Chapter 10: Dexterity Fortification

Odin immediately summoned the Reaper's Origin Order with a mental command. Even before he could blink, the space before his eyes shimmered slightly as a semi-translucent scarlet display miraculously appeared within his vision. Inscribed on it were pitch-black words that summarized all his attributes.

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Host: Odin McGill

Race: Human

Evolutionary Level: 1

Total Origin Points: 0/20

Attributes: Strength 0.9, Dexterity 0.7, Physique 1.9, Spirit 1.8

Meta-Powers: None

Learned Killing Arts and Related Skills: None

Unassigned Attribute Points: 2

Unassigned Skill Points: 2

Genetic Energy Life-Level: Type-0 (Ordinary Mortal)

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Pending Missions: None

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Three days ago, he'd completed the compulsory F-Grade Mission by killing around ten creatures in the woods around West Bozeman. Among the unlucky victims were grasshoppers, spiders, frogs, and lizards. They were all harmless animals that could hardly pose any threat to even a young kid.

Be that as it may, slaying them had allowed Odin to complete the mission. He then received ten origin points which enabled him to push his evolutionary level from 0 to 1. After the level-up, the Order also rewarded him with one more unassigned attribute point, which he could utilize to strengthen his body at any time.

For the past few days, Odin had done his own research to find out how best he could improve his body. He hadn't wasted time reading scientific papers or other complicated articles. Instead, he'd browsed most of the simplified content related to systematic body empowerment on the internet.

From the information Odin had gathered, he understood that he would gain unlimited vitality and incredible self-recovery abilities if he bolstered his physique. His body would also become highly resilient against infections and poisons.

If he decided to boost his strength attribute, he would most likely obtain inhuman muscular power. He would be able to shatter rocks and punch through walls by relying only on his muscles and bare fists.

On the other hand, if he chose to enhance his dexterity attribute, he would gain excellent reaction and movement abilities. He could attack an enemy dozens of times within a second or escape in a flash by relying on his incredible speed.

Moreover, there was another advantage to boosting his agility. As physics dictates: The momentum of an attack would always be proportional to the velocity and mass of the weapon used at a given moment. Thus, he would also be able to decimate any enemy depending on the momentum generated by his phenomenal attack speed.

Lastly, there was also the spirit attribute. From what Odin had researched, it represented a person's mental abilities. Thus, strengthening the spirit could probably fortify one's mind and improve willpower and sensory capacities.

"Allocate the two unassigned attribute points to agility."

Odin gave the mental command without deliberating for long. Suddenly, he felt a warm current surging all around his body. His limbs tingled with a weird sensation while his heartbeat sped up a notch. But fortunately, the peculiar situation of his body ceased as abruptly as it had emerged.

"What a weird feeling!"

Odin couldn't help but tremble as his mind adjusted to his improved bodily senses. Suddenly, he felt as if the world was in slow motion. The swaying of his bedroom's curtain in the morning breeze passing through the open window seemed more sluggish than usual, while the sounds picked up by his ears were longer and more drawn out. It was a very bizarre sensation that made him feel like he was watching the entire space from another dimension. But before long, the feeling passed as his senses normalized once again.

"So, have I become faster?"

Odin hurriedly cast his glance onto the interface. His unassigned points had decreased from 2 to 0, while his dexterity attribute had increased from 0.7 to 2.7. Based on his current understanding of the interface, the dexterity stat meant his reaction capabilities and instantaneous speed were about 2.7 times quicker than those of a healthy adult human. So, if his assumption was correct, he was even faster than the legendary 100-meter sprinters over short distances.

"No! I need to practice for some time to let my body and mind acclimatize to my improved dexterity."

Odin stood up with a start, intending to first walk around his bed as a form of simple practice. However, the next moment he found himself tumbling to the ground while a few meters away from the bed. Since he couldn't control his body well, he'd almost planted his face onto the cold hard floor.

"Practice makes perfect!"

Odin mumbled to himself as he picked himself up from the floor. He started performing simple actions, like walking, jogging, stretching, and punching the air. He intended to understand his improved body so as to have better control over it.

The minutes flashed by quickly as he exercised without care for anything in the world. And slowly by slowly, he started performing the actions without ever tumbling to the ground. After an hour of practicing, he'd finally achieved an initial mastery over his improved agility.

"After this routine, I should probably stop."

Odin's punches and kicks were like a raging wind as they left after images within the air. His simple actions were like a spectacle out of a martial arts movie due to his improved agility. Moreover, he felt like his vision had become sharper, and his thought processing had grown quicker. As a result, he could still make prompt decisions even when his body was fast in motion.

"Sweet."

Odin could hardly contain his excitement after ending his practice routine. The fortification of agility had brought him more pleasant surprises than he'd initially expected. As long as he could get himself a good weapon, surviving the start of the apocalypse with his newfound powers would be a breeze.

"Odin! Are you awake?"

Suddenly, the door of his bedroom creaked open. Before Odin could react and put some clothes on his sweaty body, a small girl with cute dimples and long black hair fastened into two pigtails stepped into the room like a princess.

"Bella!" Odin complained while wrapping a towel around himself. "Why can't you knock before entering my room? Can't you listen?"

"Stop minding the small things," the small girl said with a dismissive wave of her hand while staring at Odin. "It's not as if you were naked. Didn't you have your boxers on?"

"Hmmm!" Odin harrumphed. "Why are you here?"

"Mom sent me to fetch you," she replied, her face beaming. "She says that it's already 9:30 AM. So, when are you planning to eat breakfast?"

"Tell mom that I'll come down for breakfast after taking a shower," Odin said before leading the young girl by the hand towards the door.

"Wait!" She screamed just as Odin was about to push her out of the room. "Why are you sweating? Have you started exercising in the morning?"

"Bella, please," Odin said, his tone pleading. "Mom is waiting. First, head down. We'll talk later when I come down for breakfast. Okay?"

"Fine." The young girl nodded, stepping out of the room. "But, can I borrow your tablet. I want to finish watching the other episode of my anime."

Odin could only sigh in response as he picked his tablet from a nearby table and placed it into the waiting hands of the young girl. His little sister could become a chatterbox if you gave her an inch. So, he hastily closed the door before she could say anything else.