"Shit." Ray grinced in pain, holding the spear not to go any further.
"You could've warned me a bit earlier you twisted psycho." Ray mumbled through his teeth, making the latter raise a brow.
'Who's he talking to?' Was the thought on the mind of the burly man, with brown beard.
He was dressed as a somewhat knight in silver clad armour. The spear tightly clutched in his grip, shoving forward with strength.
'I didn't sense him coming, that's bad.' After transmigrating, there was bound to be some side effects. Which were usually temporary like blurred vision, loss of hearing or smell etc.
While he regained his sight, and sense of movement quite fast. The same couldn't be said for that of his hearing.
[New quest received!]
[System functional state is temporarily locked for user's access. Absorb a soul to unlock full function.]
A new set of screens pooped up in his sight. But he didn't focus on them, shifting his eyes to more important matters on ground.
'Luckily he missed my heart.' Ray felt somewhat relief.
The spear wasn't that deep in as he'd acted on reflexes, quickly stopping it just in time.
'This is going to hurt.' Bracing himself, he added whatever muscle he could muster to his arms. Pressing down hard on the spear, snapping it in two.
Not pulling it out he proceeded for a short sword, plunged into a male corpse.
Stunned a bit, the attacker wasn't expecting ray to still fight back. Shaking his head he drew out his sword, sending it down at Ray's head.
"I can't stop now." Raising his arm, he took the hit head on. The sword inching deep into his arm, almost decapitating it.
'Shit! shit.' Ray inwardly cursed, feeling a new surge of pain assulting his body. Pulling through, he grabbed the sword pulling it.
'What the-' the sword refused to break through, no matter how he pulled. Stuck too deep into the dead body.
"Hahaha! You're screwed now kid." The burly man evily chuckled, a sick grin forming on his face.
"Great. Just what I needed." Clenching his free right hand, he punched the man's gut with all the strength he mustered.
'Clang!'
A small clang sound was heard, along with the cracking of a few bones. Nothing as a scratch or dent whatsoever, was present on the armour.
Grinning broadly he kicked Ray's leg, sending him off balance. Using the opportunity to overpower him down, with the sword still stuck in his arm.
"Any last words boy?" The man asked, locking eye contact with a defenseless ray. Not responding instantly, ray chuckled like a deranged individual.
"And what's so funny you little runt?"
"Nothing. It's just, I died in my previous world and was reincarnated here. But now I think I'm gonna die here again, if you don't interfere!" He yelled, looking up as if awaiting the arrival of someone.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" During his years in combat, he'd experienced many behaviours but none as dramatic as this.
"I don't know.. maybe my life is flashing before my eyes. Oh well.. better not fight it."
Ray grinned, the little strength he mustered up fading. The sword dangerously aiming for his head.
Just when he was about giving up, an opportunity presented itself. Looking down, he could see an opening in the armor.
'Ok old man. I hear you.' Adding strength to his leg, he slammed it into the crotch region of the burly man.
"Pft!" He sharply gasped, feeling a jolt of pain on his scrotum. His grip on the sword loosened.
'Now my chance.' Not wasting time, ray pounced on this opportunity. Shoving the man down, kneeling on him. The other edge of the sword pointed directly towards his skull.
A look of panic and fear flashed in the man's eye, realizing his mistake. Not giving up, he fought Ray's attack. Pushing upwards like his life depended on it.
'Not good! not good.' The difference in strength was clear, and the burly man was slowly, but surely overpowering ray.
Thinking fast his eyes spotted a dagger, some few inches from his reach. Rolling from the man, he grabbed the dagger.
The latter was already up on his feet, the sword swung down. Grabbing some dirt, he threw it directly into the man's eye.
Temporarily blinding him enough, to barely dodge the strike. With resolve in his eyes, he paced towards the man's location. Avoiding the wild swings from him, ducking in range to plunge the dagger into his head.
"Grkk.." blood gushed out from his chin to the ground. Some splashing to Ray's face, dying some part red.
"Who's the drama queen now!?" Ray snickered with a smug grin. He could see the man wasn't fully dead, still shaking a bit.
Adding more strength, he pushed the dagger more deeper into the skull. The squelching sounds of flesh tearing, and bones snapping filled his ears, as the dagger potruded out his skull.
[Ding! Congratulations user on completing your first quest.]
[System is unlocked and fully operational!]
[Would user like to see his rewards?]
Ray slowly read the messages that appeared in his vision.
"A system huh? Like in the videogames." He sighed, wiping some blood from his face. 'This was a strange day to begin with.'
First, he'd committed suicide. And was chosen by a mad being, with unknown powers to be his descendant. Then forcefully reincarnated in this shitty planet, against 'his will' where he was almost killed.
"Isn't my life fun." Ray smiled, unsure how to feel. Staring at the screen, he decided it best not to open his rewards. He was in an open field of corpses, with no weapon and no experience whatsoever.
Clearing the screens, ray advanced towards a pile of corpses. If he was going to accept this new life, then he needed to be well equipped for whatever presented him.
'I wonder if they have any guns?' It was questionable, considering their mode of dressing. So far, the few weapons common here were basically chipped swords and wooden spears.
There were also some shields present, but most in worse conditions than the chipped swords.
"This will have to do." Ray sighed, sheathing a chipped sword to his waist.
He'd been able to scavenge through some dead bodies. Selecting the best sword, and spear he could find. Also lacing himself with the armor, from the burly man.
"I should find some higher ground and cover. To be able to think properly and pan out my next move."
With that he made his way up the hill, dragging his foot across the fertile ground.
'Swoosh! swoosh!'
Two swoosh sounds reached his ears, immediately tensing his muscles.
'Damnit! Archers!' He'd thought it was an ambush by the same soldier force, whom had attacked him earlier. But unlike the excruciating pain he'd braced for, it was calm and somewhat peaceful.
"Huh? What happened?" Looking, there was no one he could see. Checking his body, there weren't any arrows present. Only the tip of the spear still stuck in his chest.
"Mhm." He grunted slightly, as more of the swooshing sounds hit him. That's when he could clearly see it.
A bit down from where he'd just emerged, what looked like small white tennis sized balls flowed in a straight line. Heading directly into his body.
'What are those? They don't seem to be an attack or painful.' Placing his hand to his chin, his mind immediately flashed back to the system second notification.
[Absorb a soul to fully unlock the system function.]
There was no other sensible option, he could define these small translucent balls. Unlike physical attacks, these were a thing of the supernatural. And judging they weren't hurting him, it was doing the opposite.
"Are these really that man's soul?" It was still debatable, considering he hadn't actually seen a soul. But he didn't ponder on matters too long.
Taking a deep breath, he urged his legs to move forward. Against the undeniable fatigue hanging like a dark cloud, ready to rain down. The armor also didn't help, slowing down his movements due to the oversized weight.
"I can't continue like this." Ray panted, almost at the top of the hill. He could tell this body was really really weak, and didn't possess much strength or resistance.
Gritting his teeth, he chose to take off parts of the armor. Specifically the chest piece and knee pads, retaining the shoulder pads.
'Much better..' Ray smiled, doing some light stretches before continuing up the hill.
"Mhm." The last ball of what he considered were souls entering him. Then followed a pulsing light, enveloping his body. Radiating with warmth, feeding him with extraordinary power.
[Ding! System has automatically activated skill soul steal]
[Soul absorption is in progress.]
The system notification flashed before his sight. Ignoring them, he mentally shoved them away.
[Ding! soul absorption has been completed!]
[All requirements has been met by the system.]
[Congratulations user on becoming a wisp.]
The system notification blinked before his eyes, causing him to stop in his tracks.