Chương 9: Quests and Goals

"The Egg!!!" Joe shouted, leaping to his feet.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" He sprinted off into the distance. Kai watched him go, shaking his head. He wasn't as drained physically as Joe and Hakeem were, but mentally, he was exhausted. He remained seated, needing a moment to compose himself. He was restless, his mind racing with worry. Most of all, he thought about his family, his parents. Were they safe? Where were they? He looked around absently as Hakeem began to stir nearby. He said nothing, just stared silently at his friend.

__ Hakeem sat up groggily, his eyes bleary as he surveyed his surroundings. He spotted Kai not far away, sitting quietly. His head pounded, but relief coursed through him. He was alive, somehow. The last thing he remembered was slamming into a wall, a crushing certainty that he was about to die. He looked down at his body, flexing his fingers and examining his limbs. Everything seemed intact, with no visible injuries. How am I fine? He wondered, flexing his fingers.

A flickering notification box caught his attention in the corner of his vision, but his focus shifted as he noticed something else. Only Kai was here. Joe was nowhere in sight. Where's Joe? __ Joe crouched down and inspected the bag holding the egg he'd been entrusted with. It was still in pristine condition, showing no signs of the rough treatment it had endured, being thrown around and crashing into a wall multiple times. What is this thing made of? He wondered, marvelling at its durability.

Whatever the material, it was clearly able to withstand a lot of force. After murmuring one last apology to the egg, Joe picked up the bag and slung it over his shoulder. He felt a light pulse from it. He began the walk back to where he'd left Kai and Hakeem. As he walked, his gaze fell to the ground beneath his feet. He could feel the grass spreading outward with every step, a strange sensation as though his senses had been heightened.

The contrasting scents of fresh grass and the destroyed city around him filled his nostrils, making him scrunch his nose in discomfort. The sharp, metallic tang of blood clung to everything that wasn't covered in grass. It was unpleasant, to say the least. Lifting his gaze, he noted the sun dipping toward the horizon. It was late evening now, and darkness would soon fall. The thought unsettled him. He wanted to search for other survivors but hadn't seen anyone since leaving the Gate.

Considering the life-and-death battle they'd just endured, it wasn't surprising. Not that anyone would be nearby, He thought. Not with a Beast like that Lion around. When he finally returned to where he'd left Kai and Hakeem, he saw Hakeem awake and sitting up, talking quietly with Kai. Kai turned as Joe approached.

"You see anything out there?"

"Nothing but rubble and half-destroyed buildings. But I didn't go very far," Joe replied. He glanced at Hakeem, "How are you feeling, man?"

"Better, thanks. Kai said you had a healing skill. Good thing you did, huh?" Hakeem replied.

"Yeah," Joe shrugged and sat down on the grass, feeling mental exhaustion hit him hard. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and fall into an endless slumber. He set the bag beside him and lay his head on the grass.

"What were you guys talking about?" Joe asked.

"Finding our families," Kai replied. That made perfect sense, Joe thought—the last two months had been a relentless whirlwind, leaving him with almost no time to reflect. He hadn't spared much thought for his sister, the only family he had left. How was she doing? Was she even alive? Was anyone alive? He forced himself not to spiral into overthinking. Surely, there had to be safe places out there. The entire world couldn't look like this… could it? Joe glanced at his friends. They both looked as drained as he felt.

"That was nuts, right? A Lion…" Joe said, breaking the silence.

"That was beyond nuts, dude. What the hell is going on? I swear I was on autopilot that whole fight," Hakeem said.

"I felt the same way," Joe admitted.

"Everything I did felt like it just happened. Suddenly, I was throwing rocks and using skills. It was like I was plugged into a video game, not real life. Until I got hit, then it suddenly felt very real," Joe winced, the memory of the lion's jaws clamping down on him still vivid. He pulled at his now hole-filled clothes.

"So I wasn't the only one then? Maybe we are in a game? Characters someone is playing with?" Kai said, his voice laced with uncertainty. Joe glanced at him, catching the confusion in his eyes. He didn't know how they'd managed to survive the ordeal, but one thing he was sure of: this wasn't a game. It was all too real.

"This is definitely real-life, man. That's why it hurts so much." They sat silently, each lost in their thoughts, reflecting on what had just happened.

"We gonna talk about that system message? You know? Tutorial failed?" Joe decided he needed to be the first to bring it up. No one said anything for a very long while.

"Let's not," Hakeem finally said. Joe turned his head to see Kai nodding in agreement.

"So what's the plan?" Joe asked.

"I need to head north; find my parents," Kai said.

"And I'll head East," Hakeem added. Both of them turned their gaze to Joe.

"You think splitting up is a good idea?" Joe asked, his tone sceptical. No one responded immediately. They were all deep in thought, weighing the risks.

"It's probably a bad idea," Kai admitted, his worry evident.

"But we have no idea what is happening in the city right now. It can't be filled with Lions like the one we killed." He hesitated, his expression growing more uncertain.

"At least, I hope it isn't. Even if it is, I have to find my parents." Joe looked at Kai and saw the pain and determination etched across his face.

"I agree," Joe said after a moment.

"And right now, we need information. So I'll go with you north to look for your parents, and along the way, we can look for some answers. Plus, there shouldn't be any more Gate bosses near here." Kai and Hakeem exchanged shocked looks, leaving Joe momentarily confused. He replayed what he'd said in his mind, trying to figure out what had caused their reaction.

"Gate boss? What are you talking about?" Hakeem asked.

"The quest we got after we killed the Lion. The one about killing all one hundred Gate bosses?" Joe replied, unsure if they'd forgotten or simply hadn't received the same quest.

"Dude, I did not get any quest," Hakeem said, frowning.

"What's a quest?" Kai said, looking genuinely puzzled. Joe sighed, pulling up his status screen. He found the quest panel and began reading aloud.

"Congratulations, Progenitor. You have been given a new quest. Reintegration! Kill all one hundred Gate bosses to restart Integration into the Multiverse…" He paused mid-sentence, noticing Kai and Hakeem staring at something invisible. It took him a moment to realize they were likely looking at their status screens.

"Okay, now I see it," Hakeem said, rubbing his forehead in discomfort.

"I'm starting to hate this place."

"You don't want to go look for your sister?" Kai asked.

"I want to, yeah," Joe replied.

"But she is a long way away, and I have no idea how long it would take to get there. So I'll go with you for now. We will find your parents, get some answers, and then I'll decide what to do."

"Thanks, man," Kai said, a look of relief washing over his face.

"You two done with your bromance moment? I can leave if you want some time alone," Hakeem smirked.

"Asshole," Kai shot back. Joe simply closed his eyes, letting out a soft chuckle.

"If you both are heading north. I will go east." Joe and Kai weren't surprised. They knew Hakeem had no family north, so it made sense he would want to go East to find his own.

"I will find my sister and brother first," Hakeem added, trying to stand up. He wobbled for a moment before falling back into a sitting position.

"But not now. My legs are killing me, and I can barely move."

"Same man," Joe said.

"I feel like I could fall asleep at any minute." He was confident they wouldn't be heading out anytime soon. Kai looked at them both, his expression frustrated.

"I'd like to go right now," he said, his tone firm. Joe cut him off before he could say more.

"Some of us were almost killed like an hour ago. I propose we get at least a few hours of sleep." Kai looked like he wanted to argue, but after a pointed glance from Joe, he sighed in defeat. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"I am all for some sleep." Hakeem agreed, nodding.

"But where? Should we head into one of these buildings? Look for an empty room?"

"Nah, let's just sleep here. This Grass is incredibly comfy," Joe said, settling back onto the ground. Kai and Hakeem stared at him like he was a madman.

"Just out here in the open? What if something comes along? Another Lion?" Kai asked, his gaze darting around nervously. As though only now realizing the potential danger. Joe remembered that he hadn't explained his skill to them yet. They didn't know what the grass around them actually did.

"Oh. The grass around us is part of my skill. It grows when I touch the ground," he said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kai asked, his scepticism clear.

"You made this grass?"

"You didn't think it was weird that Grass suddenly surrounded us?" Joe replied.

"It's part of my skill. The grass constantly spreads around us, and I can sense everything touching it."

"I don't believe you," Kai said.

"How can you feel everything it touches?" Joe shrugged, unsure how to explain it in a way Kai would understand. Truthfully, he didn't entirely understand it himself.

"The Best way I can explain it is that you have to think of the grass as an extension of my skin. We will be safe here. I think. I will feel it if anything comes, and we can move on then. Plus, I don't even have the energy to stand up right now, so I'm going to sleep." Without waiting for further protests, Joe lay down on the soft grass, closed his eyes, and let exhaustion take over. __ Kai looked over at Hakeem.

"Is he seriously just going to fall asleep here?" Kai asked, clearly baffled and unsure what to do.

"I'm too tired to think straight," Hakeem replied, his eyelids drooping.

"He said we would be okay here. I believe him. Get some sleep." Hakeem lay down and drifted off almost instantly. Kai stared at his two now-sleeping friends, lying out in the open on an empty road as the sun set in the distance, surrounded by grass.

"I hate you both," he muttered before finally lying down and closing his eyes. __ Joe woke abruptly, his heart racing as he tried to figure out where he was. A moment later, his memories returned; he was lying on a patch of grass in the middle of a road in London. He exhaled and sat up slowly, stretching and yawning. As he glanced around, a glint of sunlight from the rising sun hit his eyes, peeking over a building to the east. It was morning. He'd slept undisturbed the entire night, and that surprised him.

Sleeping so soundly in the open was a testament to how exhausted he had been; the physical and emotional toll of everything they'd endured had left him drained, and only sleep could begin to repair that. He looked around and saw that Kai and Hakeem were still asleep, but he sensed subtle shifts in their breathing and body movements. It gave him the distinct feeling that they would wake up soon. The sensation was strange; he could feel everything around him.

Even the air he was breathing seemed to carry something unusual. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the odd substance he sensed in the air. It felt familiar, an innate recognition of something he'd recently encountered. A line from tutorial 101 surfaced in his mind, providing the answer:'During integration, a World is flooded with mana by the system, which enhances all living beings on the planet and enables them to survive integration into the Multiverse.' Mana. That's what it was.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a tugging sensation to the north. It was sharp and urgent, the cause of his sudden awakening. A paw landed on one of the patches of grass connected to him. A Beast.

"Hakeem, Kai, Wake up!" Joe called out, his voice firm and raised. Hakeem jolted awake immediately, scrambling to his feet. Kai stirred more slowly, groggily opening his eyes.

"What is it?" Hakeem asked, his hand moving to his side as a sword materialized in its sheath.

"We have company," Joe said.

"A wolf just north of here, roughly five hundred metres away." He noticed that his grass had stopped spreading outward. The circle of grass had expanded significantly while he slept, meaning his skill must have remained active. It must have reached its limit, He thought. Good to know.

"A wolf? Not a Lion?" Hakeem asked, his voice tense.

"Definitely a wolf," Joe could feel its shape in his mind as he focused on it. His mini-map, which covered the entire grass area around them, displayed a red dot marking the wolf's exact location. Joe was just about to give Hakeem more details when two more red dots appeared on his map. He felt them step onto the grass, their presence clear in his mind.

"Wait, two more just joined it," Joe said, his tone sharpening. Hakeem turned to him, his expression serious.

"How can you tell? Is the feeling that specific?" Still waking up, Kai knew about the mini-map, but Joe hadn't had the chance to explain it to Hakeem yet.

"I have a mini-map," Joe explained.

"I can see three red dots now." Hakeem stared at Joe, his expression a mix of disbelief and exasperation.

"What the hell, dude? Do you have any more broken skills you haven't mentioned?" Joe decided not to answer that, mainly because the answer was yes. Instead, he pulled his quarterstaff from his storage and turned toward the wolves.

"This way," he said, gesturing for Hakeem to follow.

"Kai, you stay here. We'll take care of this."

"Er, okay," Kai replied hesitantly. He had caught only part of their conversation and didn't seem eager to join the fight. Joe paused for a moment, pulling out the cloak of the Alpha Lion and draping it over his shoulders. As soon as it settled into place, he felt a noticeable change. His body felt sturdier, as though reinforced by an external layer of strength. It wasn't quite like levelling; it felt more external than internal, but the sensation was incredible.

With a nod of satisfaction, he turned to Hakeem, and the two set off, heading north toward the wolves. Joe and Hakeem pressed themselves against the side of a building. Joe gestured with his hands, indicating the wolves were just around the corner. Carefully, he peeked around the edge to get his first look at the three beasts. What he saw caught him off guard. The wolves weren't nearly as intimidating or as big as he'd expected.

They were slightly larger than the biggest dogs he'd ever seen, their sleek coats of white and grey rippling gently in the breeze. Sharp yellow fangs jutted from their long, angular snouts, giving them a dangerous edge, but compared to the massive Lion from before, they seemed almost tame. Curious, he activated Identify on all three. Identify: Wolf level 22 Wolf level 23 Wolf level 20 Joe pulled back and let out a sigh of relief.

Despite the wolves being over level twenty while he was only level six, he felt almost no threat from them. The sensation surprised him; he didn't fully understand it, but he didn't doubt it either. Instinctively, he knew they wouldn't pose a serious challenge.

"They're just around level twenty," he said, glancing at Hakeem. Joe stepped out from the cover, immediately drawing the wolves' attention. Their heads snapped toward him, their lips curling back to reveal sharp teeth as deep, rumbling growls echoed from their throats.

"Dude!" Hakeem exclaimed, his tone a mix of alarm and disbelief. __ The three wolves turned in unison at the sudden appearance of a Human in their line of sight. The leader, a level twenty-three wolf, was startled that a human had gotten so close without warning. It sniffed the air cautiously, but all it could smell was grass, thick, strange grass that seemed to mask everything else. The wolf was confused.

Since stepping into the area, it had felt an unsettling presence, as though unseen eyes were watching its every move. Could this human be why it hadn't sensed or smelled its approach? A wave of uncertainty flowed through the wolf's mind for the first time since entering this world. It growled in agitation. No matter how strange it felt, this human was prey, food. It would remind this human who the predator was. With a snarl, it bared its teeth, lowered its head, and lunged.

To its shock, the human moved faster than expected. The stick in its hand began to glow, intercepting the wolf mid-leap. The wolf had no chance to react. The glowing stick struck with terrifying force, slamming into its head. The wolf's skull shattered on impact, and it died instantly, its body crumpling to the ground. The wolf's final thought was one of confusion. It didn't even understand what had just happened. __ Hakeem stared in disbelief as the first wolf collapsed, killed in a single strike.

It had moved so slowly. He was dumbfounded for a moment and knew that he could have decapitated it with barely any effort. Are these wolves slow… or am I just that fast now? He didn't have time to dwell on the thought as the second wolf lunged at him, completely unaware that its companion had just died beside it. Well, it's about to find out it won't fare any better, Hakeem thought. In one swift motion, he unsheathed his sword and struck.

The blade flashed through the air, and the wolf was sliced cleanly into two pieces before it even touched the ground. System Message You have slain Wolf Level 22 Wow, that was easy, He thought, unable to suppress the satisfied smile creeping across his face. __ Joe glanced to his side as Hakeem quickly dispatched the third wolf. He had been stunned for a moment that these wolves had died in one hit. For them to die so soon and quickly felt strange.

"That was disappointing," Hakeem said as he sheathed his sword.

"Yeah," Joe responded. Why was he disappointed? He should be thankful that the fight was nothing like yesterday's battle. But he did indeed feel a tinge of disappointment. Has he changed now? Was he turning into some kind of adrenaline junky? He wasn't sure and hoped he was not.

"Make sure you loot the ones you killed," Joe walked over and touched the body of the wolf he had killed. Looting it to receive only one piece of wolf meat in his storage.

"Loot them? What the..." Hakeem began. He stared open-mouthed as Joe looted a wolf. Then he did the same thing.

"Okay, that is cool," Hakeem exclaimed as he looted the two wolves he had killed.

"Boring loot, but still cool."

"I think that first Beast we killed has ruined all future looting for us," Joe joked.

"Yep, and this explains why I had that Lions pelt in my storage." Joe remembered that he hadn't had time to tell Hakeem what had happened at the end of the fight yesterday.

"I'll explain everything you missed yesterday while we walk back," Joe said. The walk back to where Kai waited was uneventful, and Joe caught Hakeem up on everything that had happened, including how he and Kai had finished off the Lion. As they came in sight of Kai, they saw that he was sculpting something in his hands.

"What's that?" Joe asked.

"Just something to keep my hands busy," Kai responded.

"Good idea," Hakeem said.

"I need to go over my notifications." He moved slightly to the side and appeared to be reviewing his status screen.

"So it went well? No trouble with the wolves?" Kai asked.

"They were low-level and weak. We got some more meat," Joe didn't go into detail about the encounter as he thought it was unimportant.

"Speaking of meat, I will cook before we head out," Joe opened his storage screen and pulled out his Magical Stove for the first time. It appeared on the ground before him. Again, he wasn't sure how he knew how to do that, but he just did. Kai jumped back in shock.

"Where did you get that?"

"Got it from the Bloodline gate," Joe answered. He pulled some wolf meat from his storage. It was wrapped in what felt like baking paper, which was slightly rough to the touch. After unwrapping it, he placed it onto the Magical Stove. The meat floated in the air above one of the burners.

"Now that is weird," he commented, leaning in to examine the stove more closely.

"How is it gonna work? Where will you plug it in?" Kai asked.

"Did you forget the most important thing ever? We have magic now!" Joe declared, pointing at the stove.

"On," he commanded. Nothing happened.

"Fire!" Joe tried. Again, nothing happened. He scratched his chin in frustration.

"You have no idea what you are doing, do you?" Kai laughed.

"Gimme a minute; I need to think about how to pour mana into it." Joe stared at the Magical stove, his brow furrowed in concentration. Five minutes later, he still hadn't come up with a solution. Sighing, He decided to put the stove away. As he touched it, he felt a subtle tug deep within him. Suddenly, the stove sparked to life, a flame flickering into existence beneath the floating meat. He just had to touch it; he felt like an idiot.

"Got it!" He announced, trying to sound as if he'd meant to do that all along. Kai gave him a look, then returned to the small object he had been sculpting earlier. Joe turned his attention to the meat, now cooking above the stove. The aroma wafting through the air was incredible, like nothing he'd ever smelled. Even Kai started glancing over, his curiosity and hunger clearly piqued.

"Dude, what are you cooking?" Hakeem approached to find out where the delicious smell was coming from.

"Perfect timing. Give me the wolf meat you looted," Joe said, holding out a hand. Hakeem held his hand over Joe's, and two slices of wolf meat materialized in Joe's palm. Thankfully, the system wrapped the meat in paper; otherwise, handling raw meat like that would have been messy. Joe put the meat into his inventory for now and turned to Kai.

"Can you do that skill thing you did on the metal and make us some plates?" Joe asked.

"I could do that," Kai responded. He rummaged through a pile of rubble nearby and pulled out some stone. Using matter manipulation, he crafted a set of very crude plates. When he finished, he placed them next to the stove. They didn't look much like plates, but they'd do the job.

"Perfect," Joe said, pulling the now fully cooked wolf meat from the stove and placing it on one of the stone slab plates.

"Who's first?" Without hesitation, Hakeem grabbed the slab.

"This smells delicious," he said, picking up the hot piece of wolf meat. Completely unfazed, he took a hearty bite.

"This is amazing," he mumbled through mouthfuls, sitting down to devour everything on the slab. Joe had already put two more pieces of meat onto the stove, cooking them simultaneously. Before long, all three of them sat with their makeshift plates, savouring the most delicious meal they could remember.