DESPAIR AND NEWFOUND HOPE. ( II )

"So what does 20 points in intelligence make you, Tesla or Einstein" Anne chipped in.

Leo remained silent as he gazed at her his expression saying ' I don't know '.

Inwardly he felt nervous speaking with his crash but his matured mind prevented such emotion from leaking out.

" Yeah, I get it, I guess this soul energy thing can increase our stats just like in the games" Mark stated trying to change the topic.

" Yeah, it should but how to do it"

" Why do we already possess soul energy" Anne asked. Mark and Leo had already thought of the answer and thus felt it should be obvious.

" It increased after killing the bugs and so the previous ones should be our past kills " Mark stated feeling rather good as he had said something smart before Leo could.

Leo glanced at him giving him, I know what you are trying to do look.

" I have never killed anything," Anne said.

As long as she could remember she had never hurt a fly so how could she also have soul energy before now?

The two kept quiet feeling she needed to deal with this alone.

They ignored her as they saw her lost in thought.

"How do we change the soul energy to stats, the soul energy seems to be full" Mark inquired as he stared at his status screen.

" Let's try different words and phrases"

"Yeah"

"Exchange soul energy"

" Convert"

" Convert soul energy"

"..."

"..."

Ten points were deducted as each attribute increased by one. They were both surprised as they said different phrases but had the same results.

A small yet significant surge of power and energy passed through their bodies.

"Wow, the effects are real," Mark said happy about the results.

" I guess it's the intention, not the words" Leo muttered to himself.

"Leo, if we continue killing these bugs we might get enough strength to push the bunker door and get out of here" Mark exclaimed.

They proposed their plan to Anne who hesitantly accepted feeling a bit sad to kill such beautiful creatures.

They got to work killing the bugs as they entered, surprisingly the number of bugs did not seem to diminish as more came through the opened space.

After a day's work of killing the bugs, they went to sleep, all three of them sharing one bed, leaving the couch empty as they sought warmth.

They woke up the next day to discover that the bunker was crawling with these multicolored critters, with most of them inside the cabinet where they stored their food.

"Did we forget to close, the door?" Anne said her face ashen with fear, fear that the last of their rations could have been contaminated by these critters.

She immediately rushed to the cabinet, her fears unfounded. However, her expression remained troubled as she stood still in front of the cabinet. Leo and Mark rushed to her, fearing something might have happened, as she did not respond when they called out her name.

They opened the cabinet widely allowing the bugs to fly out with some still crawling in the now empty cabinet.

Not even a wrapper was left in it, food that could last them another week or two had been devoured by these tiny critters.

Despair clouded Anne's mind as a brief sense of hope waned, leaving her with the fear that they might die of hunger before they could amass enough strength to push open the bunker door.

" I guess we will have to eat these bugs," Mark said jokingly as he tried to lighten the mood.

" Yeah," Anne said unconsciously.

" Sigh!! I guess I should accept that this is the end of the world" Anne said as she picked up a bug positioning it to her mouth, her intentions clear.

" It was just a joke," Mark said as he slapped the bug out of her hands.

"What do you expect us to eat!!" Anne picked up another and placed it in her mouth.

With closed eyes, she chewed the bug in a rhythmic motion. Leo and Mark followed suit, feeling it was the right thing to do. The insect was crunchy, and bitter, and left a rancid aftertaste. Anne winced, struggling not to vomit at the disgusting taste in her mouth.

[ Ding!! consumed a live chitinous creature. Endurance and soul energy extracted ]

0.1 points were added to their soul energy and endurance with a slight increase in their vitality.

Anne smiled at the two as she went back to bed.

"Man, one should not judge a book by its cover... She's tough," Mark said his voice a whisper.

" I hear you man, let's chomp this thing down and kill as many as possible so that we can make it out of here," Leo said as he threw another bug in his mouth. Wincing at the aftertaste.

Two weeks of eating bugs and sleeping in the cold bunker passed, and they had racked up soul energy, enough to give them a significant boost in stats.

With a determined gaze, they said in unison,

" Convert all soul energy"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

24yrs 10mnths 2wks 5days 23hrs 5mins

NAME: Anne Walton

RACE: Human

Evolution: ???

AGE: 17/90

Soul energy: 166.2/10 ~ 6.2/50

Vitality: 99/100

Strength: 4~20

Agility: 8~24

Endurance: 26.1~42.1

Intelligence: 10~26

Mana: 0

Skills: None

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

24yrs 10mnths 2wks 5days 23hrs 5mins

NAME: Mark Evans

RACE: Human

Evolution: ???

AGE: 17/80

Soul energy: 223.2/10 ~ 3.2/50

Vitality: 99/100

Strength: 10~32

Agility: 7~29

Endurance: 35.2~57.2

Intelligence: 9~31

Mana: 0

Skills: None

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

24yrs 10mnths 2wks 5days 23hrs 5mins

NAME: Leo Allen

RACE: Human

Evolution: ???

AGE: 17/85

Soul energy: 243.1/10 ~ 3.1/50

Vitality: 99/100

Strength: 8~32

Agility: 8~32

Endurance: 37~69

Intelligence: 21~53

Mana: 0

Skills: None

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They felt a surge of energy and a clear mind.

With little to no effort, the three of them pushed the door open.

They narrowed their eyes to adjust to the light, and after their pupils adjusted their gaze was met with that of pitch-black eyes that stared crazily at them.