Chapter 15 - Finding A Suitable Target
While William was watching the Angorian Goat battle the two goblins, the wooden staff suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking the view of the battle.
'Hmm? What's wrong with this staff?' William thought.
As if on cue, the staff tapped the map on his screen which showed the red dot that was sneaking up behind him.
William's body stiffened when he saw that the red dot was almost at his location.
Out of panic, he grabbed the wooden staff with both hands. He then slowly turned his head to look behind him. Standing four meters away from him, a goblin--holding two wooden clubs in its hands--growled in anger.
"Eyah!" (Mama!)
Just as the goblin was about to attack William, a white blur went past him and knocked the goblin flying in the opposite direction.
"Meeeeh!"
Ellah stood in front of William with the intent to protect him. The goblin who was knocked away slowly stood up because Ella's attack wasn't strong enough to kill it. The other two goblins that the goat had engaged earlier were mostly unharmed and were also headed in their direction.
"Eyah!" (Mama, let's retreat!)
"Meeeeh!"
The Angorian Goat unceremoniously bit the baby's clothes and ran away. While being carried to safety, William realized that he had been over confident with his ability. He thought that with Ella's new-gained abilities, and his map, he would be invincible.
'I got too conceited,' William thought. 'I forgot that this was a dungeon. Monsters can spawn anywhere at any time."
Based on the games he had played in the past, random encounters like this were very common if you walked into a cave or in tall grasses. If not for the staff appearing to remind him that there was danger, William might have already been squashed like a pancake.
When Ella finally lowered William to the ground, the baby was still deep in thought.
"Meeeeh!"
"Eyah." (Sorry, Mama.)
"Meeeeh!"
"Eyah…" (I will be more careful in the future…)
"Meeeeh!"
"Eyah." (I promise.)
"Meeeeeh!"
Ella nagged at William for five minutes before she finally relented. With this, the baby and the goat were in a dilemma. If they don't hunt for goblins, they would not be able to gain experience points. If they don't get experience points, they wouldn't be able to level up.
After the incident, Ella was very reluctant to leave William's side. The baby understood his Mama's worry, so he didn't say anything else.
'What should I do?' William pondered. 'If only there is a place where monsters can't attack me… wait! Is there a safe zone in this dungeon?'
William opened the map and checked the places that they had unmasked. Unfortunately, there was nothing that looked like a "Safe Zone" in the places that they had visited.
'Wait, there might be another way!' William's eyes widened when he remembered something very important. Their current progress was similar to a "game". In every game novel that he had read, there existed a mighty existence that helped protagonists make their life easier.
What is that mighty existence? It's none other than the...
"Eyah!" (System!)
William immediately closed his eyes. He had a feeling that all he needed to do was call out for it and it would appear. Within the darkness, something bright glittered in the distance. The baby immediately proceeded to that place and found the thing he was looking for.
Hovering above three altars were the gifts that were given to him by the three Gods before he left for the cycle of reincarnation.
A Chess Piece, a CPU Core, and a Lollipop.
Although William didn't know what the Chess piece and the Lollipop could do, he ignored them for now and went straight to touch the CPU Core.
The moment his hands touched the core. A dazzling light enveloped his sight.
< Ding! >
< System has been activated. >
< Preparing Soul Identification... >
< Host has been identified! >
< Now Loading… >
< Error. >
< Host hasn't acquired the minimum requirement to open the System. >
< System will shut down in 3… 2… 1 >
The light receded and the glow of the CPU Core dimmed. William looked in dismay as he used the appraisal skill to check the requirement to activate Gavin's gift to him.
< CPU Core >
< Activation Requirement: Job level 10 >
'Job level ten?' William tilted his head. 'I'm currently at job level two. I need eight more to open the system.'
The baby opened its eyes and sighed. He indeed had a system, but he was unable to open it for the time being.
'I need to activate the system no matter what!' William thought long and hard before coming to a decision.
"Eyah." (Mama Ella, let's go back for now.)
"Meeeh!"
William activated the ring and returned to the living room. Although their adventure ended prematurely, William didn't think that he hadn't gained anything from his exploration. For one thing, he gained a level.
Second, he was able to understand more about the item that Gavin had given him. What William didn't know was that the three items that were floating in his Sea of Consciousness were not actually simple items, but Divinities.
These Divinities could also be called "God's Essence", and they contained power that could affect the laws of the world. Of course, these Divinities had certain restrictions as well.
When the sun rose, William waited for Mordred and Anna to leave the room before conducting his experiment.
He sat on the floor and summoned the wooden staff. The staff hovered a meter away from him as if waiting for his orders.
"Eyah!" (Magnum Burst!)
The staff tapped the floor and a blast of air pushed Ella a few meters away from William. The carpets and the chair near him were blown away as well.
William immediately opened Ella's status page to see if she was hurt, but her HP bar was still full. This meant that the skill didn't hurt her. Of course, he also thought of the possibility that the skill doesn't affect his allies.
'I need to find a suitable target,' William thought.
"Eyah." (Mama, carry me.)
"Meeeeeh?"
"Eyah." (I want to go outside.)
"Meeeh."
The goat laid down and allowed William to mount it. Just like what happened in the dungeon, William felt that he and Ella had become one. It was a surreal feeling. He even thought that even if he swayed his body side to side, he wouldn't fall off from her back even if he wanted to.
As the two left the room, they were discovered by William's grandpa, James.
"Oh?" James looked "Where are the two of you going?"
"Eyah." (Outside.)
"Meeeeh."
"I don't really understand. But, make sure to not stray too far from the house, okay?"
"Eyah!" (Okay!)
"Meeeeh!"
James watched in amusement as the goat and the baby left the house through the front door.
"That child reminds me of my childhood.," James muttered. "Just a year-old and already out seeking for an adventure."