Stacking My Abilities

Chapter 4 - Fogged Up (4)

[ Unique Quest: Energy Collection (Incomplete) ]

[ Quest Description: A new energy signature has been detected. Stay within (10) meters of the source of energy signature for (3) seconds... ]

[ Quest Reward: In accordance with the recording energy signature ]

[ Now recording energy signature... ]

The screen flashed again before Jeff finished reading.

...

[ Unique Quest: Energy Collection (Complete!) ]

[ You Have Gained: ]

[ Passive Ability - Beast Instincts (Common) / Toggled Off ]

[ Ability Description: Your sense for 1. gazes on you 2. undetected danger 3. enemy threat level have been heightened after toggling on this ability ]

[ Cost: N/A ]

[ Passive Ability - Canine Nose (Common) / Toggled Off ]

[ Ability Description: Your sense for smell is heightened after toggling on this ability ]

[ Cost: N/A ]

[ Physique Level: Common - Late 80% => Supernatural - Early 5.0% ]

[ Thank you for contributing this data to the system. Please seek out more unique energy signatures. The system wishes you a great day ]

The quest window closed. Another status window popped open.

[WARNING! Depleted Food Energy!]

[ Heavily Injured: You have been injured. Your alertness, thought clarity, and energy regeneration is reduced. Eat food and rest to recover health. ]

[ DANGER! Dying of Starvation: Your consciousness and physical strength is fleeting. ]

[ You will lose consciousness in: 18 Min and 40 Sec ]

'Huh.'

Jeff turned his gaze back to the ground.

That coyote had totally evaporated away now. On the ground, there was only a black stone and a handful of silver bristles. These bristles looked like silver needles. About 15 to 20 of them.

Jeff didn't understand what these drops were. But they didn't look edible...

Tiredly standing up, Jeff could feel the adrenaline wearing off. His arms felt powerless and swollen, throbbing like pumps.

Jeff looked around the silent fogged up streets. 'I need... food. Fast.'

However... Looking at the ransacked grocery store, Jeff doubted that he could find anything in there.

'Maybe... Canine Nose. Toggle on.'

Taking a deep breath in through his nose... Jeff gulped. There's a nice barbeque smell in the air.

Following that trace of smell in the air, without thinking much, Jeff hurried towards a direction.

3 blocks away? 5 blocks away?

Jeff's mind wasn't exactly turned on.

Turning around a street corner, following that smell, a blurry figure came into sight. That person was carefully moving down the streets.

"Hey. Uh." Jeff held up a hand.

Without hesitation, that figure dashed away from Jeff.

'Haste.'

In an instance, Jeff ran past that person and stopped in the way.

That figure stopped as well. Without hesitation, that person kneeled onto the ground.

"B-b-b-Boss! please spare me!" It's a girl's voice.

Taking a closer look, it's girl in a oversized red hoodie and jeans.

"Y-Y-You can have all my stuff!" The girl carefully placed her backpack onto the ground.

Then she put her hands into her hoodie, and pulled out an giant egg. This girl looked like she was having a panic attack.

Jeff: ???

Holding the giant egg above her head, as if making an offering, the girl continued: "I-I-I, this is all I have."

The girl was sweating and panting like she'd lost it.

Jeff raised his brows. 'Wait... What?'

'Did I transmigrate to a foreign world as well?'

"Hey. Eerhm. *Gulp* Relax... Chill."

There was a nice burger scent in the air, mixed with a faint scent of fresh oranges.

"I'm not a medieval king. There is no need to kneel before me "

"Th-Thank you?" The girl slowly got up, carefully examining Jeff's expression.

The girl was about the same height as Jeff. She had the looks of a cute neighborhood girl. Nervously smiling, she lightly nodded at Jeff.

"Say. You go to Berrystone college too." Jeff pointed at the girl's hoodie.

"Y-Yes."

Standing in this savory scent, starving to the point of losing consciousness, Jeff felt like he was starting to lose his sanity.

'Good. That was a nice conversation. Now, I'll just get right to it.'

"Erhm... This is awkward to ask. But do you happened to have anything to eat?" Jeff gulped.

"Yeah... Yes..." The girl nervously put down her giant egg, and pulled out a food container from her backpack.

Taking over the container... Opening the foils... Jeff's mind blanked out.

The smell of toasted buns, caramelized shallots, and a steaming hot meat patty intermixed with each other.

Taking a big bite.

Crunch. That's the sound of the toasted buns and fresh lettuce snapping apart at the first bite.

Juicy. The juices from the beef patty, tomatoes, and lettuce mixing into a wondrous melody. Like a tidal wave, the flavours flooded Jeff's taste buds, awakening Jeff's hibernating sense of taste.

In an instance, the soft insides of the buns melted, releasing a warm and rich taste of wheat to the party.

Chewing a bit, the dense milky flavor from the melted cheese exploded in Jeff's mouth. The beef bits joyously bounced around like children running around in a jungle gym.

Fragrance of wheat. Sweetness from fresh lettuce. The tangy sourness of the tomatoes. The smokiness shallots. The wholesomeness and satisfaction of a juicy burger.

Jeff felt like there was a party of flavors in his mouth.

Second bite. Third bite...

'It's good to be alive...'

Jeff opened his eyes. This foggy world just got a bit brighter.

Life felt... pretty good. The world was great. The future was bright. Everything felt nice.

Then a thought popped up in Jeff's mind. He felt like a high school bully, taking away other children's lunches.

All of a sudden, Jeff felt a little bad... a little guilty.

'Feels bad to feel bad man...'

So Jeff decided to do something about it...

'Out you go.'

Jeff threw that guilty feeling out of his head.

"Erhm..." Jeff took a peek at the girl. "I can pay for this... If you take... credit..."

"No. It's fine. Just do me a favor. What had just happened didn't reeeaaally happen right? Right? Haha..." The girl nervously laughed.

By the looks of it, she's not too proud of how she reacted.

"I saw nothing." Jeff replied with a firm nod.

"Good... Good... So... How's the food?" The girl dodged Jeff's gaze.

"The most delicious thing I've tasted in my life." Jeff returned a serious nod.

"Good... Good..." The girl was still nodding. Looks like she's still ranting in her mind.

"Yes. Good. Good indeed. Let's flip over that page. Erhm. This is a little awkward to ask. But do you have anything else to eat?"

'Like oranges maybe?' Jeff added in his mind. He was still hungry. A burger was nowhere near enough.

The girl picked up her giant egg. "You wanna eat this... raw?"

The girl then quickly added: "I mean, we can go back to camp and I can cook this for you."

Jeff took a good look at that giant egg. This thing was at least a foot long. Jeff had no idea what type of egg this was. But once again, Jeff felt like he knew nothing about this world anymore.

'No wonder this girl doesn't feel an urgency for food... I mean, look at the size of this thing...'

'Wait. Where was I. What's up with that faint orange smell then... Wait...' Realizing a possibility, the edge of Jeff's mouth twitched a little.

"Erhm. Anyways. Sorry if I left a bad first impression." Jeff cleared his throat. "But don't worry. I'm not a good guy."

The girl: "?!"

"I mean. Not a bad guy. Having a little food coma here." Jeff chuckled.

On his mental notes, Jeff remembered this one on those thugs. Stole everything he had. Stole his pet turtle. Almost stole his life. And now, staining his record, by forcing him to take a girl's lunch... Kind of...

Anyways, this won't be a moment Jeff would be proud of.

"Erhm. Jeff Norman. Senior year (4th year) student at Berrystone college, studying general science." Jeff extended a hand.

"Alice. Sophomore (2nd year) Kinesiology student." The girl lightly shook Jeff's hand.

"Also. Yeah... I can tell by now. You are not one of those crazies." Alice lightly giggled and swirled her finger by her head.

"By crazies... You mean..." Jeff squinted.