《One Of Many: The Story Of A Walking Bush》Chapter 4 – Eaten alive
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“So I guess this is it, I was born a man turned into a plant and will be eaten by a stupid ladybug!” At this moment I really didn’t see any hope for salvation, if I could move I would tried my best to survive but my hands and legs were tied. Without any hope left all I could think about is my past, but my past was short and it was full of suffering and only suffering, without even a small glimpse of happiness.
“Why? why? I didn’t do anything wrong, why must I suffer? Why must I go through all this pain for no reason? Why must I die a death lower that a death of a stray dog?! Why must I be killed yet again be the hands of my useless fate?!” The more I thought about it the more angry I was, it felt like a volcano was slowly erupting inside me, it gave me a hot feeling of fire and flames.
*Skill learned “Rage”*
At that moment I didn’t cared about the skill, my mind was on fire and nothing could extinguish it “A new useless stupid skill! I bet it’s just a piece of garbage like the others!!!” I didn’t even bothered to inspect that skill, I just lost all reason. Even though it wouldn’t saved me at that moment, it still would be still better to at least know its uses.
I still could feel the bug slowly eating me, bite by bite. As I cursed the world, as I cursed my fate, it gave me a dejavu of my first memory, of me standing on beach and cursing my own existence. But this time I had someone else to curse and hate, and it was a big stupid bug in front of me, I concentrated all of my mind and anger at that bug and screamed.
“YOU, I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT I WILL KILL!!! I WILL RIP YOUR LEGS ONE BY ONE!” It was my genuine feeling, at that moment I hated this world and hated everything, but especially I hated this stupid bug. All could I think about is how could I rip it apart and how could I swim in its blood. Just like that all my hatred turned into a motivation to do one and only thing…
*Skill learned “Killing Intent”*
Suddenly the bug got startled and stopped chewing on my leaves, in a second it opened its wings and jumped back three meters. With a strong *Buzzz* sound and a weak sound of flapping wings could be heard. The bug retreated with speed and looked at me with a puzzled look. Somehow when I saw the reaction of the bug I didn’t even stutter, in a second I inspected my new skill “Inspect *Killing Intent*”.
*Killing Intent Lv1* – Let the user sent his killing intent to other living creatures, the stronger the user the stronger the killing intent that can be sent.
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At that moment I calmed down a little, or more correctly to say is that I was so enraged and that only one thing was on my mind it’s how to kill this bug. I immediately got into a planing mode. “This skill won’t do, it just made the bug go back a few steps, it will attack soon again.” The killing intent didn’t stop gushing from my body, the bug felt some kind of danger coming from me, but surely if there nothing to back the danger up, it will attack again.
So my planning started, even though I didn’t have much to work with I did my best. “*Self Awareness*” First I checked my status.
-Ontopary bush-
Health: 2/4
Mana: 6/8
Stamina: 3/3
“If this goes on I will die really soon, I must think of a way how to kill that piece of shit!” The killing intent from my body didn’t stop gushing, that was for the best it prevented the bug from attacking me for a while. At the same time my mind was working at max capacity and planning the perfect murder.
“I have few ways to deal with it. First I need to get some kind of attack skill, but this won’t be enough. I still will be killed be the bug, it much much stronger than me and I am hurt as well. So I need to kill it in one hit.” I knew that it won’t be easy to get a new attack skill, I was trying to get some kind of movement skill for the last few days but couldn’t, and moreover a skill that will kill him in one hit will be even harder to acquire.
“No it likely be impossible getting a skill that will do the job in one hit, I need some outside help.” I looked at the golden tree, “If the tree will fall, or some of its heavy branches it will squish the bug that should kill it, or if it fail at least it will create a barricade around me. But it won’t be easy to cut them off, I need some wind skill or something with long range.”
Next I looked at the cliff “Close to three meters, I doubt that with its wings it can fly, at maximum it can glide. So if I push it off the cliff it could die from the fall, or at least it won’t be able to come back for a while.”
Both of the ideas were suitable to deal with the problem, both of them had some benefits and losses. At the first plan, if I failed to kill the bug the branches would create a barricade around me, the bug will not try to chew all the way to get to me. There would be no reason for it to do so, it will just eat the branches, but there is a dangerous part as well and it’s that the branches could kill me too.
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The second plan was more reasonable in my opinion, it would be much more easy to launch a bug few meters, than to cut few thick branches that at least ten meters above my head. But it had its own risks, first of all if I won’t succeed in pushing the bug off the cliff, it will be game over. If the bug glides back, or there’s a risk of the bug not dying from the fall it will climbing back up and it will be a game over. In this plan there no backup, here only death awaits at failure, nothing more nothing less.
I chose the second plan, even though there a chance that the bug won’t die, the plan is more reasonable and logical than the first one. But after all that I still knew that I am in no condition to execute the plan.
“I still don’t have a way to push the bug off the cliff, I need at least some kind of an attack skill.” It’s easy to be said than done, I had no clue what kind of skill I needed or how to get it, so the only thing I could do is gamble with death.
At those days I already understood the basic way of acquiring skills, firstly it should be somehow connected to your state of mind, when I got rage and killing intend skills it just made me more and more sure of this idea.
But that not all, the state of the body should co exist with the mind, I couldn’t move so that’s why I couldn’t get any movement skills, a stupid paradox indeed. For my surprise this was theory correct at most.
So without further ado I tried my best to get a skill, that somehow connected to my mind and not to my body. “Wind I command you come to my aid!” I said with a fierce voice but nothing happend, I imagined the wind pushing, gusting, pulling or moving the bug, or even the grass, the leaves, but nothing happend.
I tried other ways as well, I felt the wind on my leaves and tried to connect with it, imagined myself pushing the bug, I imagined kicking the bug and other bizarre things, but yet again nothing happened.
In my mind I was a jock, I had a plan I had a solution, but I couldn’t even take the first step because I didn’t have the capability. As a disabled on a wheelchair that trying to climb one thousand stairs. I just could look at the peak but could not get up there.
“I shouldn’t give up!” I screamed, I knew if I give up now even this little chance will vanish as well. “Yes if only I get the right skill I will be saved and get my revenge.” as I cheered myself up, my time has ran out.
The bug was still standing a few meters away, and surveying me from the side. It still didn’t know if I was dangerous or not? Or maybe it thought that it was just going insane… But after a while, the bug made its move.
It took few fast steps towards me. As I saw it coming I panicked and gushed my killing intent at full force from my body. The bug flinched and slowed down for a moment, but just for a moment, then he returned back to his normal speed.
The moment that I feared came. “It is here.”, the moment that I needed to execute my plan, but I still didn’t have the most important component. But I didn’t lose hope if I couldn’t get the skill then I should just get it now, that all what I needed to do.
Most people would lose their heads when their life is on the line, but for some reason I felt calm as never before, with the desire to live and to kill, it could be because of the calm mind skill, but most likely it was because of another reason.
At that moment I could feel the bug teeth’s chewing on my body, with all of my might I tried to struggle, to get some kind of skill but for no avail. Slowly I felt that my life was disappearing from my body, it felt like I was fainting. The feeling of your body going numb and cold, as it’s losing control, even your mind turning black, that exactly what happened at those moments.
Just as all hope was lost, just as I almost gave up, a hot temperature bursted out from inside my body. “GO TO HELL!!” I screamed, as every cells in my body screamed with me. At that moment I saw something blue and a little of red surrounding my body.
“*SLAP!*”
A clear sound of a slap could be heard, after it a fat body of a bug could be seen flying to the direction of the cliff.
*Skill learned “Pain Resistance”*
*Skill learned “Mana Manipulating”*
*Skill learned “Wood Element Control”*
All of that happened in less than a second, I still could see the bug doing flips in the direction of the cliff. I didn’t know how that happened, but only one word crossed my mind at that moment “DIE!!!”.
As I saw the bug tumble down the cliff happiness and delight filled my mind. “Yes looks like that bastard really can’t fly!” I said as I saw it trying to flap its wings but failing, my hypothesis was correct for my own good.
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