Virtual Conquest: Solomon's Realm Book 1 Chapter 5 (DROPPED)

Chapter 5

The madman didn’t take long to reach the center of the forest. He let go of Drake’s arm and nodded as he inspected his surroundings. “Well, this spot should be good enough. Are you ready to begin?”

Hearing no response, he glanced down at Drake, only to gasp in surprise. Drake’s body was a complete mess. His limbs bent at strange angles and bloody bruises covered his face. From the wheezing sounds he made, his ribs were surely broken. 

“Stay with me, kid! Stay with me!” The lunatic dropped to his knees and slapped Drake’s cheek so hard he knocked a few teeth out.

Drake spat out a mouthful of blood as he struggled to open his eyes. “Ar-are we there yet?”

“Shh, don’t speak. Just drink this.” The madman poured a health potion down Drake’s throat.

The lifeforce within the potion healed all of his wounds in several seconds. Now fully healed, Drake sighed as he stood up. He sent the maniac a wary glance as he stepped a few feet away.

“Kid, you get wounded so easily. You should be more careful with this adventurer gig you’re trying.” The madman shook his head.

“YOU are the rea-” Drake stopped and forced himself to calm down. “You know what? Forget it. Let’s just get this experiment over with.”

This man was insane. Sticking around him would only cause Drake to lose his mind as well. It was best to finish this quest and continue his journey of becoming the greatest hero.

“That’s the spirit!” The madman laughed boisterously. “First, tell me your stats.”

“My stats?” Drake tilted his head. “I don’t know how to look at them.”

The lunatic’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You what?”

“I said,” Drake repeated slowly, “I. Don’t. Know. How.”

The madman showed the back of his hand to Drake. Surprisingly, two icons hovered just above his hand. One had a picture of the madman’s head while the other had the image of a bag. “See these? One is your inventory, the other is your status. I can’t believe you didn’t know that. Have you lost your mind?”

You’re the crazy one! Drake complained inwardly. Knowing better than arguing with a lunatic, he excitedly glanced at the back of his own hand. Oh, there’s an extra one. Along with the two icons the madman had, Drake had an extra icon with the image of a gear wheel. That must be the game’s settings. He touched the gear wheel with a finger, and sure enough, a screen with a list of configurable options appeared. Pain perception, gore setting, send a help request, etc. 

Closing out of the game’s settings, he opened his inventory and found a pitiful amount of space: Only ten slots. Last, he opened his status.

Name: Zeradune

Title: (E) A Budding Hero

Class: None

Level: 4
Stat Points: 4

Strength: 1
Agility: 1
Intelligence: 1
Fortitude: 1

Recovery: 1

Willpower: 1

When Drake focused on his title and stats, more information popped up.

No matter what title is visible, you will still gain the effect of every title you have.

Strength - Affects your physical damage and might.

Agility - Affects your flexibility, reaction speed, movement speed, and attack speed.

Intelligence - Affects your spell damage and casting speed.

Fortitude - Affects the defensive strength and stamina of your body.

Recovery - Affects how fast your wounds, stamina, and mana recover.

Willpower - Affects the duration of debuffs, recovery from mental fatigue, and resistance to mental attacks.

Pretty straightforward. Drake thought to himself. While only six stats might seem too little, Anna always kept the stat system the same. The Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Fortitude, and Recovery stats were considered basic stats. Special stats like Willpower could only be acquired through unique circumstances and generally wouldn’t show up until then. In addition, you couldn’t distribute stat points into special stats.

How should I distribute my stats? While most would take some time to plan things out, Drake didn’t even hesitate. He poured all four of his stat points into agility. Like his father always said, ‘speed was everything in a fight’. As soon as he did, Drake’s senses improved tremendously. He twisted his torso and sent out a punch. Wow, my attack speed improved by nearly forty percent.

“What the heck? Are you punching a fly or something?” The madman stepped back, afraid of being affected by Drake’s antics.

Drake rolled his eyes and answered. “My stats are all 1, except for agility, which is 4.”

“WHAT?!” The madmen’s eyes nearly popped out. “You put all your points into agility? Who told you about stats? They shouldn’t be teaching anyone!”

Drake shrugged. “You’re the only one.”

The madmen took a step back and facepalmed. “This kid’s crazy. Bonkers! I’ll definitely go mad if I stay around him.”

This guy…! Drake’s lips twitched. He was confident he’d have a heart attack at this rate.

The shrubbery nearby suddenly rustled. A monster walked out while sniffing the ground. It looked like a boar, except it had black vein-like patterns all over its body. When it looked up and spotted Drake, its eyes turned black. Letting out a growl, it kicked the ground and charged.

(Common) Demonified Boar - Level 25

Drake’s eyes couldn’t keep up, even with his increased agility. He could only watch helplessly as the boar pounced, its two tusks acting as spears. Just before he was impaled, the madman appeared next to the boar faster than lightning. He planted his foot, twisted his body, and swung his arm. “TASTE MY SLAP!”

The monster was sent flying, its body exploding upon hitting a tree. Drake broke out into a cold sweat when he saw the tree trunk snap in half. Damn, I wish I could slap a monster to death.

“Hmph.” The lunatic wiped his hand across his cloak as if slapping the monster was some disgusting act. He walked over to the beam of light that was left after the monster dispersed and checked its drops. “Aha!” He picked up a slab of meat and tossed it over to Drake. “With this, the experiment can begin.”

Drake was confused as he caught the bloody meat. “You want me to eat this? Raw?”

“Raw, cooked, what’s the difference?” The madman didn’t understand why Drake was making things so difficult.

Drake looked down and found the same black vein-like patterns he saw on the boar. He shrugged. “Might as well live a little.”

He ripped off a small chunk with his teeth and tried to chew only to promptly give up. It was like chewing leather. Instead, he swallowed it whole before wiping the blood from his lips. “Honestly, it doesn’t taste that bad.”

“I know, right!” The madman clasped Drake’s shoulder with a laugh. “Nobody understands what a delicacy it is. Only us. Alas.”

Whether for better or worse, Drake’s tolerance for pain had carried over to his taste buds. Anybody else would have thrown up. Very few would have the willpower to swallow one bite, much less the whole thing.

Drool dripped from the madman’s mouth as he watched Drake swallow the last piece, a hint of anticipation in his eyes. When he finished, Drake wiped his fingers on his tunic with a smile. “Quest complete! It was simple enough.”

“Haha, yes, yes. Simple enough.” The madman took a few steps back as if he was wary of something.