Chương 16: First Mission (1)

There it was. The mission we needed to complete in order to make this planet ours. Defeat the beasts? Was there a link between this mission and the noises I was hearing just seconds ago? And what kind of beasts would we be defeating? Questions began to fill my brain like oil being poured into a tank. I was on a different planet, I was hearing and seeing things that others didn't, and I desperately awaited answers. I hastily opened my system window.

[Mission 1/1: defeat the beasts] Description: defeat all the mana beasts living on this planet to claim the planet. Time limit: none Reward: this planet will be awarded to those who defeat the beasts. Failure: death So were the things I keep hearing outside whilst building the hut wild mana beasts that we had to kill to claim the planet? Cayman looked at the mission.

"It looks like we are doing this earlier than expected," he said whilst studying the mission details.

"Everybody, grab your weapons. It looks like we have to fight." I opened my inventory. There were two things stored in my inventory: a mana sword and the mysterious pickaxe Cayman gave me to dig up to the surface of Planet 501. I also had five skills I could use. However, there was still one thing I was lacking in. Reluctantly, I pulled out the remaining red mana crystal I earned from defeating the advanced mana lion and smashed it with my right hand. You have chosen to use an 'Advanced Mana Crystal'.

What will you be using it for? 1) Strength +10 2) Agility +10 3) Stamina +10 4) Upgrade skill I selected option number 3. In Night Hoppers, one way to use mana crystals was to smash it with your hand. Once the skill user smashes the crystal, a system window pops up asking the skill user what they wished to use the crystal for. When a mana crystal is smashed with one hand, the skill user can use it to upgrade either their traits or their skills.

Mana crystals themselves are extremely brittle, making them easy to smash for any skill user of any age. There are many other uses for mana crystals, making it a very important material for skill users to get stronger and improve their stats. That's why skill users of all levels value mana crystals extremely highly. I had boldly made the decision to upgrade my stamina, which was something I lacked dearly. Trait, 'Stamina', has been upgraded by 10 points.

Stamina: 10 → 20 That should hopefully improve my endurance and allow me to fight for longer.

"All right, listen up!" Cayman called out.

"You four are going to go out there and complete the mission. Once you're done, come back and regroup." Ben raised his hand.

"So you're not going to help us complete the mission?" Cayman shook his head adamantly.

"I'll stay here and protect the house. I'll defeat any beast that may pose a threat to home base. I'll also light up the area so that you don't get lost." Cayman seemed to have a ton of inventory spaces, making me wonder which level he was at; he seemed to have everything we needed for this mission, and he definitely had more than 25 inventory spaces.

"There should be some beasts roaming around outside now, so go out and defeat them." Cayman pointed to the horizon and the flat land which seemed to go on forever. Ben nodded with a look of determination.

"We promise we won't die, and we promise to claim this planet for you." Cayman then escorted us out of the small hut.

"Good luck." He waved at us as we got further and further away from the hut. I scoured the perimeter gingerly. I was bound to hear those noises eventually. I continuously turned my head from left to right, but I couldn't hear anything for the first five minutes. I knew I wasn't hallucinating, but there was still no sign of any mana beasts. With my heart pounding like a drum, I ventured further out. Maybe the mana beasts were scared of our presence and decided to stay away from us.

Maybe some breeds of mana beasts were scared of skill users after all. As I continued on my journey, I began to marvel at the wonders of Planet 501. As I walked further away from our home base, it wasn't just flat, rocky land I was seeing, but also jagged cliffs, tall rock stumps that looked like isolated skyscrapers in the middle of the countryside and large cave openings. It was a complete ghost town.

Maybe the portal room just happened to be under a rocky plain which looked like it had been bulldozed to the ground. What I couldn't see at all was any sign of greenery: no trees, no grass, no bushes. My vision was tainted with a gloomy grey colour that would make anyone feel dejected instantly. With my curiosity at an all-time high, I took a detour and walked towards one of the caves. It was going to be pitch-black inside, but I didn't have a fear of the dark, so I just walked inside like it was nothing.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Once I entered the cave, a system window popped up. [Mission 1/1: defeat the beasts] Beasts to defeat: 1) Iron-horned rhino (0/100) 2) Black Spotted Jaguar (0/100) 3)??? (?? /??) So there were two hundred beasts to defeat, as well as some mystery beasts. I couldn't worry about the mystery beast yet, since there were two hundred beasts to defeat beforehand.

Maybe the beasts lived in caves like this one, and maybe they were waiting for us to enter their domain. Maybe I had just stumbled upon mana beasts territory. The system window was extremely helpful in this case, since it provided a faint blue glow which meant that my vision wasn't a completely black screen. As I ventured deeper into the cave, I could feel a cold sweat dripping down my back. My heart was thumping like it was a bomb ticking, counting down the time until my demise.

My breathing rate increased dramatically. My legs began to tremble, and my hands began to quiver. There could be other animals inside this cave that weren't on my list, like bats. I could trip on a rock and fall over. I could list the hazards of being in this cave forever and ever and I still might not find what I was looking for. Growl! What was that? Growl! There it was again. Growl! Was it the iron-horned rhino? Or the black spotted jaguar? Or was it just the rumbling of my empty stomach? I froze.

Maybe the beasts were coming to me after all. Maybe I just had to stand still and wait patiently. Clop. Clop. Clop. There it was. The sound I had been hearing. An animal walking on all fours. Some sort of mana beast. And definitely not my stomach which desperately needed food. Just come out already! I don't have all day! Then, after an eternity and a half, something emerged from the black abyss. It had menacing yellow eyes that were like high-vis jackets stuck to the animals with glue.

Their black bodies allowed them to disguise themselves perfectly in the pitch-black cave. I shuddered. There's no need to get scared now, Robert, I said to myself to try and calm myself down, but it wasn't working. I thought I was going to drop my sword. I looked at the name tag the beasts had above their heads. [Black Spotted Jaguar (basic)] I had defeated black spotted jaguars before in that training facility back on Earth. But that was only three of them.

What I was looking at was at least ten healthy adult black spotted jaguars. They were on the mission log; I had to defeat a hundred of them. If there were ten of them in this cave, I would have already covered ten percent of my goal here. Yes, think like that, Robert. Think like you're going to make it out of this situation alive. Think about all the effort it took to get Cayman, your favourite protagonist ever, to be your friend and trusted comrade.

Think about the missions you will be completing with him in the future. You can do this. You will do this. I charged at the jaguars. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Stab! By teleporting, I managed to catch one of the jaguars near the back off-guard, and I managed to stab it on its side. The jaguar I stabbed fell to the ground, defeated. Nine to go. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Stab! I repeated the process.

Maybe with my enhanced stamina, I could defeat the jaguars and complete the mission after all. Tiredness and fatigue hadn't caught up to me yet, which was a good sign. The remaining jaguars, which had read my move almost perfectly, turned around and charged towards me in a massive stampede. However, I had a move for that as well. [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', has been activated.] Since the jaguars were only basic-level beasts, they wouldn't be able to break through the dome.

That gave me time to recover and think about my next move. Bang! Bang! Although the jaguars continued to pound on my reading bubble, it was futile; those paws and claws weren't going to break through that shield. I really only had one move in my arsenal, which was the teleportation strategy. I didn't have as much strength as Theo and Ben, and it was very unlikely that my punches could send one of those beasts airborne and crashing to the ground.

The strategy I had been using was extremely effective against basic-level beasts, and it didn't use up much of my mana. This was it. I was going to continue using the skill I had perfected against weak beasts. Yes, Robert. Perfect the skill. Make it truly yours. [You have disengaged basic skill, 'Reading Bubble'.] [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Stab! Slash! Clang! Just like that, three more jaguars fell to their demise.

I didn't need to be proficient with the sword to use this mana sword: it seemed to have adjusted to my liking, and since I knew how to use a cooking knife and how to stab at objects, I could just bring that knowledge into this scenario. I had defeated five jaguars, and I hadn't even broken a sweat yet. Things were going well. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Stab! [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Slash! [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Stab! Stab!

And after what felt like only five minutes, all the jaguars residing in that cave were down and not breathing. I had slashed each jaguar at least ten times afterwards to confirm that they were dead and to collect any mana crystals they had dropped as loot. Those would be extremely helpful for replenishing my valuable and priceless mana. I had collected around twenty basic mana crystals from those jaguars. [You have gained 50 XP for defeating 10 'Black Spotted Jaguar (basic)'.] [Total XP: 190/800] So what Cayman said about basic beasts giving less XP as you level up was true then. Back in the past, when I was only at stage 2, each jaguar kill was worth 30 XP, but now, with me at stage 3, ten jaguar kills was only worth 50 XP. I guess I now had to think about defeating more advanced-level beasts and less basic-level ones. I trudged out of the cave with what appeared to be tar all over my shirt and trousers. I had defeated ten mana beasts just like that.

I wasn't even sweating, and I didn't have any serious or even minor wounds on my body. That was why the recovery skill Cayman gave me was extremely helpful. My breathing rate was fairly normal. My heart rate had decreased. And I wasn't dripping puddles of sweat. All in a day's work for a Hopper. There was so much confidence brimming in my body that I knew I couldn't stop there.

I somehow had to satisfy my insatiable greed for killing mana beasts and levelling up, and the perfect place I could do that was on this planet. On my mission to claim Planet 501. This was where the real hunt truly began.