ART Of Survival - Chapter 20

” I just have to go and complete my mission nothing more, nothing less.” Mal reminded himself once again as he was approaching the area where the beasts were fighting. “The temperature is changing every second as I am approaching. I should have just forgotten about the skill. But who am I kidding? I myself know that I am still somewhat hopeful, hoping for a miracle to happen.” Mal bitterly smiled and he shook his head.

“Do anyone of you have a flare gun or something? Maybe an Ether phone?” Gan who was hiding in a bush nearby asked the remaining rookies.

“Ye…Yes, I have one!” A short boy answered with a stuttering voice.

“Fucking Idiot! You should have told me before!” Gan roared at the boy, “Fuck, whatever! give me what you have.” Gan took the flare gun from the boy and shot it in the sky. The flare gun was not like what it used to be before. It was made with the help of alchemists and blacksmiths it was shaped like a small cube and upon activation, its use was to create a basic firework spell in the sky. This method was much cleaner and safer than the flare gun from the past.

“Now all we can do is hope that the patrolling team sees our flare and someone to help us.” Gan sighed as looked at the area where the two beasts were fighting.

“Sir Gan! Sir Gan” the batboy called Gan out. The two brothers were also alive thanks to their flying ability.

“What?!” Gan looked at the boy with annoyance.

“The guy from before…he is alive and is coming here!” The boy was able to sense the location of Mal thanks to sonar.

“The Deer is alive?” Gan was stunned upon hearing the news, he was more shocked by the fact that he was coming here to die instead of escaping. “Did he hit his head somewhere?” Gan said as he looked in the direction where the boy was pointing and saw a thin but tall figure clad in what seemed to be a black suit, running directly towards the place where the monsters were fighting.

It doesn’t matter, coming here basically means death. Whether he dies before or after, it won’t matter. He thought the After arriving here, Mal would be beaten to death by the two monsters. After thinking for a while, he sat on his knees and started watching what he thought would be a good show, but contrary to his expectations, Mal ran through the two beasts easily. It was as if he was invisible.

“??!!”

“If I am not wrong, he must be using a special magic gadget to make the monsters not notice him.” Gan’s eyes flashed with greed as he looked at the figure of Mal.

As Mal ran across the monsters, he sighed in relief, “Thankgod I am level 0” This was the first time he had thanked God for being level 0. After running what he thought to be an appropriate distance from the area, he stopped. *Huff* Huff* though the distance was not that far than what Mal was used to, still Mal was panting like a dead dog this was because he was running while holding his breath, fearing that the two beasts would sense him because of his loud breathing.

“I am here! Now system! tell me what to do?” Mal sat beside a tree and asked.

*Ding* (Host Needs To Be Present At The Place Of The Fight) *Ding*

“…”

The wind moved through the leaves creating a rusting sound, which now sounded strangely loud in the silent forest.

“Fuck Your Mum! What kind of system sends its host to die like this?” Mal asked in an angry yet defeated voice.

*Ding* (Please Reach The Designated Place As Soon As Possible) *Ding*

“You!!!!…” *Sigh* “I give up…” Mal stood up and started walking towards his death with a blank look on his handsome face, which now seemed to have aged 40 years.

While walking, he took out his katana and threw the bag somewhere far and to a safer place. He was not planning to get slowed down by anything while running for his life. He had already chugged down a precious stamina recovery potion and a health potion. The potions had a lingering effect on one’s body for a specific time. The ones Mal had used were supposed to linger for about 15 minutes before dispersing.

Even after taking the health and stamina potions, Mal was still not sure about his survival in the chaos that was waiting for him a few meters ahead, the reason was simple. Although the potions he used were way better than what could be found in the market, they were not omnipotent.

Finally, after 5 minutes of sprinting, he reached the place again.

“Boss! he is back again!” The bat guy spoke in a startled voice.

“I knew it! This guy was a rich maniac! I think he has some weird fetishes and he is here to experience it” the flare guy said as he looked at Mal with disgust.

Hearing the boy’s words, the expression of everyone present changes.

“Achooo!! Fuck! Who is talking about me behind my back! Come out if you have guts!” Mal shouted in his mind as he reflexively looked around him.

“I am here, Now what?” Mal asked the system.

*Ding* (Host Is Supposed To Figure It Out On His Own) *Ding*

“I sometimes wonder that was it a good idea to give up on suicide?” Mal said with a thoughtful expression, it was as If Mal was seriously considering cutting his neck from the katana in his hand, “This blade is sharp, it won’t hurt” Mal said as he looked at the katana in his hands.

*Roaarr!!!* *Kieeehh* Suddenly both the tiger and the bird roared and pounced on each other.

“They have finally started to fight seriously! We have to leave this place as soon as possible!” Gan’s expression changed as he shouted in the direction of the rookies, Quickly run! in towards the exit!

They were escaping the place and Mal was just standing there with a blank look on his face as he was staring at the two beasts fighting. Gan looked at Mal one last time before running away, “It looks like he fainted while standing” Gal sneered as he ran away.

Mal was standing there with countless thoughts running in mind, it was as if there was a lock inside Mal’s brain that was getting destroyed by an invisible force.

“Beautiful…” A single word escaped Mal’s mouth as he looked at the scene. If someone had heard Mal saying beautiful to a scene of two monsters fighting, they would have definitely sent Mal to a mental hospital.

But, to Mal, this scene just didn’t feel like a fight between the two beats but a collision of two opposite forces, collision of two different elements, the collision of two different colors.

While still in a daze, Mal ran towards his bag and took out vials of sloth monkey and the mouse’s blood and also a paper and the magic brush he got from the Alchimia store.

He then came back to where he was and sat down on the ground, he opened the vial for the two different colors of blood and started painting. He was not even looking at the piece of paper when he was painting, instead, his eyes were glued to the ‘beautiful’ scene before him. He was lost in his own world, but his hands were still moving across the piece of paper.

From one stroke to another, from one color to the other, hours passed by and it was the 4th hour since Mal had started painting, finally the piece of paper on which he was drawing was filled to the brim. Instead of stopping or taking out another paper, something strange happened. Mal had started to paint on the air!!

*Ding* (Congratulations on unlocking the subskill, {World Pallete- An artist is not confined by the piece of paper or a surface, the world itself is a drawing board for the artist.}) *Ding*

*Ding* (Congratulations on unlocking the subskill, {Artist’s Domain- Not even the heavens can disturb an artist when he is painting}) *Ding*

*Ding* (Congratulations on unlocking the subskill, {Spirit painting- The more powerful the paint or the brush is, the more power the painting would have.}) *Ding*

*Ding* (Congratulations on unlocking the subskill, {An Artist’s Passion- While painting countless things are taken into consideration, but one of the most important things is an artist’s state of mind and passion. The diversity and the power of the painting rely on the artist’s passion.}) *Ding*

*Ding* (Congratulation on obtaining the title, Baby Artist. {Effects:- An Artist cannot level up after killing the monster, the host has to make a painting of a tier higher than he has already been made to level up. Killing a monster using a painting will only help in amassing stats.}) *Ding*

*Ding* (Congratulations on unlocking the skill ‘Can Paint’, work hard to unlock more subskills) *Ding*

Finally, after the series of notifications were over, Mal also stopped and saw the completed painting in the air with a smile on his face.

-End Of Chapter-