Zeth stood for a minute, looking at the grayish-blue sky. Cold winds brushed through his groin area, a pleasant sensation he had never felt before. Perhaps walking around naked was not so bad after all.
It took him a few minutes to detour to the front of the bungalow. The garden was big, a good place to test his new physical limits. But he quickly dropped the idea; walking felt better right now.
However, he was still curious about the rewards he had received for killing the hobgoblin. The good thing was, even as shitty as the system was, at least it didn't mess up the notifications he received.
Eyes closed, he focused on the mails, and a few screens appeared before him. As for how he was able to do so so fluently was something Zeth would like to find out himself. It was perhaps something to do with the system. Each time he received something new, he found himself subconsciously able to use it.
» Congratulations! You have killed a hobgoblin.
» Host has passed a trial...accessing rewards.
» You have received [Necklace of Goblin Teeth].
» Your resonance grows stronger...you have gained a new passive skill [Reaper's Blood].
Zeth scratched his chin. Even though he felt he already knew the use of the skills, he still looked at their descriptions, just in case.
[Reaper's Breath]: (Active Skill) After holding your breath for a minute, the host can emit a dark wave of magic that, upon hit, causes temporary blindness and excruciating pain. The duration of the effect depends on the strength of the target.
[Taunt]: (Passive Skill) Even gods will get enraged by the tone of your remarks.
[Reaper's Blood]: (Passive Skill) Your blood is poisonous, even to you.
The corner of Zeth's lips twitched. Clearly, he wasn't planning to die from drinking his own blood. As for how Taunt had activated in the last battle, he was, to say the least, very, very concerned.
Subconsciously, he knew that passive skills were controlled by the system, while active skills were controlled by his own will. In a normal case, this was supposed to give a good edge in battle, where he didn't need to call out passive skills...but Zeth's case wasn't exactly normal.
"Hey, system!"
[Sup?]
"We are friends, right?"
[Bleghhhhhh.]
Because in his case, the system didn't feel like an advanced computer but a teenager texting on his phone. This was frustrating to the point that if Zeth could somehow touch that screen for a minute, the system would be dead.
God, if only he could.
Taking a deep breath again, he looked at the description of the necklace he had received after killing the hobgoblin. Another blue screen appeared before his eyes.
[Necklace of Goblin Teeth]: (Accessory) Wearing the necklace grants the user a boost of 10 Strength points.
Zeth's eyes squinted. He quickly summoned the necklace, and a white light appeared in the air, assembling around his neck and taking the shape of a necklace. A simple black thread with a small canine tooth hanging from it. Almost instantly, he felt a surge of strength in his body, followed by another notification.
[In order to wield the ability of death...]
Now the frustration was beyond his limits. Zeth wanted to punch something very badly, and he did. His fist connected with the concrete pillar beside him and burst a chunk out of it, forming cracks. And for the first time, Zeth realized that punching things actually hurt his fist.
He grumbled, dropping to his knees, ready to cry. When he heard about getting powers, he had already imagined his popular life as an overpowered protagonist...yet he had more flaws than strengths.
Then he thought of his already good life as a rich bum and reassured himself. Heroic dreams were lucrative, but not as lucrative as living in this bungalow. Zeth stood proudly before the large white gates of a white bungalow situated on a hill, completely out of reach of poor commoners.
Being a modest person himself, Zeth wasn't into flashy things...or so he thought. So, considering the line between modesty and comfort, Zeth had to buy the cheapest bungalow on the hill for the very small amount of only $100 million.
Though the construction quality was disappointing.
Zeth stood before the gates. The scene of torn limbs scattered across the halls was still fresh in his mind. Though he was struggling with whether to approach with or without the necklace.
From what he had observed, even without powers, his body possessed above-average strength. But combined with the necklace, it was almost equal to his powered-up stats. Though the difference came in abilities.
While wearing the necklace, he wouldn't be able to use his active and passive skills. But he would be able to hold weapons. On second thought, Zeth decided to go with his abilities instead. It wasn't like he had any weapons, and even if he did, it wasn't like he knew how to use one to begin with.
He dismissed the necklace, and it broke into white light and disappeared. Zeth clenched his fist, ready to go inside. He slammed the gate open to reveal the same bloodied scene as before. However, this time adrenaline wasn't flooding through Zeth's system.
He felt his stomach churn, ready to vomit, but he covered his mouth. He was still holding his breath in order to use his active skill if required. He tried to avoid gazing at the familiar faces that lay lifeless on the floor. The sticky blood drenched his feet with every step he took.
Truly, gruesome.
He looked around, searching for any remaining threat. There was no one alive left in the bloodied bungalow...or so he thought until he heard a faint sound.
It came from the kitchen. He turned to face it. It was almost negligible, something he wouldn't have heard if he were a normal human. But things were different now.
Zeth turned toward the kitchen and heard the footsteps of someone running. Whatever it was, it was clearly afraid of him.
Quickly, Zeth bolted toward the door and slammed it open. He looked around. Everything was quiet. Perhaps it was the wind...or his imagination. After waiting for a minute for nothing to happen, he slowly turned to leave...or at least, that's what he pretended.
Just as he was about to leave the kitchen, the fridge door creaked open slowly, and without hesitation, Zeth jumped at it, tearing the door open. He was ready to use his active skill when a scream filled his ears.
"ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!"
Zeth barely covered his ears from the sonic attack; his enhanced senses made it even worse. Grimacing, he looked at the woman hiding inside the fridge.
"Banshee?"