[ Chapter XV (15): "SYSTEM SHOP LVL. 1 UNLOCKED!" ]
Alastor could be seen looking down on a beaten Ant, supposed to be ferocious, supposed to be scary. Supposed to be a high ranking member in the Formica Musco race. This one instead looks black and blue from being bitten, punched, and tackled by his own Undead Formica Musco; [ "Kill it." ]
He looked beside him, at his Lvl. 8 Undead Ant, with the other being Lvl. 7. Both of them having hunted down as much Honey Larvae as they could, ransacked many of such homes for the bugs... And now they are up to that level.
Alastor on the other hand is at Lvl. 9 plausibly nearing 10, hoping that with the increase in level, also would gain him another function of the System, and a new skill for his Necromancy Class.
Squirming under the hold of the Undead Ants, the once arrogant Lvl. 4 Formica Musco wasn't able to do a thing against the honeyfilled bite of the Undead Ant.
[ FORMICA MUSCO LVL. 4 KILLED BY UNDEAD SUMMON ]
[ +23 EXPERIENCE TO UNDEAD SUMMON ]
[ +15 EXPERIENCE TO PLAYER ]
[ UNDEAD SUMMON (FORMICA MUSCO) HAVE LEVEL-UP! ]
[ UNDEAD SUMMON LVL. 7 ---> UNDEAD SUMMON LVL. 8 ]
He walked beside his Undead Ant that had just leveled up, and is currently eating the corpse of the Formica Musco. Patting it in the head, he then congratulated it, before then pulling the Undead Ant away... [ "Calm down, Ant 2." ] Not wanting it to fully eat the carcass, to the point that his Necromantic ability doesn't work.
A funny thing he found out about this Undead Ants, though nearly impossible to distinguish, they could understand and respond to him talking to them. Like for example, he called one of them Ant 1, then it'll remember it being called Ant 1.
Would respond to him calling it Ant 1, and would show excited behavior if called its name... That is Ant 1... Yes, you might say it's cruel to call an Undead Ant just numbers;
But he likes it, and it's temporary, he'll find a worthy and better name for them later, one that would make them badass than they already are. Anthony doesn't sound great, so he didn't pick that...
In the future perhaps something that pairs well with his name— Alastor, perhaps demon names, or something-something... It's just that, at the moment he doesn't remember any demonic name fitting or relating to Ants. So Ant 1, and Ant 2 it is for the moment.
[ 1 DECEASED ARE SUITABLE FOR REANIMATION LVL. 1 (SKILL) ]
[ WOULD PLAYER NO. 1 WANT TO USE HIS ABILITY? ]
[ YES ] [ NO ]
Thinking about using his skill Reanimation. The System detected it and showed him a notification, one that requires him to physically click either yes or no...
Even though the hologram in the air isn't there physically, with his finger going past it, not feeling anything at all it still registered.
Due to the influence of his abilities, being the master of the Undead, the now recently murdered Formica Musco on the floor could be seen trembling slightly.
The wounded body of it, with chunks being shown in some parts being filled by thick dark shadow-like substances that replaced the missing ant parts... With the Ant then moving soon after.
[ FORMICA MUSCO LVL. 4 (UNDEAD SUMMON) ]
[ FRIENDLY ]
[ "Aren't you a cutie..." ] He knelt down in front of the newly acquired Undead Ant— Undead Ant No. 3. But unlike the previous Undead Ant No. 3, this one is permanent, and wouldn't disappear or be reset after his death... Because he doesn't plan on dying anytime soon, hopefully.
Alastor observed this Ant closely, the difference that each of his Undead shares is this dark spots i.e. those spots created by the shadow-like substances once reanimated...
This one is different from the previous two, with it predominantly having its head slightly bitten off. Which is a good thing, it'll be easier to recognize amongst the soon-to-be hundreds or so other Undead Ants, Undead Wolves perhaps, or even Undead Birds.
But in accordance with traditions, it'll still be named. A temporary one, [ "Welcome to the family, Undead Ant 3." ] Before then patting it in the head; like a cat, it went and rub its oversized head into his palms, purring all the while.
[ "Okay-okay, I-uhh, I guess you guys need to level-up more." ] He motioned to his Undead and told them to collect more experience, [ "So, go." ] And that'll be through the hunting of Honey Larvae.
Sitting quietly on a small distorted sturdy tree, he watches as his Undead Ants do what they do best, and hunt down for any food. Holes besides trees could be seen littered about as far as one could see. Those being the ransacked houses of Honey Larvae.
Through those he gained plenty of experience, from a measly Lvl. 5 to a quick Lvl. 9, soon-to-be Lvl. 10 if he waited patiently enough. Of course, he put all of his points into Strength, with him feeling some subtle change in his body.
The first change wasn't that quite noticeable, but he noticed that in his arms his muscles increased even though he hadn't eaten a thing for an hour... The second change was, even without any operations done to his now reverted back skinny body, he could see abs... Even without exercise.
Not just those, but he could carry objects like his Shield and Sword much more easily now, something that he previously had difficulty in carrying in. His calves are shaping, his body overall...
Seeing those changes happened in real time, he wondered. What would the other options give him? If increasing Strength makes his body more fit, more powerful. Then does increasing his Intelligence change his thinking capabilities?
Would maxing the Speed, i.e. putting 100+ points in it, if he could. Would that make him a real-life speedster? Like the Flash. If the multiverse exists, then could he tap into something like the Speed Force and get away from this godforsaken universe.
Probably not, but thinking about the possibility made him excited. Though he had already decided in-between his Undead hunting, that he would increase his other important stats first. Strength isn't needed at the moment, this is a pretty low-level area, and he has his Undead that doesn't fear death, and are zealots.
There are 3 of them now with the possibility of it increasing in the future, perhaps when he gets to Lvl. 10, or Lvl. 15.
First on the stats he thought of the Intelligence aspect, he dearly needs to increase it, then the beloved Speed, then Luck. Though he doesn't know how the last part fully works, he does have ideas how it might...
Perhaps it relates to him, or the things happening around him— if he has plenty of Luck, then wouldn't he be living comfortably in this bug infested forest? Plausible, but at the moment it's just theory.
Letting his Undead continue on harvesting experience, he watches in excitement and anticipation as the notification in front of him keeps popping experience gains... After waiting for long enough, it then finally appeared; the thing he anticipated most. The level-up!
[ PLAYER NO. 1 YOU HAVE LEVEL-UP! ]
[ PLAYER LVL. 9 ---> PLAYER LVL. 10 ]
[ UNDEAD SYNERGY UNLOCKED! ]
[ SYSTEM SHOP LVL. 1 UNLOCKED! ]
[ INCREASE IN UNDEAD SUMMONS STORAGE ]
[ UNDEAD SUMMON STORAGE 3 ---> 6 ]
[ INCREASE IN PLAYER MANA ]
[ PLAYER NO. 1 MANA 5 ---> 15 ]
He reads the words presented to him frantically, pulling up whenever another notification disturbs his reading. Before finally having enough of the new notifications popping up, as he holds onto the holograph in front of him...
In disbelief, Alastor wondered if what he was seeing is legit. So he read notification again from top to bottom, but alas, it seems what is written is the truth. Aside from the theorized increase in Undead Storage, he also gained other things.
First of all he didn't get a new ability, a bummer to him, but what he gained in exchange is even better. His Mana which he didn't know how to increase aside from doing Quests, increased unexpectedly.
He also gained two other functions of the System, one is this so-called Synergy that he might know the benefits of. And the other is the, Shop... Plausibly inter or outer dimensional store that could give him everything he'll need in the future.
This is the most gain he has, even bigger than the already helpful Necromancy Class. Because through this he can acquire many things, armor for protection, water to fend off the hydration and long awaited food... Needed sustenance for short.
Especially for Alastor who has been running around, hacking around, having multiple heart and panic attacks for the last hour since his reincarnation... [ "Shop, s-shop!" ]
In excitement he wasn't able to think clearly, as he resorted to the voice function of the System. Doing what it was told, it then presented to him a list of items that ranged from things he knew off, and things he doesn't.
[ BROKEN CHAINSWORD (UNCOMMON) ]
[ 250 SYSTEM CREDITS ]
[ SECOND-HAND AUTO PISTOL ( EXTREMELY COMMON) ]
[ 100 SYSTEM CREDITS ]
[ RUSTY BOLTER (COMMON) ]
[ 150 SYSTEM CREDITS ]
Some things he doesn't know about, are primarily based on weapons... A Chainsword? A sword with chains attached to it, he could imagine it being useless, with it broken. An Auto Pistol? You just need to hold onto the trigger and it'll fire all the bullets inside the magazine... Extremely useful, he'll need this in the future.
The fuck is a Bolter? Anyways, he continued searching down and was met with even more unfamiliar words, drowning him even. Heavy armor, light armor. Space Marine what? There are Marines in Space? That is awesome, is that their uniform or something?
Either way, he wouldn't find out with pictures not being shown to him. Or with how expensive they are, to the point that it reaches the four digits. With his balance 0, he wouldn't be able to buy a thing here... But he still wants to check if food could be brought, and better yet, water.
He'll die without those 2, ending his journey short, abrupt, and without even knowing if other people live on this planet that he doesn't know the name of. [ "Yes!" ]
Not long after, Alastor was met with tuna, corpse-starch whatever the hell that is, diluted water, rice, steak, boar meat and other options. It's just that, at the moment he wouldn't be able to buy a thing, as they all have a price tag; varying.
Curious in how he might gain money, the currency of the System which it calls System Credits, the System, it answered and told him exactly how he would be able to. In the form of a Quest, which made his face even brighter.
[ NEW QUEST UNLOCKED! ]
[ QUEST: GOLD HUNT! ]
[ DESCRIPTION: THE FORMICA MUSCO ANTS, ESPECIALLY IN THEIR UNDEAD FORM HAS A GREAT SENSE OF SMELL. USE THAT TO YOU'RE ADVANTAGE AND FEED THEM 1,000 HONEY LARVAE, IN A DAY OR THE QUEST WILL BE NULLIFIED] [ 231/1,000 ]
[ REWARD: +550 SYSTEM CREDITS, BUG WRIGGLER TITLE ]
He watches as the counter go up and up, one at a time. As he then refocused and looked on at his Undeads, busy rummaging throughout the dirt, either under the trees or even eating the nearest bugs.
He watched the newest Undead, the youngest notice a worm-like insect crawling up the tree. As it then jumps trying to eat it, to no avail. As a last resort the Ant spit on it, the toxic landing on some parts of the wood evaporating it before disappearing.
Some did land on the bug though, which killed it, as a unique notification amidst the Honey Larvae kills says to him. [ "Huh..." ] Alastor approaches the Ant, before then patting it. [ "Good Ant." ]
Praising it, as it then moved on and took a bite off of the dead bug. Then moving to another direction, wanting to find more Honey Larvae to eat; all the while Alastor watches in amusement, proudness, and some kind of weird unexplainable glint in his eyes.
Closest word he could find to describe it? Greed. As this Undead Zealot Ants would be his key for survival... With him now not regretting having picked the Necromancer Class, he sat down; his Shield, Sword, and Potion of Health within arms reach.
[ "This is life." ]
[ ——— ] [ ——— ] [ ——— ] [ ——— ]
[ 05/10/2025 ]
[ 05/11/2025 ]