CHAPTER 06

Gary DID NOT like the way Ai was threatening him.

“Fine. If I’m not able to find Leah within 24 hours, then you can go where you want,” Gary bluntly said. “I’m not going to think about anything else until I know what happened to Leah.”

Ai liked his resolve, but she blurted. [You misunderstood me, Gary. If Leah had actually touched the dark witch’s body, then she’s probably already being infected by parasitic energy. If you don’t find her within 24 hours, then she’ll have completely gone crazy or will have become a completely different person. Then, you won’t be able to save her, not with the strength you have now. Maybe, if Chun Fu was alive, he would have done something, but Chun Fu is no more. Do you get what I’m saying?]

“You are not lying to me, are you?” Gary inquired. “If you have the ability to do a wide-radius search, then do it right now and find where Leah is.”

[For me to be able to do that, you should at least cross level 100 as your senses will sharpen from then on.] Ai answered.

Gary couldn’t tell if she was telling him the truth or not. “If I later find out that you’re lying, then you’ll lose my complete trust.”

[You’re free to do whatever you want, Gary, just like how I’m free to do whatever I want,] Ai casually said. [After all, we’re still pretty much strangers to one another. I don’t know much about you, and you don’t know much about me.]

“Stop bullshitting me. You’re able to talk in my slang, so obviously, you read my memories or something,” Gary voiced his mind.

[Haha, you’re right. I know about you, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re still strangers.]

Gary couldn’t help but frown. He had only 24 hours left to find his girlfriend, so the sheer tension clutching and gnawing at his heart was palpable in his expression. “How fast can I get to level 100?” he asked because Ai had told him that level 100 was necessary to use his senses to scan for Leah.

[It depends on you.]

“Is it possible to reach that level within 23 hours?” he asked.

Ai went silent for a second.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

[If you want to achieve that, then you can’t be wasting even a second.]

Those were all the words that Gary needed to hear to confirm that increasing levels up to 100 within 24 hours might just be possible.

Gary exited the alley and looked for the monsters. The first beast he came across was a fifteen feet long lizard crawling up a building. Hearing his footsteps, its eyes rolled at an angle and spotted him. It immediately jumped from the fifth floor and landed very close to him and leaped at him with a wide-open mouth. It was fast. Too fast for a typical human to respond, but Gary jumped and somersaulted in midair before striking the lizard’s head with his heel.

The lizard’s skull cracked and broke. The lizard died in seconds.

[Congratulations. You dealt a critical strike and won against a level 11 lizard in one strike!]

“You leveled up!]

Gary felt hopeful after hearing the message. “Finally… That was easy, but if I was a second late in reacting, I would have been in its mouth. Wait, can I see my stats now?”

[Yes. Loading your stats…]

A screen popped up in front of Gary’s eyes. “Wow…”

[Name: Gary Lennon.

Age: 27.

Level: 12

XP: 13/120

HP: 780

STR(Strength): 359

STA(Stamina): 80

DEF(Defense): 100

SPD (Speed): 102

AGL(Agility): 101

Available stat points: 119

Energy Pot: Ghoul, Spider beast]

“My strength stat is much higher compared to other stats. No wonder the lizard died with one kick. It was a critical strike, too. But wait… why didn’t I absorb the lizard energy?”

[It doesn’t happen automatically.] Ai told him. [You need to consciously absorb it. Depending on what energies you have in your energy pot, it can become good or bad to you because mixing some energies will work negatively. If you mix the right energies, then it’ll have a positive effect. But don’t worry. I will tell you when you shouldn’t absorb a certain type.]

“Oh, I get it now.” Gary focused his gaze on the dead lizard, and he felt the lizard’s energy seeping into his body. The lizard’s body further shriveled up.

[SPD +4, AGL +5, STA +2, STR +1, HP +50]

Gary was quite surprised by the sudden increase in his stats. “So this energy absorption also increases my stats?”

[That’s why it’s possible for you to level up much faster than others.] Ai commented. [You don’t only get rewards for defeating monsters but also for absorbing their energies because you gain strength through cultivating each of that energy and obtain new abilities like the ones that you used on the spider.]

“Sounds great,” Gary didn’t feel happy but he definitely felt all the more hopeful. “Let’s rid this world of these monsters!” He saw a two-feet-tall rat cautiously come out of a house and chased it.

[That’s a level 2 rat. Don’t waste your time on it.]

“Haa!” Gary, with his overwhelming speed, managed to scare the rat so much it collapsed there and then and died from a heart stroke.

[Incredible! You killed a level 2 rat without even touching it!] Ai excitedly spoke.

[You earned a new skill: Hero’s Scare. You can scare weak souls with just your gaze! The skill will improve as you level up! Reach higher levels to unlock Hero’s Death Stare!]

“This…” Gary was very much pleased for targeting the rat despite Ai’s words. “I knew it. I shouldn’t blindly trust you even though you claim to know it all.”

[I don’t take back what I said.] Ai blurted. [You might have gained a decent skill this time, but if you want to level up and reach anywhere close to level 100 within 24 hours, then you have to take on stronger foes, not ones that are ten levels lower than yourself.]

Gary exhaled audibly because Ai was right. Gary’s stats didn’t increase at all after killing the rat. The only good thing that came out of it was a slight increase in XP and a reward of new skill.

“From here on, I’m going to focus on stronger foes as you said,” Gary stated emphatically. “Just wait for me, Leah. I will find you soon!”