Chapter 3: [3] : The Weeping Thicket, Bleeding the Boar

Declan walked away from the spawn alley.

The system had marked a clear line on the cobblestone street with a faint blue glow. It was the border of the safe zone. Most players were huddled behind it afraid to cross.

Declan stepped over the blue line without hesitating.

The atmosphere changed immediately. The air grew colder. The fog thickened reducing his visibility to about thirty feet. The cobblestone streets gave way to dark squelching red mud and twisted dead trees.

A floating system prompt notified him of his new location.

[System Remark]

↳ Entered Area: The Weeping Thicket

↳ Warning: Level 2 to Level 5 PvE and PvP Zone. Survival rate low for beginners.

"Weeping Thicket. Catchy," Declan muttered.

He moved carefully. He kept his back slightly hunched and his eyes darted around the fog.

His +10 Cleaver was held tightly in his right hand. He knew he possessed a weapon of mass destruction but his body was still weak. A base agility of 5 meant he was not fast. A base vitality of 5 meant he could not take a hit.

He was basically a glass cannon armed with a rusty meat cleaver.

A sudden sharp scream shattered the silence.

It was a human scream filled with sheer terror. It came from somewhere to his left deep in the fog.

Declan crept toward the noise. He used the dead trees for cover trying not to make splashing sounds in the thick mud.

He peeked around a large rotting trunk.

About twenty feet away, a player was lying in the mud. Or at least what was left of a player. A massive beast was standing over the body tearing into it.

Declan held his breath.

The monster looked like a wild boar but it was the size of a small car. Its fur was made of stiff razor-sharp quills. Two massive curved tusks jutted from its lower jaw dripping with fresh blood.

[Monster Information]

↳ Feral Razor-Boar

↳ Level: 2

↳ HP: 250 / 250

The boar snorted and lifted its head from the dead player. Its beady red eyes locked onto Declan’s hiding spot behind the tree.

It smelled him.

"Fuck," Declan said as he knew he was already spotted by the bear.

The Razor-Boar scraped its hooves in the mud lowering its head. Then, it charged.

It moved way faster than a creature that big had any right to. It was like a furry monster barrelling through the fog snapping small branches in its path.

Declan’s mind raced. He had 100 HP. If those tusks hit him, he would instantly be ripped in half.

He did not try to block. He did not try to stand his ground.

He threw himself sideways into the mud with everything he had.

The Boar rushed past him in a blur of muscle and razor fur. The wind of its passing whipped Declan’s face. It crashed into the rotting tree Declan had been hiding behind shattering the trunk into splinters with a deafening crack.

The beast shook its head and turned around to face Declan again.

Declan was on his knees in the mud. His heart was hammering in his chest. "Damn. Fast. It is really fast."

The Boar squealed and was angry now. It charged a second time.

Declan did not dive away. This time, he forced himself to wait.

Closer. Closer.

When the tusks were inches from his chest, Declan twisted his torso violently. The boar grazed his side and the razor-sharp fur sliced through his cheap burlap tunic cutting a line across his ribs.

[Biological State]

↳ HP: -15

Declan gritted his teeth against the pain. As the boar’s massive flank slid past him, Declan gripped his cleaver with both hands and slashed outward.

Schwing.

The crimson edge of the +10 Cleaver bit into the boar’s thick hide. It was not a deep cut. It was just a shallow scrape along its back leg.

Declan scrambled backward putting distance between them as the Boar turned around.

The Boar looked fine. It prepared to charge a third time.

Then, the mutation activated.

[System Remark]

↳ Trait Activated: Hemorrhage

The shallow cut on the boar’s leg burst open.

A geyser of dark blood sprayed into the air.

The Boar shrieked in absolute agony. Its health bar plummeted.

[Biological State]

↳ HP: 200 / 250

↳ HP: 150 / 250

The beast tried to run at Declan but its back leg gave out. It crashed into the mud thrashing violently. Blood was pouring out of the tiny wound like a busted fire hydrant. The red mud turned completely crimson.

[Biological State]

↳ HP: 100 / 250

↳ HP: 50 / 250

↳ HP: 0 / 250

It took exactly five seconds. The massive beast let out one final gurgling squeal and went completely limp.

Silence returned to the Weeping Thicket save for the sound of rain hitting the muddy ground.

Declan stood up slowly and panted. He looked at the giant dead monster then looked down at his clean sharp cleaver.

"Wtf," Declan chuckled and wiped sweat from his forehead. "That is just cheating."

A flurry of system notifications flooded his vision.

[System Remark]

↳ Feral Razor-Boar Killed!

↳ Experience Points Gained: 150

↳ Level Up!

↳ Level Up!

↳ You are now Level 3.

↳ Stat Points Available: 10

Declan smiled. Level 3 from a single kill. That was the benefit of taking down something higher level alone.

He walked over to the boar’s massive corpse. As he got close, the body began to dissolve into blue digital light. It left behind two items resting in the bloody mud.

[System Remark]

↳ Origin Points +25

↳ Item dropped: Tattered Trench Coat

Declan picked up the coat. It was long, dark gray, and full of holes. It smelled like wet dog but it was better than his ripped burlap tunic.

[Item Information]

↳ Name: Tattered Trench Coat

↳ Tier: Scavenged

↳ Defense: 2 to 4

↳ Description: Barely keeps the rain off.

Offers minimal protection.

Declan slipped the coat on. It was a little big but it felt good.

He opened his status screen to check his balance.

[System Resources]

↳ Origin Points: 25

He looked at the trench coat he was wearing.

He had 25 points. Enhancing this to +10 would cost exactly 10 points.

He had a weapon that could kill a god if it scratched them. Now, he needed to make sure he did not die before he could swing it.

"System," Declan said as he touched the fabric of the coat. "Enhance the Trench Coat ten times."