Chapter 4: I can level up?

*[Would you like to register this weapon in the database?] *

'Whew, there is yet another weapon that isn't registered.'

'But shortswords were common even in my home vault, then why isn't this weapon registered yet?'

Saransh tapped on the 'Yes' button.

*[Item registered! Please channel your plasma to start synchronising] *

'Nahh, it wouldn't work since a huntsman can synchronise with only a single type of weapon.'

Saransh swiped away the notification.

Even though many huntsmen tried synchronising with multiple types of weapons, all those attempts ended in failure.

'For the mages it is just staff and for the swordsmen it is just swords, nothing more nothing less'.

But one could still synchronize with the same type of weapon as many times as he/she wants.

'So, since I'm a shooter now, I can synchronize with much better guns in the future'.

He stood up from where he was sitting and proceeded towards the entrance. He peeked through the corners of the entrance to see if anyone is climbing up the stairs.

'ok, the path is clear.'

He was being extra careful like always.

He started walking down the stairs while having his gun close to his chest held by both hands. He was trying to imitate a detective from some Bollywood movie.

As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he was already in the stem port.

The stem port was a building with a dome like structure. It was built by the association to allow only the valid huntsmen to pass through the stem gate. It also had a temporary storage unit for storing the corpses of mansters before they are dismantled.

But right now, the stem port had become a completely different place.

All the equipment used by the association in the port were already in ruins and what was left was the remnants of an intense battle.

'Looking at the situation, I still don't know if Vishal came here or not.'

Saransh thought to himself.

He started walking towards the exit of the ruined building. To his surprise, there were no corpses at all in the entire building. Even though there were blood stains of Mansters and humans alike.

But suddenly, his eyes were stuck at a manster that standing at the exit. It was a lizardman but something was off this time.

"It is not one of them."

The manster standing at the exit was a wild one and was nothing like the lizardman which he had encountered on the platform.

*GROOOR*

It roared from a distance. Its eyes were full of hunger. It was the hunger to devour its prey.

Saransh who saw the wild lizardman from a distance, didn't loose his composure.

He aimed his plasma gun at it right away. The manster was at a distance of 150 metres and was closing in at a frightening pace.

'I don't have to be accurate this time, I just have to deal a massive blow to injure it.'

His plan was to injure the wild lizardman and slow down the enemy to finish it off at close-quarters again. This was his only option because he couldn't do a sneak attack now that he is discovered.

But his full proof plan got spoiled when he saw one more lizardman entering the port.

"Isn't there an easy or normal mode for my life? Why does it have to be hard or insane all the time?"

Now that he had to change his plans right in the middle of the battle. He was a little tense.

Since he couldn't outrun them, he held his ground and shouted "Snipe", while aiming at the manster which was nearest to him. He was targeting its abdomen. Plasma energy started piling up the tip of his gun and after a second.

*PIYYYUUUNG*

A straight line of plasma blasted off from his gun and penetrated through the manster's right leg through its thick skin.

*KRAAAH*

The lizardman screamed from pain and fell on to the ground.

The wrist band which had sensed the interrupted flow of plasma in the manster's right leg responded.

*[ The Manster has been 'Paralysed' with the skill 'Snipe'. Tap to know more.] *

'Well, that's new!'.

Saransh sighed in relief. His aim was off by a large margin since he was aiming for its stomach. But his mistake was covered up by the 'Paralyze effect'.

The lizardman which was paralyzed, stayed put while the one which followed it was still approaching Saransh.

While aiming at the next lizardman, he shouted "Snipe".

But unfortunately, nothing happened.

'Huh?'.

*[ 3 Seconds left before you can activate the skill 'Snipe'] *

Snipe was a powerful skill which even had a chance of paralyzing the target. The plasma gun which Saransh used, needed atleast 5 seconds before it could activate Snipe again.

*GROOOR*

The lizardman roared. It almost looked like if the lizardman was grinning at the Saransh's failed attempt.

'Snipe isn't the only skill in my arsenal.'

Saransh smirked and shouted "Rapid Fire" while aiming at the manster's stomach again.

*PIYUUNG*

*PIYUUNG*

*PIYUUNG*

Three bullets of plasma energy instantly left the gun but his aim was off by a large margin yet again.

The first bullet hit its forehead but didn't even make a dent since it was hard as metal. The second and third bullet entirely missed the target and didn't even hit the lizardman.

'If I tried to run now, I will be striked down to death from behind.'

He was smiling. It almost looked like he was accepting the certain death in front him as the lizardman was closing in at an alarming pace.

"Snipe.", he shouted.

The timeout for snipe was already over. Plasma energy had already started piling up the tip of his gun and after a second.

*PIYYYUUUNG*

A straight line of plasma was blasted off yet again but this time, it had actually penetrated through the manster's abdomen.

*KRAAA*

The manster fell onto the ground before it could react.

'Finally, the third attempt was successful and it actually hit where I intended it to'.

The wrist band which was eagerly waiting for its turn finally responded at the interrupted flow of plasma in the manster's entire body.

*[The manster is dead.] *

After the lower waist, the abdomen was the softest spot in the lizardmen's body. Since 'Snipe' was such a strong skill, it blasted off a hole right through abdomen and connecting the shot directly to its lower waist.

'My job isn't finished yet.'

He sprinted towards the lizardman which was still crawling its way on the ground because of the paralyzed leg.

*GROOR*

The manster growled to show its animosity towards Saransh.

Since the manster was crawling on the ground, showing its lower waist wide open. It was the perfect opportunity for Saransh to make a move.

*PIYUUNG*

*PIYUUNG*

*PIYUUNG*

Saransh had used Rapid fire and it didn't miss the target this time since he was already close enough.

*[The manster is dead.] *

The wrist band notified him instantly.

'Saransh was happy at the surprising turn of events.'

He was able to kill three lizardmen one after the another.

'I wouldn't have believed it myself if someone told me I could kill three lizardmen all alone sometime in the future.'

'And now comes my favourite job!��

"It's 'Dismantle' time".

He took out his newly found shortsword from one of the pockets in his waist belt while saying it.

He gathered the two manster bodies at one place and started dismantling. Since it was lizardmen, he used the same procedure to procure their life stones.

'Just to be sure, I think I should check their levels.'

He started the scan on the life stones.

*[Level 2 Life Stone.] *

The wrist band sent a notification after it performed a quick scan.

*[Please channel your plasma into life stone to absorb the plasma …] *

Saransh had already swiped away the notification before he actually read it since he already knew what it was.

He started channelling his plasma into the life stone. After the whole process was complete he received yet another notification after a minute.

*[ You have absorbed 1219 points of pure plasma.] *

*[ You have levelled up.] *

'It has been so long since I wanted to level up but it is really happening now.'

He raised his hand in the air and while looking at the ceiling, folded his fingers to make a fist.

"I really did it. I could grasp it now! The power surging within me!"

*[Why are you being so dramatic and worked up over a single level up?] *

"Ehh?"

Saransh was surprised to hear a lady's voice coming from his wrist band.

"What is this? … A new Bug of some sort?".

He was still surprised and moved his wrist band closer to the ears.

*[I'm not a bug, I'm a feature, you moron!] *

"Ok, what are you exactly?". He was starting to get annoyed.

*[ I'm a personal assistant program.] *

"Ohho and why are you inside my wrist band?"

*[To assist you.] *

Saransh was hiding his anger inside while putting up a smiling face on the outside. His face looked like he was attending some anger management classes.

"Where the hell were you when I actually needed some assistance?"

*[I was actually in 'Silent Mode', since it is my default setting] *

Saransh's patience was being tested. He looked like an active volcano which would erupt at any time.

"Then why the hell did you turn up now?"

*[I couldn't bear watching your pathetic drama, So I have overridden my settings.] *

Saransh had finally erupted. He was at a loss of words with his battle with the assistant.

"ok, I will find your creator, I'll kill him myself."

Saransh had finally calmed down, since it was no use fighting against his wrist band.

*[Hehe…My creator is completely out of a human's reach!] *

"Ehh? What's it?".

Before the assistant could say anything. Saransh had already swayed his attention towards something else which was at the exit.

This time there were three of them and after scanning them all, the assistant replied.

*[They are all level 2 Lizardmen.] *

"Oh…. Shut up!"

Saransh was already fired up and all the frustration he had from the conversation had already turned up his heat.

And after 20 minutes.

*[The manster is dead.] *

He received three such messages this time and after 5 more minutes, he had completed dismantling the mansters. He was now holding the life stones of three lizardmen and was planning to channel his plasma into them.

*[Why are you always channelling the plasma to absorb the life stone?] *

"Ehh? Is there another way?".

*[Yup, you can directly absorb the plasma from the life stone using the 'Absorb' skill.] *

"Ehh? when did I learn that skill?"

*[Moron! Whenever you have the knowledge of doing something related to plasma, it gets registered as a Skill! And whenever you want to use the skill, you can call out the name of the skill and I will do it for you.] *

"Ohho!"

*[So should I register it now? What about the "Synchronization"? Should I register that too?] *

"Can I do that too?"

*[Yup]*

"Why didn't you tell me any of this any time sooner?"

*[Huh? Because whenever I tried to tell you about life stones, you always ignored that particular notification thinking that you already know what you were doing and swiped it away each time!] *

"Ohho".

*[Don���t just "Ohho" at me!! Anyway why haven't you learned these things in your training?] *

"I don't know, maybe because I was a dismantler back then".

*[Hmm, Sounds reasonable. I mean a reasonable excuse.] *

Saransh ignored her and shouted.

"Absorb!"

*[Jeez! You don't have to shout it all the time] *

The life stones in his hands had already vanished into thin air and were already absorbed.

*[You have absorbed 1890 points of pure plasma.] *

"I didn't level up?"

*[Levelling up gets rougher each time you go up by a level] *

"I know that!"

*[ By the way, give me a name!] *

"hmm… ok".

Saransh thought for a second.

"Ok, I will call you 'Æ13Îẞ'".

*[ There's no way.... you are gonna call me Mira.] *

"Yeah.... Whatever."

He agreed to it instantly since he didn't want to drag the conversation anymore. He could already see four more Lizardmen entering the stem port.

"Ok, let's get started!"

He said while grabbing the plasma gun into his right hand from the ground.

And after an hour had passed, countless battles had already taken place inside the port. There were corpses of Lizardmen all over the place each having their neck sliced apart and life stones taken.

And Saransh was grinning at the latest notification that just arrived.

*[You have levelled up!] *

*[You have finally reached level 3.] *

"I think it is time to get into the city."