Chapter 9: Mythical Cat

The air whistled as the transformed cat moved around the field. All those charged electric current buzzed off the cat's body.

Blue electric current dismembering limbs, lizard heads; plopped, tail jerked across, and everything that wasn't human was either killed or soon to be. The lizards thought that all these hostilities would turn peace. But it was too late. None had seen, that the cat was a mythical creature.

Ned was astonished by the sight. Not because of the body parts on the ground, but because of the cat, slicing the enemy like a hot knife against a butter.

In a fraction of a second, all that was left were the two leaders. With no chance to escape, the two teamed up against the cat. Death was approaching and they can't do anything about it.

"Wait!" Ned tilted his head and shouted, still unable to move. "Don't, burn them."

Groar?

Don't burn them, doesn't mean don't kill them. The cat knew what Ned meant. A clean and precise cut to the neck will suffice.

The tiger raised its paw, and it swooshed midair. One single swift move, two heads fell. One from the Warg's pack leader the other from the Butriki's reptilian head.

All that event lead to a new unclaimed territory. Wolves and lizard minions that didn't join the fight was left with no leader. Scattered and soon to starve. Their future is unknown.

Groar!

"Yes, you're amazing. I know." Ned praised the cat. "Thanks for saving me."

Groar!

The tiger then moved to Ned's side. Then it slowly turned back to its cute and white furry looks. The gigantic tiger was now turned to a cat the size of a rugby ball. Small, soft, and fluffy.

Meow?

"You can't move too?"

Meow!

"Well, to have great power, comes great immobility."

The two then sighed.

ICE evaluate. Ned commanded his system.

[Energy level is at 6%, you need to replenish energy by eating.]

"There's a lot of food scattered here."

Meow?

[Hide skill, 2]

[Sniff skill, 5]

[Howl skill, 0]

[Leap skill, 0]

[Skills haven't been used for 12 hours will be dismissed.]

[Hide skill time remaining. 4 hours 12 minutes 30 seconds left.]

[Sniff skill time remaining. 11 hours 56 minutes 17 seconds left.]

[Sustained damage is at 2%.]

[Cells were redirected to mend the damage.]

[Cells will finish reconstruction of the damaged part in 2 minutes and 32 seconds.]

[Man...]

Wait. What do you mean by redirected? Surprised. Ned asked ICE.

[Your cells were composed of nanites Ned. Although a prototype, the nanites were still able to heal your wounds. Be aware though, body parts that were cut can't be attached again. And if fatally wounded, although one-time use, nanites will reconstruct your organs to function to its full capacity.]

As long as I can remember, I was never wounded to the point that magic was needed to heal. Aside from the swollen face though. So that's why my wounds heal faster than ordinary. Continue then.

[Mana storage capacity is at 1%. Currently, you have 3.01 out of 301 mana points.]

"Wait! So now I have mana points?" Surprised Ned almost jumped up from the ground. Although unable to move. "When was this?"

[Recently. When you started to absorb the magical creature's Core. You used 61 mana points by using Leap, Howl, and Hide skills.]

[According to my data, the moment you arrived on this planet, and your pod opened, you started to absorb Xerontium or Element-X on the surrounding. And since your body was programmed to only absorb pure Xerontium. It took years to absorb 64.01 Mana. Thirteen years to be precise.]

Thirteen years for 64.01 Mana points.

And Xerontium, that's Mana on this planet. Ned pondered. It took me years to absorb that small amount of mana.

[Would you like me to change Xerontium or Element - X to Mana on my system?]

Yes. Ned answered.

[Because of this planet's pure mana scarcity, you have a long and hard time absorbing it. That must be the reason why you can't use magic. I need more data on this world to support this hypothesis, Ned.]

[You might want to ask your Master how magic works on this world.]

According to the famous lines of novel I read on earth. I'm just a frog at the bottom of a well. I really need to explore this world. Ned thought.

So can I absorb pure mana by eating the magic beast's Core?

[Yes, by absorbing the Core you can gain at least 3% pure mana of the total 100% of impurities and it also depends on the monster's grade.]

[If you can absorb a whole creature, you can at least gain 10% of pure mana.]

"Whole?! I can't even eat a whole rabbi! You're asking me to absorb one whole creature? Well, I hope I don't see any dragons here."

Meow?

"No, not you cat."

Back on the Empire, the strongest spell I can conjure was a magic called 'Sphera Vacuus' which cost at least 80, 000 Mana points. Now, here, I can't even cast 'Illuminatus' which only costs 100 Mana points. I really need to find a way to get off O'rriadt Island. Staying there will make me worse.

[Now that you have mana points, resting will help you replenish mana faster. Increasing your mana storage capacity is the hard part.]

[Mana storage capacity depends on your body constitution, so more training will help you increase storage capacity.]

Is there anything else that I didn't know about my body?

[Your body can store pure mana, gather skills using the Decipher method, and you can reproduce.]

[Overall, your body's constitution increased by 0.9 %.]

Looks like I need everything I need to know. Resting does help me recover. I will eat food after I woke up. For now, maybe I should rest for a bit. Right cat? Cat?

Unknowingly, with all the fighting, the mysterious thieving Cat slept beside Ned.

This cat...

Ned's thought slowly drifts to slumber.

[Warning: Hide skill dismissed.]

"Food..."

It was already morning when Ned heard the prompt on his head. He then roasted the meat of the Wargs to replenish his energy and gathered parts like their claws, and teeth. Aside from the lizard's scale—which can be used to make armor, no other parts were useful. With all the monster parts gathered and hundreds of Core. This would make a good sum of Picas in the market.

Now that Ned had a mana point and resting will help him replenish some of the mana. He didn't bother to eat hundreds of Core he gathered.

Status. Ned muttered.

[Energy replenished. Current energy is at 99%.]

[Mana points replenished. Current Mana Points is 50 over 301.]

Looks like I need to learn magic now. The thought of using magic made Ned's heart pump excitedly. But first...

Ned approached the bodies of the fallen leaders. Since it was only about four hours, their core was still intact.

Using a piece of the broken rusty knife, Ned cut open the chest of the two grade D monsters. He then ate their Cores, which of course, tasted, bland. Especially the lizard's Core, it was like eating weeds that came from a swamp.

[Linking complete.]

From Sniff, Howl, Hide, Scratch, and Vanish skill of the Warg pack leader. Ned learned the skill Vanish, which can be used for 5 times. For 30 seconds during daytime and 60 seconds during night time, Ned could hide and deal double damage if he attacks vital or weak parts of his enemies, without them knowing. A surprise attack.

And from Spit, Dive, Whip, Lick, and Stick skill of the Butriki leader. Ned learned the skill Whip. And since Ned doesn't have a tail, the skill was dismissed instantly.

Meow?

"So, now you're awake?! You lazy cat. Go get your spoil." Ned pointing at the roasted Warg meat.

Meow!

Ned then discovered that the skill Sniff can be used to search for rare herbs on the island.

Using his enhanced smell and sniffing on the island, Ned found a low tier rare herb called Star Grass, that can be used to help improve one's body absorption of pure mana by 2% purer.

Some herbs he found are common but could be sold for a good sum of Picas.

With these materials, Cores, and herbs my master would be happy to see this. We could earn a quite amount of Picas. Maybe buy some clothes and weapons.

After gathering all his materials, which took him an entire day. Ned waited for his master's return.

Seems like the Ursa's doesn't want any conflict. They'd rather stay with their own territory. Lucky for them or lucky for me? I really need to get stronger. Without this cat, I'm sure I'd die a while back. Ned waiting at the shore with the sun setting down saw a wooden boat coming his way. Moments later, his Master arrived with a smile on his face.

"Well done kid, you've gathered a lot of Cores, I'm counting hundreds of Grade E Cores. Their leader must have been afraid that he surrenders itself to you." Master Will being happy praised Ned for his skills. "So tell me, have you successfully tamed the Warg leader? Or maybe the Ursa's? Which one have you tamed?"

Ned remembered his mission and didn't tame even one, cause he killed all of them.

"Eh?"