BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

[HOSTILE INDIVIDUAL KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

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[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]

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[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. A HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]

[LEVEL UP]

<Oh?>

Erik was pleasantly surprised by his sudden level-up. With this, he was level five and could use his points to increase his energy. He didn't have the time to do so at the moment since the Lomalins were now awfully close to him.

He had to get rid of them before killing Logan since they would only end in his way. Erik's only hope was that Logan didn't find the barrier's hole.

As the Lomalin arrived in front of him, another window appeared in front of his vision.

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<Emergency quest: Survival.>

-Rewards for completion: Three hundred experience points and a hundred DNA points.

-Failure Penalty: Death.

(Kill the three Lomalins.)

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<It looks like this is my lucky day,> Erik said as the second quest appeared before his eyes.

The young man looked at the three approaching Lomalins, thanks to the level-up, his mana was full again, but as he looked at the sharpened tree branch in his hand, he could see that the mana surrounding it was still present but starting to wane, Erik then decided to use his power again to further sharpen the weapon.

He knew that the Lomalins had a strong exoskeleton and that his power maybe wasn't enough to kill the creatures if they used their brain crystal power.

So, he pumped all his mana into the weapon, creating another layer of mana that thinned and sharpened as soon as the young man willed it.

Erik felt confident this was enough to kill the creatures, but the lack of mana was a danger itself since he couldn't use any other power.

Besides, Erik had very low amounts of mana to begin with, especially compared to Conal and Orson, who approximately had twenty and nineteen energy points.

Well, at least that was what the system estimated by analyzing their brain crystals. Erik also knew that he was able to kill the two men just because he pumped his strength attribute.

Otherwise, with his normal stats and two neural links, he wouldn't have been able to do it, as they would have been stronger than him.

He also knew that the training he did with professor McAllister made a difference between life and death since it allowed him to avoid Orson's attacks.

As the Lomalins were in front of him, they tried to bite him in the legs; Erik jumped back, avoiding the attacks. Though, the creatures kept trying to bite him by following him as he retreated.

The young man had the tree branch in his hand, which allowed him to reach the creatures without effort or being put at risk. This was the opposite of Orson's and Conal's powers since they required the two men to approach the thaids closely.

Erik slashed the tree branch with all his might toward a Lomalin, leaving a gaping wound in its exoskeleton. The beast then used its brain crystal power to make another exoskeleton, but it wasn't the strongest type of thaid out there, and the subsequent attack Erik unleashed proved fatal.

The mana the creature injected into his brain crystal to conjure his mana-hardened exoskeleton wasn't enough to stop the young man's slash.

[HOSTILE CREATURE KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

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[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]

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[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. EIGHTY-EIGHT EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]

< Eighty-eight? What is this creature's energy level?>

Erik then turned to look at one of the two Lomalins and said, "Analysis," and a small window appeared in front of his eyes.

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- Species: Lomalin.

- Brain crystal power: Mana Hardened Exoskeleton.

-Dimension: Approximately seventy centimeters tall and fifty long.

-Description: The beast resembles a maggot with many legs; it has a black head and a hardened exoskeleton. The host is advised not to be bitten by the creature since it appears it is its main weapon.

-Approximate level: 2

-Approximate Strength: 4

-Approximate Intelligence: 1

-Approximate Dexterity: 3

-Approximate Energy: 12

...

...

…

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<Interesting,> Erik thought. Though he didn't have time to be idle as the other two Lomalins tried to bite him again.

Erik quickly jumped back, avoiding the two creatures. They kept chasing after him, but the young man retreated back every time, leaving space between him and the creatures.

The student then slashed again at one of the creatures that had already put up their mana-hardened exoskeleton. However, Erik only had to slash at them two times to kill them.

<Their power must be very inefficient if I'm able to kill them with half their mana available,> Erik thought.

The masked man didn't take much time to get rid of the remaining two Lomalins using the same hit-and-retreat tactic.

[MULTIPLE HOSTILE CREATURES KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

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[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]

[3...2...1...0]

[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. A HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]

[EMERGENCY QUEST COMPLETE.]

[LEVEL UP.]

<Again?> Erik exclaimed inside his head. If, on the one hand, killing monsters could be considered good, killing people wasn't. But Erik didn't feel any different when he killed Orson and Conal; he almost felt as if he had just killed a thaid. It felt good and rewarding.

Then Erik turned to look at Logan, but he was nowhere to be seen. "DAMN!" Erik shouted as he figured out the young man was escaping.

But Logan left some tracks, so Erik started chasing the young man down. He was probably searching for the barrier's hole, meaning he was trying to go back to where he came from. Luckily Erik knew where it was located, and it looked like Logan was going in the right direction.

"System, put five attribute points into strength and five into energy!"

This way, Erik could pump more mana through his brain crystal, and he would be fast enough to reach Logan. Erik ran beside the barrier while following Logan's tracks.

As he got close to the hole, Erik started seeing the bully in the distance; he looked tired, probably because he didn't train as much as Erik did.

Besides, with his renewed strength, putting his body under stress wasn't as hard for the masked student anymore. Also because of the mana pumped inside of him by the system during the level-ups reinvigorated him, and he wasn't as tired as Logan.

Erik ran until he was ten meters from Logan, who was awfully close to the breach. Erik was looking forward to the taste of revenge. Killing Conal and Orson was satisfying, but he bet it was not as good as killing Logan, the gang leader.

The two were about a couple of meters apart now, and both stopped running. They stood still for a few seconds staring at each other. It was then that Logan spoke.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

"What?! You didn't recognize me? I'm a little bit offended!" Erik said.

"How could I recognize you if you hide behind a stupid mask!"

"I thought my power gave me away, but I guess you are too stupid to notice!" Erik then put his hands on his face and slowly removed the mask hiding his face.

As Erik's visages were freed from obstruction, Logan recognized him and looked at him in horror.

"ERIK!" Logan said.