cockatrice yelled at the goblin as it glanced at the human sweeping the battlefield. He was the real enemy.Only the goblin boss was an idiot and didn't care, it just wanted the cockatrice's head.“No, this is all chicken's fault! Chicken set trap, kill everyone. Goblin must have chicken and be victorious, make king proud!” the goblin shouted and then began to attack in a frenzy.The cockatrice boss blocked the attack but was rage was simmering. He's had enough and decided it was time to end this pointless fight. His goal was to take down the goblin once and for all, so they wouldn't come back but he couldn't do that without his men so his only option was to kill the boss, the latest threat, the human, and then regroup to return to face the goblin once again.That was the sensible plan, with a sigh and a plan to follow. The cockatrice moved quickly, faster than the speed the goblin was used to, overwhelming the green beast with a flurry of attacks. His wings, tail, beaks, and all its weapons assaulted the goblin, blood spewing out of its wounds.The goblin boss couldn't keep up, as he had taken most of the brunt from the bombs and was weakened, now he was suffering from assaults and wasn't able to keep up with the cockatrice torrents of attacks.The Cockatrice's tail pierced into the goblin's shoulder, and he was forced to jump back. The stab area began to change into purple indicating poisonThe Goblin groaned and fell on its knees, severely weakened and hurt.“This fight is over surrender and I'll make your death swift,” the cockatrice said but the goblin simply grinned.He wasn't ready to tap out yet and had one more move to try. With a thundering roar, he activated his special ability, [Bloodlust], which doubled the user's strength for a few seconds.He might not be able to survive but he would make sure to take the cockatrice down as well. Its skin began to go red as strength flushed through its body.But the Cockatrice was prepared for it and used its hidden ability. It sucked in a deep breath. Energy bubbling in his mouth and fired out a wave of sonic energy which hit the goblin pushing him backward.His skin which was turning red returned to normal as he coughed out blood. The [Sonic Scream] from the goblin had interrupted his [Bloodlust] and had done massive damage.The goblin fell to its knees, the explosion, the injuries, the poison, and his final skill being interrupted had dealt too much damage.The cockatrice then appeared behind it and swung its razor-sharp wings taking off the goblin head.With a plop, the goblin's head dropped to the ground and rolled away. But the goblin boss was still conscious so it said its last words.“I, Baran, a loyal boss to the king, will be back and I will have my meat!” Baran yelled and the cockatrice boss harrumphed.“Even to the end all you can think about is meat,” the Cockatrice said shaking his head before kicking the goblin's head away. “What an idiot you are?”“Hey! Don't insult my man Baran like that," the cockatrice boss heard a voice and jumped in surprise before looking around in wary.“Over here,” Leo said appearing behind it, and as the cockatrice turned, it was met with a powerful slap that sent it sliding to the side.Leo's hand stung from the force of the slap delivered to the cockatrice’s beak. He flexed his fingers, wincing slightly. Yeah, maybe he shouldn’t have done that. The creature, with its head turned by the impact, slowly redirected its gaze toward Leo, disbelief etched on its avian features. How dare this human, this mere Rank-E, lay a hand on the mighty cockatrice boss?"YOU...""Shut it!" Leo interrupted, raising his arm. “Just come over here, and let's get this over with. I don't want to waste too much time; I've got a lot of your kind to kill.”The Cockatrice boss, initially taken aback, now seethed with rage. Leo's audacity baffled him. Despite the peculiar strength of Leo's aura, inferior to his own, the human spoke as if he were the apex predator. The Cockatrice boss then gritted its teeth and charged toward Leo, hate burning in its eyes.Leo, nonchalant, plucked a couple of stones from his inventory and tossed them toward the oncoming creature. “Here, have some stones.”The Cock
Leo activated his ability, and the stones exploded, swallowing the cockatrice. The creature didn't even get the chance to scream as the explosion consumed it, causing instant death. Leo watched the charred body of the cockatrice fall to the ground and wiped the sweat off his forehead, falling to the ground. The battle had taken a lot out of him, and the debuff he had received from the cockatrice's last attack had made him even weaker. He read the notification flashing in front of him:[You have defeated the cockatrice sub-boss][Level up][Level up][Level up][You have been rewarded with 15 power points, Power Stone (S), and a new skill [Sonic Blast]][Apocalypse Baby taking effect...][Reward has been doubled] “Yes,” Leo exclaimed, balling both fists. He had taken advantage of the battle between the two different creatures and had reaped bountiful rewards. From leveling up, which netted him power points, to power stones, coins, weapons, and even a new skill, Leo was eager to check
Leo truly believed that good things happened to bad people and bad things happened to overly good people, after his life had turned to hell, all because he decided to be generous.He had seen a man standing before a vending machine confused as to how it worked.Leo was in a good mood that day, after getting paid his salary, so he decided to get a drink for himself and another for the stranger. But when he handed it over, the strangers expression contorted in disgust and swatted it to the ground.“You...are you looking down on me?” the man asked in an arrogant tone and Leo was confused.Leo would later found out the man was the new owner of the company, Ethan Hunt.The previous owner--the man who hired him, had fallen ill and Ethan his grandson was to be the new boss.The next day while Leo was leading a meeting, when Ethan appeared and public announced that Leo is to be demoted with immediate effect.His reason, Leo was a poor bastard who graduated from a lowly university and had no i
Leo stood there frozen unable to believe his own eyes. His girlfriend was cheating on him with his boss.Katie, catching sight of Leo, gasped in shock. “You...what are you doing here?”Ethan, moved away from the two and leaned casually on the elevator wall, folding his arm with a sly grin on his face.Leo struggled to find words amid the whirlwind of emotions crashing over him.“You--why--whats was going on here?” Leo sputtered his voice quivering from the shock. It was as if his whole world had been turned upside down.Katie had a guilty look on her face but she quickly brushed it off and looked right at Leo with confidence. All trace of shame on her expression was gone.“"That's right, Leo. I cheated on you. I was only with you because I thought you had potential, that you'd achieve greatness. But you've disappointed me. Reduced to a mere coffee boy, you're nothing but an embarrassment.” Each word Katie uttered was like a dagger through Leo's heart. It was the excrutiating pain he
“What is this?”Leo asked, staring at the words written on the screen in front of him, but since security were chasing after him, he ignored the message and ran. As he raced towards the exit, Leo saw everyone was staring into the air with amusement. Leo stopped and looked back to see the security men had stopped chasing him as well. Leo's gaze then fell to the words hovering in front of him, he realized he wasn't the only one seeing the strange words, but everyone else.The words then changed with a mechanical ding and the message read.[System Integration will begin soon. Those who survive will become denizens of the new world, and those who fail will become abominations. Brace Yourself]“Brace yourself?” Leo repeated, confused, but then he felt a sharp pain sear through his head. He winced and clutched his temples, shutting his eyes as he endured the torment, but then the pain slowly dissipated and Leo felt relief.Leo cautiously opened his eyes, wondering what was really going
A young man on appeared in a green and lush forest. He was dressed in a white shirt with a black tie and black pants, a stark contrast to his surrounding.He looked around at his surroundings with curiosity and muttered in awe. “So this is the tutorial.”This young man was Leo. The tutorial was a far cry from the hellish landscape he imagined.He had expected dark menacing woods, with creepy noises and roars, or a cave with bones and skulls, where bats jump at you from nowhere.But, Leo found himself surrounded by a sea of vibrant green foliage. Towering trees created a dense canopy, and dappled sunlight filtered through. Nature's aroma filled the air. Unexpectedly, the ambiance was serene.Ding! [System is now available]The holographic interface notified.Finding a nearby tree, Leo settled down to explore the system and grasp its mechanics first, before he took any action.With a mere thought, Leo accessed the system, and the floating panel updated.Name: Leo Rank: ETitle: Apoca
As soon as the cockatrice felt Leo touch it's neck, it wriggled with even more intensity and finally yank it's beak free.It turned hatefully towards Leo who had hit the dash. The bird feeling wronged, screeched loudly and immediately gave chase.The bird took powerful stride it's feet kicking up dust. Leo wasnt that fast and with it's pace it was going to catch up quick.Leo had never ran so fast in his entire life. The sounds of the cockraice approaching was a good motivation.He just needed thirty seconds. Thirty seconds and his ability would take effect.Leo could hear the bird even closer now, despite the headstart the bird was slowly catching upHe was panting wildly and his chest was burning in exhaustion, but he kept pushing“You stop you die” he yelled to motivate himself, but he couldn't keep running at top speed for long.Leo then spotted a tree at a distance and decided to run towards it. The cockraice followed kicking up the gear, it beak on the verge of clamping down on
Leo figured it only seemed hard because he was still a low-level player, once he levelled up, killing so many cockatrices wouldn't be that big of a deal.And with his special title, Leo would eventually reach a point where he would get enough coins to go on a shopping spree.Leo also believed a stronger monsters would definitely drop more coins, so if he wanted to enjoy the comfort of the system, he had to power up quick.“Guess oracle saying the strong will rule wasn't wrong.” Leo mutteredFor now, the cheapest thing in the system shop was a bottle of water which costs ten coins, the total number of coins Leo had.He was thirsty, after eating the meat, so he decided to buy it instead. As soon as Leo ten coins disappeared, a bottle of water appeared in his inventory. Leo took it out, and examined it. It looked like your regular bottle of water from earth, with ‘Tutorial Water’ written on the paper around it as the name of the company.Leo then uncorked the bottle and downed the wate