Chapter 12: Laevateinn
Chapter 12: Laevateinn
Jin, eyelids drooped, sat at his computer desk; peering at his monitor, without blinking his eyes.
He entered the name of the weapon he had recently beckoned to him into Super Search’s search engine. In doing so, he felt a strange unbeknown that delivered warmth in his nose; escaping his nostrils.
It oozed out his right nostril; trickling down from his straight nose. Slowly, he placed both his index and middle fingers together and touched the spot where it was coming from.
Then he gradually moved the hand away from his face, and peered down at it. As recognition dawned on his face, his eyes quickly widened upon seeing what was on his fingers.
It was a warm, red liquid with a strange scent. What else could it be other than his own blood?
He quickly deduced this was the stemmed aftermath of the sword’s dramatic ingress. After all, he considerably lost Health because its entrance alone.
He brought up his screen, looking at his health.
[HP: 6/10]
After noticing that he started bleeding from his other nostril as well, he jolted upright, and leaped off of the chair; rushing towards his bathroom.
Looking in the mirror, he could see that his nose was bleeding; for reasons still unbeknownst to him. His golden brown pupils were slightly dilated, as he peered at his slim, jet black-hairred figure.
Strikingly, the makeup that concealed the tattoo below his right eye was long washed away. He quickly recalled being in the rain earlier, and he immediately scowled at himself in the mirror.
He sneered, “How the fuck did I just miss that? I still can’t believe no one told me about the tattoo…”
Simply, he washed his face, and put on the makeup again; rubbing it in the area. He let out a stressful breath that he had been holding in, and he walked back to his computer again.
He sat on the chair, and peered at his computer monitor.
“It’s time to learn about this weapon…”
***
Jin sat there, learning about Laevateinn for a few minutes. What he learned about it was the fact that, in Norse Mythology, it was a sacred weapon forged and owned by the God Loki himself.
The weapon was said to have extraordinary abilities like ‘the Calling’, ‘Astral Projection’ and so forth.
Of course, Jin clearly didn’t know whether his sword would have these abilities or not. He found this fact harder to believe than how hard it was to pronounce the Norse name of the sword in the first place.
“I honestly don’t know what I’ll do with such a weapon,” he gazed up at the ceiling, “The hell is happening to my life anyway? Why was I chosen to have this?”
“It’s the only reason why I can walk and all—And I’m thankful, don’t get me wrong. But isn’t this just a little too much for someone like me to handle?”
“Why me of all people? Why?”
He was asking for answers like those slow Hobgoblins at school who rely upon the smart ones when it comes to school work.
“Laevateinn seems like a powerful weapon. Looks like something straight out of GRIM. But I don’t see why I’d wield it in modern times like this…”
He sighed, “That’s if my body could handle the wielding of it to begin with. The thing almost killed my ass today. Who knows what it’s capable of?”
As is, his body wasn’t at all in any shape in any way to heave Laevateinn, The Mistress of Deception. But then he came to notice that he could use the system to level up and become strong enough to wield it later on.
Again, he saw no reason to lift a sword, and walk around the modern city with it like who’s what. But basically, curiosity acted as his fuel; as in the one you would fill up a car with.
This fuel would drive him forth, and encourage him even in times of reluctance on the road of innumerable obstacles. When he runs out on it, he would simply be fueled up again.
All in light of getting to the other side of the bridge; where knowledge is imminent.
Simply put, he, driven by curiosity, wanted to explore what was bestowed upon him, even if he doesn’t plan to use the gains he makes in the process.
“I’m bored,” he drawled, putting his head on the white desk.
“I don’t know what to do these days…”
“I’ll just take a cat nap..”
***
Unexpectedly, Jin had fallen fast asleep for two hours. What woke him up from his peaceful slumber, was the ambient sounds that he would usually hear when a new system message appears.
He bolted upright in the seat, looking around. He squinted at the hovering screen in his face.
[HP: 8/10]
[Your hunger grows]
[Insufficient nutrition to fully regenerate]
[New Task: Consume sufficient sustenance]
[Reward: 1 Exp]
Immediately, his stomach growled aggressively like Benjamin would when he hadn’t been fed for a day.
“So it takes food to heal. Noted…”
Simply, he stood, and started walking towards his door. He clutched his hands around the doorknob, and revolved it; hearing a clicking sound.
He pulled the door towards him, and walked out of his bedroom. His grandmother was sleeping on the couch, and the TV was still on.
“Nine bodies, two of them being cops, were found today at the Suburbs of Frodmound today around twelve. The bodies had strange engravings on their faces of the same ‘D’ that looked like a Logo.”
“On top of this, a young human girl was stabbed to death today by a person of the Hobgoblin race in the same area of Frodmound. The murderer was—”
Jin turned the TV off with the remote.
Then he walked to the kitchen. The huge meal his Grandmother had prepared was there, still on the stove, waiting for him.
To celebrate his ability to walk again, she made him Soy-glazed Meatloaf, Creamy Broccoli Pasta with Chile bread crumbs, and a Cauliflower pizza all for himself.
Jin, with a fork and spoon in his hand, sat at the table, with four white plates scattered all over the tabletop.
Immediately, he stuffed his face; eating voraciously. Around his mouth was filthy, and all he did was chew, chew, and swallow.
The lunch, prepared by his Grandmother, surprisingly tasted like shit. Even when it looked so pleasant to his eyes. Such a let down it was for him.
It was apparent now to him that no matter what his Grandmother does, she would never make him a meal he would ever savor.
She was just a horrible cook; an intrinsic, inscrutable inborn tendency, resided within her, to make food even people’s taste buds scowl at.
Nonetheless, Jin ate like there was no tomorrow.
[Your hunger has been sated]
[Task Completed!]
[+1 Exp]
[Exp: 5/10 | Level 1]
“Five more to go…”
Jin still ate the rest of the food even though he was already stuffed. He got up from the chair, approaching the kitchen sink with his empty plates stacked atop each other.
In short, he washed his used dishes, and went back to his room again.
He had decided to use his computer to kill time a bit. He sat down at his computer desk, peering at his monitors and using his mouse with his dominant hand.
***
In bed, Jin jolted upright; sitting on his bed with the bed sheet covering the lower half of his body. He, golden-brown pupils decreased in size, was panting loudly and his heart was constantly crashing into his chest.
“A nightmare—just another one…”
Rubbing his temples, he winced in agony, “Ah…headaches this time too…”
His eyes roved around his room, looking clearly not accustomed to his bed being in the middle of it. He sighed, and got up from the bed.
Leaving it ruffled, he walked away.
Before he could walk into his bathroom in order to commence his daily mundane of early proper hygiene, a screen appeared before him; and he paused.
With eyes partially opened, he squinted at the screen.
[New Task: 200 push-ups]
[Reward: 5 Exp]
Like a robot carrying out tasks, Jin promptly turned around, and went down to the floor in a plank position without even taking the time to warm up.
He simply yielded, relenting to the system’s commands.
It was raining outside—outside where all that could be seen was the grim world and not much more than this. A grim world, with a grey sky; and danger lingering in the ominous air, where so many bizarre things transitioned to the norms.
Jin was doing the push-ups. He got so many cramps in so many different places, and, even to him, it was clear why. He insistently lamented about not doing that warm-up.
But, he pushed through nonetheless. He constantly collapsed, but this information is but trifling alone, because he got back up again, and continued, rubbing his succession in the face of his own incertitude.
His tensed, overworked muscles were aching like his head, and veins were popping up all over the skin of his body.
Still, he was able to complete the task once again. He rose up from the ground, with his mouth partially opened, and his eyes closed shut.
Drenched in his own sweat, he stood, with his hands on his waist, looking at the new messages that appeared on his screen.
[Task Completed!]
[+5 Exp]
[Congratulations, You have leveled up!]
[+3 UP]
“I’ve been collecting this ‘UP’ for a while now. Maybe I can use it in the Stats tab to increase my vitality in some way…”
Curiously, he navigated through the system user interface, and went to his Stats.
[Stats]
[Strength: 1]
[Health: 10]
[Speed: 2]
[Skill: 1]
[Available UP points: 4]
Having looked at the screen, he was quite sure that the UP points were what he had to use in specific areas to become more invulnerable in them.
Moreover, there were plus signs after each and every one of the upgradeable fields. These plus signs were certainly what the user would have to press in order to advance the statistical area of choice.
At first resolution, Jin made up his mind to spend the points he retained on both the health and strength categories.
His resolve quickly changed because of undue zeal. Curiosity steered him straight into advancing the ‘Skill’ area.
His finger hovered over the plus sign, and then slowly touched it. He repeated this a few times, and as soon as he was finished, he felt a huge change; an immense upsurge of power already, regardless of how small it truly was.
“What’s this? I upgraded my Skill, yet I feel like I’ve gained strength? It can’t be, can it?”
[You have unlocked a new skill!]
[New Skill: Deceptive Delusion]