Seeing the massive spider come crashing down, Karma didn't think twice and threw himself sideways to get clear.
The spider landed directly on the cars, crushing them like empty cans.
"KRRRRYYY!" it shrieked, a sharp, piercing screech that tore down the entire street.
Karma slapped his hands over his ears.
"Damn it, what do I even—"
Boom!
He never finished the sentence.
The cars exploded, and the blast sent the spider flying backward several meters.
"It's stunned! Now! Open fire!" an officer screamed, and the gunshots started up again.
Made sense, really. Jumping onto a pile of cars with that much bad luck running through you wasn't exactly a smart move. The odds of an explosion shot through the roof, and the spider paid for it.
Fortunately, no one nearby had been caught in the blast.
The officers kept firing until the spider finally went down.
[You have indirectly killed a Giant Mother Spider Lv. 5: +275 EXP]
Karma smiled. Good hunt.
With their mother dead, the remaining spiders scattered. A few were cut down by the officers as they fled.
As they did, something caught Karma's eye near the goblin shaman's body.
The staff was completely destroyed. But lying beside it was a book.
A book that immediately had his attention.
He waited for the spiders to clear out and the gunfire to stop before walking over.
"Hm. Interesting," he said to himself, picking it up.
It was old-looking, bound in leather, with red runes carved into the cover.
The moment he touched it, a prompt appeared in front of him.
[Do you wish to learn the spell: Fireball {Beginner}?]
[Yes] [No]
He hit yes without hesitating.
The book burst into flames and was gone in seconds.
[You have successfully learned the {Beginner} spell: Fireball]
"That easy?" he said, genuinely curious now. "Alright, let's see what we're working with. [Status]."
A pale blue screen with gold lettering appeared in front of him.
---
Name: Karma Murphy
Race: Human
Age: 21
Level: 2
EXP: 500 / 3,000
Fortune: -10,000,000
Spirit (Colorless): 10%
Spells:
[Fireball Lv. I] {Beginner}
A basic {Beginner}-tier spell. Conjures a ball of fire and launches it at a target.
Cost: 10% S.E. (Colorless Spiritual Energy)
Techniques: [None]
Skills 3/5: [ {Analytical Vision} — {Inventory} — {Sonic Pulse} ]
Physical Attributes:
Strength: 7
Constitution: 5
Speed: 6
Agility: 4
Points to distribute: 3
Gift: Fate Devourer {Maljut — 3%}
---
He whistled, though less impressed this time.
The spell looked nowhere near as powerful as what the shaman had pulled off. And it cost his entire spiritual energy reserve on top of that.
Still, it was a start, he figured.
"Hey, you," a voice called out.
He turned. A man with East Asian features in a police uniform was looking at him.
Out of habit, Karma ran {Analytical Vision} on him.
---
Name: Jhonny Chen
Race: Human
Age: 45
Level: 3
EXP: 1,750 / 4,000
Fortune: 50
Spirit (Colorless): 15%
Spells: [None]
Techniques: [None]
Skills 0/5: [None]
Physical Attributes:
Strength: 17
Constitution: 11
Speed: 12
Agility: 18
Gift:
Celestial Breathing {Maljut — 0%}
Ability:
The user can absorb spiritual particles from their surroundings and purify them to replenish their own spiritual energy reserves.
Limitation:
Cannot exceed the capacity of the user's core. Efficiency also depends heavily on the density of spiritual particles in the environment; in low-density areas, absorption will be significantly slower.
Drawback:
The user does not recover spiritual energy through sleep or eating.
---
Karma looked the status over thoughtfully.
The ability was interesting, though not especially useful at this stage given how low his spiritual capacity was. And the man didn't know a single spell.
What did stand out, though, was that the other officers were all at a solid level, ranging between 2 and 4. Which made sense. They had guns, so they'd had a much easier time racking up kills than most.
"Hey. I'm talking to you." The man kept his tone measured, though it was clear his patience had a limit. "We're escorting the civilians to a safe zone. Come with us if you don't want to die. You look like you can handle yourself, but you'd still be better off not going it alone out here."
Spacing out in the middle of a conversation was one of Karma's habits, and once he was in his head, it usually took a while to pull him back out.
"Sure," Karma said.
It was the smart call. Better odds in a group, and he wasn't exactly eager to run into another Giant Mother Spider on his own.
That said, part of him wasn't sold on staying in a shelter. His gamer instincts were already itching to get back out there and push his kill count as high as possible.
But for now, he'd stick with the group.
"Good. Stay close," Jhonny Chen said, turning back toward his team.
Karma followed.
Time to see a bit more of what was out there.
________________________________________
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