Chapter 3: I Barely Even Knew This Girl
Noah rushed forward, scooping up a jagged rock from the floor and hurled it with all his strength at the Diamantis’s head. The impact didn’t harm the beast, but it did catch its attention. Its grip faltered, and Sophie gasped as the fabric of her sleeve tore. She dropped to the ground in a heap.
“Sophie, run!” Noah shouted.
But before she could even gather herself, the Diamantis lashed out, one of its spiked legs sweeping across the cavern floor. The blow connected squarely with her side, sending her flying like a ragdoll. She hit the wall with an awful thud and crumpled to the ground.
Noah’s heart stopped for a moment as he stared at her limp form. A surge of anger and fear exploded inside him.
“HEY! Over here!” His voice reverberated through the cavern.
The Diamantis pivoted, its head flicking towards him. Its mandibles clicked as it screeched, the sound nearly blowing out Noah’s eardrums.
With terrifying speed, the creature swung one of its claws at him. Noah ducked under it, barely avoiding the deadly arc. The force of the swing whipped past his face, nearly knocking him off balance. His gaze darted to Sophie’s still form.
She’s not dead. She can’t be dead.
“Okay,” he muttered as he sized the monster up. “You want me, right? Then let’s do this.”
The Diamantis screeched again, raising its claws for another strike. Blood thundered in Noah’s head as he steadied himself. He was outmatched in every way, but he had no choice. If he ran, Sophie was as good as dead. His mind raced, searching for any sliver of a plan, anything that could give him an edge. Was there anything he could use from all his past experiences playing video games? But he didn’t even know how this game worked! The only thing he had was his stupid, F-Ranked Talent.
Zero.
What did it mean? Was it supposed to help him, or was it just there to mock him?
Zero.
He activated the Vitra again, the glowing word taunting him. What could that word possibly entail? Zero meant nothing, right? Maybe it allowed him to just erase the monster from existence?
“Come on,” he growled, focusing every ounce of his willpower on the creature. Just disappear already!
The Diamantis lunged at him. Once again, he sidestepped, barely managing to avoid the attack. This game of whack-a-mole could only go on for so long. He had no weapon, no armour, and no plan. The only way out was to kill the thing.
“Zero!” he yelled in desperation. He didn’t know what he was expecting. A bolt of lightning? A sudden explosion? He just needed something—anything— that would give him a fighting chance. But the Diamantis remained unscathed. Nothing had happened. There was no miracle.
Its next attack came faster than before, and this time, Noah wasn’t quick enough. The claw slammed into him with brutal force. The serrated edge caught him in the shoulder, sending him skidding and tumbling across the rocky ground.
Noah clutched his shoulder as the impact radiated through him. How bad was it? Was he about to bleed out? He braced himself for the worst, expecting to see blood pooling beneath him.
His shirt was shredded and his shoulder throbbed, but—what the heck? It was just a bruise. His flesh hadn’t been torn open. The claw should have ripped through him like paper, yet it hadn’t.
He summoned his Vitra with a trembling hand. At the corner, the word ‘Zero’ was faintly pulsing. Two new notifications blinked on the screen, but they would have to wait. The mantis was already bearing down on him.
Noah scrambled back, but as he looked up, something caught his eye.
—
Diamantis/ Lvl 63
HP: 18,467/36,680
—
Half of its HP bar was missing. He hadn’t touched it with anything other than a desperate rock throw.
And it was still decreasing.
“What the…?”
The mantis threw its full body weight at him, slamming him hard into the ground. Noah braced for the agony of its claws tearing through him, but the pain that came was shockingly dull. He groaned, more from the force of the impact than any real injury. It was like falling off a bed. It was jarring, but far from lethal.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Before he could process what had happened, the creature’s claw swung down at him again. Noah instinctively raised his arms to shield himself, expecting to be shredded. Instead, the claw glanced off him harmlessly, leaving only a faint sting.
Pinned beneath the Diamantis’s front legs, Noah was helpless to dodge as it unleashed another frenzied barrage of attacks. But each strike was hollow, its once-lethal blades reduced to harmless blows.
Noah’s mind scrambled to connect the dots. In the corner of his eye, the notifications on his Vitra still demanded his attention.
“Zero,” he muttered, staring at his Vitra. “You’re… reducing its attack and health, aren’t you? To Zero.”
The realisation sent a shiver down his spine. This wasn’t some freak accident. It was his Talent at work.
Still trapped, Noah gritted his teeth and endured the Diamantis’s relentless assault. Anxiously, he monitored the monster’s HP bar, every second chipping away at its health. Its attacks were starting to slow, each one growing weaker with every passing moment.
3,456/36,680
1,243/36,680
132/36,680
As its HP hit 0, the Diamantis let out a final shriek before collapsing. Fortunately, not directly on top of him.
Noah panted as he lay on the ground. Finally, he gave his Vitra a peek.
Skills unlocked:
TS1: Void Suppression (Lvl 1)
TS1: Void Vitality (Lvl 1)
GS1: Consume (Lvl 1)
—
Tap to accept.
—
 
Ooh, new skills. As he proceeded, his profile updated. A Consume skill? Did it work the way he thought it did?
He raised a hand at the corpse of the Diamantis. Without warning, its form shimmered and it burst into a thousand fragments, all of which got absorbed by him. More notifications popped up on his Vitra.
—
+700XP
Items obtained: x1 Mantis Shell
—
—
Level Up!
Level 2
—
—
Class: HumanLevel: 2XP: 700 / 1100HP: 1250 / 1250MP: 53 / 53Attack: 330Defence: 270Rank: FTalent: 0
—
Global Skills
GS1: Echolocation (Lvl 1)
GS2: Consume (Lvl 1)
—
Talent Skills
TS1: Void Suppression (Lvl 1)
TS2: Void Vitality (Lvl 1)
—
Noah stared at the interface. Woah, that’s a lot of upgrades. It looked like his HP and MP had been restored from the level up.
Sheesh, that was cool. It was just like the games he—Sophie!
He quickly shoved the Vitra aside, bounding over to where she lay. She was still unconscious and bleeding from a few places, but thankfully it didn’t look life-threatening. At least on the surface. He just hoped that she hadn’t suffered any serious internal injuries. Ideally, he would’ve consulted a doctor, but their current situation prevented them from simply calling for an ambulance.
Just a couple of hours ago, I barely even knew this girl.
The thought hit him harder than he expected. He’d seen her around class, recognising her as one of the more outgoing people in their year with her many friend groups. But he’d never really paid much attention to her before. She, like many of his other classmates, was just someone he’d never bothered getting to know.
Sophie groaned.
“Woah there, easy now,” Noah moved to support her.
“What happened… where’s the monster?” she groaned.
Noah allowed a brief smile on his face. “It’s dead. I killed it.”
“You... what?” Sophie sat up. A wave of pain must have hit her, for she immediately winced and clutched at her temple.
“Hey, are you okay? Don’t move around so much.”
Noah was out of his depth. He had no experience in first aid, nor did he have any proper advice to give. Some bandages and water would probably do her well, but it wasn’t like they had those resources at hand.
“I’m fine, it’s okay,” Sophie said, gingerly picking herself up. “More importantly, how in the world did you kill that thing?”
“I figured out how my Talent works. From what I could gather, it reduces the enemy’s HP and attack stat to zero.”
“Woah, really? So that’s what your Zero does… okay, that’s pretty cool,” Sophie admitted. “I wonder what my Looter can do.”
“Probably something to do with looting,” Noah blurted. As soon as the words left his mouth, he realised how redundant they sounded.
“Uhh, yeah. I believe so,” Sophie snuck in a curious glance before quickly averting her eyes. “So… anyway, thanks for saving me,” she coughed. “I still can’t believe you killed it.”
Despite their current predicament, Noah swelled with pride. Was this what it felt like to be a hero? He pushed the thought aside and snapped back to reality. “Don’t mention it. Anyway, what’s your HP at?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot I could check.” Sophie activated her Vitra. “154 out of 1000… that’s not good.”
Yeah, that was dangerously low. In an RPG, you'd always want to be at full health as much as possible. Even if you weren’t, you’d want something like an accessory that capitalised on being low health, which they didn’t have.
"We need to find a doctor or get you some kind of healing," Noah said. "Are you okay to walk?"
“Yeah, I’ll manage. Any ideas on how we get out of this hellhole?”
Noah shook his head. “Guess our only option is to keep moving.”