Another attack hammered down and it was even harder than the last.
[-6 HP]
It was then that Gary attempted to lift Austin at that moment. The loner could feel this, but he could only laugh at that idea.
“Do you think that really would work, while you let me continue to slam down on your back? If you don’t give up soon, I’ll break it!” Austin shouted, swinging his hands down again.
[-7 HP]
Gary didn’t know if Austin was getting stronger with each hit, or whether his Endurance was weakening bit by bit as the fight went on. The one thing that was clear was the attacks were hurting and doing a lot more damage than before.
‘When trying to lift him, I can tell that I’m close. I just need to be a little stronger. Should I dump that stat point into Strength now?’ Gary thought.
With Charging Heart, one stat point would be as effective as two.
‘No that’s still not enough. I need more Strength.’
Thinking about this, there was one time, when Gary had managed to summon more strength than before. It was when he had seen his sister’s injured face. When he had seen what those people had attempted to do with her. Grabbing on, Gary fought against the pain, as Austin slammed his back, he thought about the people counting on him, his sister and his hospitalised mother.
‘If only I was a bit stronger! Why don’t you help me out for once, you sh*tty system?!!!’
[BPM is rising rapidly]
[BPM 160]
[BPM 170]
Austin, wasn’t sure if he was imagining it or not, but he believed he could actually feel Gary’s body pulsing at the time, yet it was at an unbelievable speed. If it really was a heart beat then what was going on in this little body of Gary’s?
[190 BPM]
[200 BPM]
[You have exceeded 200 BPM]
[Partial transformation has begun]
[All stats increased by 125%]
Once again, Austin lifted up his fists, and when he swung down this time, Gary knew it was his chance. He quickly moved to the side, making the swing hit nothing but air, and now Gary was directly behind him.
‘System, put one point in Strength!’
[1 Point has been allocated into Strength]
[Your base Strength is now at 9]
[Current Strength: 20.25]
Thanks to his Partial Transformation state, the teenager’s Strength was now over 20, giving him a 25% increase in power over his previous 16 points he had due to Charging Heart.
Austin could immediately attest to the difference. His body was being lifted off the floor. It was as amazing as it was comical seeing Gary lift the other, and without thinking about what he was doing. It looked like he was about to do a suplex until he moved to the side and pushed down Austin, the green haired teenager slammed his opponent onto the floor, making the glass shards around that area fly up.
[44/120 Energy]
Gary was huffing and panting, and looked at his downed opponent. His Energy was going down a lot faster now his Heart rate was above 200 BPM, and it looked like it was already calming down. At the same time the Charging Heart skill had also deactivated bringing his Strength back down to 9.
‘Don’t get up…please, don’t get up…’ Gary silently prayed. He didn’t want to go and beat on Austin. After all, they were supposed to recruit him, and after all that beating he also needed a moment to just catch his breath.
‘I guess Energy and Stamina aren’t one and the same after all.’
However, at that moment, he could see the loner slowly getting up from the floor. He wiped some spit that had come out form his mouth and then stared into Gary’s eyes.
‘This guy is a freaking tank! I can use Charging Heart again, but I might not have the Strength or Energy to beat this guy!’ Gary thought, getting ready, until.
“I… admit it’s my loss.” Austin smiled. “You…really are one little warrior, aren’t you… I can see now why you’re the leader. If I have to follow someone, I believe you wouldn’t be my worst choice.”
With that said Austin started to walk towards the door leading outside. Before he went out though, he stopped for a moment.
“I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Austin mumbled, closing the door.
“What… just happened?” Gary asked, confused, left standing there.
“Didn’t you hear him? You, our mighty leader, won.” Kai explained, slapping him on the back.
It caused Gary to let out a little yelp.
“Why…of all the places.” Gary whined, feeling the pain run through his body.
As soon as the older teenager had said those words, the system also confirmed his victory.
[Quest reward: Instant Level Up]
[Congratulations, you have now reached: Level 8]
[A new skill has been unlocked]
[A stat point has been granted]
[Exp 542/1024]
[Current list of skills]
[Mark 4/5]
[Charging Heart]
[Claw Drain (Level 1)]
[Full Transformation] (new)
From a glance at his previous rewards an Instant Level Up was impressive from one person. It was in a way the hardest Gary had ever had to fight before. Usually beating down random goons on the street only gave him 20 or 25 Exp, or 50 Exp.
Gary was most happy to see that the Instant Level Up hadn’t just given him 340 Exp which he needed to reach the next level, but seemingly 882, so that he was already halfway to Level 9. He was very much looking forward to reaching Level 10 and fulfilling the only Main Quest the Werewolf System had issued him so far. Hopefully, it would give him the power to beat Billy.
When he thought about the other Omega wolf, he recalled that not even Austin’s blow had been able to hurt the other, and that was when Billy had still been in human form. Was Billy doing the same right now, was he out there getting stronger just like Gary.
Perhaps the other Werewolf would always just be a bit ahead of him. Still, there was one thing that possibly might turn the sides if Gary and Billy were to meet again, and that was the last reward for completing the quest.
‘Full…Transformation…does this mean what I think it does?’
Just as Gary was going to check out the description of the message though, he heard someone running over to him. Before he could react the high school girl had already grabbed his arm.
“Come over here.” Marie demanded as he pulled him along. She quickly pulled up one of the fallen bar stools. One of the few that weren’t broken and got Gary to sit down on it. Then in front of him he saw a bottle of alcohol as well as an open first aid kit box.
“It seems like no one had ever used the one in this place. The owner must have bought it shortly before going out of business. Now show me your hand, we need to get that cut checked out! Depending on how deep it was we might even have to go to the hospital to get it healed. If we don’t do something it could get infected.” Marie berated him as she opened the younger teenager’s hand.
The boy couldn’t even say anything, Marie turned out to be a force that couldn’t be stopped, and before he realised it was too late.
Marie had cleaned the wound, but there was no pain after clearing it with alcohol. She had experience with some nasty cuts like this, and the normal reaction would be for the one getting treated to scream like a little girl, yet Gary was as silent as he had been when he had pulled the shard out.
That’s when she noticed the reason for his behaviour.
“What the? Did I see wrong? Was it your other hand?” Marie asked in confusion, looking over to Gary’s other hand. “No, but all this blood, how can there be no cut?”