Ding!

The system message appeared beside Tanuki, detailing his rewards.

[ Wave Cleared ]

[ Beginners’ Trial (2/3): Completed ]

[ Rewards available: 1 Expansion Points; Beginners’ Box No. 2.; Broken Mask of Heifer (Cursed) ]

Tanuki raised his head. He has passed out on the road shortly after defeating the wave and has just woken up.

“Broken mask… is it talking about that on the goblin?”

He turned, but the goblin’s corpse wasn’t beside him anymore. It disappeared as the wave was over.

“No… it must be talking about the other half, that broke off when I hit her with the spear. Did the Gaia Core collect it for me? That’s pretty cool!”

The text bubble disappeared and a golden bumblebee took its place, that flew to the Gaia Core and morphed with it.

“That was an expansion point.” Tanuki nodded, then returned to see a small gift box of the same colors as before, next to a half-broken mask. “Now then, let’s unbox my rewards first!”

As he took the white ribbon off the green box, the lid flew away and a blinding white light was revealed.

First, a system message appeared.

[ HP fully recovered. ]

Tanuki smiled with relief.

“I was afraid that was a one-time thing. Thankfully, these boxes seem to always hold a full recovery. I wonder if similar boxes will appear after I complete the beginners’ trial… I hope so.”

The moderate pain soothed in his body. The blood leaking out of his nose was magically wiped off. He felt energetic and positive once more.

Next up, something new appeared from the box.

[ Common Orb of Weapon Creation ]

[ Quality: Common ]

[ Level: 1 ]

[ Breaking the orb creates a common weapon based on the user’s personality and soul. ]

It was a small orb kept afloat by two bug wings. The bottom half was made out of wood, while the top was made out of something transparent that revealed white light come from the orb.

When it landed in Tanuki’s hands, his smile grew even larger.

“Awesome! Does that mean I get my own soul weapon? Like a… like a Stand?! I want one that can stop time! Or… or one that shoots out lava!”

But before excitement could’ve blinded him, he put the orb into his pocket.

“Best leave until I’m done with the rewards. I still have one more item left to observe.”

The box disappeared and only a broken mask remained. It was the same that the goblin wore if only made a bit larger to properly fit Tanuki’s head. Upon closer inspection, Tanuki realized how much it resembled an oni mask. Even without the teeth, he could feel powerful rage emanate from the mask.

[ Broken Mask of the Heifer (Cursed) ]

[ Quality: Common – Cursed ]

[ Level: 1 ]

[ Magic type: Spiritual ]

[ The mask allows its user to gather rage and unleash it with the force of a young cattle. The more wrathful the user, the bigger the horns grow on the mask and the more powerful the attack becomes. ]

[ Cursed effect: Every attack uses the ‘Rage’ skill. (Stackable) ]

Tanuki’s smile vanished. He slightly opened his mouth, as if he was about to say something, but couldn’t. The information bomb he just received has sent his mind down a spiral of thoughts.

What first caught his attention was, of course, the item’s very special quality: ‘Cursed’. It seemed that for some reason, items can get corrupted, earning a negative or dangerous effect. This is something he has to look out for because while an item might have good effects, its curse could very well cause his downfall.

“Still, if the mask uses ‘Rage’ every time I attack, that means my attacks snowball in power, becoming ever increasingly more powerful. But what is a ‘Rage’ skill?”

Thinking about it, Tanuki realized how little information he has gathered during this something called the ‘Beginners’ Trial’. It wasn’t a tutorial as much a challenge to test whether he’s fit for the system or not. But even then, shouldn’t he have gotten a book detailing the skills and mechanics of this world?

Tanuki shook it off as something for the future. Maybe he’s just too early in this journey and later on, he’ll get that book he needs. Besides, it’s possible he shouldn’t even have this mask and only has it now because of one lucky throw.

“If I use my previous gaming experiences, a ‘Rage’ skill usually causes physical effects, such as increased strength and decreased sensitivity to pain. What scares me is the stackability part. If every attack causes ‘Rage’ to trigger, and I attack too much, there’s a chance I lose control over my thoughts and become a merciless killing machine, fueled by wrath. I could fall into a dangerous cycle of attacking endlessly, stacking ‘Rage’ until my brain can’t handle it anymore and completely shuts down.”

He decided its best to put away the mask for now. It might make fighting even more difficult if he loses control over his body.

“Now then, back to the weapon orb…”

The small orb appeared from his pocket. Its white light was faint, but enough to light up its body in the night. Tanuki placed it in his palm, observed its beautiful light once more, then…

Crack!

He clenched his fist and broke the orb. As he did, white beams of light shot out from the gaps between his fingers. A blinding white light flew out of his palm, just a bit above his head. Tanuki narrowed his eyes and looked at it as his eyes allowed, and he could see the shadow of various weapons appear in the light.

Scimitar, war hammer, battle axe, knife… he could even see small guns and unexplainable shadows form in the light. They swapped out one another as if it was fast scrolling through every weapon that could ever exist.

Then, when Tanuki thought it would finally slow down and stop, something strange happened.

[ Error: Weapon cannot be created ]

“What?” Tanuki yelled out in anger. “You mean I don’t get any cool weapons?!”

[ Generating possible alternatives… ]

The light flickered. A wind picked up, sucking everything around the light and forming a defensive shell. The wind was so powerful, Tanuki had to lower his body and force his legs into the ground just to not get pulled away.

“What is happening?!”

The shadows began to change forms rapidly, picking up such speed that it was impossible for the naked eye to follow. The light and wind grew even more powerful, Tanuki could barely resist getting sucked up into it, when suddenly…

Poof!

The white light burst out in the form of tender white powder. The powerful wind stopped and Tanuki fell to the ground.

Silence swayed across the field.

“Shit! Did I get anything?”

As he looked up, something landed before him. It was small, barely visible in the dark, but its outlines immediately sold what it was, or at least for Tanuki, who has held this item more than enough times in his hands. His eyes widened, and a barely audible gasp of surprise left his mouth.

“I-Is this my weapon?!”

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[ Countdown: 2d 20h 14m 01s ]