But that wasn't the end.
[Animals added.]
Before he could take a better look at them, exhaustion flooded his body. He collapsed almost immediately with a light thud and let out a heavy and in relief breath.
"I won." He smiled faintly and couldn't believe the situation.
Victory seemed impossible back then, yet the unexpected happened.
He looked at his hand.
The cursed energy ran through his veins. Mysterious, and powerful, yet not overwhelmingly.
A single punch imbued with this energy could make the enemy weak, slowing their movements and lowering their strength.
Sure, it became Shun's hidden weapon against powerful enemies, but If Shun couldn't connect the punch, it was basically useless. He must use it smartly and had to make sure no one knew about this effect.
After those lines of thoughts, Shun commanded the holographic screen to appear and studied the panel that has white background, contrasting with the dark surroundings.
Mana recovery… Shun recited slowly and took a look into his Root. Blue dots reminiscent of fireflies float here and there, his mana has already gone up by one percent.
Judging by the recovery speed, it'd be ten hours for his mana to fully recover. A two hour decrease. It wasn't much, but better than nothing.
Moving on to the next panel, what could he do with city favor?
In games, this usually meant popularity, getting a discount for certain items, or unlocking a secret quest.
Could the same logic be applied here? Shun could only shrug his shoulders and shake his head.
He'd find it later.
And for the last panel, it felt out of this world. What does that mean? A literal animal just appeared out of nowhere? Shun frowned deeply, engulfed in disbelief.
"Baa!" a sheep groaned from his left. He jolted to the side as soon as he heard it make noises.
"What the heck? When you appeared?" Shun asked out loud. The sheep turned its head to him and
"Baa." Then it walked away.
Shun was still processing the situation. As he did, noises of animals started to fill the field. Sang of birds, chirps of crickets, and once in a while, a deafening baa.
As much as he wanted to stay in disbelief that animals start popping out of the thin air, the reality before him said otherwise..
'Fine, fine. Outer Gods exist, so animals spawned like we're in some video games ain't weird at all!' The only wise thing to do is to accept it.
After that, he just looked at the stars, and noticed one star still glow brighter than the rest.
"Are you there, Monarch God?" Shun asked, not expecting anything.
"Am I a pawn to you?" Shun waited, expecting nothing, but there's a grain of expectation that He will answer.
In the end, there was only silence, or so he thought.
[The constellation Monarch God replies you don't deserve to be His pawn.]
Relief, or maybe a bit sad? Either way, Shun was glad.
"Why did you want to support me?"
[The constellation Monarch God responds that you're an answer to His goal.]
"Me? What is your goal?"
A panel appeared before him, yet there was nothing, but a blank floating screen, reflecting Shun.
Right… Shun thought to himself, a bit confused. He didn't bother to explore what the blank screen meant. Shun dismissed the panel, but before it completely vanished.
A message appeared.
[To understand humanity.]
***
After a bit of rest, he looted the nightmare's remaining. His body is still in pain and his eyes sore as hell that he blinks every two seconds, but it meant nothing upon his discovery.
———
Name: Rusted Steel Plate.
Type: Plate Armor.
Rarity: Normal.
Armor defense: +8.
Effect: -
———
First off, it was decent armor and Shun gladly took it. It increased his survival, after all.
Next, he touched the skeleton and used what's left of his mana to cloak the skeleton.
He closed his eyes and whispered, "Lost to space, owned by none. Open thy decree for one who deserves home and solace."
A chant used when one is about to access another party's inventory. It was only available if they're deceased.
Of course, it isn't possible if it was only an arm, or just a head. The corpse must stay intact.
Shun felt a tug of resistance from accessing the other party's inventory, but it was so faint it vanished after a bit of struggle.
Shun found two items in total. Not a lot, but he smiled.
Arriving without any preparation, any items that might be of assistance is extremely precious and increases his survival chance.
He transferred the items to his inventory and checked the first one.
———
Name: Ordinary Dagger
Type: One Handed.
Rarity: Normal.
Weapon att: +7.
Effect: -
Att speed: Fast.
———
I can use it, Shun thought to himself with a smile.
His grandma taught him swordsmanship, and he is rather proficient with daggers, but due to budget constraint, he couldn't buy one.
For starters, daggers to kill monsters were made of unique materials and carrying ordinary daggers pose little purpose. It wasn't like his targets were humans.
After a long time weaponless, he finally wield a weapon. Though he didn't expect it'd be a dagger.
If he had to choose between knuckles and daggers, he'd pick the former without a second thought, for he is more comfortable with punches than carrying a blade.
Still, he didn't mind.
It simply felt strange and alien when he held it, it'll take time to get used to this.
The dagger has black hilt that was half wrapped in old cloth. Its blade glinted with sharpness that seemed to be out of this world, but knowing the attack status, it became less impressive.
Shun shifted his eyes to the second item.
———
Name: Soldier's Boots.
Type: Plate.
Rarity: Normal.
Armor defense: +6.
Effect: +2% SPD.
———
Another armor. Not too shabby, especially with the effect. It'll help him greatly in fast paced battles where speed is important.
He equipped both items and was satisfied with his findings. He stored the dagger into his inventory and returned to his sleeping spot. The surroundings might be dark, but not pitch black. He can still see thanks to the light from the stars, bright enough to make out the silhouettes of things.
"What now?" Shun lay down and used his palm as a pillow, taking in the ambience of animals around him.
When he thought of it, a few moments ago was dead silence but now, filled with life. He didn't have to worry about food either.
The situation is getting better and Shun felt a bit hopeful. He wondered what would happen if he killed the second nightmare? Would something like 'weather added?' Or maybe 'monsters added.'
Maybe not the last part.
As he mused himself with these lines of thoughts, he remembered something.
I forgot about that claymore! He exclaimed and got up. He then rushed.
Standing before the claymore, he pulled it out of the ground and raised it to the sky.
He withdrew the cursed energy running amok in this blade and wondered what would transpire.