[Congratulations]
[You have slain a lvl 16 Sweating Dog]
[Level Up]
The blue light of the system screen flared in the darkness of the cave. It did not stop at just one notification. A rhythmic series of sounds began to ring out, one after another, as the screen refreshed with frantic speed.
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
"Man, how many of these are there?" Dustin sighed. He sat back against the stone wall and started swiping the screens aside. They were popping up so fast they were starting to block his view of the dog's carcass. He swiped away a dozen minor notifications until a larger, gold-tinted box appeared.
[CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 10]
[2ND MILESTONE REACHED]
[Physical Strength: 33]
[Vitality: 28]
[Agility: 47]
[Stamina: 30]
[Endurance: 23]
[Perception: 45]
[Wisdom: 14]
[Intelligence: 25]
"Did I seriously just skip straight to level ten?" Dustin muttered as he stared at the stats. He sat there for a long moment, catching his breath.
The numbers looked impressive and he could already feel the change in his body. The heavy exhaustion that had nearly paralyzed his legs was fading, replaced by a warm buzz in his muscles. His vision felt sharper in the dim cave and his thoughts came a little clearer. Still, he knew the truth. "Even with all this I would've gotten wrecked in a straight one-on-one fight with that dog out in the open. Luck and a narrow cave entrance are the only reasons I'm still breathing."
"Second milestone reached," he whispered. "And I guess endurance, wisdom, and intelligence are those new stats the message mentioned back in the cave." He rubbed his face and scanned the numbers again. "But why is my wisdom so low? Whatever. At least I leveled up. Not just one level but six levels at once, and most importantly I'm still alive."
His eyes drifted back to the Sweating Dog's corpse. It lay completely still, but even in death a faint sizzling sound kept rising from its hide. Corrosive sweat continued to leak out and react with the stone floor. Dustin looked at the dagger he had thrown. It was buried deep in the dog's skull, but the metal was already bubbling and warping. The acid was eating right through the steel.
"Great. There goes my best weapon," Dustin sighed again. He watched the hilt tilt as the blade slowly melted away into nothing. No way was he reaching into that mess to save it.
He turned his attention back to the system interface. A new notification blinked in the corner of his vision.
[Shop section upgraded]
"Let's see what new items are there," he said to himself as he tapped the icon.
[SHOP]
[BASIC SECTION]
[Fire igniter (borrowed): 10 points (to be paid: 20)]
[Supplies carrier: 50 points]
[Food storage (borrowed): 10 points (to be paid: 20)]
[Pants (borrowed): 2 points (to be paid: 4)]
[Shirt: 3 points]
He swiped the screen to the right and a new tab popped up with a sharp sound.
[STARTER SHOP]
[Basic Healing Potion]
Description: Can cure any basic injury quickly, but ineffective on any fatal injuries or poisons.
Cost: 200 points
[Basic Poison]
Description: Can kill any lower-level species below level 30 in just a few minutes to several hours. Effects may vary based on the species' stats. May be ineffective on anything higher.
Cost: 500 points
[Normal Sword]
Description: A normal sword made of steel. No special effects or buffs.
Cost: 150 points
[Ignis-Edge (Level 1)]
Description: A normal steel sword with fire-affinity mana added while forging. Gives a 5% boost to fire-type attacks. Also increases Agility by 3, Stamina by 2, and Endurance by 4. Weak against water and similar attacks.
Cost: 560 points
"What the..." The words slipped out before Dustin could stop them. His jaw dropped. At this point he had zero points and he was already in debt for 44. He did not even know how to earn the stupid things in the first place.
His mouth opened wider as he kept scrolling. The list went on and on. Dozens of different swords with mana affinities and special powers, all between level 1 and level 5. Prices started at 150 points for a plain steel sword and climbed all the way to 5000 for a glowing holy blade that looked like something straight out of the games he used to play back home. Spears, hammers, bows, arrows, daggers. Every weapon imaginable sat there, the cheapest normal daggers at 120 points and the most expensive lightning spear hitting 9999.
"Who the hell in this whole tutorial is even rich enough to buy any of this?" Dustin asked out loud, half laughing, half annoyed. "Is the system straight-up making fun of us poor people or what?"
As he closed the shop screen another notification popped up immediately.
[You have slain a species 12 levels above you]
[Your Reward: 320 points]
"What? This is how we get points?" Dustin said with a weird look on his face. "All we have to do is kill anything way stronger than us?"
He did the math in his head and felt a little dizzy. ''I got 320 for one lucky cave trap, and I still almost died. To buy that lightning spear I'd need to do this dozens of times. Sounds completely impossible unless someone fights a monster a hundred levels higher. Yeah, right.''
He pushed the thought aside and reopened the shop. First he paid off the 44 points he owed for the borrowed pants, igniter stones, and food container. The debt cleared and his balance dropped to 276.
''Can't run around with nothing.'' After a second of thought he bought a new steel dagger for 120 points. His points now sat at 156.
He tried swiping further to see if there were more sections, but a red message appeared.
[Inaccessible at the user's current level]
"So there is more to this shop section," Dustin sighed as he closed every window.
The cave entrance stayed completely blocked by the dead Sweating Dog. He was not about to touch that mess. Dustin gripped his new dagger tightly, stared down the narrow dark tunnel ahead, and started walking deeper slowly.