It doesn't matter whether he was stuck being the protector of the Ward.
Right now, his goal was clear.
He needed to capture that Red Pumpkin Head!
"Even though I've got a physical body now and it's fully healed, my ego is still bruised from that stupid fruit," Deklan clenched his fists, recalling how he was beaten easily—by a mere pumpkin. "If I can't even handle that, how am I supposed to face the likes of Boogeyman, or the Weeping Lady?"
Just thinking of those ghosts in movies he watched, Deklan shivered.
In this world, those ghosts must've been extremely powerful, as they are ugly.
"System, what's the benefit from upgrading the Ward other than letting me roam free?"
[Increasing the Ghost Residents' capacity, Prison capacity, income per day, Class evolution that will grant boosts, and also unlocking more fruits. It's recommended for the host to level up the Ward as much as possible.]
Deklan walked around the Ward, checking the ground around it in search of something.
But he found nothing.
"Hmm, I thought I'd gain at least one fruit as a newbie gift. I guess not." Deklan shrugged.
He was hoping that there was a fruit lying around, but there wasn't.
"Is there a list for the unlocked fruits?"
…
DIMENSIONAL FRUIT
Basic Fruit: [Level 1 Mana Apple]
…
"Only one?" Deklan clicked his tongue. "What a bummer."
[The Ward is still level 1, stupid host. More fruits will be unlocked on higher tiers.]
Deklan ignored the system and sat down cross-legged beside the tree; his eyes were closed as the gears in his mind worked to assess the situation. Currently, in order to gain power, he would need to complete quests or wait for the Ward to bear fruit.
Only one fruit can be produced in a day.
"Let's see, is there any way for me to quicken the cooldown?"
Deklan scoured the Shop and looked around, searching for any item that could reduce cooldown time.
He found one in the ritual section called Please-Bear-A-Fruit Ritual.
It would force the Ward to bear one basic fruit without resetting the cooldown, but it would cost Deklan a whopping 5 SD. Considering that 5 SD could be used to repair—his physical body, this ritual costs a huge amount.
Not to mention, it could only bear basic fruit.
He was sure that there were stronger rituals that yielded better fruits, but most were locked.
Only this ritual was available to him.
Seems like leveling up the Ward is a must.
Deklan folded his arms and tilted his head, contemplating, "I guess I can't do anything about the Ward. With only 2 Spooky Dollars, I can't raise the Ward to level 4 since raising it by a level would cost 2 Spooky Dollars. Guess I'll stick with learning my skills."
Catching the Red Pumpkin Head is his priority, so he better prepares.
"Not that it's guaranteed to come back," Deklan stood up and headed to the side. "Hope a weaker Ghost will come inside, so that it's easier to complete the sudden quest."
Upon walking to the side, Deklan read his skills and traits again.
Deklan immediately focused on the Ghost Conqueror skill as it should be his strongest skill right now, and also the skill he would be using to capture Ghosts. He willed to activate the skill, and a glowing lasso appeared in his hand.
"System, how do I use the Ghost Conqueror, exactly? If I stab the Ghost, will it work?"
[…]
"If you don't want to answer, don't even bother showing dots, you piece of popoo!"
Deklan clicked his tongue and focused on the lasso.
If the system won't help him, then he's going to help himself.
"I'm no cowboy, far from it. I need to train."
Fixing his gaze ahead, Deklan placed one foot behind him and began spinning the lasso beside him.
It was his first time doing this, so it felt awkward at first, but he slowly got the hang of it.
Fifteen feet away, the tip of a wooden fence post rose like a marker—perfect for a throw.
Once he was ready, he threw the lasso.
Missed.
No, not missed, but ridiculously way off.
"Ah, fuck. They make it look so easy in movies," Deklan cursed, looking at his own body in disappointment. The previous Deklan wasn't only an exile, but he's also—unathletic. "Tch, again! I'm not going to stop until I get this!"
Swish!
Missed, too far to the right.
Swish!
Missed, too far to the left.
Suuwish!
"Nice!" Deklan punched the air as, finally, after three tries, he was on target. "Now three times in a row."
He only has two more days until the spanking, and that was motivation enough.
Of course, he didn't know how the spanking was commenced.
And frankly, he didn't want to know.
But the sheer thought of being sent into that void and being spanked by that bitch made him shiver to his very core. If that were to ever happen, not only would he feel emasculated—but he would also be humiliated.
He'd rather die!
After the beatdown, that bitch must've been raring for him to make a mistake.
"My butt is going to be safe! Safe, I tell you! Safe!!"
Deklan continued his training with relentless fervor.
A couple of hours passed, and he finally managed to be on target three times in a row from over twenty feet away. Considering that he had only trained for hours, this was a huge success, one that he was proud of.
Maybe he was over his head, but now, as long as he could catch the Red Pumpkin Head—off guard, he was confident that he could capture it. "But the question is whether that Ghost will come back again. Even so, no matter the Ghost, I can use the lasso."
Just as Deklan was about to continue, he grabbed his head in pain.
He suddenly felt a headache so heavy it forced him to sit down.
And following that, the lasso disappeared.
[Notice: host has run out of mana.]
"Ah, right…" He hissed, cursing himself for forgetting about that. "It used mana, naturally."
Deklan was initially planning to keep practicing his lasso-throwing and then move on to his other skill, Dual Existence. Since it was categorized as a skill, he opted to think that he could change from Human to Ghost form at will.
But now that he was exhausted of mana, he decided to head upstairs.
"Good work today," He patted himself on the back. "Let's try again tomorrow."
"Oh, system, at least notify me if my mana is recharged, will you?"
[What are you, a baby? Goo-goo gaa-gaa]
"Just fucking do it."
[Say please.]
"Please."
[Good boy.]
"Fuck you."
Later that night.
Ding…
Deklan opened his eyes when the sound of a bell rang inside his head.
He blinked himself to reality, still snoozing as it should be probably late in the night.
Since there's literally nothing to do, all he did was sleep or play with his worm.
Sitting up on the bed, he rubbed his eyes before checking his body, trying to sense his mana inside. He realized he was still recovering mana, which was a bummer. But that's not what was really important right now.
Ding…
Hearing the sound for the second time, Deklan snapped back into reality and got up from the bed.
He headed straight for the corridor.
Instead of heading downstairs, he walked to the window at the end of the corridor—gazing out over the backyard where the Ward, the wooden fences, and the grave lay in plain sight. Before lazing around and falling asleep earlier, he decided to purchase something from the Shop—the Bell Wind Ritual.
He used 1 SD for it, leaving him with 1 SD remaining.
Even though he was broke, this was an investment, so he wasn't complaining.
All he needed to do was tear the paper with the ritual mantras written on it.
The Bell Wind Ritual created a weak and faint wind barrier around the hut's grounds, and the way it worked was that whenever someone or something crossed it, a bell would chime softly in his mind as a warning.
Since it had rung twice, there should be two infiltrators.
Deklan peeked from the window and fixed on a creature bouncing into the backyard.
His eyes sparked in excitement as it was the Red Pumpkin Head.
"Only one? I thought two bells meant there are two of them," Deklan muttered aloud.
He watched the Red Pumpkin Head with an excited smile as it bounced up and down without a care in the world, circling the backyard, and then circled the Ward. Its movement seemed aimless, but Deklan didn't care.
Instead, he used the Ghost Conqueror skill, summoning the lasso.
It was true that he ran out of mana, but it recovered enough for him to use the skill.
Just as he did that, the Red Pumpkin Head stopped.
And then, it turned.
"Fuck!" Deklan ducked down almost instantly. "Did it see me?"
Cursing himself for being sloppy, as Ghosts are probably attracted to mana, Deklan's head slumped as the Red Pumpkin Head must've run away now. But to his surprise, the bouncing sound approached the hut instead.
Slowly, he peeked from the window again, but the Red Pumpkin Head was nowhere in sight.
It seemed to be lingering on the back door.
"Shit, it can phase through walls, right? Is it coming inside?" Deklan looked at the stairs in panic.
But then, the Red Pumpkin Head appeared, and it was circling the backyard again.
"Oh, it didn't sense me? Good," Deklan slowly made his way downstairs and headed for the back door. He still hears the bouncing sound, so this was his moment to capture it. "It's not going to be easy since it's moving, but worth a try."
Once he was ready, he opened the door abruptly and ran outside with determination.
"Prepare to be captured, fucke—woaah!"
Brak!
Deklan fell down to the hard wooden floor and rubbed his butt.
He felt something wet, and when he looked down, he realized the floor was covered in juice.
Pumpkin juice.
"You bastard!"
Deklan roared, glaring at the Red Pumpkin Head that was laughing at him for falling to its prank.
As it turned out, the Red Pumpkin Head had been aware of him watching the whole time, only pretending not to notice just to pull a prank. Deklan gritted his teeth and limped toward the smug little pumpkin, pointing at it with barely contained rage.
Since he was holding his throbbing butt, he looked like an old man with back pain.
"Come here, you little shit!" Deklan cursed.
But the Red Pumpkin Head was already running away.,
Its astral laughter echoed as it disappeared into the woods again.
Deklan fell to his knees and ground his teeth like someone possessed.
"Just you wait… If I ever get my hands on that pumpkin, I'm smashing it into pieces." He rubbed his butt in annoyance, but then, a thought came to mind. "Still, did it really come all this way only to prank me? No, I don't believe it. If I'm not what it came for, then what?"
As he contemplated, his gaze turned to the Ward.
He paused for a second, gears turning in his head, before a nasty grin crept to his lips.
"Oh… So that's what."