Blood leaked from the wounds on the beast’s body, but despite its limp it was still terrifying fast.

Chris didn’t have to dive away this time, but he couldn’t move slowly either. The questing claws missed him by a hair’s breadth as he looked around for another weapon. His former spear protruded from the back leg of the monster, waving like a wind-tossed pine every time its muscles bunched and sprung.

He spotted one of the few intact bone caltrops in the room and lifted it with one hand, the wounds in his side stretching and aching as he straightened. In his other hand he held chips of bone.

He tossed them at the monster. They bounced off its face, but they still had the desired effect. The creature screeched with anger at the provocation, then lumbered toward him at high speed—the pain in its leg forgotten.

Chris waited, then jumped away, letting the caltrop drop.

Unable to turn, the bear sized creature crashed into the wall, collapsing again. Its neck smacked down on the caltrop. When it rose again, a spur of broken bone jutted from its neck, pumping out blood.

Chris dodged away again as it ambled toward him again, far slower now. Still, he stuck to its right, trying to keep clear of the snake heads on its left side as the beast bled out.

Blood still oozed from his own wounds and he had to struggle to stay alert. He circled around the monster, letting itself tire itself out as it tried and failed to turn in sharp circles to keep an eye on him.

He darted in and tugged the spear free when he finally left its field of view, only just managing to draw his hand away with the bone spear when the snakes coiled and curled over the monster’s body to snap at him.

More blood ran from the wound in the beast’s leg as the spear freed its path outward.

Chris continued to circle, staying behind the monster. He spotted another spattering of the snakes’ purple venom on the ground and touched his spear to it.

Then he waited for the perfect opportunity. He would bleed out before the monster, so he needed to act fast. He was taking a chance, but it was the only one he had right now. Snakes tended to be immune to their own venom, but Chris hoped he was right when he guessed that this wasn’t a creature that naturally had snakes grafted to its torso.

He let the monster face him, letting it charge him again. As it passed, he thrust the envenomed spear into its neck and let go.

The beast howled as the purple liquid seeped through its veins, compounding with the sedative that sapped its strength. It made one final easily telegraphed charge, hit the wall and fell still, its limbs twitching. It keeled over onto its side, trapping the snakes beneath its bulk, making a pitiful mewling noise as the poison took its toll.

Chris crawled away to one side, clutching his bleeding stomach. He leaned against the corner as he watched the creature expire. The mewling slowed and weakened, the beast’s head slumped down one last time, and the attached snakes stilled a moment later.

Chris stared at the corpse, his chest heaving. He checked the time until the tutorial started. Seventy minutes left. Oddly enough, he was already feeling slightly more lively than he had a few moments ago.

He checked his Status, he had leveled up. But that was hardly the most surprising thing on there.

Name Christopher Hill Level 7 Class None Race Human (F-1) Cultivation None Dao None Traits Human Potential, Enlightened Titles Genesis of Blood, Prime Underdog, Agent of Self-destruction, Prince of Poison, Makeshift Master, Prodigy, Legendary Prodigy, Unrivalled Prodigy System Coins 140 (18 Stat Points to Allocate) Strength 33 Dexterity 35 Constitution 34 Endurance 33 Intelligence 34 Wisdom 37 Perception 33 Luck 31

His stats had shot up immensely, and he still had eighteen more for him to use. It did at least explain why he felt better. Gaining thirty points in constitution evidently didn’t heal him up, but they did make it harder for him to die. That was very welcome indeed.

Chris stood and walked over to the door. He balled his hand into a fist, cocked his arm back and—

BANG!

The door held. He shook his hand, wincing. So much for that. He had hoped that his surge in stats would let him Incredible Hulk his way out the room. No such luck.

On the subject of luck, that had shot up by thirty points as well, which would hopefully stop him getting locked in a cage with hungry monsters in the future.

He began thinking about what to add his stat points to. The door hadn’t even budged when he hit it. The thing was intended to keep out monsters like the one he’d killed, so it wasn’t that surprising that it could withstand his best efforts. Strength was out of the question for now, he wasn’t in a situation where he could use it. The same went for all his other physical stats, except for Constitution. He put three points—one level’s worth—into that. Being able to live a little longer was a major priority for him after all.

Honestly, though, there wasn’t much he could do. He was locked in a cage with a corpse that had probably some lab experiment. The immediate crisis was over, but now it was out of his hands. Luck would decide whether he lived or died, and he needed all of it he could get.

Chris came to a decision and put his remaining fifteen points in luck.

The stat hit forty-seven, one more than he expected. He checked the likely culprits.

Genesis of Blood: The first in your cohort to kill a monster. +10 to all stats. +5% to all stats.

Prime Underdog: The first in your cohort to kill a monster at least 25 levels above you in your cohort. +5 to all stats. +3% to all stats.

Agent of Self-destruction: Kill a monster with its own weapons. +1 to all stats.

Prince of Poison: The first in your cohort to kill a monster with poison. +1 to all stats.

Makeshift Master: The first in your cohort to kill a monster with makeshift weapons. +1 to all stats.

Prodigy: Kill a monster 5 levels above you before the Tutorial begins. +1 to all stats.

Legendary Prodigy: Kill a monster 15 levels above you before the Tutorial begins. +3 to all stats.

Unrivalled Prodigy: Kill a monster 25 levels above you before the Tutorial begins. +5 to all stats. +3% to all stats.

That explained it. He was getting an extra eleven percent to his stats because of the titles he’d acquired. He grinned to himself. It was utter bullshit, but he’d take it. Beggars couldn’t be choosers after all, and if it was a choice between himself and a sedated monster, he’d choose himself every time.

He closed down all the screens as a thought occurred to him. Could he loot the monster?

He walked over and pressed his hand to its glossy, blood-soaked skin. Nothing.

He poked the monster with his spear, there was a faint clink as his spear hit something inside. He choked down on the spear, grabbing it near where the metallic bone had been splintered by the monster’s gnawing and sliced through its skin.

There, surrounded by fat and blood flesh, sat a small crystal. He plucked the crystal from the corpse.

Beast Soul Gem

Type: Weapon

Rank: F-2

Chris looked at the Soul Gem. What was he meant to do with this?

“Equip.” Nothing happened.

He tried pressing it into his forehead, then his chest. No success.

“Abracadabra.” It was worth a shot.

He tossed the crystal up in the air like a baseball. As it left his hand, a faint tingle of power disappeared, and returned when he caught it. He latched onto the feeling. What was that?

He tugged at the sensation, and almost stopped in surprise when he felt icy power flowing into him. The crystal melted into his hand and formed a faint tattoo on his palm, a spear ending in a curving, claw-like blade.

He waved his hand around. Then he mentally pushed on the tattoo, the gem coalesced into his fingers. How did he get the actual weapon to appear? And what did that ranking system mean?

He let the gem sink back into his hand. He’d figure it out later. Then he turned, just in time to see an alien face looking at him through his door’s viewing slit.