Chapter 12: Worms Are Hard to Kill

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"Ow, shit, damn-it, argh! Just die already, you fucking bastard!" Shortly after his deadly encounter with the cobra, Michael stumbled upon an earthworm.

It was only a rank-G, level-one magical-beast, so he figured that it would be an easy target for him to acquire the single point of experience that he needed to level-up. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as defenseless as it appeared.

Every time he tried to stomp on it, the slimy creature managed to wiggle out of the way, if he threw a rock, he missed or did less than two points of damage, and whenever he was almost about to kill it, the beast burrowed underground and escaped. He had been wandering through the northwestern part of the grasslands for over an hour, but the only monsters he found were worm-related.

The sun was setting, and it was getting harder for him to even see the snake-like magical-beasts that would cut at his ankles and calves with sharp barbs. The 'Blood Worms' were rank-F and even had a health-stealing, blood-sucking attack; when the thick, mucus-covered, crimson monster wrapped its body around his right leg, Michael immediately attempted to use a small and jagged rock to stab at the creature, but did no damage.

While pointlessly attacking and cursing at the vicious enemy, his life was steadily draining away. However, as he was approaching death for the eleventh time, the naked man gathered mana into the palms of his hands and pressed them against the slimy demon's 'head.'

Michael began laughing hysterically, as he yelled "Lightning Bolt!" while imagining that horrible feeling he had experienced when Inari died. The 'Blood Worm' suddenly started spasming uncontrollably as its flesh was becoming crispy, and the lower half of its body even exploded.

Even though he properly cast the spell, he ended up using his entire mana-pool in the process, and was down to 2/35 HP, until a warm light enveloped his body, and he received the "You have reached level-four." notification. Upon leveling-up, all Health, Mana, and Stamina was restored to full, and all debuffs would be removed instantly.

[Player Information

Name: Michael

Titles: The Nudist, The Noob, The Immortal

Level: 4

Experience: 3/40

Age: Adult

Race: Human

Rank: F

Class: None

Specialization: None

Profession: Unemployed]

[Stats

Health: 40/40

Mana: 15/15

Stamina: 20/20

Mana Regen per minute: 20

Health Regen per hour: 40

Strength: 4

Vitality: 4

Endurance: 4

Dexterity: 3

Agility: 4

Intelligence: 3

Wisdom: 2

Perception: 1

Charisma: 1

Willpower: 14

Luck: 14

Aura: 1.8

Attack Rating: 20

Defense Rating: 2]

He chose to increase his Strength and Endurance by one each, which raised his Stamina, Health, and ability to deal physical damage by a decent amount. Michael grumbled "Damn it, I should probably stop this shit now... Ugh, I'm so tired of dying. Thirty seven level-one rabbits would be way easier than fucking around with worms. All that trouble, and I only got four experience from it. Also, what the hell's up with this damn spell anyway? Even if it doesn't damage my own Health, it still feels like I'm getting tasered..."

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