While helping others learn to call up their status and use their skills for the first time, Jose realized that he had been neglecting his newest skill.
[Orb - Conjure an orb of lightning that will attack for three seconds by discharging bolts at enemies within a ten-foot radius.]
The skill seemed perfect for him. He currently had the Strike skill, which was great, but he had been thinking that he needed something he could use from a distance for the inevitably stronger monsters he would have to face.
This new skill was interesting in many ways. The first time he used it an orb of red plasma formed over his hand. It remained static in the spot where it manifested, and despite the description, it did not release any lightning or disappear after three seconds.
He found that a basic tenet of the skill was that it would remain inert until Jose was attacked or considered something an enemy. The other, and even more interesting tenet of the skill, was that a conjured orb would follow him if he moved more than five feet away from it.
After a bit of practice and familiarization with the skill, he resumed his journey to find his family moving in the same general northwardly direction. By afternoon, his surroundings had shifted back to a more North-Eastern United States foliage and architecture. Judging by the large buildings, among other things, he was somewhere in New York.
Not long after entering the new area, he heard a ridiculously powerful roar and a scuffle of sorts. He ran to a building and hid inside while keeping an eye out for what type of monster could have made such a sound.
Following the scuffle, two giant lions came bounding around a corner, fighting each other. It was an incredible thing watching two lions the size of city buses fight each other. They caused just as much damage to their surroundings as they did to each other while they tussled.
Taking a close look at them, Jose was able to make out several details. The hairs on their mains seemed to have become some sort of metallic substance that still moved like hair. Hard reptilian-like scales protected the underbelly, chest, and throat. And their claws were powerful enough to rend gouges in the asphalt.
With one look Jose knew that at his current level, he couldn’t hope to even put a scratch on these monstrosities. Instead, he realized the opportunity before him, and a plan began to form as he followed them while they bulldozed through the city, fighting to the death.
***
The beasts had caused major damage to each other over the last several hours. They both had several large gashes, torn scales, and hides and were bleeding from several places. Due to their size and strength, Jose had had to keep a good distance while following the fight and biding his time.
The moment he’d been waiting for had finally arrived though. Both lions were exhausted and basically crawling toward each other; one had clamped down on the throat of the other and held on for dear life.
Jose waited till the victor was decided and the loser had stopped struggling before jumping into action. He dashed forward at top speed and stabbed the victor in the eye several times using Strike, penetrating deeper with each stab before it knew he was even there. His sword penetrated deep into the skull before he felt the squishiness he’d come to recognize as brain matter.
[You have received nourishment for defeating an Iron Lion.]
[You have leveled up.]
For good measure, he stabbed down into the brain of the loser as well. To his delight, he received a message for defeating this one as well. ‘Guess it was at death's door, but not quite there just yet.’
[You have received nourishment for defeating an Iron Lion.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have acquired a new skill, Volt-Gen.
Volt-Gen: Runs a regenerative current through the body providing healing.]
Jose quickly closed his messages and remained alert, taking in his surroundings. He was out in the open, the ruckus made by the two beasts, and the smell of blood would surely draw in more monsters.
After a few seconds of nothing happening, he knew it was time to collect any materials he could harvest. He would have to wait till he was in a safe space to calmly go through his messages and stats.
These creatures were so massive, and he was so new to this, that it took him hours to gut them. His sword hadn’t even been up to the task of piercing or even scratching the tough hides, in the end, he’d had to pull a claw from one of their paws to do the job.
After finally cutting open the monsters he began sifting through any possible organs, once again looking for cores. It wasn’t until he cut open the hearts that he found what he was looking for. The cores were akin to large marbles with an iron-colored liquid floating inside.
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After putting them in his backpack he cut out a large section of the hide and pulled another claw. Then he’d gotten some space from the corpses before searching for a place to hold up for the night, as it was quickly approaching.
Jose found himself an apartment with running water and barricaded the doors and windows. Of course, the running water was only cold water and came out rusty at first, but a cold shower never hurt anyone, at least not in the current weather, which had thus far been nice and warm.
After a nice shower, he filled the tub and threw in the hide to start prepping it for tanning. It was kind of ironic how his love for the fantasy genre had propelled him to study all kinds of things when he was younger, things that would be helpful in the current situation.
His sword, being the prop weapon that it was, had just about had it already, with plenty of bumps and nicks. However, the club was no different as it was completely bent out of shape now. The claws he acquired would make good, strong knives once he found a way to shape and sharpen them.
***
It had become clear to Jose by now that finding his family, if they were still alive and well, would be no easy task. The world had changed in monumental ways, seemingly overnight, not only was magic now real, but monsters walked the world, and whole swaths of land were displaced.
Just in the last two days of travel, he had crossed from RI to Panama to NY. The absurdity of that was not lost on him. Not only was RI supposed to be north-east of NY, and he was traveling north, but Panama was on a whole other continent.
That realization came with an understanding that gave him pause. He might never see any of his siblings and their families again. It was a bittersweet thing for him. Though he hadn’t spoken to any of his siblings for years, he’d still been able to keep up with their lives through social media and their children. Plus, he’d been ever present and steadfast as a stalwart example for his various nieces and nephews.
An even more bitter pill to swallow was the realization that, on some level, he felt… Relieved that he no longer had to be a stalwart example or hero for any of them. He now understood that, on some level, he’d burdened himself with a responsibility that was never his, as he’d done so often in his life.
Though he wasn’t the oldest sibling, he’d somehow taken on that role for all of them at some point, and somehow, even as he’d cut those ties with them, he’d picked up some sudo parenting role for all of their children. Whether he liked it or not, the new world had changed that for them all. They would no longer have him as a pillar to lean on, or a source to pull from, and he would no longer have them as a catalyst to push his progress.
Here he was again, trying to run to the rescue of grownups and their families when, in truth, none of that was his responsibility. He decided there and then that he’d done more than enough for his siblings and their families. With this new world came a new beginning for all of them, he would forever put down his patriarchal complex and live for himself alone, and they would have to learn to fend for themselves.
Maybe one day he would find them again, but it would not be the sole reason for moving forward in this new world. With that decision taken out of his hands, he bent his mind and will to understanding this new galvanization system that would, no doubt, be monumentally key for the survival of all in this new world.
He began by cycling through what menus or pages he could find using the clear thought and intent method he’d learned. He was able to call up his status page, which he was already familiar with. Then he found a system log page that held all of the messages he had received since awakening the system, they were cataloged by date and time.
Finally, he found a settings page that allowed him to set when, and for what, he would receive notifications. He quickly set it to only receive notifications for important events, such as learning a new skill, leveling up, or defeating a new type of monster.
The next morning, he began combing the area for equipment to work on making leather from the hide he’d collected and knives from the claws. In his travels, he considered that he might not get another chance to get crafting materials from such strong and clearly high-leveled monsters any time soon, so he swung by the Lion corpses, grabbed four more claws, and painstakingly pulled two of the fangs.
It had taken two days of scouring the area, but he was able to find materials for the tanning and set up a workshop for the claw smithing he was going to do. He’d acquired some solar generators that still worked and put them to good use for his workshop. He spent several weeks working on both projects; the tanning was less labor intensive, seeing as most of the steps only required upfront preparation and long times of sitting.
In between tanning steps, he used diamond-bladed tools to cut and grind the claws and fangs into weapons. The fangs he ground down into two long diamond-shaped daggers with four-sided blades, sharpening and polishing them into razor-sharp edges. Two of the claws he cut and ground into long tactical knives, and the other four he cut and ground into six kunai throwing knives.
After starting the project, he’d returned to the Lion corpses one last time and grabbed several bones that he used for pommels and scabbards. And he used tough nylon rope to wrap the handles of the throwing knives.
The scabbards were not in perfect visual shape considering it was his very first time attempting them, but they held the knives and daggers in place, which is what mattered most. With the scraps from the claws, he made a pair of sheers and two large sewing needles that he could use to work on the leather.
The cartilage he had removed from the bones he dried and used as strings for his leather work. He could have used fishing wire or something from the many desolate stores in the area but figured that materials from the Lions would hold up the best.
With the leather, he made a simple three-layered cuirass ending in a V shape covering the groin area, two three-layered bracers in a simple triangle pattern, and two similarly styled shin guards. Finally, he made a strong leather belt on which he could strap his knives and daggers.
When he was done with both projects he received a bit of a surprise.
[You have unlocked a skill: Crafting (Beginner).
Crafting (Beginner): Use mundane methods to craft normal items.]
[You have crafted: Cuirass (normal); Bracers (normal); Shin-Guards (normal); Knives (normal); Daggers (normal); Needles (normal); Shears (normal).]
Though he was happy receiving a new skill, he felt like the system was telling him that he should stick to fighting instead of crafting for some reason.
Regardless, he found that his new gear was cut and scratch-resistant to anything but his new weapons and that his new weapons could easily cut through just about anything.
