4. Industry

Rakna nodded in satisfaction when he read the attributes of Azure Sonata. This weapon was a gift from his uncle for having completed his training.

Pronos made a full circle around the blade of the spear with wide, curious eyes. Rakna snorted and grabbed the shaft with two hands before twisting it. The entire frame of the weapon crumbled and glowed before turning back into a scarf which he calmly put back around his neck.

‘The old man really outdid himself with this one,’ Rakna inwardly thought. ‘No one would believe me if I told them this was made by a hundred-year-old geezer.’

“Anyway,” he muttered and leaned over the roof rail a bit. He could hear the kobolds huffing and coughing. “The gas is working pretty well. I wanted to make it similar to hydrogen sulfide, but I kind of just mixed whatever toward the end…”

Pronos stared at his new master with a deadpan face.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that? As long as it works. Let me live with that satisfaction. Do I look like I major in chemistry?” Rakna said dully. “Anyway, should be soon. 3, 2, 1…”

What followed couldn’t be called a blast or an explosion. A heatwave was briefly released but there was no sound of anything breaking. Similarly, for the detonation, it couldn’t actually be called one. It sounded like a very muffled but loud gunshot.

Rakna managed to see a few flames but they disappeared as soon as he blinked. Then, a few prompts from the system immediately appeared in the corner of his vision.

❮ ◈ ❯

Lv.3 Kobold killed.

Lv.3 Kobold killed.

Lv.3 Kobold killed.

Lv.3 Kobold killed.

Lv.3 Kobold killed.

Lv.5 Elite Kobold killed.

Level up!

S+ Rank: +3 Free Points.

Requirement for level up updated.

Kill the equivalent of 20 Levels to level up again.

Current progress: 19/20

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna rolled his eyes when he saw he needed one more point to level up. He had played RPGs before of course and that was such a sickening feeling to see your experience at the edge of a level up.

“Anyway, looks like it worked quite well,” he uttered and looked at Pronos. “What about you, little guy? Did you level up? I’m not sure if you receive points from my kills… Alexa?”

[A contracted pet unconditionally receives half of the experience points the master earns unless the pet has participated in the battle or the process to deal with the enemy or quest. In that case, it can vary from 50% to 100%. However, what a pet earns alone isn’t shared with the master.]

“I see… so you must be level 2 as well,” Rakna said and Pronos nodded while hissing softly. “For now, it seems we will only receive free points. Feel free to use yours however you want. I’m not a snake; you know better than me to choose your path.”

After saying that, Rakna looked at his own stats before asking something to Alexa again, “Can I distribute my points as decimals?”

[Affirmative.]

“Then assign 1.1 to strength, 1 to speed, 1 to dexterity, 0.5 to endurance, and 0.4 to intelligence,” Rakna ordered and instantly felt his body suffer some changes. He felt a fair amount of pain but it wasn’t something that could bother him and he simply relaxed his body during the process. He calmly watched as his muscles contracted and his veins bulged from his hands until his shoulders.

[Augmentation finalized.]

Rakna sighed and glanced at Pronos who had also assigned his points.

❮ ◈ ❯

Name: Pronos

Master: Rakna Xiorra

Age: 3 | Level: 2 (3/10)

Race: Eion Snake | Title: Nil

Potential: S

Attributes:

Strength: 1 | Endurance: 5 -> 6.5

Speed: 1.2 -> 4 | Dexterity: 0.6 -> 1

Intelligence: 2.7 -> 3 | Luck: 3

Available points: 0

Statistics:

Stamina: 28.5 | MP: 45/45

Swiftness: 14 | Agility: 6

Senses: 14.5 | Atr Cap: 18.5

Attack: 12.3 | Defense: 24.6

Magic Attack: 9 | MP Regen: 0.23/min

❮ ◈ ❯

‘Hm, I see. A swift tank. This is not bad at all. He can rely on his poison to deal damage for now. His speed will allow him to quickly go from one target to another while remaining undetected while his defense will most likely keep him safe from area of effect attacks, which I fully believe exist,’ Rakna thought before looking down toward the schoolyard. He could see a few kobolds going in and out of the different buildings.

‘Hm, how should I continue? If I had a long-range weapon, maybe I could shoot them down from here… Should I have taken a bow?’

As he was thinking that, Rakna spotted a rather big kobold riding a white wolf. He scowled and used Appraisal right away.

❮ ◈ ❯

Name: None

Age: 9 | Level: 7

Race: Kobold Rider

Attributes:

Strength: 3 | Endurance: 2

Speed: 3 | Dexterity: 3

Intelligence: 1.3 | Luck: 2

Weapon:

- Crude Long Spear: +20 Attack

Armor:

- Alloy Leather Armor: +15 Defense

Statistics:

Stamina: 13 | MP: 13/13

Swiftness: 8.6 | Agility: 9

Senses: 14.3 | Atr Cap: 14.3

Attack: 39 (19 + 20) | Defense: 24 (9 + 15)

Magic Attack: 3.9 | MP Regen: 0.03/min

Proficiencies:

- Polearm-Mastery (Lv.2)

- Riding (Lv.2)

Unique or Racial Traits:

- Dog Nose: +5 to senses.

❮ ◈ ❯

‘As expected, this guy is significantly stronger than the rest. But he’s still marginally weaker than me. What worries me is…’ Rakna focused on the wolf and activated Appraisal again.

❮ ◈ ❯

Name: None

Age: 8 | Level: 7

Race: Plain Wolf

Attributes:

Strength: 4 | Endurance: 4

Speed: 6 | Dexterity: 1.1

Intelligence: 0.8 | Luck: 2

Armor:

- Leather Armor: +10 Defense

Statistics:

Stamina: 19.1 | MP: 8/8

Swiftness: 13.6 | Agility: 8.2

Senses: 21.9 | Atr Cap: 17.9

Attack: 15.1 | Defense: 26 (16 + 10)

Magic Attack: 2.4 | MP Regen: 0.02/min

Proficiencies:

- Bite (Lv.5)

Unique or Racial Traits:

- Wolf Nose: +10 to senses.

❮ ◈ ❯

‘Yeah, this is dangerous,’ Rakna commented inwardly. ‘With my current stats, I could easily deal with normal kobolds. This wolf, on the other hand, is dangerous.’

As he was thinking that, the beast in question was looking around itself with a questioning stare. The wolf sniffed then immediately turned toward the roof of the main building while growling.

Rakna’s eyes widened as he watched the Kobold Rider notice him as well. He then barked orders very loudly and almost every kobold suddenly started running inside the building he was on.

“How…?”

[Appraisal is a spell that can be sensed if the target has at least half of the caster’s sense attribute.]

Rakna’s eyes twitched ever so slightly. “Alexa, didn’t you find that information important enough to tell me beforehand? From now on, be sure to add these kinds of particularities in the description of the skill.”

[Acknowledged.]

Rakna sighed and he suddenly shivered. His body reacted on its own as he tilted his head to the side and caught a projectile that was aimed at his head. He scrutinized the arrow in his hand before looking at the rough location he estimated it had been shot.

He spotted exactly six kobolds holding bows and nocking arrows to shoot him. A quick check with Appraisal revealed to him that they were level five and barely stronger than the level three he had encountered. However, they all possessed the archery skill.

He jumped back to get out of their line of sight as another arrow flew by. He then started hearing the footsteps of the kobolds currently going up the stairs to reach him.

“A lot of them are coming up here,” he muttered. “Alexa, to check my stats or my current quests, how do I do it?”

[Just will it, Rakna. As you have naturally been doing with status windows.]

As told, he willed in his head to see the advancement of his quest and a prompt appeared.

❮ ◈ ❯

Initiation Mission: Survive.

Objective: Survive until the end of the day.

Additional information: 40/50 enemies alive.

❮ ◈ ❯

“Forty left, huh? I could try and make another trap or just face them head-on. The stairs to the roof are somewhat easy to defend… Well, as for a trap, I have nothing to work with here,” Rakna mumbled and walked in circles with a relaxed demeanor as Pronos observed him curiously.

When the noises of the kobolds were near, he stopped and made his decision. He used his cigarette case to flare the mechanism of his scarf and planted his Guandao in the ground. He opened the door to the roof and looked at Pronos.

“Here’s the plan, little guy. Go down there and hide. Wait for them to go up the stairs and assault this door before gradually poisoning them one by one. Got it?”

The little snake hissed and slithered with a clearly higher speed than before he attributed his points. He descended until he was in a corridor and activated one of his two active skills. His scales darkened and took on the color of the wall and the floor. He then closed his eyes and Rakna closed the door as loudly as possible so that the kobolds would not doubt that he was on the roof.

He put his back against the door and it took a full minute before he heard and felt something hitting the door. The rate at which it happened continued to increase until he was sure that at least three kobolds were hitting the door together along with many others behind them judging by the barks.

He breathed in and grabbed his glaive right below the blade which he pointed at the door that he was forcing closed. He then pierced the door behind him and heard a loud whimper before a prompt notified him of the kill.

❮ ◈ ❯

Lv.5 Elite Kobold killed.

Level up!

S+ Rank: +3 Free Points.

Requirement for level up updated.

Current progress: 4/30

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna dismissed it and quickly turned around and gripped the shaft of Sonata. He pushed the weapon further and it struck two other kobolds. He then opened the door and the Guandao moved in consequence and killed two more.

Rakna swiftly pulled out Blood Fang as a kobold immediately pounced at him the moment the door was opened. He first grabbed the creature’s head and plunged the blade of his dagger deep in its neck.

The kobold fell at his feet lifeless and the remaining ones growled as they rushed toward the roof while stepping on their dead comrades. Meanwhile, none had noticed the ones falling behind because of a glowing poison in their veins.

Rakna whirled Blood Fang and faced the first kobold coming up. He sidestepped the weredog’s spear and grabbed its wrist before literally crushing it. He cut the monster’s throat in a quick swing before grabbing the crude spear it had dropped.

He then grabbed the kobold’s body and flung it behind him to clear his vision. He proceeded to thrust the spear through the hearts of two others who inevitably forced a lot of their brethren to trip and stagger.

After that, Rakna didn’t hesitate in the slightest as he ran down the stairs. His dagger flashed a few times and three more kobolds died. One even almost had its head chopped off. The corpses piled up and the rest of the kobolds were struggling to climb.

Rakna glanced at his left where he could see the other part of this one-meter-wide staircase going down. He managed to spot at least five kobolds lying on the ground with pulsing blue veins. At the same time, he performed a quick count and believed there were roughly around fifteen kobolds left in this relatively confined space.

He huffed and kicked a kobold that had managed to get over the corpses. The weredog’s ribs made a cracking sound and he flew until the wall, hitting two of its comrades in the process.

Rakna threw Blood Fang and his swiss knife which both pierced the heads of those two. He then crouched and picked up two spears. He vaulted over the corpses and slit the throat of two kobolds with the tip of the weapons. Afterward, he threw both of them. One pierced the necks of two targets while the other pierced the abdomen of another.

At that point, the kobolds finally started panicking. Their numerical advantage was being utterly crushed. They were about to run away when they noticed that a lot of their comrades had also died in their rear lines. It was only then that they noticed the little snake who was currently biting the neck of an eighth victim.

They froze in place and Rakna saw them inching backward as he approached them. He passed by the two kobolds he had killed by throwing his knives and retrieved them. He bent forward and balanced his weight around his waist. His body disappeared in the eyes of the kobolds and before they knew it, four of them had been eliminated.

There was only one left. The creature was shivering and whimpering. On one side, a small but fast snake had poison dripping from its fangs and on the other, a blood-stained human held two knives with an impassive expression as he stood in the middle of a sea of corpses.

The kobold blinked and the human disappeared. Two hands then grabbed it from behind; one on the back of its head and the other firmly clutching its muzzle.

Rakna twisted the weredog’s neck in a blurry motion and exhaled as the corpse fell on the ground and splashed the blood on it. He finally could look at the prompts given to him by the system.

❮ ◈ ❯

Lv.5 Elite Kobold killed.

Lv.3 Elite Kobold killed.

Lv.3 Elite Kobold killed.

Lv.3 Elite Kobold killed.

…

Level up!

…

Lv.3 Elite Kobold killed.

Lv.3 Elite Kobold killed.

Level up!

S+ Rank: +6 Free Points.

Requirement for level up updated.

Current progress: 8/50

You have reached level five. Your potential value has reached its limit. The free points will increase by one each level from now on while every five will get you two points.

❮ ◈ ❯

The number of kobolds he had killed had allowed him to level up twice. He was now sitting at level five with nine free attribute points.

“My potential value has achieved its limit? Is it thanks to that that I was gaining three points each level until now?” He muttered as he walked back to the roof to retrieve Sonata. He had left it stuck in the door because he couldn’t have used it as he wanted in the staircase. Blood Fang was more than enough for the job considering how weak the kobolds were compared to him.

Pronos caught up to him and climbed his shoulder. Rakna looked at him and checked his level.

❮ ◈ ❯

Name: Pronos

Master: Rakna Xiorra

Age: 3 | Level: 4 (2/40)

Race: Eion Snake | Title: Nil

Potential: S

Attributes:

Strength: 1 | Endurance: 6.5

Speed: 4 | Dexterity: 1

Intelligence: 3 | Luck: 3

Available points: 6

❮ ◈ ❯

“Level four, and he has six points available… Alexa, how does this potential value work?”

[Regarding the Free Points granted?]

Rakna scowled at her inquiry. It meant that this value had more significance than just the number of free points during the first level-ups. “Yes,” he replied. For now, he had no reason to ask anything else and he couldn’t be bothered to hear about something he’d most likely learn in the future.

[The Potential of a Host is measured from E- to S+. To answer your question, every Host receives a determined amount of ‘bonus’ attribute points during the initial stage. The S class gets 3 points until level five included; which amounts to nine bonus points. For the A class, it becomes eight bonus points. For the B class, it’s six. For the C class, it’s four. The D class only gets two and finally, the E class gets none.]

“Hm, this sounds quite predisposed,” Rakna commented while pulling Sonata out. He shouldered it and offhandedly checked the number of enemies left; eight. “How are these values decided?”

[The potential value is calculated based on the Host’s natural abilities. Rakna, you were labeled S+ for your high-level skills and attributes as well as your Unawakened Nirvana Skill.]

“Nirvana Skill, huh?” Rakna muttered while walking down the stairs with Pronos slithering around his neck. “Well, putting that aside, for now, the fact that you are prioritizing certain people over others can mean a few things. Frankly speaking, all beings have potential. Making it easy for people who luckily had a resonant awakening of theirs is a bit unfair. But, all things considered, you could also say that people who haven’t had their potential awakened might need to be roughed up a bit to change that very fact,” he said with an awfully blank look as if it didn’t surprise or trouble him at all.

[…]

“However, from another perspective, you can posit that these attribute points are ‘resources’ provided by someone or something. In other words, it’s plausible that they are limited and thus need to be carefully regulated. In that case, prioritizing the gifted ones is merely the logical course of action since wasting affluence on possibly useless people is what we call improvidence.”

“To conclude, this isn’t a game, this isn’t a test, this isn’t training, this isn’t grooming... The only people who manage, govern, and distribute resources are entrepreneurs. This joke of a System is an industry I’ve been dragged into.” Rakna’s expression became even more vacant. “And I don’t like the fact that I’ve been hired against my will.”

[…Rakna, do I have the permission to offer my opinion?]

Alexa’s voice suddenly sounded a lot more humane and serious and Rakna squinted as he picked up on it. “What is it?”

[Making of you a Host might have been the System’s miscalculation.]

Rakna stopped in front of the main entrance of the school. Behind the glass, he could see the Kobold Rider and his wolf glowering at him along with the row of kobold archers.

“You think?” He replied with a snort and whirled Sonata. “Well then, I can’t let you down now, can I?” He said and slashed the door apart. “I have to earn my pay.”