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A few hours later, Kai gradually awoke as the faint light of the system interface came on. His battered form hurt with exhaustion, and his eyes stung for a moment. With the effort it took to open them, another system announcement appeared.
[Ding! > SYSTEM Notifications: Newbie Pack Unlocked.
"Congratulations, host. Tutorial done. Your first victim has fallen. Take this Newbie Pack as a welcome to your first victory.]
Kai groaned, fighting to roll himself up. "Newbie Pack? Gosh. You'd think after all the suffering, I'd be happy to accept a gift?" he snarled, grinding his mandibles in a combination of incredulity and exhaustion.
He rose to his feet, his voice a whisper: "I fought for every breath. Now I'm being given a pack?" Sarcasm and fatigue tinged his tone.
The computer type voice interrupted, "Tutorial completed. Your Newbie Pack was given. The true challenge lies ahead."
Kai snorted. "The true challenge… of course. As if I was having a picnic." He breathed out, his voice infused with acidic humor. "Okay, well let's see what you have to offer, Newbie Pack."
He stroked the icon of the Newbie Pack with a trembling claw, and a swirling vortex of holographic images whirled before his eyes as he scrolled through the contents.
The system's smooth, creaseless voice came from the interface,
[Ding! "Newbie Pack data opened."
A line of icons appeared on the interface, and as Kai blinked the haze of fatigue away, the following was shown:
1. Ultimate Skill: Essence Eater
"Using this power lets you extract essence fluid from any source. Consume now for an immediate power boost, or store it in your body or in the system to utilize at a future time. You can also combine the liquid to make a better one."
2. Soul-Bonded Storage Cube (2x2x2)
"A tiny storage which is magically Soul bound to you. It will automatically sort and safeguard stored essence and other valuables. Use whenever you need to organize your resources. Also help you synthesize the essence liquid.
3. Unlocked Skill: Tiny Tank – Reinforces the exoskeleton for enhanced durability.]
All he could do was not scream with surprise as he absorbed the items. "Now you're giving me real power and a storage box, oh yeah?" he complained to himself in the empty passageway, his voice echoing off the walls. "Guess that's more than nothing." His tone was a mix of both curiosity and lingering annoyance.
He groaned, "Essence Eater. suck the essence out of everything? Just what I need to become stronger." His mandibles clicked as he read the characters, "And what is this soul-bound storage with a blender effect? It's like it's stuck on me—stuck onto my very soul." He paused for a moment before reading further, "And this skill Tiny Tank is useful."
Once the notifications dissipated, the system declared, "Recovery Process Underway. Estimated HP Recovery: 70/100 in 3 hours."
Kai sighed, "Seventy out of a hundred. Not bad, but at least I can move." He muttered to himself, "I'm not fully recovered yet, but I guess I'll be alright."
There was strained quiet as he simply stood there, the entire burden of his experience on him. Then, after what had seemed like an eternity of agonizing moments, Kai finally blew his top with a gruff, "Alright, I have to go practice these new skills." His tone was a blend of exhaustion and tentative restraint.
Kai fought himself into a sitting position. "I must recover my strength. then I can see what this Essence Eater does, anyway, I will no longer be a sitting duck."
With each second ticking by, the system background light flashed wildly, reminding him of how far he had come. He gasped, and he groaned, "I feel the healing. as if my wounds are closing themselves up." The system prompts still flashed wildly, "Minor Injuries Healing… Estimated Time: 1 Hours."
"I have to test this Essence Eater," he determined. "Time to find out if this best-of-the-best ability can really make me more powerful."
Kai stepped up and went to the location where the corpse of the zombie ant was laying motionless. The fungus-infected, terror-filled body that a few hours back had tried to kill him. Its spasming shape now ominously still, a dark reminder of the foe he'd defeated.
"Alright, old enemy," he snarled in a voice filled with grim determination, and purpose, "I'll see if you still have the strength to give some of that power to me."
He leaned back onto the body of the zombie ant, eyes intent as he activated his latest Ultimate Skill.
"Essence Eater, activate!" he commanded.
His mandibles softly pulsed with a roiling light, then a black aura fog covered the zombie ant body. The system accepted the activation command. "Extracting essence fluid," the screen read. Kai's heart raced in his chest as he slowly inserted his jaws into the corpse's decaying flesh.
"Come on, show me your power," he challenged the dead enemy, his voice filled with anticipation. As he bit in, a dark, shimmering essence liquid began to flow—a viscous, potent fluid that pulsed with corrupt energy.
Kai's eyes widened. "I can feel it… every drop of this essence is like a surge of strength," he murmured, his voice filled with awe and hunger.
The system carried out the extraction in real time. "Essence successfully absorbed," it reported. Almost at the same moment, a second message popped up:
[Ding! > SYSTEM notifications:
"STAT POINTS Awarded: +2"]
Kai's jaws clicked in surprise. "Two stat points. Better than I was expecting," he murmured, his face curled into a smile around the edges of his mouth even as the pain still arced through his form.
He observed the system interface strobe as it updated his full status. His new statistics on the holographic display presented his hard-earned gains:
[Status window:
> HOST STATUS UPDATE:
Name: Kai
Level: 02
EXP: 60/200
HP: 70/100
Aura: 112/210
Lifespan: 65 Days
Strength: 09
Speed: 10
Stamina: 11
Unallocated stats: 03
Ultimate Skills : Essence Eater. (Note: Certain conditions need to be met before extraction-
1. The opponent needs to be in a near death state.
2. Dead/ defeated by the host.)
Inventory: Soul-Bonded Storage Cube (2x2x2)
> SKILL SET OF HOST KAI:
1. Antenna Sensory Boost – Detects enemies by vibrations and pheromones.
2. Worker's Resilience – Temporarily increases stamina at the cost of incurred fatigue.
3. Tiny Tank – Reinforces the exoskeleton for enhanced durability.
>Locked skills-
4. Ant's Instinct – Enhances resource location, albeit with occasional quirks.
5. Reflex Mode – Increases movement speed; use with caution due to instability.
Aura Cost: -10 per activation ]