Tatehan walked over to the monsters. Almost tiptoeing. A bit scared that any might wake from the dead. But he was just being silly, that wasn’t possible. Their heads were off their necks.
Tatehan decided to start with the lunatics. He would be saving the knight brutenecks for last. He wanted to be surprised by what they would give him.
Like a LitRPG game, the monsters did have rocks beside their headless bodies. Tatehan crouched beside one and picked the core up. It glowed more vibrantly as he touched it.
Words appeared across his retina:
[Upgrade glowing rock]
I mean, he knew beforehand, but as soon as he saw the message blink across his retina, he was tempted to fall to his knees and ululate like a mad wolf.
It was a huge joy to see this. When he had thought he would spend months finding this many upgrade glowing cores at once, here he was seeing them so easily...or was he?
The buildup that led to this scene was excruciating! Having to run for so many minutes, panting like a maniac, and then having to be beaten...
Tatehan skipped the details.
He didn’t get this easily. He had to almost die for it. His life was the price for this paradise!
And to think he was going to fight a creature as monolithic as the Hexapod mauler with his feeble leveled abilities.
Thinking about it, the spaceship’s AI must have been insane to send him in the first place, although without the mission he wouldn’t be seeing this joyous sight.
Words flashed across his retina:
[Which of your abilities would you like to upgrade?]
[Gravity manipulation]
[Partial regeneration]
Even though he was so tempted to upgrade his gravity manipulation first, he knew what he needed more than ever at this point was to heal. He couldn’t imagine how damaged his internal organs would be. Every breath still hurt, a dull ache that radiated through his chest.
He selected partial regeneration and now he saw:
[Partial Regeneration upgraded!]
[Partial Regeneration level: 2.5]
Tatehan was greatly elated. That was a damn lot. He could already feel it working, a tingling warmth spreading through his torso, knitting torn tissue back together. The pain in his ribs eased slightly.
He stood, moved to the next corpse. His legs were steadier now. The regeneration was doing its job.
He took the glowing core in his hands. It was slightly smaller than the first, he noticed, but still glowed with that inner light.
The same words flashed across his retina:
[Which of your abilities would you like to upgrade?]
[Gravity manipulation]
[Partial regeneration]
He selected partial regeneration.
[Partial Regeneration upgraded!]
[Partial Regeneration level: 3.1]
Tatehan blinked repeatedly. He thought it upgraded by 1. Why was it now upgrading much more slowly than he had calculated and anticipated?
Wait. 0.6? The first one gave him a full point increase, this one barely over half.
The answer to his question appeared across his retina:
[Some upgrade rocks are weaker than others]
Tatehan squinted and then blinked repeatedly (thrice).
Of course. Of course. It couldn’t be that simple. Nothing on this godforsaken planet was ever simple.
He went to another dead corpse and picked up a glowing rock. This one was dimmer, he noticed. Not as bright as the first two. A bad sign.
He selected that his partial regeneration ability be upgraded and now he saw:
[Partial Regeneration upgraded!]
[Partial Regeneration level: 3.4]
Tatehan blinked again repeatedly. This was much worse. This only added 0.3. ’TF’ was that!
"Are you kidding me?" he muttered under his breath.
The rocks were getting weaker. Or maybe he’d just gotten lucky with the first one. Either way, this was bullshit.
Well, there were still many lunatic carapace brutenecks on the floor. He decided to just hurry up. He wasn’t sure what dangers hid in the shadows, waiting to come at him. The battle had been loud. Who knew what else it might have attracted?
He moved faster now, snatching up cores with more urgency.
He went on upgrading his partial regeneration ability with the next two rocks he found.
[Partial Regeneration upgraded!]
[Partial Regeneration level: 3.6]
How? Just how?
What the hell was wrong with the rocks!
[Partial Regeneration upgraded!]
[Partial Regeneration level: 3.8]
He literally facepalmed at this point and then gave a deep sigh.
0.2 each. Two cores for less than half a level. At this rate, he’d need a hundred corpses to reach level ten.
But 3.8 was enough for his partial regeneration for now. He could feel the difference already—his breathing was easier, the sharp pain in his side had dulled to a background throb. He would try upgrading his gravity manipulation.
He went to another monster, crouched, picked up the stone, and words appeared across his retina:
[Which of your abilities would you like to upgrade?]
[Gravity manipulation]
[Partial regeneration]
He selected gravity manipulation.
[Gravity manipulation upgraded!]
[Gravity manipulation level: 2]
Tatehan grimaced.
Wait.
Wait.
Why did this upgrade to level 2, adding a whole level to it? The same sized rock barely gave his regeneration 0.2, but it gave gravity manipulation a full level?
Or was it because the spaceship’s AI said that if he was to reach level ten with partial regeneration he would become a god, that was why his system was reducing the points added?
’Think Gav—no, Ta—than, think Tatehan, think!’
His enhanced brain did the math. He looked at the bodies of the dead lunatic carapace brutenecks and realized something.
The corpses weren’t all the same size.
’Oh! No wonder.’
The larger the size of the lunatic carapace bruteneck, the more effective the glowing rocks from it would be.
Thinking about it now, he realized that it had sort of been his fault why the upgrades from the partial regeneration had been lower.
He had been taking upgrade rocks from smaller lunatic carapace brutenecks. Just grabbing whatever was closest without thinking.
He looked at the horde of dead bodies and saw that while they were all large, some were much larger and most were pretty small.
Tatehan smiled. Without their heads, they sort of looked the same to him. Easy mistake.
But now he knew better.
He went on upgrading his gravity manipulation, now targeting the largest corpses he could find. He stepped over smaller bodies, ignoring the cores that glowed weakly beside them. He was hunting for the big ones now.
He realized that if he was to have a chance against the Hexapod mauler, he would at least have to be able to move large objects. Massive objects. Maybe even the mauler itself, if he got strong enough.
That was the point of everything he was doing at this point, the risks he was taking. It was so he would have a much easier chance against the Hexapod mauler.
[Gravity manipulation upgraded!]
[Gravity manipulation upgraded!]
[Gravity manipulation upgraded!]
The words flashed repeatedly across his retina as he moved from corpse to corpse, selecting only the largest bodies. The cores from these brutenecks were noticeably brighter, heavier in his palm.
After some time he saw:
[Gravity manipulation level: 5]
Tatehan grinned.
"YES!" he screamed in a whisper.
"YESSSSS!"
Five levels. From barely being able to lift a rock to... what? What could he do now?
Now he would be able to move much larger objects. He decided to try it.
He aimed at a rock sword and was surprised to see it lift into the air.
It floated effortlessly, spinning slowly as he willed it to move. No strain, no effort either. Like it weighed nothing.
He smiled widely, turning the smile into a large grin.
"YESSSSSS!"
He decided to try and move something much larger. He aimed for the largest lunatic carapace bruteneck headless body and was literally stunned to see it floating in the air.
The corpse rose, massive and heavy, alien blood dripping from its severed neck. It had to weigh at least three hundred pounds. And it just... floated. Hovering in the air like a grotesque balloon.
Tatehan’s grin intensified and he nodded his head sideways like a maniac, almost laughing.
This. This was power.
He dropped the body and now saw that only two lunatic carapace brutenecks were remaining.
Two?
He had basically skipped them hoping to see more when he was done selecting the bigger ones, why was he seeing just two.
At first he was elated to see this, but then his smile only turned bitter. They were smaller and he doubted they could be of any help. Runts. The weakest of the pack.
He walked over to them nonetheless and picked up the two glowing rocks with both hands.
Might as well see what they’re worth.
[Which of your abilities would you like to upgrade?]
[Gravity manipulation]
[Partial regeneration]
He selected partial regeneration and:
[Partial Regeneration upgraded!]
[Partial Regeneration level: 4]
Tatehan scoffed bitterly.
Both of the rocks only added 0.2. That meant it was 0.1 for each.
’Meh.’
PATHETIC!
He tossed the spent cores aside. They clattered against the rocks, their glow already fading.
His smile returned as he looked at the headless corpses of the knight brutenecks.
Now for the real prize.