《Reincarnated streamer walks on the road to becoming a ninja god》


 01 - (season 1) - Time travel to the past

    In 2024, Virtual reality started to take off and become a big hit. People started by playing VR as a form of entertainment; however, advances in technology allowed the VR headsets to evolve to VR Cafes and was essentially the next step after internet gaming. Throughout the years everyone migrated to one popular game based in VR called Champion. Jim was an average streamer who played the game for medical reasons. As he has multiple personality disorder, it started with one personality but soon branched to 9 personalities giving 10 total personalities. Jim always enjoyed exploring new classes and allowing different personalities to present and express themselves through the game and being a streamer allowed him to make extra money to pay the medical bills. Doctors and psychologists told him that expressing these personalities has improved his health and encouraged to play the game for his health.


    In the early stages of the game, Jim created and played many separate classes but the game only allowed one character per account. In order to play a new character, he would either have to delete the character or participate in a season only to have the character reset to level 1 at the end of the season. Jim chose to play the seasons and switched every quarter to a different class to try all the classes and allow each personality to enjoy their own playstyle. As ten years went by, Jim was getting more frustrated as nobody wanted to party with him due to his low levels or unoptimized class leading to either having to ride a bus and pay a fee* or play with his friends who only played at the beginning of a season as they had other jobs and duties such as parenting, professional careers, other games¡­ After meeting the conditions to unlock the ninja class, Jim was overjoyed as this class fits him perfectly. The mechanics are interesting as it allows you to have separate clones you can control. However, Jim was able to find out that each personality was able to take charge of a clone independently of his own thoughts allowing partying with himself to be effective. Once word got out about the ninja class, other gamers tried to play the class but failed at effectively controlling their clones as it caused messy movements and ability to control multiple characters were next to impossible. With the discovery of the ninja class, the ninja class option was not popular due to high damage output required difficult mechanics with no one able to fully utilize the class to its potential. Most people preferred to play classes with a lot of auto focused skills where they did not have to control the character as manually as the ninja or other classes which did not have complex controls but still allowed manually aiming. With this, the ninja class was almost forgotten with the developers not patching or fixing the class mechanics as only one person played the game character.


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    As time went on, Jim went on to play the ninja subclass every quarter for 10 years as he enjoyed playing the game by himself with his multiple personalities even though some players payed attention to his streams, it never took off and Jim still needed to work a regular job as a delivery driver to make ends meet. In 2035, Jim was able exploring a new dungeon and found priceless treasure (Ancient Time Ring, Tier 10). Jim was flabbergasted to find a tier 10 equipment. The highest he ever found was tier 3 as he never leveled past tier 3 since he always started over every season.


    System notification: You have found an ancient relic of a Human god. Do you wish to activate its effect.


    Jim was curious and accepted despite not knowing what its effect was. Whatever the effect was, it has to be strong if it¡¯s tier 10. No one ever found a tier 10 equipment or news was never posted. The highest rated item to be posted was tier 6. This would turn the world upside down if news got out, either that or the developers went to far for an April fools joke. Jim couldn¡¯t resist and confirmed ¡°I accept¡±. Suddenly, he blacked out and was unconscious before waking up to an alarm clock. I could have sworn I was just playing the game right now. He checked his phone why an alarm was set to 7:00am est since he always got up at 6am est. As he went to use the bathroom he noticed he looked like his teenage self at 18 years old. He doubled checked and he almost fell down from shock. This was a huge shock to him and all of his personalities was shocked to see a young version of his future self. This would put him in his freshman year in college. Trying to get more information he checked his phone and computer and confirmed that he was in college as a freshman in the middle of a semester. Knowing what he knows now, Jim decided to use his future knowledge to help push him to the top and answer more questions about the item that brought him back in time. If its possible to go back in time, it should be possible to go forward in time as well. I look forward to seeing all the possibilities in this game and all of his questions from the game. Who made this item? How was I able to travel back in time? Why did the system say a human god created this item. Does that mean that there are others playing this game that are not human? Before anything happens I have to support myself through college, but wait, if money is an issue I can just invest with future knowledge of the game. This should be an easy way to make enough money and not worry about any debt.

 02 - (season 1) Theory crafting

    Theory crafting


    ¡°Lets see what I have in my bank account¡± Jim pondered as he was logging into his laptop. ¡°Only 3,000 USD dollars is available in my bank account after paying for tuition.¡± Jim was surprised that there was this much money considering that he was an only child who did not have any relatives supporting his education. After a sad car accident, Jim lost both his parents and was surviving in government foster care until he turned 18.


    ¡°If its around this time in 2024 tech stocks should be about to have a good run. Lets go all in and leverage my position and borrow up to 50 times¡±.


    ¡°This should help fund for my future expenses and fund my college tuition since I don¡¯t have a play to stay.¡± Jim pondered for a while until looking at websites when the game Champion will come out.


    ¡°So the game will be out this in 5 days. This should allow me pre register for my account and allow me to profit on my investment¡±


    After three days, Jim was able to turn 3,000 USD into 150,000. This was enough to fund him through college and start investing in other companies for future ideas.


    ¡°Now lets login and register for the game¡±


    After logging in, a new message was awaiting for him.


    Thank you for choosing Champion, we will try to meet all of your expectations.


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    ¡°Well that was a let down¡± After looking at his blank character profile he noticed a skill name. ¡°Well that¡¯s strange, how do I have a skill before the game started. Well lets click on the description and see what this skill is.


    ***Skill: Ancient Mana techniques: skill type: Growth/unknown***


    Sera has bestowed upon you her mana technique which rivals mystical heroes npcs. Your affinity with mana will increase with your life rating and will always be one tier higher than your life rating. Due to your low life rating you can only access the first stage of mana cultivation.


    Stage one: Mana Needling


    Stage two: Low tier mana manipulation


    Stage three: Medium tier mana manipulation


    Stage four: User life rating too low to view


    Stage five: User life rating too low to view


    ¡°I have never seen a mana technique before. This is unheard of in the future champion. I better keep this a secret until then¡±


    ¡°Lets see, how should I build my character. I could go for an aura build since each clone can stack buffs and debuffs but this build gets weaker later in the game due to buff stacking limitations boss debuff limitations. How about a physical ninja focusing on shadow ninja skills¡­ but this has limitations on high mana consumption. Well, since I have mana techniques this could solve some limitations¡±


    After much thought, Jim decided to go with a magic ninja. Although a ninja class was rarely played his future, no one even tried to make a magic ninja build due to the high cost of magic spells. The cost to execute each ninja skill is three times that of mages with lower damage and efficiency, so no one really payed any attention or research into this subclass.


    ¡°well I still have some time before I can choose my class at level 10. Until then I have some things to take care of before being kicked out of the Beginner zone**¡±


    **For reference the beginner zone is only available for 10 days, after ten days, the player will be kicked out of the beginner zone.

 03 - (season 1) Opening Day of Champion

    Opening Day of Champion


    As the game was launched, everyone was anticipating server overload due to the pre game hype. As soon the game launched, reviews would follow shortly that will make or break the game¡¯s success. However, since Jim knows about the future, he knows that this game will be a giant success. Instead of focusing on reviews or beginner guides, Jim knew exactly what to do to reach success.


    ¡°Welcome to champion. Please choose a nickname. Please note that this name will be permanent and will represent your character above your head¡±


    After much thought, Jim was unsure what nickname to use. In the future, as he was regarded as the only player to play ninja in later seasons, people nicknamed in solo ninja. Well in this life, lets try a new name. Lets go with Sera since its was possible to return to this life with that item.


    ¡°Welcome Sera to Champion. Feel free to browse the rules for this world and enjoy the game¡±


    After the announcement went away, Sera was moved to the town of beginnings.


    ¡°Wow this place sure is nostalgic. Lets waste no time here and go straight to the library¡±


    In the future, many players went straight into training grounds to practice skills or go outside the town to farm for experience or items. Very few people stayed in the town. It was only after a couple of seasons later that players learned that reading and learning skills books from libraries was one of the few ways of learning legacy skills and basic skills.


    Sera, on a quest to hone his newfound mana technique needed to learn the five basic elemental skills. As he explored the bookshelfs, he found interesting books on swordsmanship, archery, archery, history¡­


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    All of a sudden he started groaning as he held his hand to his head.


    ¡°I thought it was a little too quiet in my head¡±


    In an instant he greeted all nine of his personalities as they rarely manifested outside the game. As soon as Jim logged on all nine personalities slowly started to communicate with each other. Some of his personalities got along, some didn¡¯t, it was reminiscent of a family structure where some people got along just fine and other didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Since we are all here, we can all look at any books that interest us.¡±


    Jim grabbed all the books that using mana control and held them in the air to practice his mana control.  As he was plucking books and placing them back on the shelf, the librarian mage noticed his exceptional control and came to chat with him.


    ¡°You there, what is your name¡± as the elderly mage said.


    As Jim turned around, he greeted the NPC ¡°I am Sera¡±


    ¡°You have great talent in mana, yet I don¡¯t sense that you are a mage¡± as the mage pondered with his curious mind.


    ¡°I am trying to make my own path and develop my own style of combat¡± Sera responded politely.


    ¡°It is rare to meet such a charismatic young man. Let me give you something that will help you in your journey¡± slowly chanting, the mage focused as he slowly started sweating.


    As he finished chanting, a system notification popped.


    System notification: you have learned the talent: molecular mana


    All things in this world is made of mana. The talent allows you to see the breakdown of mana down to its molecules. Your control of mana has increased to the particle level and you can use the mana in nature to assist with spell completion.


    ¡°wow, this is such a great gift. I will never forget your kindness esteemed mage¡± Jim politely thanked the mage.


    ¡°This is the least I can do for someone so talented¡± the wizard slowly walked by to the entrance.


    Talents are very rare as they provide additional bonuses to characters. Some players dream of obtaining one talent in their lifetime. Jim was estatic as he found a hidden gem in the library.


    Adam, jake, Lucifer, Michael congratulated Jim as his other personalities rarely communicate all together. The remaining five didn¡¯t care enough to congratulate Jim as their personalities bordered toward extreme introverts and rarely communicated.


    Suddenly, a message popped up


    System notification: You have used up all your time in the town. You will now be escorted to the town of Apple.

 04 – (season 1) Slime kingdom

    04 ¨C Slime kingdom


    Jim decided to head to the slime kingdom. Many players did not know but slimes carried a secret talent that could be unlocked. The slime talent allows you to sacrifice a piece of your body to temprorrily gain buffs depending on your class type. However, many players did not know how to properly use it much less find a way to acquire it. It was only after 5 years that a player found out how to acquire the slime talent.


    Slime kingdom took 5 days of travel time by foot.


    ¡°Since I have to get to level 10 for a class change, lets kill some monsters along the way.¡±


    Jim picked a basic swordman class as it was well rounded and easy to control.


    As goblins appeared one be one, Jim casually walked up to each goblin and sidestepped their first lunge and sliced their heads off with their momentum.


    ¡°Lets try integrating mana into my attacks ¡°


    Jim had a vague idea of how to attach mana to his sword. He didnt wait for the goblin to lunge first anymore, he just walked up to them slashed at their heads. Due to the weak mana circulating in goblins, there was less resistance.


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    Jim noticed an increase in efficiency in slaying goblins but noticed that this was still lacking in attack power. At this rate, he would get tired if a horde of goblins ganged up on him. He needed to learn swordwave but that was a tier 3 skill. Suddenly, Jim was hit with inspiration, he didn''t need to learn the active skill, he can create his own swordwave skill using his mana technique.


    What element is between me and that tree over there. There is only wind, but how can I cut with wind at tier 1. This was a conundrum and Jim experimented with different theories.


    ¡°If water pressure is high enough it can cut through steel. But I can''t supply that amount of water or pressure. What if I substitute water with wind¡±


    After trying different principles, Jim was still trying to figure out a solution for an area of attack without learning skills.


    In the future, Jim remembered watching season tournaments where players used all kinds of slashing and stabbing attacks, but all of them were related to skills. In order to qualify for the ninja class, one cannot use any skills until level 10 for their class change.


    After pondering for a while, he did remember one unusual player who was highly ranked in sword skills, but he didnt use any skills.


    Jim thought¡± how did he manage to use attack skills without consuming mana?¡±


    ¡°Could he possibly fused multiple concepts together¡±


    ¡°What if I use vibration as a concept to move the mana in one direction on the tip of my blade¡±


    Jim practiced this on a nearby tree and found that by moving the mana around the tip of his blade, he was able to stab the sword through the tree like butter.


    This is much more efficient and stronger that just attaching mana to the blade when he attacked the goblins earlier.


    ¡°This is not bad but I still need something for range and more destruction in attack power would be nice.¡± Jim pondered as he stared at the tree.


    ''What if I coated the rotating mana in a shell of mana so the mana wont lacerate a target until it collides with something solid.¡±


    Jim practiced trying to rotate the mana around his sword but was unable to create a mana shell around it.


    Jim continued to kill goblins until the morning, but was unsuccessful in creating a sword wave.


    Jim logged off after failing to create a sword wave.

 05 – (season 1) – Research

    05 ¨C (season 1) ¨C Research


    As Jim logged off, he frantically searched the web for inspiration.


    ¡°How can I maintain a barrier without the inside molecules from shredding the barrier shell . The mana molecules need to be spinning in one direction to provide enough vibration to slice when using a sword as a medium¡±


    Jim wasn¡¯t able to figure a solution and went to bed.


    He went to the doctor in the morning to get a regular check up which yielded a healthy body report. On his way out, he passed by the patients with casts on their body from accidents. He thought nothing of it at first when all of a sudden, a patient screamed loudly to attract everyone¡¯s attention in the hall. Everyone walked by and took a sneak peek into the room.


    The patient was just nervous as the doctor slipped cutting the cast and accidentally hit her skin. He explained that she shouldn¡¯t be worried as the saw only moves at a certain frequency and moves back and forth only a small distance. It cannot cut skin because the skin is not hard enough and elastic enough to stretch with the saw. He gave her a quick demonstration by placing the saw on his own skin and turned on the machine.


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    After stopping the saw, everyone saw that his skin was fine and wasn¡¯t bleeding.


    Suddenly Jim had an idea.


    ¡°My theory wasn¡¯t wrong, I just wasn¡¯t using the right medium. When I slashed through goblins like cake, I was moving the mana in one direction in a loop using a solid sword to as a medium in one direction. This creates strong slicing forces similar to chain saws, but to move mana using the air as a medium, I should use frequency to move back and forth in short distances. This will allow me to create a soft shell to allow the wave to move through the air without breaking the mana shell, I just need to connect the shell to be elastic.¡±


    ¡°shit, how do I make mana elastic, am I going to throw goblin skin or animal skin everytime I swing my sword. People might actually mistake me for a crazy person.¡±


    Jim was thinking about what can a sword not cut.


    A sword can cut air, steel, rocks, anything physical and solid it can cut. Jim suddenly had an inspiration.


    Can a sword cut water?


    Surely in those fantasy novels, you hear masters cutting through water, but in reality can a sword cut through water? Water is not technically solid like rocks  and should technically hold enough elasticity to absorb being separated and reformed.


    Jim was excited to test this theory when he got home.


    As soon as he logged on, Jim went straight into a nearby forest.


    ¡°Its time to theory craft, come here little goblins¡± as he said with a sinister smile.

 06 – (season 1) Mountain Hammer

    06 ¨C (season 1) Mountain Hammer


    Jim mowed down the goblins like bowling pins. Goblins started walking up to at first and Jim was able to effortlessly slice through their heads by using his mana sword and moving mana outside his sword in one direction.


    As he want to experiment with the goblins, Jim stopped moving the mana in a loop and instead started to move mana back and forth at a medium speed and tried to slice the goblins neck. However, the sword only sank in a quarter of the way in. He pulled his sword out and stepped back. Blood was spraying out of the goblin¡¯s neck like a hose for 2 seconds before blood slowly started flowing. The goblin only took a few steps before it fell to the ground.


    ¡°Jim, let me tag in, the smell of blood is getting my blood boiling¡± Adam started looking at all of the blood around Jim as he killed multiple goblins.


    Jim didn¡¯t have any issues with letting Adam take over.


    ¡°Look at all of this blood. KeKeKe, lets make it rain more blood everywhere¡± Adam said in a hysterical laugh.


    Adam started rushing towards the goblin and flexed his muscles before slashing the sword down. When he slammed the sword down, the ground shook slightly. Jim was experiencing this almost as if someone else was piloting his body.


    ¡°Interesting, I didn¡¯t know my body had such power. Adam might be suited to play a berserker class if he ever gets a chance too.¡± Jim thought to himself.


    While Adam rushed toward another goblin, he grabbed its neck and threw it toward a group of goblin.


    When the goblin was thrown, the whole group fell down. Adam took a giant leap and flexed his muscles while swinging his blade down yelling mountain hammer.


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    Surprisingly, Adam was slowly gathering blood around him as he slowly grew in size. He didn¡¯t grow a significant amount but as Jim was watching his body through a reflection of the goblins eye, he could see that at a minimum his muscled bulged out of his shirt. His chest was puffed out and arms were twice the size it normally is.


    As adam swinged his sword down, the pile of goblins were all dead. The goblin in the middle was sliced in half while the nearby goblins died from the shockwave.


    After killing a group of goblins, the remaining goblins ran away with fear.


    ¡°Thanks Jim for letting me blow off steam. It was fun to see the blood splash around¡± Adam said in a hysterical way adding kekeke at the end of his sentence.


    No problem Adam, your free to come out anytime.


    This was a learning experience for Jim as he didn¡¯t know that he could strengthen his own body with other peoples blood. Technincally speaking it was goblins blood but Jim didn¡¯t really care as he hyptothesized that any type of blood held nutrients that expanded his muscles to its limit allowing him to deliver more strength in each blow. He was in fact surprised that all the goblins died in his final attack although he wasn¡¯t sure why he shouted mountain hammer at the end. While embarssing, Jim did learn to draw in nutrients from blood.


    Jim wanted to test this theory by finding another group of goblins. Jim copied the exact same techniques of Adam. He grabbed one goblin, threw it towards a group of goblins and took a giant leap and swinged his sword down.


    As the dust settled, the only one goblin was split in half but the goblins around the lacerated goblin were still alive. Although injured, they were still moving at around 80 percent mobility.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. Why was adam able to kill 4 goblins in one strike.¡±


    As Jim thought about this, a system notification rang telling him that he will be logged off in 5 minutes.


    As Jim pondered sitting down next to a tree, another player saw the fight and recorded that fight only when Adam took over Jim¡¯s body.


    ¡°This is amazing¡± I can¡¯t believe one player killed over 10 goblins in less than a minute. He knew from fighting goblins that it took about 5 minutes to kill a single goblin.


    ¡°I have to post this in the community forum. Especially, the ending, mountain hammer was awesome¡±

 07 – (Season 1) Community forum superstar Sera

    07 ¨C (Season 1) Community forum superstar Sera


    As soon as Jim woke up, he casually scrolled the game forums. One post in the popular trend tab caught his eye.


    Forum Post Title: Is this an NPC or a hidden expert


    Loads of forum messages discussed the video uploaded of Sera killing goblins with a erratic playstyle reminiscent of berserker classes. People speculated if he already changed classes to a berserker as the power to kill goblins in less than one minute was unheard of. Even multiple classes took 2-3 minutes in groups to efficiently kill goblins.


    People pointed out that you can see Sera as only being level 8 so he shouldn¡¯t be able to class change yet. The weapon used in the video wasn¡¯t anything special as it looked like a random iron sword you can find in any blacksmith.


    The netizens were forming their own ideas but none of them were able to figure out why Sera was dominating goblins before a class change.


    Netizen one said ¡°did you hear how he ended each sentence with kekeke. Maybe he is a secret otaku and researched the game mechanics in beta?¡±


    Netizen two said ¡°Are you an idiot. What kind of beta tester would go into the open without a basic cloak to hide their identities. Most likely, he has a secret talent or is a genius¡±


    Netizen three said ¡°Did you look at his eyes. It looks like he enjoyed the slaying of goblins. Maybe he has a secret class or cultist¡±¡­


    Many online netizens continued to discussed Jim¡¯s playstyle which was actually Adam¡¯s playstyle when he temporarily switched personalities. Jim¡¯s only regret is that he yelled out mountain hammer at the end of that leap strike. This was embarrassing for Jim, but did not affect Adam¡¯s personality.


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    Jim made an official post using his username which linked to the game. At the end of the post he wrote ¡°Im glad everyone enjoyed my gameplay. I will stream in the future so please attend my channel¡±.


    After Jims post, it was pinned to the top of the forum and the netizens went crazy by flooding the messaging boards.


    ¡°Can you teach me how to use the move¡±


    ¡°Can you train my character¡±


    ¡°Are you a beta tester¡±


    Loads of questions poured in and Jim decided not to post anywhere and ignore the remaining posts. A little mystery would always entice the players to want more and maybe even attend him streams.


    The only messages worth noting was recruitment offers to join guilds, however, Jim never liked the idea of being restricted and being told what to do so he ignored all of the invites.


    After browsing the community forums Jim logged on to Champion.


    Day 3 of traveling to Slime Kingdom


    As Jim dived deeper into the forest, the monster species changed as there were signs or wolves fighting with goblins.


    I guess I must be getting close to the wolves dens.


    This didn¡¯t create any issue as wolves were slightly faster and more aggressive versions of goblins. This only made it easier to kill them for xp as wolves would rush up to Jim saving him the trouble of rushing to each wolf.


    As the wolves presented no real danger to Jim, he decided to practice evasion techniques. As he was proficient with the sword, he worked on his parrying techniques. Parrying techniques came in many different forms. For Jim it was easy to parry using the sword close to his body as he could easily predict where the wolf will lunge them teeth or swipe their paws. This held some form of danger but was easily predictable as the wolves did not have variations or foresight to change their attacks.


    Jim wanted to work on parrying attacks that carried tracking mechanisms but unfortunately, all the creatures did not have any complex or projectile attacks. He would most likely not see any until the end of the season or next season as there were tournaments held to celebrate the end of a season.


    Jim continued to cut down on all the monsters with Adam Partially switching bodies and practicing Mountain Hammer.


    Jim could still not perform as well as Adam for strong single strikes as he continued to observe Adam. Maybe Adam has a separate Talent tree than I do. Let me check his talent screen.


    As Jim opened up his screen, he was surprised at what he saw.

 08 – (season 1) Secret Talent

    08 ¨C (season 1) Secret Talent


    As Jim looked at his profile, he saw the talent section split into 4 separate personalities. Each personality had their own talent profile. Five of his personalities were blacked out as they rarely ever interacted with Jim, Adam, Lucifer, or Michael.


    Talent profile


    Jim ¨C Mana manipulation


    Adam ¨C Blood affinity


    Jake ¨C Buddist Affinity


    Lucifer ¨C Darkness affinitiy


    Michael ¨C Light affinity


    Jim was surprised and impressed at the same time. His alter egos Adam and Jake have secret talents he has not heard of before. However, he has heard of Lucifer and Michael¡¯s affinity. Light and Darkness are some of the major Elemental Laws of the world. They rank highly in terms of applicational use of skills. This is a great gain for Jim, however, lucifer and Michael¡¯s personalities are in constant bickering at each other and would always cause headaches for Jim. Its probably better not to call on them until I reach tier 6.


    From his memories, the first 4 years before the Olympics paved the way for players to be known throughout the world. Players would still gain fame after the 1<sup>st</sup> esport Olympic held by Champion, but they weren¡¯t as frequent as they used to be. Therefore, having a strong foundation in the early stages of the game and monopolizing on the season end tournaments will probably have the biggest impact on the game.


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    As Jim thought more about what he had to do, his head was overwhelmed. Soon after Jim logged off and went to sleep.


    In the morning, Jim logged on to Champion.


    Day 4 traveling to Slime Kingdom


    As Jim logged on, he didn¡¯t get a chance to test his water sword wave concept. As soon as he logged on, he looked for a source of water. After killing more monsters, he found a small stream.


    Jim started by first manipulating the water. He had trouble trying to directly hold onto water as it was continued to fall out of his hands. After practicing for a couple of hours, he was able to levitate a small stream of water and extend it to six feet.


    Next, he combined the mana frequency in the air while coating it with a crescent water blade shape. No matter what he did, he was unable to hold the water shell and control the frequency of the blade.


    ¡°No wonder the sword wave is a tier 3 skill. Trying to replicate it without learning the active skill is a challenge.¡±


    Maybe I should reverse the order. I should be able to use sticks and rocks to act as a medium and circulate my mana around it. This should be useful until I reach tier 3 or 4.


    Jim practiced by grabbing a couple of rocks and throwing them at goblins. The rocks were imbued with his mana rotating in one direction. The rocks were able to piece the skin of the goblins easily. After throwing rocks three times, Jim noticed that half of his mana was already gone. He quickly found the issue and used the mana around him to move in a direction. Unfortunately he was only able to focus on three to four rocks maximum. If he used his own mana, he could only definitely throw a dozen rocks at a time, but it would consume a lot of mana.


    Jim was able to use his own mana to spin in one direction on his sword for close combat and throw objects such as rocks for ranged attacks. He was unable to use the mana sword wave concept for now, but he wouldn¡¯t give up. In fact, he enjoyed the challenge and different possibilities of using mana.


    Before he realized it, Jim was already at level 10. The system notified him that he can change it class now. As expected, the ninja class was available and he chose the ninja class.

 09 – (Season 1) Slime training

    09 ¨C (Season 1) Slime training


    After receiving the ninja class, Jim received a notification.


    Congratulations on choosing the ninja subclass. While the road of a ninja is challenging, it is rewarding with its deceptive playstyle and ninja mechanics.


    You have unlocked the following talents.


    Clone: based on the users preference a clone will be made for 3 minutes. The more clones you have active, the mana usage will be adjusted accordingly.


    Substitution Jutsu: Switch place with an object within 1000 meters of the player. Objects in motion will retain the momentum it switches with. Cooldown: 5 seconds


    Hidden Perception: If you dont move for 5 seconds, your next attack will increase by 50%.


    There are no ninja active skills which is part of the reason why the ninja class was not popular. Players wanted the easy way to play the game. Characters that have auto lock or attack tracking mechanics were popular as the player would only have to activate the skill and it will automatically lock in a target. As the level of the skill went up, they normally lacked tracking mechanics and the player would eventually have to aim their skills.


    Due to the higher learning curve, many players chose to restart their class if they chose ninja. However, having played the ninja class, Jim learned many hidden tricks that could elevate the damage and ingenuity of the class. For example, the clone jutsu looks clumsy at first but with enough experience you can maneuver the body and create devastating combo attacks.


    Players additionally looked down at the substiution jutsu thinking it only as an escape tool. After player this class for many years, substitution has more unique uses in fights than one would think.


    ¡°just thinking about all the possibilities is nostalgic, but first I have to finish what I came here for¡±


    Arriving at the slime kingdom, you can tell that this is the home of slimes. Slime monsters vary in size from baseballs to basketballs. Slimes actually dont provide any exp when killed and its attack does not damage the player. Many people didnt bother with slimes as they didnt provide any benefit for the player. It took about 5 years in the future when a player accidently discovered a hidden talent from the slimes.


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    Jim walked up to a group of slime and sat down. Slimes slowly started climbing his body and started attacking, however, they did no damage to Jim. Supposedly, if Jim did not attack the slimes and just let the slimes attack him for 3 hours, he should receive a talent.


    While Jim was sitting down, he noticed that the slimes were transclucent to the point where he could see the mana structure within the slimes. He was mesmerized that slimes sometimes split their bodies and would always reform. He kept focusing on how they reform and noticed that their bodies had no nodes for mana points.


    In the player''s bodies, there are 9 junctions or blockages that regulate mana. Each junction prevented too much mana from flowing from one organ to another. Slimes did not have any junctions and each mana node was connected to another without any blockages.


    Jim kept watching and tried to understand why the player bodies junctions only allowed 2 percent of the mana from flowing at all times. He understood that without the blockage, his mana pathway could become severely imbalanced and would need precise control from damaging his own mana. When Jim was pondering the mysteries of his mana body a system notification rang.


    System notific ation: You have noticed the imperfections in your body for mana pathways which are blocked by junctions. You are the first human player to identify the problem. Would you like to accept the unique quest: Unlock your mana body.


    ¡°Heavens, an unique quest. I have never seen an this level of quest in my life. Because of the sensitive nature of this information, no player ever mentioned receiving uniq quests in his past. They were all kept private or used to strengthen their guilds.¡±


    The rarity followed this order.


    Bronze


    Silver


    Gold


    Unique


    Epic


    Legendary


    No one ever mentioned a legendary quest nor has it been confirmed. A gold quest was the highest quest that was publicly disclosed in the future. I must accept this quest.


    ¡°I accept¡±


    system notification: You have accepted the epic quest (1/5)


    Unlocking your Mana body


    You are the first human to identify flaws in your body. Find clues to unlocking the 9 junctions in your mana body to attain greater control over your body. Mana junctions unlocked 0/9.


    As soon as he accepted the quest, Jim felt ecstatic of receiving a unique quest but also brought more questions to his mind. The quest specifically mentioned him as the first human which could mean that other races have already received this quest.


    ¡°I guess I have to no time to slouch¡±


    After 3 hours passed Jim received a notification


    System Notification: you have learned the slime talent.


    Slime Talent: Slimes have a unique body structure that allows it to split a part of its body while still regaining consciousness allowing it to merge back to the original body. The neural pathways in its brain is constructed to allow mana to flow freely from its brain to its nervous system. Mana can move freely from the brain to your nervous system.


    System Notification: you have unlocked the first junction (brain junction).(1/9)

 10 – (Season 1) Breaking the Clone technique

    10 ¨C (Season 1) Breaking the Clone technique


    Jim couldn''t believe what he was seeing as he looked at the system notification screen. He never thought that finding the first step would be right in front of him. He started reading the system notification.


    system notification: you are the first human being to have unlocked the brain junction. Mana is no longer restricted to 50% and 100% will be allowed to be transferred from the brain to the nervous system.


    At first glance Jim didn''t know if this would be an improvement as he couldn''t tell whether there was a big difference before and after the skill notification. Little did he know that the first step that he just took would be one of the largest steps to uncovering a greater strength.


    Jim wanted to try using his ninja skills in practice. He summoned a clone of himself and analyzed the stats. Clones normally have 50% of the main players stats; however, Jim thought he saw an error. The player stats showed 100% is shared with the clone. Jim rubbed his eyes together and checked again, however, it still showed 100%. This must be one of the effects from unlocking the brain junction. Jim couldn''t know for sure as the game did not mention this as an effect from unlocking the brain junction. Instead of pondering more theories, he wanted to test out the capabilities of the clone. In the future, he had fairly good control of his clones; however, they were limited to basic movements and used more for deception than attacking as moving the clones required so much concentration that he would need to stop what he was doing on the main body to control the clone.


    While having 100% is like having an exact clone of yourself, the problem would still lie in control. JIm wondered why he should control the clone when he has different personalities that could do a better job. Instead to trying to do two things at once, why not have another personality control it.


    Jim didn¡¯t think this would work but wanted to give this a try. Adam volunteered and tried to enter the consciousness of a clone. After a few seconds, the clone did not move. As expected, the game wouldn''t be this generous. As soon as Jim was about to cancel the clone, it suddenly turned around. Adam wanted to have some fun with Jim and pretended that the mind transfer to the clone failed. Jim was curious if the clone could switch personalities again. He asked for for Jake to swap in. After a second, Jake greeted Jim and said ¡°it is good to see you Amithaba¡±


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    Jake had a religious personality and strongly believed in Buddhist lifestyle. One of his favorite things to do was meditate. As soon as he greeted Jim, Jake sat down and started praying with both of his hands pressed together.


    Jake started chanting ¡°Om Mani Padme Hum¡± which is the mantra of compassion.


    As soon as Jake started chanting, Jim could feel a warm sensation envelope him. He instantly knew that this was no ordinary feeling and checked his stats. Jim was pleasantly surprised as this was a buff that increased healing by 20% and attack damage by 20%. This was rare in champion as the early seasons did not have any buffing classes aside from healers. While they can heal and buff, healing was their main strength and buffs were subpar in comparison as they only boosted 5-10% attack damage. Only a few players ever received a monk class and most of them played as a physical monk as only a few chosen ones ever received the opportunity to become a Buddhist subclass.


    Jim suddenly had a flash of inspiration and asked him to teach him the basic mantra of what he was just chanting.


    Jake was thrilled to teach some basic mantras to Jim. As Jim sat down across from Jake, they started chanting in unison ¡°Om Mani Padme Hum¡±. Instantly the healing and attack damage rose to 30%. Jim was ecstatic to find that having the main body and clone chanting the mantra would increase the buffs further. If healers found this out, they might kill me out of jealously. As only one buff from any class can be active at one time, Jim could easily fill the role of a healer and buffer allowing team compositions to be composed of an aggressive attack team.


    However, as soon as his thought process interrupted his chanting, Jim was no longer in sync with Jake and the buff fell down 25%. Jim thought this was too good to be true and identified the problem instantly. If he is not 100% in sync with Jake, the buff will not be as strong as it could be. That means if even a rock hits one of them, their buff synergy will be reduced for a moment. Jim took this into consideration, however, he still considered this one of his trump cards for team raids. Out of curiosity he asked Michael and Lucifer to swap into the clone before the 3 minute duration of the clone ran out. However, as soon as Lucifer swapped in, the clone exploded. Jim was puzzled before he thought about Lucifer''s talent. Lucifer has a darkness affinity. Darkness and Light happens to be higher elemental affinities. Without having strong offerings, you cannot normally bring dark or light beings into this dimension. Even skills that focused around light or darkness required rare artifacts to use them. Jim summoned another clone and asked Michael to swap in and the same thing happened. The cloned exploded immediately.


    Jim noticed something strange and found out that when Michael''s clone exploded, the cooldown of the clone was reset. This was interesting as the cooldown of the clone was for 5 minutes while the duration of the clone was 3 minutes. If he used this correctly, Jim could use the clone skill infinitely. This created a lot of possibilities. After he tried practicing his clone skills two more times with no cooldown periods a system notification rang out.


    System notification: You will be logged off in 5 minutes.


    Jim decided to practice for 5 more minutes before logging off.

 11 - (season 1) Finding a group for Team raids

    11 - (season 1) Finding a group for Team raids


    As Jim logged off, he started looking for a group to run team raids. Currently, there was only one Raid boss available in Champion. Burning Chicken was the first available raid for season 1. Currently no one has successfully raided burning chicken as the difficulty of a new raid boss mixed with the start of a new game has players trying to learn its patterns and weaknesses.


    Burning Chicken had a party limit of 5 people and generally required players averaging level 20. Judging by forum posts, the average player level is around 15 with Jim well below the average player at level 10. His journey to the slime kingdom and practicing his skills took valuable time from hunting; however, Jim knew that he was closer to level 20 in terms of attack power.


    Level 20 was a turning point for players as they would be bumped to tier 1 upon their first class promotion. Every 20 levels would provide an increase in tiers all the way to level 100. Each increase in tier would significantly increase skill damage and allow you to earn and invest your skill points toward your class specific skills. What players dont know right know is how valuable skill points are when you advance in tiers. Players would foolishly spend their class specific skill points as soon as they get promoted in tiers. This might seem logical now, but as they advance to tier 5 and above, they will notice that high level class specific skills are outside of what they can purchase with their skills. Although the system will let you refund your class specific points at the end of a season, it is normally discounted to 75% of the original value. In the end, you would still lose a good chunk of class specific skill points.


    Jim had to carefully consider not spending any skill points until tier 6 if he wanted to obtain high level class specific skills.


    As Jim was looking for team members in the champion forums, he found a lot of people looking to form teams, however, since it was just the forums, he couldn''t tell how capable players would be until they practiced together. Therefore, he decided to head into hunting grounds to look for promising candidates. After giving up his search online, Jim went to Bed.


    The next morning, Jim logged on in search of reliable teamates. There were groups of players roaming in small teams and rarely any players moved alone other than Jim. Nobody caught Jim''s eye as all the teams were newbies. As he was searching for teamates, he stumbled upon someone''s stream as they tried to recruit Jim into a party. He politely declined as they would be holding him back. As soon as he was about to leave, Jim was surrounded by 10 players. He instantly recognized the intent to kill exuding from the 10 cloaked players.


    ¡°Surrender your weapons if you want to live¡± a burly cloaked player said with hostility.


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    The streamer didn''t want to die and lose his hard earned xp, so he was going to pay the burly cloaked Man. Before you could say anything else Jim intervened and replied ¡°not interested¡±.


    All of the cloak figures started laughing out loud. some of them even the discussed amongst themselves if he should kill Jim first. all nine of the club players looked towards a burly cloaked figure and asked if they wanted to eliminate Jim first.


    Two figures started running up to Jim with swords in their hands. Both of them raised their swords with the intention to swing the sword down with all of their might.


    Jim quickly dashed in front of them and swung his sword horizontally at their necks and slashed their heads off instantly decapitating them. The remaining cloaked figures gasped in astonishment.


    All of the cloaked figures started to take this fight seriously and surround Jim in a circle. Jim could easily use his clones to kill the remaining group quickly; however, he didn¡¯t want to reveal his trump cards, especially when there was a streamer recording nearby.


    Jim quickly turnaround and started running toward two of the cloaked figures. Using the element of surprise, he quickly started rotating the mana in the air around his sword to spin in one direction creating a mana blade. He quickly sliced through the cloaked figures arms and eventually their necks.


    The remaining six figures started retreating as fast as they could as they instintively knew that they were no match for the monster.


    The players that Jim saved came up to express their gratitude.


    ¡°No thanks are needed¡± as he starting moving to search for more team members.


    Jim did not realize it at the moment, but the streamer that he had saved was live streaming the whole fight. Eventually, this caught the eye of established guilds and stronger independent teams.


    Jim started getting notifications left and right to his inbox. Jim quickly scrolled through all of them and threw most of them in the trash. Although a few guild invites caught his eye, he didn''t want to be bound to a guild he knew nothing about.


    After trashing more guild invites, Jim did pause to read a message send by Blue Moon. As he recalled blue moon was a respected player in the future and even managed to secure a spotlight in future champion tournaments. While Blue moon was a swordsman, he was not the strongest swordsman but his character was well respected. He easily placed within the top 100 swordsman class.


    Blue Moon invited Sera to participate in raiding Burning Chicken in 20 days.


    Jim wasn''t surprised as they were probably close to level 15 and wanted to advance to level 20 to reach tier 1 and have access to class specific skills to increase their chances in successfully completing the raid. Jim replied and agreed to meet Blue Moon in the training center in apple town.


    Once Jim reached the training center, he met Blue Moon waiting for him there. Blue Moon greet Sera and introduced them to Jim.


    Blue Moon: swordman lvl 15.


    Butter: Tank lvl 15


    Carrot: mage lvl 15


    Link: Spearman lvl 15


    ¡°Thank you for taking your time to meet me here today Sera¡±


    ¡°Since you are here, you must be interested in raiding Burning Chicken for the first clear.¡± Blue moon asked Sera.


    ¡°I am interested¡± Jim replied.


    ¡°Good, I would like you to spar with each one of us to check how strong your are and how well we could work together¡± Blue moon asked politely.


    ¡°I don''t mind, this will also allow me to test your skills¡± Jim responded.


    Everyone other than Blue Moon was insulted as they thought Blue Moon made a mistake to ask for Sera to participate in the raid. His level was only at level 10 creating a large gap of strength, speed, intelligence... between each member. Link did not mind the challenge and volunteered to go first.


    Both Jim and Link stepped onto the practice arean.

 12 – (season 1) Sparring against teammates

    12 ¨C (season 1) Sparring against teammates


    As the time counted down to zero, Link rushed towards Sera hoping to get in the first strike and take advantage of the distance created by the spear. As Link slammed the spear down Jim retreated swiftly allowing the spear tip to slam into the ground. Link was setting a trap as he had faced many opponents who tried to rush him after the initial swing missed. Sera could easily tell that Link was planning on following the attack by striking the spear up while using the ground as a spring to create tensile strength and increase the damage of the strike.


    Jim committed to a half dash followed by a quick backstep when Link started his motion to swing upward. Once the spear was raised up, Jim dashed again towards Link and activated his mana blade to decapitate Link.


    Winner: Sera.


    All three spectators were shocked to see Link lose in less than 10 seconds. Everyone thought this was a fluke as the damage needed to kill a level 15 player would need to be significantly greater than what a level 10 player can produce. Everyone thought they would get to see a show but they received shock instead.


    As Link landed out side of the arena, he thanked Sera for the learning opportunity as he taught him to never stop attacking even if you think you will be victorious.


    Butter asked how he was able to slice through bone and flesh in a swoop.


    ¡°Its a trade secret. If your coming up next, I suggest all three of you come up together¡±


    This was not meant to be a taunt, but in order to have a meaningful spar, Jim believed that only with three people that he would feel any danger.


    Blue Moon declined and said she will go after Butter and Carrot.


    They quickly jumped up to the stage and the countdown started for the next match.


    As soon as the battle started, Carrot stepped back while Butter guarded in front of her with a shield.


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    Carrot started chanting a spell for a fireball.


    Jim could easily see where the mana was gathering.


    She was a sly one as she purposely lowered the power of the fireball to create two fireballs instead of one. A fireball was being formed in front of here and one fireball was forming above Jim''s head.


    Jim saw through this tactic and activated his mana blade and sliced through the mana above his head before a fireball could be formed and side stepped the fireball coming from the front.


    Everyone was atonished thinking it must be a fluke. How can a swordsman locate a spell before completion and destroy it. Nobody had a clue what Jim just performed.


    Carrot believing this was a fluke started chanting for another fireball.


    Instead of waiting this time, Jim grabbed a stick and through it at tank. He purposely did not inject mana into it or embue it with mana from the air to make the attack look harmless.


    The tank did not feel any danger and chose to ignore the stick. The stick landed on the floor in between the mage and the tank. Jim activated his substitution jutsu (sub jutsu will be used in the future) to switch places between the stick and him self.


    Carrot and Butter were caught offguard creating a lag in their responses. Jim took this opportunity to slice both necks in a spinning motion defeating both opponents in one strike.


    This time, everyone was in shock as they thought Sera was just a swordsman class.


    ¡°How did you do that¡± all of the team members asked.


    Jim responded ¡°Just because I have a sword does not mean I have the swordsman class. My class is actual the ninja class¡±


    Everyone''s excitement turned sour in less than one second. Videos of the ninja class came out in the forums. Every single video showcased the difficulty of the class. As expected, everyone complained about the difficulty of controlling a clone. Even high skilled players gave up as they could barely make their clone walk in a straight line let alone swing a sword. No videos complimented the sub jutsu as many players though of this as an escape mechanism and not an attack mechanism. Even watching Sera, Blue Moon''s team still found respect and motivation to surpass Sera. Most of all everyone thought that Sera is a genius that would probably only appear once in a blue moon.


    While everyone was digesting the Butter and Carrot''s battle, Blue moon stepped up to the arena.


    ¡°I look forward to the battle¡± Blue moon said in a calm manner.


    ¡°Likewise¡± Sera replied.


    As soon as the countdown started, everyone was surprised by what happened next.


    Neither player moved an inch, with both staring at each other.


    Blue Moon''s teammates wondered why they kept their distance.


    Jim was cautiously observing Blue Moon. His six sense kept staring at Blue Moon, like something was imbalanced. Eventually, he saw the mana flow of Blue Moon''s body. Blue Moon''s mana pathway was abnormally flowing to her head; however, the area around her eyes were devoid of mana.


    Jim threw out a random comment ¡°Are you by chance blind Blue Moon?¡±


    Everyone was confused to Sera''s question.


    ¡°How could our team leader be blind¡± Carrot and Butter knew Blue Moon the longest and nothing indicated that she was blind.


    Puzzled by the response, Blue Moon responded ¡°How did you know I was Blind¡±

 13 – (Season 1) Blind genius

    13 ¨C (Season 1) Blind genius


    Everyone in the training room was confused. All of Blue Moon''s party members never knew that she was blind. Some even wondered how she could talk, converse and lead the party if she was blind.


    Blue Moon continued in her explanation ¡°Technically, I am not blind, but my sight is significantly reduced. Imagine looking through the pinhole of a door, you can only see slightly in front of you.¡±


    Everyone understood to some degree that she was not truly blind. However, this did not satisfy Jim''s observation. While the mana pathways are closer to her skin that regular players, the mana around her was denser than normal players like her teammate. Sera was cautious as it seemed like he met a genius.


    Sera ran towards Blue Moon to test her. He brandished a sword without any mana and performed a vertical slash followed by a horizontal slash. While Sera''s stats were below Blue Moon, she perfectly avoided both slashes almost as if she could predict them. Sera mixed in a couple of small rocks mixed in with slashes, however, he was unable to land a hit on Blue Moon.


    Sera stopped his offensive attacks as Blue Moon showed no signs of aggression.


    As the party members of Blue Moon watched ¡°They started discussing that this was their captain''s strength¡±


    Blue Moon was certain that this was not his full strength as Sera was not even breaking a sweat and his breathing was maintained at normal pacing.


    ¡°Why not show me your full strength¡± Blue Moon suggested.


    ¡°Well, the road goes both ways, I know that you have not used your full strength either¡± Sera responded.


    No one in the crowd believed that sera was not putting in his full effort.


    Blue Moon took a large breath ¡°Well I will start. This is my own technique that I created out of neccessity.¡±


    The mana around Blue Moon decreased in density and returned to normal levels similar to her teammates. Mana started moving all over her body and focused around her eyes.


    Blue Moon stated ¡°I call this supersight. I can temporarily see with full clarity and increase my mana control. As soon as she said this, she poured mana into her sword which started turning blue.


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    This was Blue Moon''s version of a mana blade; however, it was different from Sera''s mana blade. Blue Moon used her own mana and formed a blue color on the blade while Sera''s blade did not have a color but Blue Moon could see that it was no ordinary sword. Like her blade, there was mana surrounding Sera''s blade but the mana did not belong to him was part of the environment''s mana.


    For the first time in battle, Blue moon dashed at Sera swinging her blue mana blade. Sera was able to jump back in time. The ground where Blue Moon swung her sword down cracked the ground. Sera noticed this and hypothesized that she cannot control the mana going into her blade. This cracked the ground and the force was displaced randomly compared to Sera''s mana blade where it could easily pierce the floor.


    As Blue Moon kept chasing Sera, he suddenly dashed at Blue Moon and swung his sword. Both swords did not make contact but the mana in between there swords created sparks. Sera''s mana blade kept the mana spinning in one direction creating a chainsaw effect while Blue Moon kept pumping her own mana into her blue blade. Blue Moon noticed that her blue mana blade started shrinking as Sera''s sword started coming closer to her sword. She retreated a couple of steps back.


    ¡°You are full of suprises. What is that skill of yours¡± Blue Moon asked curiously.


    ¡°IT is not a skill, like you, I created my own technique¡± Sera responded.


    ¡°Your strength is impressive; however, I do have a berserk skill left as my trump card. I wonder if you can withstand it.¡± After Blue Moon said those words, mana started forming around her head and a small horn made out of mana started forming around her head.


    Sera was surprised as that is a demon technique. While people think demon techniques are inherintly evil, this was not the case at all. Depending on how players act, any attack can be used to cause harm or save someone''s life. Sera was able to notice this due to the irregular mana forming on her head. No one else was able to see the changes in Blue Moon, but everyone could tell that she had a dangerous vibe now.


    Blue Moon rushed at Sera and swung her sword horizontally. Sera was unable to parry the sword in time and instead chose to block the sword. Unable to withstand the strike, Sera was pushed back 10 steps.


    What a strong technique. I don''t know how much longer she can maintain that form but it looks like I have no choice but to bring out my clone. As Blue Moon continue to chase Sera, a clone appeared right next to him. Not feeling a threat from the clone, Blue Moon swung her blue blade again. This time, Jim threw over a regular sword to the clone and transferred Jake''s ego into the clone. As soon as Jim felt Adam''s ego connect to Jim, they simultaneously swung their swords together.


    All three players were pushed back 5 steps. Jim and Adam started running in opposite directions so one would be facing Blue Moon and the clone would be facing the back of Blue Moon.


    Everyone gasped as they just witnessed the birth of a genius. Everyone knew how difficult it was to control a clone to the point that even pro gamers could barely perform basic functions if the main body was not moving. To simultaneously move and control all bodies was unheard of.


    This time, Jim and Adam rushed towards Blue Moon to attack. While Blue Moon had exceptional vision and foresight, she was unable to dodge all the slashes performed in unison by Jim and Adam. Blue moon swung her sword in a circular motion to push Jim and Adam back 5 steps. She started running at the Clone getting ready to destroy the clone as swiftly as possible. Both Jim and Adam through a bunch of rocks flying towards in front of her and behind her as Jim was now facing her back.


    Blue moon was going to ignore all of the rocks and receive some damage in order to focus on killing the clone. However, Adam used the substitution jutsu and switched positions with a rock he threw earlier. Adam yelled ¡°Mountain Hammer¡±.


    At the same time, Jim used his substitution jutsu to switch places with a rock that he threw earlier placing him within 3 steps of Blue Moon. Despite noticing Jim, Blue Moon''s blue blade was being suppressed by Adam''s mountain hammer attack that was equally as heavy and her own attack during her berserk state. Being unable to move Jim slashed his mana blade decapitating Blue Moon''s head.


    Winner: Sera

 14 – (Season 1) Searching for a blue chicken

    14 ¨C (Season 1) Searching for a blue chicken


    After the battle ended, Blue Moon and her party came up to practice arena. Being impressed, Blue Moon asked Sera to join the raid party for Burning Chicken. After discussing the loot split, Sera asked for first rights to any loot item dropped. Blue Moon did not feel comfortable handing over priority rights to loot without a guarantee of winning the first kill for Burning Chicken.


    Sera agreed that handing over first loot priority should go to the highest member that contributed to the raid.


    Sera asked ¡°Does anyone on your team have healing or buffing capabilities¡±


    Confused, Blue Moon answered ¡°No, we don¡¯t have anyone with those capabilities. Carrot can use basic healing skills but no one on our team can provide buffs¡±.


    Sera introduced Jake''s clone. As soon as Jake sat down, he began chanting and a warm sensation blew over everyone like a gentle breeze. Everyone was surprised as this was almost a godly support character. The ability to heal and buff is amazing. Jim purposely did not tell them about increasing the buffs if he synced with Jake. He wanted to keep a hidden ace up his sleeve.


    After showing confidence in grabbing the first kill, Blue Moon accepted Sera''s condition for first rights to loot. After discussing the battle tactics, the only thing left was to level up. Blue Moon saw videos of teams wiping out at Burning Chicken raid. The main problem after having decent equipment was the average level of the party. Party levels averaged around 10-15 at this time and the raid requirements were suggested for party levels of 20+. The system recommended to have at least reach tier 1 at level 20 to have acceptable stats to have a chance of succeeding. Sera was still level 10 while Blue Moon''s team was averaging around level 15.


    Everyone agreed to meet back in 10 days when everyone should be around level 20 to attempt at the raid. As soon as everyone agreed, the system notification came and everyone logged off.


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    The next day, Jim logged onto Champion. He had a plan of what to do for the next 10 days. He needed to look for a blue chicken. People did not know this, but the first raid boss held significance that is crucial for later dungeons stages in champion.


    Adam and Jake asked Jim why he needed a blue chicken. They were not aware, but phoenix''s were nearly extinct and only one player in the future had a phoenix. Although he didn''t disclose the strength of the phoenix, they nicknamed him the immortal phoenix. Very few videos were recorded of the immortal phoenix, but everyone agreed that thanks to the phoenix, killing him was close to impossible.


    The only clue that was provided was that he brought a chicken into the raid and left with a phoenix. Rumors spread that he looked for a blue chicken but he couldn¡¯t find one. Jim decided to train in the morning and attend the night market for chickens. After deciding on his 10 day schedule, he decided to visit the practice arena.


    Jim decided that building the foundations of his body would serve him well for the future rather than just grinding for levels. While levels are important, honing your skills is how high level players advanced farther.


    Jim arrived at the practice arena and stood in the middle of the arena. He had a vague idea to complete his first quest unblocking all of the junctions in his mana body. The system listed the following.


    Brain (complete)


    Eyes


    Nervous system (complete)


    Muscles


    Heart


    Skin


    ???


    ???


    ???


    Jim didn¡¯t mind experimenting on how to unlock the other 7 junctions but had an idea to start eyes, muscles and skin. Essentially, he wanted to try body reformation. As the muscle is under strain, muscle fibers would break and be reformed. Jim decided to call his clones to speed up training. One of the benefits of training as a ninja is that clones can assist you in training. While clones don¡¯t normally retain the benefits of training, Jim¡¯s clones are not normal clones. Because their brainwaves are connected through the benefits of brain junction, Jim receives the benefits from the clones. Jim summoned two clones and sent Adam and Jakes ego into both of them. Jake decided to meditate and focus on unlocking the heart junction as it seems like this might be best suited for Jake. Adam and Jim decided to spar with each other. They used a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercises. As Adam and Jim were exercising Jake was praying and watching those two spar. He realized that after a 10 minute spar with each other, mana would flow from the environment to replenish their mana. Jake stopped praying and walked up to Adam and Jim. At first he thought that the mana was being drawn in from breathing so he told them to hold his breath. However, mana was still being replenished. He told them they could stop holding their breath.


    Jake sat down and started praying providing a warm sensation that blew over Jim and Adam. This time he was focusing on where the mana was being drawn through. Jake saw that mana was being drawn through the skin. He could tell by following his own mana that was providing the buff was uniformilay absorbed through the skin. This made sense in some ways. Nutrients can enter and leave the skin. Mana must have similar properties that allow for this to happen.


    System Notification: You have unlocked the skin junction. 3/9 junctions unlocked.

 15 – (season 1) Birth of a legend

    15 ¨C (season 1) Birth of a legend


    System Notification: You have unlocked the skin junction. 3/9 junctions unlocked. You have found the entry way for mana to enter your body. Mana absorption speed has increased.


    Again, the system gave the minimum amount of information possible. It wanted the player to develop their own interpretation of skills. This didn¡¯t discourage Jim at all as he quite enjoyed the possibilities of creating new ideas. As soon they the three of them realized that they could see and manipulate the mana entering their body they thought of a new plan to maximize their training time. They noticed that mana was seeping into their muscles as they used their muscles for training. All three tried to contract and stretch their muscles by moving the mana in the muscle.


    This idea worked great but there was a problem with this method. Each personality knew their own breaking point and would stop training their muscles before they could be completely fatigued. Therefore, they decided to train each others muscles, since all three personalities shared the main body each personality can control the mana in the muscle. Everyone decided to control the personality to their right. This proved to be a much more challenge as each personality pushed as hard as they could and did not know when they would stop.


    As Jim used the public training rooms, sound was not insulated but since he opted to use privacy training mode, no one could see what was happening in the training room. This is what most players used in the beginning stages of champion since resources were scarce.


    As time went on people slowly started gathering around the practice room. You could hear strange noises coming from the room.


    Jake: Stop pulling, stop pulling, I can¡¯t take it anymore.


    Adam: You bastard did the same thing to me. Have a taste of your own medicine.


    Jim: If you guys don¡¯t take it seriously, I will stretch your muscle so hard, you wont be walking for days.


    The crowd was mixed. Some players were laughing, some players felt disgusted. Random players started recording. Even though they couldn¡¯t see anything, they recorded all the sounds for hours and posted on the forums.


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    After another two hours, Jim released the clones and all of his muscles were sore. They were so sore that he couldn¡¯t walk out of the room and had to crawl out of the room using his arms. He wasn¡¯t sure why there was a crowd outside his practice room. He didn¡¯t think much of it and logged off to take a break.


    Jim decided to take a quick break and browsed the forums. He was scrolling though trending forums and found his username posted on the first page of posts.


    Trending posts:


    Should we report this user for abuse


    Does the game require consent for 18+


    What kind of sicko is Sera


    The posts didn¡¯t end until the 3<sup>rd</sup> page. Out of curiosity, Jim clicked on the link with the most comments ¡°Should we report this user for abuse¡±


    User 1: I cant believe a human being could be so evil and vile.


    User 2: I bet he does that to everyone he knows.


    User 3: Offering 100 USD dollars for live footage.


    Jim turned red immediately while both of his egos were laughing their heads off in his mind.


    Adam: That was the funniest shit I watched in a while.


    Jake: Amithaba, you need some help Jim. Maybe I can offer you some prayers, but you will have to be 10 feet away from me amithaba.


    Jim was furious that everyone was making accusations. Some fans donated money to his account and some sent death threats and promises to call the police and developers to ban him.


    After calming down, Jim decided to log back on and go to the night market. He made sure to wear a cloak to hide his username.


    Blue Moon sent a few messages while Jim was offline. She wanted to make sure that everything was alright and those videos were false accusations. Jim assured her that this was just strength training.


    Blue Moon wasn¡¯t sure how she felt about this and hoped that her new teammate is not a crazy person.


    Jim went to the night market to look for chickens. Before he went, he went to the online game store and purchased a season mask that hid the identity of the player until the end of the season.


    As Jim roamed the street market he was unable to find a blue chicken. There were plenty of red and orange chickens.


    He asked the vendors: Have you ever seen a blue chicken?


    All the vendors said no. Some players were vendors and they replied ¡°Yeah, once in a blue moon¡±. After failing to find a blue chicken Jim went around the market looking at weapons. His current weapon was just a regular iron sword. He needed weapons for his alter egos. As he roamed the streets, nothing caught his eye. All of a sudden Adam tells Jim to stop and turn around. Jim turned around and saw nothing that caught his eye. The vendor behind him was selling a rusty old swords, some herbs and a couple of animal bones. Adam kept staring at one of the femur bones, it looked like the bone of a large animal. The bone¡¯s size was close to the size of his actual leg. Adam told Jim to buy this bone if possible.


    Jim inquired why he should buy this bone. Adam couldn¡¯t explain it but he was a connection with that bone. Jim didn¡¯t want to spend money on a useless bone, but Adam was very adamant that he buy this. Since he was there he haggled with the man to sell him prayer beads and give him the bone for free. The vendor didn¡¯t really care about the bone and agreed if Jim bought the prayer bead he would give the bone for free.


    This way Jim bought weapons for both Jake and Adam. After buying weapons, Jim logged off and went straight to sleep as he was tired.

 16 – (Season 1) Training with a Bone

    16 ¨C (Season 1) Training with a Bone


    Day 2


    Logging into champion, Jim decided to buy a 7 day pass for private rooms that included sound insulation to prevent the public from streaming his practice sessions. People were crowded around the training rooms but no one recognized Jim thanks to his Cloak which hid his username.


    Jim repeated his training method from yesterday. Stretching the muscles using mana was significantly more effective than simple weight training. All three egos tried to not only stretch the muscles, but once the muscle fibers were broken, they spend 5 minutes to pack as much mana from the skin to the muscles.  Jim could tell he was close to a breakthrough. Even though he was not level 20, he could feel close to reaching tier 1. Jim contemplated, can you reach tier 1 even through other methods.


    While champion awarded tiers to levels breaks in increments in 20 levels, that was not the only way to break tiers. Players in the past consistently broke through tiers even if there level did not meet the requirements. The more he thought about it, what was the point of tiers. Certain criteria¡¯s must be met to reach tiers, mostly it should be related to damage output.


    Jim checked the settings in the practice room. One of the ways that people checked their tiers is through the practice dummy in the practice arena. This was the least effective way to know your tier as the practice dummy only tells you if you reached a certain tier. In later seasons of champions, players could tell by sparring whether they reached certain tiers. There were rumors about items and certain training grounds. This led to Popular ranking lists that were published and always caused a debate.


    Once the practice dummy was created, Jim started by creating his signature mana blade. He swung his sword at the practice dummy. Surprisingly, he was able to slice through it. After a couple of seconds, the practice dummy displayed tier 0. Jim was unable to reach tier 1.


    With a burning spirit, Adam wanted to give it a try. He started running and made a leap yelling mountain hammer. After the dust settled, the practice dummy displayed the same score. Adam was in disbelief that he didn¡¯t reach tier 1. Jim asked Jake if he could start praying to test after he was buffed. After receiving a 20% buff, Jim could feel power welling up in his muscles. He slashed at the practice dummy, and was able to slice the dummy in half. Jim concluded that he was missing between 10-20% power between his strike. Either he needed a better weapon or a buff from Jake in order to have tier 1 damage. Jim was confident that he could reach tier 1 before the Burning Chicken raid. After training for another 5 hours Jim left the practice arena and headed back to the night market.


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    After searching all the vendors, there was no blue chicken in sight. Jim asked the vendors where chickens could be found. They pointed to the forests south of apple town. There are mixed monsters there but sometimes chickens are flocking in groups down there. Jim thanked the vendors and headed south of town.


    Jim summoned his clones and went in three separate directions looking for a blue chicken. After meeting meeting back in 30 minutes, they searched the plains for chickens. No one brought a blue chicken.


    Jim ¡°I can¡¯t believe no one found a blue chicken. Did you guys look hard enough¡±


    Jake and Adam ¡°There was nothing but regular brown chickens¡±


    Jake was annoyed and took his bone and smacked a nearby goblin that was running to attack them. After killing the goblin, the corpse was lying on the floor with blood spilling. All of a sudden, the bone started shaking and the blood from the goblin slowly started to move toward the bone. Jim and Jake stared at the bone with disbelief.


    Jake and Jim ¡°What was that. How did you do that¡±


    Adam ¡°I don¡¯t know¡±


    Adam was just as puzzled to see the bone gathering blood. In a few seconds, meat was growing on the bone. After 5 seconds the bone looked like a turkey leg. As Jake and Jim was puzzled, he asked Adam to take a bite of it.


    Adam chowed down on the meat.


    Adam ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything different¡­¡±


    After a couple of seconds, a system notification popped up.


    System notification: Do you want to change into the monster that was killed?


    Everyone¡¯s jaw dropped open. This was a gold mine.


    Adam accepted the change. Adam slowly started to morph into the goblin he killed. Almost everything was the same, from the clothes to the armor and weapon, everything was copied. When the goblin spoke, Jim and Jake could tell that it was speaking in its foreign tongue. However, they all knew what Adam was saying as their brains were connected through the brain junction. There was a countdown for 24 hours before the morph would change him back to Adam. Adam did not want to be a goblin for 24 hours so he cancelled the transformation. They found an option to maintain 3 monsters and each one could be overwritten. The weapon and armor on the goblin disappeared with the goblin.


    Jim ¡°Interesting, this is the first I have heard of this. This bone must be something special.¡±


    After discussing the possibilities of the bone Jim decided to stay in the forest and watch where the chickens would go home to sleep. After waiting for 1 hour, the chickens started to form a group and started walking to a cave. Jim marked the cave in his memories before he saw the notification that he has to log off.

 17 – (Season 1) Beware of Chickens

    Day 3


    Jim browsed the forums of Champion. Nothing interest was posted since yesterday. People started posting more videos about strategies to clear the Burning Chicken Raid. All the videos had the same issue, no one was able to go below 75% health for the boss. This was expected as the boss was the first boss of the game. Jim kept getting messages about getting exclusive meetings about his training videos that were posted earlier in the week. He ignored all of these messages and logged onto Champion.


    As soon as Jim logged on, he summoned two clones and placed Adam and Jake egos into them. Their first plan of action was to disguise themselves as a chicken. They wanted to check the cave where all of the chickens slept in. They found a chicken nearby and killed it with a swift blow with the bone. After the bone absorbed the blood, chicken meat grew on the bone and everyone took a bite out of the chicken.


    Soon after, all three bodies turned into a chicken. The three chickens started to walk towards the cave. There were a couple of chickens in the cave, but nothing was out of place. All three chickens seperated to search the cave. Other than nests made out of twigs, Jim and the others did not find anything.


    Adam and Jake was able to find a separate part of the cave. They decided to check out the last part of the cave. As they were about to turn the corner, a flock of chickens blocked them. In their native language, they asked what Jim, Adam and Jake were doing there. Adam lied and said they left something here. The group of chickens said they can only enter the queen''s chambers after bringing in a substantial offer of food. Out of curiosity, they asked what kind of food the queen prefers. The chicken bodyguards replied with ¡°Stinky Bugs¡±.


    Adam, Jim and Jake looked at each other and nodded in sync. They said they will return with the food. They left the cave and entered a different empty cave where they canceled the chicken transformation.


    Adam said ¡°Really, they want to eat stinky bugs¡±


    Jake said ¡°You should not judge other people Amithaba. But yes, eating bugs might be appealing to animals. If they wanted stinky bugs you should consider fermenting the bugs with beans. That would really make them stinky¡±


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    Jim said ¡°That''s not a bad idea¡±


    Jim decided to try fermenting bugs in beans but then he thought about fertilization, what if he ferments the bugs in poop. He needed large quantities of poop. Jim asked the farmers in town if he could take some cow poop. The farmers didn''t really care, they just said that he would have to collect it himself.


    Jim wasn''t aware, but not all farmers were npc. There were some players learning to farm. They couldnt believe that someone wanted to buy cow poop. They took some screenshots to post later. Jim was working under the hot sun making the poop smell worse. After collecting 20 garbage bags worth of poop, Jim stored the poop in his inventory. Now he needed the other ingredient, bugs.


    Unfortunately, there were no vendors for bugs. He needed to collect bugs by hand. Jim took his sword and started hunting for bugs smashing their heads. Jim, Jake and Adam spent the whole day collecting bugs. Once they collected all the bugs, they distributed them between between the 20 bags of cow poop and stored them back into his inventory. Soon after, Jim logged off.


    Day 4.


    Blue Moon and her team were working constantly to search for groups of monsters to level up. She was hoping Jim is leveling up as well. She was dissappointed that he didnt join her group to level and train together.


    Blue Moon said ¡°Maybe next time, he will join us¡±.


    Meanwhile Jim needed 5 days for the poop to ferment the bugs properly. While he waited, he went back to the training room. Instead of training his muscles, he thought of Blue Moon and her abilities. One of his junctions listed eyes as a pathway. Jim needed to think of a way to break that junction. The problem was mana already flowed through to his eyes. For Blue Moon, she had very little mana in her eyes, yet she was able to significantly pump mana to her eyes giving her additional abilities.


    Jim said ¡°what if I close my eyes¡±


    Jim tried to close his eyes, but the light was still shining brightly in the training room to his eyes. He noticed that he couldn''t cut off mana to his eyes.


    Jim said ¡°If I can''t cut of my senses, I need to change my environment¡±


    Jim left the training room and bought a long tube to breather air through. Jim summoned a clone to hold the tube line above water for air. Jim started swimming under a lake and look for a dark cave. Jim quickly found a cave. As he thought, the cave wasn''t dark enough. He could feel his senses getting muddles but he could still tell his sense of distance.


    He stopped after a few minutes and resurfaced. This wasn''t working as well as he hoped. He went back to the practice arena and worked on strengthening his muscles. This went on for 3 more days.


    Day 9


    Jim went back to the chicken coup and transformed into a chicken.

 18 – (Season 1) Golden Chicken

    18 ¨C (Season 1) Golden Chicken


    As Jim, Jake and Adam transformed into chickens, they headed towards the cave. They made a couple of turns and arrived at the guards. The chicken guards asked if they have the offering. Jim nodded and pulled out 20 garbage bags of fermented bugs. The chicken guards looked like they saw a ghost.


    The Chicken guards said ¡°Kill the demon chickens¡±


    Jim Jake and Adam was getting ready to fight the 5 chicken guards. Jake and Adam asked Jim if they can fight in their original forms. Jim said no. They couldn''t risk the Chicken Queen running away. Jim grabbed a small twig and channeled his mana creating a mana twig. Jim jumped and killed all five of the guard chickens.


    Jake and Adam asked Jim why he pulled the bugs out of inventory. Jim wasn''t thinking about it, but it made sense. Jim would freak out if someone pulled bugs out of thin air. From there, all three chickens grabbed one bag of bugs each and dragged it to the queen''s chamber.


    The queen chicken was 3 times larger than any chicken Jim saw. Jim brought all three bags of fertalized bugs to the chicken queen. The queen smelled something irrestibly declicious. She started munching on the bugs. After a minute, she stopped eating the bugs and asked what Jim, Jake and Adam wanted for a reward.


    Jim looked around and didn''t find anything other than a bunch of eggs. Jim asked the queen if he had more bugs, can she give him something that she valued the most. The queen thought aobut the question and agreed. Jim wobbled around the corner pulled the remaining 17 bags of stinky bugs. Jim called for the Queen to come around the corner. As soon as the queen walked around the corner, she was shocked at all of the bugs. She calmed down and thought about something she cared for. She told Jim to come back tommorow morning. Jim agreed and left the cave with Adam and Jake. Jim logged off to rest for the night and collect his reward in the morning.


    Day 10


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    Jim logged on and he received a talent. He was surprised since he wasn''t expecting a talent and wondered what the talent was.


    System notification: A new talent has been added.


    Talent: Chicken queen''s food supply.


    All birds have an increased affinity with you. You have satisfied the Chicken Queen''s hunger. All chickens will have accept any requests from you as long as they serve a chicken queen.


    Jim wasn''t sure how to take this news. On one hand, some of the benefits were unknown and will have to go through trial and error to understand the benefits. After a couple of minutes, Jim transformed into a chicken to meet the chicken queen. When he entered the queen''s chamber, the chicken queen welcomed him into her chamber. She brought over a large golden colored egg. She said that this was her most valuable treasure as she has never laid a golden color egg. Jim thanked her and left her chambers. The chicken queen felt sad that Jim was leaving. She might never get to eat such delicious bugs again.


    As Jim was walking back to town, the golden egg started cracking. A small blue chick hatched out of the egg. Jim was not expecting a blue chicken. The chicken looked at Jim and a notification popped up.


    Blue chicken would like to form a contract with you. Would you like to accept.


    Jim accepted the contract and picked a name.


    Jim said ¡°I will name you Dawn¡±


    Jake and Adam asked Jim why he named him Dawn. He replied that the chicken reminded him of the duck on dawn dish soap. Jake and Adam started laughing.


    Jake said ¡°Thats not a duck its a chicken¡± while laughing.


    Adam agreed ¡°Do you think ducks and chickens are the same¡±


    They didn''t stop laughing until they reached apple town.


    Jim went straight to the arena to meet Blue Moon and her group.


    Blue moon was excited to see Jim but soon started to frown after seeing him. Jim was still level 10, the same level he had when he sparred with Blue Moon''s team.


    Jim felt the disappointment as soon as he met her and could guess it probably had to due with his levels. Jim offered a quick spar since she was questioning his commitment to this raid. Blue Moon accepted. She did not hold anything back and activated her version of mana eyes (super sight). Her strength and mana rose significantly. Jim guessed that she already is tier 1 and is close to tier 2. Her level was 20; however, Jim was not worried.


    Jim did not even summon any clones and pulled out his sword. He instantly created a mana blade. As soon as Blue Moon charged at him, Jim swung his sword at Blue Moon. Instantly, Blue Moon was sent back 10 meters.


    Blue Moon yelled ¡°Impossible, he is not even level 20 yet he is beating me in strength¡±


    She quickly yielded as she could tell that she was not his match. She guessed that Sera had his own way of training. After passing her test, she discussed tactics for tommorow''s raid at Burning Chicken.

 19 – (Season 1) Burning Chicken Raid

    9 ¨C (Season 1) Burning Chicken Raid


    Jim gave some pointers to the whole team and practiced with some dummies in the training room. He noticed Carrot''s mana distribution did not fully gather at her hands, he recommended to focus on channeling mana to her hands. Butter focused on blocking rather than parrying if possible. He led him to show the basics of parrying and butter caught on quick and was able to use parries as him main skill to reduce the damage up to 90%. He didnt see any major issues with Blue Moon or the spear user and could not give any advice.


    The team discussed the major issue of the raid. Once the boss gets down to 30%, the player who is closest to the boss will temporarily chance into a chicken for the remaining battle. Most of the videos posted demonstrated the issue. The loss of a team member usually led to a team wipe. In their case they have an advantage. Since a clone counts as a player, Jim can send a clone to change into the chicken while they continue to attack the boss.


    Once they devised a plan to attack the raid boss the team entered the raid boss dungeon. The raid boss has 10 full bars of hp. Jim summoned Jake and Adam as clones and Butter was leading the group as a tank. Jake chose a comfortable spot in the back of the group and started chanting his prayers and the group received a 20% buff to attack and healing.


    Butter initiated the attack and started started pulling aggression towards him. Once aggro was established everyone started attacking. The physical attackers were attacking the chicken legs while Carrot focused on attacking the body and head due to the size of the chicken. HP bar started to dwindle from 10 bars, 9 bars... 4 bars ¡­ 3 bars. Once the boss health declined to 3 bars everyone backed off while one dummy clone remained in the front which turned into a chicken. Everyone resumed attacking the boss as it reached down to 1 bar. Suddenly the boss entered a rage induced state and ignored Butter and started attacking people randomly. It first attacked the the spear user, then the mage. Both players succumbed to their injuries and died. The tank was the next person to follow after leaving just Jake, Jim and Blue Moon. Blue Moon activated super sight and was able to evade the chickens swift attacks. Jim had to rely on substitution jutsu and parrying to reduce most of the damage. At this rate Jim was not able to attack the boss freely and he had to mostly focus on parrying attacks. He was not as fluid as Blue Moon as his health was slowly being chipped away. When the chicken switched to attacking Blue Moon, Jim quickly drank a health potion. Thanks to the healing buff, he received an additional 20% in health back.


    Jim went back to attacking the chicken. After 5 more minutes, both blue moon and jim was starting to get tired and their attacks and evasions were slowing down. Nobody had pushed the boss health down to 10% of 1 health bar. They both needed one big push to take the boss down but they were running on empty. Evading attacks took all of their efforts. When all hope was being lost, the dummy clone chicken turned back into a clone. Jim was able to send Adam''s ego into the clone. Adam was 100% ready to go into battle. Adam threw rocks at the chicken from the back and Jim used substitution jutsu to switch places with a rock flying toward the back of Burning Chicken. Jim swung his mana blade and it got stuck in the chicken''s neck. Adam used the substitution jutsu and switched places with another rock headed towards the chicken and yelled in the air ¡°Mountain Hammer¡±. Meanwhile, Blue Moon was swinging her sword from the opposite side (in front of chicken). Once the dust settled, the chicken was still standing with a tiny bit of health left. All three players weapons were stuck in the chicken neck. When the chicken was about to attack all three players, Jake used substitution jutsu to switch places with Jim. He took out a bag of cow poop and swung it at the chicken head, this attack was 50% stronger as jake did not move while praying activating hidden perception. This last ditch attack from Jake brought the boss down, but the bag of cow poop ripped open throwing cow poop on Blue Moon, Jake and Adam.


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    System Notification: Blue Moon, Carrot, Butter, Link, Sera cleared the Burning Chicken Raid.


    All three players look tired and the remaining three dead players revived on the battlefield. Link, Butter, Carrot ran up to join the group but decided to stay 10 feet away from them due to their smell. Blue Moon was clearly irrated of the foul order but was still estaic to clear the raid. The system announced that as the first party to clear the raid, they will receive a bonus reward. Five doors opened in front of the characters. Everyone was excited to see what they will receive. Everyone decided to enter the doors with their names on it. Jim was the only one to stack back. He took the chicken bone which started absorbing the chicken blood. As he was absorbing the chicken blood, a wispy smoke came out from the chicken''s body.


    System Notification: A legendary soul has appeared. You may capture the soul.


    Jim was waiting for this moment. Although he wasn''t sure what made the raid special, he knew there had to be something special. As soon as he saw the countdown timer starting from 10 seconds, Jim jumped up and tried to grab the wispy smoke.


    Unfortunately, he phased right through the wispy smoke. He summoned Adam and Jake to see if they could grab the smoke. The same thing happened to them as Jim. When the countdown was down to five seconds, Jim tried to recall anything special from his future memories. The previous immortal phoenix did not mention anything special other than entering with a chicken.


    Jim said ¡°that''s it, I need a chicken¡±.


    He quickly summoned the chicken and the wispy chicken soul flew to the chicken.


    System Notification: Do you want to combine the soul and Dawn together?


    ¡°Yes I accept¡±


    System Notification: Dawn has increased its life rating to epic.


    Jim eyes shined with greed. An epic beast will surely be of use to him in the future. As he started thinking of the possibilities, Dawn ate the chicken meat from the bone within 3 seconds. Jim never saw anyone or anything eating this fast before.


    System Notification: Dawn has collected Burning Chicken nutrients. The pet will enter a hibernation phase for 3 years.


    Dammit, I didn''t get to look at the special abilities yet. A shell started forming around Dawn and it reverted back to a golden chicken egg, but this time, the egg color was a rainbow before it jumped into his body.

 20 – (Season 1) Raid Boss rewards

    20 ¨C (Season 1) Raid Boss rewards


    The First season boss rewards were never mentioned in his future, so Jim was excited to see what he could receive. As soon as he entered the door, Jim was taken to a dark room.


    System Notification: Congratulations, you have defeated Burning Chicken the first raid boss for Season 1. Please choose one of the following:


    Upgrade all skills by 10%


    Upgrade all talents by 1 grade


    Increase your class proficiency to a hidden class.


    Jim thought about what to choose. Upgrading all skills by 10% is not a bad choice, but you can always increase skills through other means. However, the last two choices were both rare. Finding a hidden class in the game is difficult but not impossible. Most of the higher ranking players in the future had a hidden class, but not all players were hidden classes meaning players skills were important. The last option to increase talents were unheard of.


    As he was thinking, a timer started for 48 hours. This translated to roughly 4 days worth of playing time. Thinking calmly, Jim decided to test something out. This room is perfect for training his eyes. Previously, he tried to mimic super sight from Blue Moon, but he wasn''t sure how to train. This room blocked his mana senses which is what he needed.


    Jim sat down and closed his eyes. He felt the mana around him which was only about a feet in front of him. He kept pushing his mana further away from his body to around 1.5 feet. Any further and the mana would scatter. Jim could feel that he was gaining enlightment. After the first 12 hours Jim logged off. He was able to sense about 3 feet in front of him and decided to continue to train in this manner.


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    Day 2


    As Jim logged back on, he summoned adam and Jake to attack him. At first, Jim got whacked multiple times trying to sense the attack with just the mana. After half a day his mana control reached 6 feet. As Adam and Jake attacked Jim again, he could easily feel the mana disruptions in the air and easily dodged them. He didn''t even open his eyes and evaded all the attacks for 5 mins.


    System Notification: User has met the minimum for stage 2 of Sera''s Mana technique: Low tier mana manipulation is available. Mana domain is available to use.


    Jim was excited to try using this technique. In the past, only a select few could use mana domains, all were within the top 100 player ranking list in the future. Jim released his mana outside his body and the mana domain did not form until he spread his mana to 12 feet around him. Adam and Jake could feel their stats reduce by 20% and their movements were sluggish, almost like they were moving under water. Jim was surprised by how strong this mana domain was. Jim noticed that keeping this domain for 10 mins caused no changes to his mana consumption or fatigue. At the end of the second day Jim got a suprising message.


    System Notification: You have reached an incomplete version of the eye junction. Decreasing one sense will amplify all other senses.


    Jim said ¡°what could I be missing¡±


    Jim wasn''t sure what he could be missing. He logged off and thought about what is missing


    Day 3


    Jim logged back on and summoned 5 extra clones on top of Adam and Jake making a total of 7 clones. Jim activated his mana domain and closed his eyes while cutting off mana to his eyes. As all 7 clones attacked him, Jim was able to dodge only Adam and Jake''s attack. The remaining 5 clones did not have any egos attached to them so Jim was able to control them remotely to throw rocks at him. Jim got hit by all 5 rocks. He was shocked that he couldn''t dodge simple rocks. He tried again, but the same results shocked him.


    He thought, there must be something I am missing. Is this what they call six sense or intuition. He asked Adam and Jake to attack him with intent to kill. They agreed and tried to attack him with intent to kill, Jim could tell their attacks coming from a mile away. A difference in emotions might be what he was missing. He told Jake and Adam to attack him with as many different emotions as possible. At the end of Day 3 he received a system notification.


    System Notification: New talent has been obtained.


    Talent: Intuition


    Player has unlocked intuition, attacks that contains emotion or lack of emotion can be sensed through a player''s intuition.


    System Notification: Congratulations, you have unlocked the eye junction. A lack of visual sight in the eyes will strengthen other senses. An influx of mana into your eyes will allow you to enter into super sensitivity state.


    Jim was excited to get so all of these results from just training. He logged off to think of ways to use all of the new skills.

 21 – (Season 1) Season champion ticket

    21 ¨C (Season 1) Season champion ticket


    Day 4


    Jim was excited to practice all of the new skills that he obtained. First he experimented with mana domain. He noticed a 15% decrease in stats for anyone that was not Jim. He was still aways from perfecting a mana domain let alone awakening one. For a mana domain to show its strength, it must be paired with a elemental law to truly show its force. However, that was not the only way to strengthen your mana domain. Certain domains were not element related and focused more on environmental changes. Some players were able to change the landscape around them to their advantage such as metal, explosives¡­ Jim was able to only activate a regular mana domain but was not able to add any laws or specialty domains. However, this was still a benefit as the mana domain was not specifically only useable by Jim. He noticed that since he unlocked the brain junctions all clones share the ability to create a mana domain.


    Jim tested this by summoning Jake and Adam. All three people stood 24 feet from each other creating a triangle shape. Each person exuded a 12 feet circular mana domain; however, it was not a perfect circle and someone could attack just outside their range. As all three personalities walked closer to the middle, once they were within 10 feet of each other, the mana domains collapsed and merged into one large mana domain. It was now 50 feet wide. This doubled their original size from the 24 feet triangle coverage they started out with. Additionally, the domain penalty increased from 15% to 25% for all stats. This was an interesting idea they found out by luck.


    After practicing the mana domain, Jim wanted to try using his new talent intuition. He had Jake and Adam attack him while seeing what intuition could do. Jim could see a couple of seconds into the future. He saw Adam swinging his sword down vertically and Jake was throwing a middle kick. Jim was able to see this 5 seconds before it actually occurred allowing him to step back to avoid both the vertical slash and middle kick.  Jake and Adam was surprised to see this. After Jim got used to using his intuition, he wanted to try supersensitivity and hyposensitivity. First he closed his eyes to try hyposensitivity. All of his other senses were heightened which actually would synergize well if he didn¡¯t have to move and just provide buffs to the team. Then he tried hypersensitivity by providing additional mana to his eyes. He could see the mana in the air. Even though he could already see the mana structure in the environment, using supersentivity allowed him to find weaknesses in the mana structure. For example, he found a spot in front of him where the mana in the air was unstable. He used his mana to snap a molecule in the air causing a stream of air to pass by him. This gave him numerous ideas for use for traps.


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    After practicing for hours a timer started counting down from 30 seconds. The system notified him that there was only 30 seconds left. Jim was not in a hurry and waited. This was an important moment as word got out in the future that if you did not pick any rewards within the allotted time, the system will give you a hidden reward that you would not normally be able to obtain.


    5,4,3,2,1,0


    System notification: You have not chosen any rewards. The system will choose a hidden reward for you.


    Item reward: Global reward ticket


    You will be transported to a dueling arena. There will be a dueling opponent from a different galaxy and the winner of the fight will be rewarded a hidden reward.


    As soon as Jim read this, he was brought to a dueling arena. Across from him stood a creature that he has never seen before.


    Jim said ¡°Is that an elf¡±


    Suddenly the elf announced himself Hidden Cloud. Jim responded by announcing himself as Sera. Suddenly, an announcement was made that the fight will start in 5 seconds.


    Both players entered their fighting stance. As soon as the bell rang both players started dashing towards each other. Hidden cloud activated a mana blade which shocked Jim. It took him an ancient legacy skill and his own techniques to create a mana blade but Hidden Cloud was able to use the mana blade as if he used it all his life. Jim activated his mana blade and both blades collided. Jim¡¯s blade was losing as Hidden cloud mana blade was slowly cutting into his blade. Jim noticed this and loosened the grip on his mana blade to pull Hidden Cloud toward his off balance. As soon as Hidden Cloud stumbled, Jim delivered a middle kick to create some distance.


    The elf was impressed and said ¡°It is amazing that you have a mana blade. Only a few people in my clan have this ability at a young age¡±.


    Jim was relieved as he thought all elves have the ability to create mana blade. He responded ¡°I worked hard to create this skill by myself¡±


    The elf was shocked that he created this skill. He has never heard of anyone creating this skill as it was usually taught by the elders. Hidden Cloud took note to remember the name Sera.


    The elf said ¡°If this is the extent of your abilities, I suggest your forfeit¡±


    Jim responded ¡°I suggest the same to you¡±


    As soon as Jim said that, he created a mana blade with his own mana. Jim dashed again toward Hidden Cloud who was prepared to receive him.

 22 – (Season 1) Expert Swordsman Hidden Cloud

    22 ¨C (Season 1) Expert Swordsman Hidden Cloud


    As Jim dashed towards Hidden Cloud, he prepared to throw a couple of rocks to use substitution jutsu. However, Jim paused his attacks as his institution told him that going through with his attack would not end up good for him.


    Jim stopped in his tracks 4 feet away from Hidden Cloud. Surprised, Hidden Cloud asked why he stopped running. Jim replied that his intuition was warning of danger if he stepped closer. Hidden Cloud smiled and said ¡°your intuition wasn¡¯t wrong¡±. As soon as he said those words, he pulled a second sword out of his inventory. Hidden Cloud was now duel wielding two swords injecting his mana into both blades. Jim identified the range of his attacks at roughly 4 feet around Hidden Cloud.


    While Jim was analyzing Hidden Cloud he stepped forward and swung his right hand sword vertically. Jim blocked his sword as his intuition told him dodging would be futile. Hidden Cloud was surprised that Jim did not choose to parry and block instead. Hidden Cloud was ready to follow up with a sword wave to block off Jim¡¯s escape routes and end the battle with a large sword wave. Instead Hidden Cloud slashed vertically and chose to use a weapon breaking technique. His left hand sword thrusted toward the Jim sword, specifically, he was aiming where the most amount of pressure was held between the two swords in stalemate.


    Jim realized his intention and swelled up his muscles to repel Hidden cloud back 6 feet. He knew that since he went from a one handed swordstyle to dual wielding, his strength behind each sword strike cannot match Jim¡¯s combined strength in his one sword. Hidden Cloud was impressed that he was able to analyze the situation to this degree. Any other opponent would have been confused and have their weapon break or sustain significant damage.


    Hidden Cloud asked ¡°Who are you¡±


    Jim knew that he wasn¡¯t asking a simple questions. He responded ¡°I am a nobody. I am a solo player and do not belong to any guild¡±.


    Hidden Cloud perception of Jim grew during the fight as a respected swordsman, to grow to this degree without resources or a guild/mentor was only found in geniuses.  Out of respect, Hidden Cloud no longer hid any of his cards and activated his mana domain. Jim felt his a status suppression equal to about 10 percent of his strength. He noticed that this was a straight mana suppression without any attributes or elements attached.  Hidden sword started dashing toward Jim. As soon as he took his first step, Jim summoned his clones Jake and Adam. Hidden Cloud was surprised as the ninja class was known in his world to be below average due to the same reasons it was below average in Jim¡¯s universe, the clones would have very limited functions as controlling them took too much mental strength. In a flash Jake and Adam started running in opposite directions perpendicular to Hidden cloud as Jim retreated backwards.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Hidden Cloud was now in a disadvantageous position as he was surrounded by three players in a triangle formation. He was confused as he had never seen clones move in such precision, almost as if it was another player. Hidden Cloud had no time to be impressed as Jim and Adam started running towards Hidden Cloud. All three players threw small rocks from all sides even though Jake was sitting down praying. His praying buff negated the mana domain from Hidden Cloud and elevated Jim and Adam¡¯s stats by 10 percent. Hidden Cloud could tell that his mana domain was being negated and his enemies are moving faster than ever. He could tell that he was losing control of the battle flow. He decided to go after the clone that was sitting down praying. Adam Already took a leap to start his mountain hammer technique; however, he jumped too early as Hidden Cloud ran past in and slashed at the air behind him creating a sword wave. He didn¡¯t want anyone anyone following behind him as his goal was to kill Jake first. Jake smiled and said substitution jutsu. As soon as he said those words Jake and Adam switched places. All of a sudden, Jake and Jim switched places. Jim said batter up. As Jake was motionless for 5 seconds, hidden perception activated and Jim¡¯s horizontal slash knocked Hidden cloud back with sudden force. Hidden Cloud was able to block the attack with both swords; however, it still cost him 70% of HP. He was surprised that Sera was still hiding his strength this much. Hidden Clouds thoughts were interrupted as Adam used substitution jutsu to switch with a rock that was flying towards Hidden Cloud¡¯s back from the start of this skirmish. Adam yelled Mountain Hammer as he smashed his bone weapon down with all of his force. Hidden Cloud was not expecting this and was not able to block this at all killing him on the spot.


    System notification: Battle Over, Winner Sera. You have 10 minutes to collect your reward.


    Hidden Cloud regenerated in an instant and walked over to Jim. He presented a wooden token.


    He said ¡°This represents my authority in my clan and is a token to treat you with respect. Come find me in universe 2 if our paths cross again. Both Hidden Cloud and Sera had mutual respect for each other. As Hidden Cloud did not win the battle, he did not get any rewards so he left promptly after giving Sera his clan token.


    After Hidden Cloud left, Jim went over to a pool of blood left after he killed Hidden Cloud. He took out the bone weapon and tried to absorb the blood. Unfortunately, the bone did not react. Jim thought about it and concluded that since Hidden Cloud was not a monster, he couldn¡¯t absorb the blood. He didn¡¯t want the blood to go to waste and took a small container and stored the blood in his inventory. After storing the blood, he took a look at the rewards.

 23 – (Season 1) Bullshit Rewards

    23 ¨C (Season 1) Bullshit Rewards


    As Jim looked at the rewards he received, he thought there was an error. He wasn¡¯t sure why there were three rewards given to him. Could it be because he fought with Adam and Jake, the system counted them as players on the winning side. This was the most fraudulent thing he has ever seen.


    System Notification: Rewards


    Jim: Soul Cultivator ¨C Hidden Class


    Jake: Golden Buddha -Unique rating


    Adam: Body Reformation ¨C Technique


    Bonus Reward: First player in Universe 1 to receive Hidden Rewards from Global ticket. Additional reward will be given


    Bonus: Seed of a world tree (Yggdrasil)


    Item Description: A Seed from the world tree Yggdrasil. This item does not exist in any of the current universes. A seed from the world tree requires a minimum of 100 years to mature in a sapling. Growing the tree will bring you many benefits, however, it will take tremendous resources. Yggdrasil requests that you grow this tree and visit the main tree.


    Do you accept Yggdrasil¡¯s proposal.


    Jim accepted the proposal. He noticed that this wasn¡¯t a quest and more of an informal request. As soon as he accepted the time ring within his soul reacted. Sera has requested to meet you within your soul do you accept?


    Jim was puzzled as this was the first time the time ring has reacted since coming to this timeline. He accepted and was brought to a blank room. Standing there was woman.


    Sera has introduced herself as the goddess of space and time. Jim had hundreds of questions running through his mind. Sera understood as meeting a higher entity would raise lots of questions. Before Jim could ask any questions, Sera told her story.


    She started out as a normal player that had worked her way through fortuitous encounters to her position as the goddess of space and time. Each God or Goddess can exist at one moment. If one does not exist anymore, a new God or Goddess can be chosen or their apostle can choose to uphold this responsibility.  Sera Chose this responsibility as the previous God of Time perished. Sera did not know why her master disappeared but had some idea. Every couple of years, a universe would be invaded by outside monsters different from the monsters living in the current environments. Monsters in the current environment are tied to the universe and coexist with its environment. The invading monsters does not share this concept and consume the galaxy. Sera was fighting against the invading monsters and met her end fighting one of the pack leaders with fellow gods. Before she perished, her natural ability allowed her to send her 9 artifacts to different periods of time where it would choose the right owner. Jim received the time ring from Sera.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Jim did not know how to comprehend this. As far as he knew, he thought he was just lucky in finding an amazing item 10 years in the future. Sera asked him if he¡¯s interested in taking up the same responsibility her master gave her.


    Jim did not see any downside to taking up this responsibility. He agreed and took up the responsibility. Sera was glad to see her items chose the right owner. When she was ready to bestow upon her goddess legacy, she was surprised that she couldn¡¯t transfer her abilities to Jim.


    System Notification: Your class does not allow you to take the Goddess of Time and Space as it is below your current class Soul Cultivator. You can cultivate a soul that contain the essence of the Goddess of Time and Space but you cannot Hold a title below your class.


    Sera and Jim were both dumbstruck. They didn¡¯t believe there was a class above a god or goddess. Sera went deep into thought and decided that her item definitely chose the right owner. Sera made a different proposal from the original offer that she made.  While keeping the promise to fight the outside invaders, she also requested to cultivate her soul to be a part of Jim¡¯s. She said this is not normally possible but you have obtained a seed of the world tree. Sera could feel a connection between her soul and Jim¡¯s Soul through the seed of a world tree. Jim didn¡¯t know much about the hidden class and thought it would be a good idea to have someone who has reached the peak of power. He agreed.


    System notification: you have bound 1 soul to yours. Current souls linked to player ¨C 1/3.


    He was surprised that there was a limit. As soon as Sera linked her soul to Jim, she could share her thoughts without speaking. She was surprised that there were 5 souls within Jim. All of the souls introduced themselves as Jake, Adam, Lucifer and Michael. While Lucifer and Michael were not able to manifest in this universe Adam and Jake were able to manifest. As they got to know each other, Sera explained how her time ring worked. Whoever is wearing the time ring, time will move much faster within the ring. The ring works on the body and soul.1day outside the ring would be equivalent to 100 days within  the time ring. There is no space limitation within the ring and there is a separate partition in the ring to keep time equal to the time outside the ring if they want to bring perishable items. Sera suggested that Jim should place the seed of the world tree within the time ring so that instead of waiting 100 years for the tree to grow to a sapling, it would only take 1 year. Jim like the idea and immediately put the seed of the world tree in the time ring. Additionally, as Jim told her his adventures so far, she was shocked that Jim has egg of a blue phoenix. Sera was knowledgeable about phoenixes but has never heard of a blue phoenix. She suggested that he put the egg in the time ring as well to speed up the incubation process. He never though of this and placed the egg in immediately in the time ring. She suggested to search for the remaining 8 artifacts. Meanwhile, everyone decided to look at the rewards they received.

 24 – (Season 1) Training with Sera

    24 ¨C (Season 1) Training with Sera


    All four players looked at rewards. (Sera will now be considered a player to make it easier when using the group term).  Jake¡¯s reward was the easiest to understand. A golden Buddha the size of an iphone 15 was held in Jake¡¯s Hand. Reading the description was of course vague but Jake could feel a connection with the buddist sculpture. He sat down and practiced his original mantra. Everyone could feel the buff intensifying, when everyone checked their stats they were 30% buffed. This was 10% more than what they normally received. As Jake kept praying, a new mantra appeared in his mind. Jake was on a path towards bodhisattvas and was being enlightened. After repeating his same mantra for a minute, he switched his mantra to a new one. He slapped his hands together and then raised his right hand up. Jake moved his right hand down like he was slapping a fly. In front of him, a large golden palm 15 feet by 15 feet slammed down in front of him.  Everyone was shocked at the power displayed. Jake followed up by placing his hands back in a praying position. This time he raised him left  hand and swiped horizontally. A golden palm appeared and slapped horizontally until in reached the arena. The arena shook slightly. Everyone was impressed and Jake noticed that he was getting tired, not from mana deficiency. This was a new power source and like everything else, he needed to train. Currently, Jake guessed that he could summon the golden palm 3 times, maybe four in an emergency.


    After Jakes reward, everyone focused on Adam¡¯s reward. As everyone read the description, Body reformation technique did not impress everyone. However, Adam was the only one to decipher the best use for this.


    Body Reformation technique: Your Body will adapt to the environment. Only 1 environment can be saved currently.


    Adam immediately knew what to do. He said that he will enter the time ring and cultivate with the seed of the world tree. He felt a strong connection with the tree before this reward and felt a stronger connection afterward. Jim and Jake said their goodbyes and wished him goodbye. He wanted to explore the possibilities and decided to wait until the tree became a sapling. Adam decided to enter the time ring for 100 years.


    With Adam gone, Jim¡¯s reward was the last one. Jake, Jim and Sera looked at the system information.


    Hidden Class ¨C Soul Cultivator


    You shall retain the skills of the ninja class; however, you have learned the process of making clones. Clones are not created by mana, instead they are made with a piece of your soul. You are now able to permanently summon clones. They may enter and exit your body as your soul is connected to the clones. The clone is a separate body and the type of clone will be determined by the material used to create the body. If no material is used, the clone will revert back to a mana body. You are now able to cultivate souls and bind them to yours.


    You have unlocked soul power. Using your soul, you can imbue your soul in your attacks and effects vary by the attack type.


    Everyone was intrigued by what they read, but some parts of the description made sense. The fact that Sera was able to bind to Jim¡¯s soul made sense as her soul would not bind to anything normally. They were more intrigued in how clones were now summoned. Jim tested out summoning a clone. In the past, a clone would just appear out of thin air right next to him, now they are coming out of his body. This was a strange outcome to what Jim was used too. A clone would come out of his body and can enter his body. Clones did not have an activation time and is now real time and always ongoing. Jim saw some advantages to this. He wanted to test a theory and summoned a clone from his body, but instead of the clone coming out of his body he only summoned the left and right arm of the clone. In a bizarre form, he looked like tien from dragonball when he summoned two more arms or Goro from mortal kombat. The arms functioned just as he expected. Additionally, he tested attacks coming from his body. A foot came out of his stomach and retracted back in. This could be a life saving surprise tactic. Sera was impressed by Jim¡¯s tactics and ability to come up with unorthodox attacks. Jim was able to summon 5 clones out of his body. Sera and Jake were two clones and Jim controlled the two other clones as he still couldn¡¯t manifest Lucifer and Michael. Jim lost some control over the three clones with no soul but was able to maneuver them with relative ease.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Sera was ecstatic that she had a body again and was glad to have another chance as a player. There were limitations when she was a goddess which prevented her from doing what she wanted. Due to Jim¡¯s Tier still being below Tier 1, Many of her abilities could not be activated. She was able to use space and time mana, albeit in a limited fashion. She could perform space walk and space distortion. In one step, she was able to move from one end of the dueling arena to another (roughly 50 feet). Everyone saw this and their jaws dropped. How was she able to teleport from one end of the arena to the other. This was not new to Sera as this was the most basic movement technique that she used to use. When Sera used the step back to return to her original position, Jim had a ton of questions for her. Jake was not as interested in the technique as he was more piqued at Buddhist teachings. Sera did not tell him the answer and instead told Jim to see what happened. Jim accepted the challenge as finding his own understanding usually was better than just giving an answer. Jim activated supersight and focused on Sera. She took another step and blinked to the end of the arena. Jim understood the concept. She didn¡¯t teleport from one end of the arena to the other. Instead she stepped on a strange mana signature. This mana signature most likely was related to space and time. Once she stepped on this mana stream, she simply walked to the end of the arena taking roughly 3 steps. Jim understood the concept, time moves in one direction and Sera spotted where the mana of time was closest to her and stepped on it. If he had to make an analogy, it would be like stepping at an airport escalator that was moving forward. You are already moving in one direction, but you can walk to move faster.


    Sera was impressed by Jim¡¯s analysis. It was spot on. Soon after, Jim wanted to try this. He locked onto a similar mana stream next to him and stood still. He waited 10 seconds and jumped off the mana escalator at the end of the arena. Jake noticed that Jim made it to the end of the arena but it took him roughly 7 seconds to reach the end of the arena. Visually, it looked like he blinked like sera but he did not appear until after 7 seconds at the end of the arena.


    Jim wanted to try taking steps to see if he could blink back in 3 seconds like Sera. He found a time mana escalator and stepped on. He took one step and fumbled. Jim rolled across half way through the field leaving an after image when he fumbled. He tried again and fumbled again. Sera said that even the basic movement techniques of time and space are difficult and that Jim should be happy just being able to do a delayed blink. Although much slower than Sera, this was an amazing movement technique. The best part of this is that he only need to use a very small amount of mana to stay on the time escalator; however, he needed to be using super sight in order to find the time escalator. After practing this a couple more times, the system announced that he room will close in one minute. Everyone left the room and returned to apple town. After wards, Jim logged off as he was tired.


    Universe 2


    Hidden Cloud returned to his universe. The Elders greeted Hidden Cloud as he was one of their youngest geniuses in their clan. After introductions, his mentor came over and asked what kind of reward he received. Hidden cloud told the whole story to his mentor who was shocked. The younger generation is truly frightening to have little geniuses like that in universe 1. He was more impressed that he could use mana blade to Hidden Cloud¡¯s standards but used better tactics from his class to defeat him. To have such knowledge when he isn¡¯t even a proper swordsman intrigued him. He wont forget the name Sera.

 25 - (Season 1) Gathering at the Holy Church of Damian

    25 - (Season 1) Gathering at the Holy Church of Damian


    Season 1


    Universe 1


    Day 30


    Jim looked outside his apartment. Winter was approaching the end as the sun rised later and later each day. The temperature slowly decreased everyday. Even though the weather outside was cold, the temperature in game was much warmer. Jim logged on feeling the sun and the wind bathing in his body. After obtaining these rewards, Jim felt great starting a new day. He went into the town to see what was new. As he was walking by, he noticed a newly built church. He entered the church out of curiosity and was one of many in the crowd entering the church.


    He sat down in one of the few benches that were empty. In a few minutes, an elderly man came out. The first 5 rows of benches greeted the bishop. As the bishop spoke everyone listened carefully.


    Bishop Carl stood at the podium and cleared his throat. ¡°I thank all of you for coming today. Everyone from believers of the church of Damian to fellow adventurers, I urge you to join our crusade. We have found an underground dungeon where traces of a lesser demon resides. We have concluded that the demon is weakened after its encounter with one of heaven¡¯s angels; however, I have received word that the demon was too powerful and the angel had to retreat. The Church of Damian asks all adventurers to join a crusade to exterminate the evil within the dungeon. All participants will be rewarded handsomely with 10 gold coins. This should cover for a couple of months expenses or a year depending on what you use the gold for. I cannot promise that this will be an easy endeavor. Some of you will lose levels, items and may even be cursed, but I trust everyone is an adult. There is however some good news. A team of priests will join you. Three priests each at level 25 will join you on this trip along with 60 elite members from the church. Any holy artifacts will be held by the church if found in the dungeon. Everything else will be yours to keep.¡±


    Everyone started chatting about this dungeon and started forming their own opinions. Recruitment starts tomorrow in the morning.


    Jim asked Jake and Sera if they had any objections. Neither person had any issues. They decided to go to the blacksmith for weapons. Now that Sera was in the picture, Jim needed a weapon for her. Sera politely refused as she used mana to fight. She said she would ask if anything caught her eye.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Jim visited the most popular blacksmith in town. He browsed around and found numerous weapons. Longswords, shortswords, maces, shields¡­ Jim spent hours looking at items; however, nothing resonated with him. He went to 3 blacksmiths and nothing intrigued him. As he was about to log off Sera prevented him from logging off. He asked why she stopped him. She told him to use his mana eyes. Jim understood that she wanted me to use super sight. Jim activated super sight and saw what she was referring to. Mana escalators existed all around Jim, but Sera saw a pecular mana escalator that was shining. Jim stepped on the mana escalator and stood on it for 10 seconds. Initially he thought he as going to get off soon as it was guiding him to a building. Sera said to not jump off and brace himself. Jim was prepared and was about to prepare for recoil for hitting a building wall. He was surprised when he phased through.


    Jim was reviewing the building which was made of a special mana structure. It was similar to the mana that the time escalator was made of. Jim couldn¡¯t quite put it into words. As he was thinking, a cloaked figure came approached Jim and welcomed him to the Library of time.


    Jim and Sera was flabbergasted. Sera was shocked even more than Jim. He asked why she was speechless. She sent jim a telepathic message.


    Sera said ¡°Even when I was the apostle for the god of time, I have never been able to enter the Library of time. My master told me that if luck and fate was on my side, I may be able to enter the library once. You on the other hand are not even an apostle and the power you hold is insignificant compared to me in the future.¡±


    Jim didn¡¯t know if he should feel insulted or proud to have entered before Sera. The cloaked figure asked if they needed anything.


    Jim asked if he could have a tour of the library. The cloaked figure said the library is made of 9 floors and said that Jim would need to prove himself if he wanted to move to the upper floors. Jim asked what he needed to do in order to move through floors.


    The cloaked figure said that he would need to defeat the floor owner. He took off the cloak of the hood and introduced himself. I am Rick, the owner and manager of the first floor of the library.  The rules are simple. You must defeat me. Jim asked how strong he was and Rick started laughing. He said in simple terms ¡°In your world, I would be akin to tier 8¡± .


    A moment of shock passed through Jim¡¯s head. He has only head about tier 6 players being the limit of his world. How the hell did he get to tier 8? Jim was shook back from the news. Jim asked Rick, how he was able to defeat him when he hasn¡¯t reached tier 1. Rick expected this question and answered that they are restricted to 2 tiers above what the challenger came in from. Jim was almost sure that he would make a fool of himself if he challenged Rick, but he knew that if he didn¡¯t try, he wouldn¡¯t know for sure. Jim accepted the duel and they entered into a ring that appeared out of nowhere. Jim said that this looks very similar to the global ticket reward ring. Rick was surprised that Jim recognized this ring. It looks like you didn¡¯t just drop in here from luck. Having the global ticket reward must mean that you have some talent. Come and show me your talent challenger Jim.

 26 – (Season 1) Floor owner Rick breaking the rules

    26 ¨C (Season 1) Floor owner Rick breaking the rules


    Before the fight began Jim asked what universe he was from.


    Rick was taken back from the question. It has been so long that anyone has asked that question, he was impressed and reposnded.


    ¡°I am from universe 9. My race is know as aqualias and our environment is under water. Hence, you can think of me as a fishman.¡±


    Jim thought about what he could use to find a weakness. He thought that maybe electricity would be his weakspot but he did not know any electric attacks. Rick could obviously read Jim¡¯s mind and told that he was weak to electric attacks but the difference in tiers would make it negligible.


    Jim took out his sword and got into a fighting stance. Rick pulled out a lance and prepared himself. With the reach advantage, Jim would have an advantage once he got inside. Jim summoned 5 clones including Jake and Sera. As soon as he summoned the clones, Jim activated super sight and looked for a time escalator but he focused on a time escalator that was moving the slowest. Jim jumped on a time escalator that was moving very slow. Before he jumped on the time escalator, he threw a rock above Rick¡¯s head to grab his attention. Jim was successful as he made Rick look up. As soon as Jim disappeared all 5 clones moved in different directions.  Rick was impressed as he was aware of the ninja class. Like everyone else, this class was not popular in his universe due to the immense amount of control to even lift 1 finger of a clone. To simultaneously move 5 clones was beyond impressive. Rick easily profiled Jim as a genius. As the clones started to move in, they all threw rocks at Rick.


    Rick responded ¡°Is this all that you have to offer¡±


    Afterwards, Rick created bubbles which rebounded all of the rocks. As soon as all the rocks rebounded from the bubbles Rick approached a clone and whacked him with his stick. He followed up until there was only 1 clone left. Rick already knew that Jim was hiding somewhere and was waiting for him to appear. Jim appeared behind him and slashed vertically. Rick split his lance into two mini lances and blocked both attacks. Rick was impressed with Jim¡¯s physical strength as he was getting pushed back even though he limited his strength to tier 2.  Jim received a shock as well. He thought that he would be able to cut through the stick with his mana blade. He wasn¡¯t sure but his mana blade was not able to slice through the lance almost like he was trying to cut oil. Jim backed off and asked if he coated his weapon with something. Rick did not respond and charged at Jim. Jim repeated by summoning 5 clones and moving in 6 different directions. Rick was annoyed and summoned more bubbles. This time, the bubble moved like needles towards the 5 clones including himself. Jim jumped on a time escalator and watched the bubbles pierce the clones. This time Rick was staring at an empty space. Jim was surprised that he could see him.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Rick said ¡°I am the floor manager of the library of time. What kind of manager would I be if I cant event tell your using techniques related to time¡±


    Jim got off the time escalator and asked how come hes not using the time esclators.


    Rick responded ¡°You have to have tier 6 to use time skills. You are talented to use them when you have not reached tier 1. Let me guess, you are an apostle from the god of time¡±


    Jim responded ¡°I am not an apostle from the god of time¡±


    Rick was shocked. How could a player be this skilled with time techniques. Jim technically didn¡¯t lie as he was not the apostle of Sera. As Rick was lost in thought Jim tried to use the bubble technique from Rick. However, Jim did not have control of water nearby so he used what was free. The air around them was encased by bubbles. Rick almost died from shock. That was a self created technique. Jim had a similar idea when he was trying to create a sword wave. Instead encasing the air in a bubble was much easier. Rick laughed as he was thinking how dangerous air bubbles could be. Jim was glad that he didn¡¯t take this seriously as he threw a needle with high frequency mana attached to it. As soon as the needle touched a bubble, it exploded from the friction of the needle and the air. As one bubble exploded, multiple bubbles exploded creating a cloud of smoke in the battle field. Jim summoned Jake who placed him hands together and slammed both of his hands to the  floor. As he was preparing the motion, Jim started praying to provide him a 10 percent buff to his attack. After the smoke cleared, Rick ran out with his spear to split Jim in half. Jim blocked in time. However, as soon as he blocked a spear came out of the original spear aiming for Jim¡¯s head. Rick was saddened that this duel would have to end so soon as he did not get visitors often. However, Rick would be disappointed as the spear that came out of the original spear was grabbed by Sera. Her arm appeared from his shoulder to grab the spear stopping it from reaching Jim¡¯s head. Jim and Rick were both surprised and either person did not expect this. That spear traveled in an instant and look heavy. Sera didn¡¯t look like she was using a technique but just grabbed it with her bare hands. Hidden perception kicked in without anyone knowing since Sera did not move at all during the battle. Meanwhile, Jake started his praying motion by placing his hands together and slapped them together one more time to create two golden palms which squished Rick like a fly.


    The duel ended as the system recognized that Rick¡¯s HP lost.

 27 – (Season 1) Junkman Rick

    27 ¨C (Season 1) Junkman Rick


    After the duel ended, both Jim and Rick returned back to the library of time. Rick laughed out loud and wrapped his arm around Jim. Visitors rarely ever stumble upon the library of time and when they do, they weren¡¯t as impressive as Jim.


    Rick sneered ¡°Where did you learn all of those techniques. I thought monks were peaceful beings. I¡¯ve never been slapped by a monk before.¡±


    Rick brought out snacks and led Jim to an empty table nearby. As Rick munched on seaweed, Jim ate some of the crackers. Jim was the first to break the snacking silence, he asked about his lance. How could a lance come out of a lance. After Rick finished his snack, he summoned his lance.


    Rick yelled ¡°You can come out now¡±


    The staff transformed into an ape. Rick introduced Toby to Jim. When Rick was a regular player before becoming the floor owner for the first floor, Rick had a chance to enter a holy land of the apes. Rick disclosed that if you have a chance to enter one of the 12 zodiac holy lands, you should spend as much time as you can. Not only was Rick able to surpass the giant wall of tier 6, it helped him advance to tier 8.


    Rick replied ¡°Try your best to befriend the elders¡±


    That was all the help Rick provided. Toby on the other hand was also happy that he has another person to talk to other than Rick. Toby inquired about his mana blade. He was intrigued by Jim¡¯s manipulation of the mana blade.


    Toby inquired ¡°That mana blade is not something that was learned through skill books. Did you create your own mana blade?¡±


    Jim was impressed by Toby¡¯s analysis skills. He deduced correctly that it was something he created by himself. Jim also mentioned the difficulties to create a sword projectile attack. Toby was not surprised as he is trying to learn a sword wave attack when he is barely tier 1. At a minimum, the system skill book requires the player to be at least tier 3. Mana levels and mana manipulation are both required to use sword wave. Toby could have just told Jim what the solution is, but that would create shortcomings in the future for his growth. However, since Toby liked Jim, he gave him a hint. As Jim is proficient in using the mana clones he said ¡°How do you look left and right at the same time¡±.


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    Jim thought about what he said. He tried moving his left eye to the left while moving the right eye to the right. Both Rick and Toby started laughing as JIm looked ridiculous. They both mentioned that he shouldn¡¯t take their advice literally but think about his class. Jim kept thinking about their advice but came in short. Since Rick enjoyed Jim¡¯s company he said he will help him train. Jim asked how much time he can spend here. Rick replied that time flows much slower in the library. 10 hours in the library equals 1 hour. So far, Jim has spend only 2 hours in the library from.


    Both fighters entered the duel arena. This time both Rick and Toby stood left and right of Jim. They both charged and swung a wooden staff. Jim summoned a clone to block his left while Jim blocked the right side. Jim had an inspirational moment. Toby and Rick noticed his deep train of thought and left the arena.


    The first floor owner has met a few geniuses in his role as floor manager but this was the first time that he thought of the word monster. He felt that Jim would rise past him and all the way to the 9<sup>th</sup> floor of the library.


    Jim spent 3 hours sitting down contemplating about his dilemma. In order to use create a sword wave he needed two things. He needed mana to rotate in one direction and he needed a medium to push wave towards the target. He thought if he coated the mana in water, he could create a sword wave. He was close but the answer was eluding him. The mana needs weight in order to push through and create enough friction to slice the enemy. He thought about e=mc squared. Energy is not created but transferred. If he cannot imbue weight into his mana he just needs more speed. He grabbed a small kunai and imbued it with mana. He threw the kunai at a wooden dummy. The kunai only left a small cut not worth mentioning. He changed his approach and instead of moving the mana in one direction and he moved the mana back and forth creating a small humming noise. He increased the frequency of the mana to increase the penetrating power instead of slicing power. He threw this at the dummy and the kunai penetrated the wooden dummy halfway before being stuck. Next he attached a small bubble at the end of the kunai. Jim threw the kunai again with a mana string attached to it. Right before the kunai reached within 1 feet, he activated the air bubble at the end of the kunai send a twitch of friction igniting the air bubble. This time the kunai penetrated the wooden dummy, but the accuracy was off a little bit. Jim experimented with the shape of the bubble. He created a bubble wrapping the end of the kunai allowing the explosive force of the bubble to move in one direction. This took the pretty much of all of the remaining time in the library.


    Jim went to Rick and Toby to thank them for his advice. Rick enjoyed watching Jim progress. He handed over common weapons which were better than the marketplace. Additionally, he gave him a ring called calamity ring. Jim thanked Rick for all of his help and hoped to see him again. Rick had a good feeling that he will see him again in the future. Jim exited the library of time and logged off to rest.

 28 - (Season 1) First day of exploration

    28 - (Season 1) First day of exploration


    Jim logged back on and decided that he needed more gold and this exploration was the perfect opportunity build his bank. Jim swapped out egos with Jake on the main body. He wanted to provide healing services for a fee. Jake thought that this was a scummy move but Sera didn¡¯t mind it. She was a materialist and opportunist. Money was going to be needed in the future so getting ahead early is approved by Sera.


    As soon as Jake¡¯s ego took over the main body, the system welcomed the player.


    System Notification: Welcome New player. Please select a new name.


    Jake was dumbfounded that the system recognized him as a new player. To take advantage of this opportunity he named his character Golden Buddha. Everyone thought this name was befitting of Jake. To go along his new name, Jake wrapped himself with a piece of cloth using it like a toga. Jake looked like a monk. One piece of clothing was tied to his eyes to cover them. Sera asked why they should pretend to be blind. Jim explained that people are more sympathetic to and lower their guards against disabled people. Additionally, he said that his was a new training method he implemented. Jim took over Jakes eyes and ears. He was strengthening the eye junction by cutting off sight and replacing it with sound.


    Jake walked around until he found one of the three priests. Jake introduced himself as a humble monk. The three priests also greeted him as believers of church Damian. After exchanging pleasantries Jim told Jake to ask for more gold for his services. Jake did not feel comfortable asking for more money so he suggested something else instead. He said that additional donations would benefit the temples of Mount hua. All three priests expressions shirked and ended their discussions prematurely. Jim and Sera thought that Jake did a good job of acting poor. Their idea was to play both sides and sell their services to the largest bidder.


    Jake was in a pool of adventurers gathered within the church of damian. A total of 1,000 players joined the main hall in order to for teams. Large guilds made up 700 players and free players without any affiliation made up the remaining 300 players. Most players averaged level 20 and above. Jake was the only level 15 player there. Everyone was shouting over each other in the 300 player pool to be the head commander of the 300 player. Everyone agreed to have a battle royal in three arenas to select three commanders to reign each over 100 players. Jake decided to participate in the last 100 many royale to see his competition.


    In the first 100 man royale arena, Players clashed fiercely and no one stood out among the 100 players other than 10 players who were above average, Once battlefield dwindled down to 20 players. One berserker stood out among the 20 players. Jim recognized him in the future. He made a name for himself as Giant Axe 5 years from now. His specialty was gigantization, increasing power and size until he was a 100 meter giant. Jim focused his eyes on him. As soon as everyone was about to clash, the Giant Axe shouted a war cry and increased three times in size. He swung his Axe with a mighty swing and chopped everyone in half. The winner of arena 1 was decided. Jim saw that Giant Axe did not bring out everything. He was calm and his mana usage was around 70%. While his body grew, he saw that Giant Axe did not increase the mana flow around his heart. Most likely, he has some sort of berserk skill that he is saving. Jim acknowledged his name to watch out for in the future.


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    Once the second battle royale started, another whirlwind of battle started. The arena was a maelstrom of chaos, a swirling vortex of magic and steel. A hundred lives, each a gamble placed on the altar of ambition and survival. The crowd roared, their voices a distant thunder. Amongst the chaos, thirty figures began to emerge. Their movements were fluid, their strikes precise. They were the apex predators, circling the weaker prey before delivering the fatal blow. The second battle royale ended as a group of thirty players were familiar with each other and formed a temporary party as friends. While there was no alpha player, the thirty player team moved with synchrony. They announced themselves as Free Moon. As expected, the match ended in a dull mood with no exciting action as it was a team push to bully single adventurers. Jim wasn¡¯t sure what kind of group they were and decided to watch them for now.


    The third battle royale was about to start Jake humbly entered the arena with slow steps. Players instantly recognized the Jake as a healer who offered his services for a price. Players were detested at this fact and wanted to get him out of the ring first. As the battle started 20 players headed towards Jake. Watching the flock of players Jim started praying and placed his hands together, afterwards he slapped his right across his body. Out of nowhere a golden hand appeared out of nowhere and slapped all twenty players out of bounds creating a mountain of players stacked on the left side of the arena. The remaining players started at what just happened. The outside spectators were just as shocked as everyone. Especially berserker who won the first arena. He sized Jake up and found him to be a formidable opponent. He wasn¡¯t sure if they dueled that he would come out on top. Shortly after, the remaining players formed a temporary alliance to attack Jake. This did not hamper Jake at all as he took a wider stance with his feet. In a horse like stance Jim slapped his hands together and them pulled them back. He started punching the air multiple times. Each punch created a smaller area than the previous golden hands. In return, the force was doubled after each thrust. Therefore, Jake had to throw multiple punches to make up for the lack of size from his palm attack as there were players behind players requiring more force to get them out of the arena. After 10 seconds, the only remaining player was Jake in the arena. Once announced, Jake got off the arena and assumed his position as one of the three group leaders and met with the church of Damian. Similarly, there were three groups at the church of Damian. The 1000 players split into 10 groups of 100 man teams creating 13 teams of 100 players except for the 60 man group created by the church.


    Everyone was teleported to a cave nearby where demonic energy leaked out of the entrance.

 29 – (Season 1) Sinister Maze

    Chapter 29 ¨C (Season 1) Sinister Maze


    A palpable sense of unease hung in the air, thick and heavy like a physical and evil presence. The source of this discomfort was evident: a sinister, crimson glow emanated from within the cave, pulsing with a malevolent energy. Everyone could tell that the cave reaked of demonic energy. Some of the weaker players starting puking. The priests casted a large spell, lion¡¯s courage to increase the morale of the groups and stop players from puking.


    As the 1000 players began to descend into the cave, the initial sense of camaraderie quickly dissipated. The groups formed in the arena, once united by a common goal, now seemed to be competing for dominance. The Free Moon group, with their coordinated movements, was the first to disappear into the darkness.


    Jake, under Jim''s guidance, decided to stay towards the back of the pack and let his group lead the front. They needed to observe the situation, identify potential threats, and devise a strategy. As they ventured deeper into the cave, the demonic energy grew stronger, and strange, guttural sounds echoed through the tunnels.


    As soon as all the groups gathered within the dark and eerie dungeon, a wave of goblins greeted the players. Groups of 5 goblins charged at players; however, the players were able to deal with them swiftly. Jake noticed that the goblins did not attack the players and instead looked like they were running away in fear. As everyone felt confident of this dungeon raid the main hall diverged into 30 to 50 paths. There were too many to count but it did not look like there were more than 100 paths. Each entrance was stacked on top of each other. A player limit was assigned to each door. The first entrance on eye level with all of the players counted a 1000 player limit.


    One group of the church (60 players) and 940 players entered the first entrance. Jim decided to stay back and wait for the expedition team to return. However, as soon as they entered the pathway, the original entrance to the cave disappeared.


    System Notification: You have entered the lesser demon¡¯s cave. Defeat the lessor demon within 10 days.


    The disappearance of the entrance was a stark realization of the gravity of the situation. They were trapped. A ten-day deadline loomed, a ticking time bomb that would detonate in chaos if they failed.


    Jim¡¯s mind raced. This was an opportunity. With the majority of the players consumed by the dungeon, the competition was significantly reduced. It was a chance to shine, to prove their worth, and to reap the rewards.


    "We wait," Jim declared, his voice firm. "Let them be the cannon fodder. We''ll learn from their mistakes, their strategies, and their failures."


    Sera, ever the opportunist, grinned. "I like the sound of that. Let¡¯s make some popcorn and enjoy the show."


    Jake, still in character as the blind monk, nodded in agreement. His inner thoughts, however, were filled with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. He was eager to prove his worth, but the unknown dangers of the dungeon filled him with a sense of unease.


    As they waited, Jim began to formulate a plan. They needed to gather as much information as possible about the lesser demon, its weaknesses, and the potential threats within the dungeon. They would need to be prepared for anything.


    "Let¡¯s observe the players who emerge," Jim continued. "We need to identify potential allies or rivals. And most importantly, we need to find a way to exploit this situation to our advantage."


    The wait was filled with tension and anticipation. After an hour, the players returned, mostly unfazed. The church briefed their exploration with nothing important to note. The goblins in the dungeon were too weak to be of any challenge. The exploration took barely any effort. When the players came back, they received the same notification as players waiting outside. Jim was surprised that the exploration group did not see the system message. This meant that the space inside portal might be independent from the system.


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    After resting for a couple of minutes, the church agreed to split groups into three groups to conquer all 30 floors within a 10 day period. Jake¡¯s group entered Portal 29.


    Portal 29


    Everyone thought they were at a beach surrounded by water. They were most likely at the edge of an island. The sudden shift from the dark, claustrophobic cave to a sun-drenched beach was jarring. The salty breeze and the sound of waves crashing against the shore were a stark contrast to the ominous atmosphere of the dungeon. Yet, jake knew better than to be lulled into a false sense of security. This was no ordinary beach; it was a battleground disguised as a paradise.


    im''s eyes scanned the horizon, his mind already calculating possibilities. The island was relatively small, a circular expanse of white sand surrounded by turquoise waters. There was a dense jungle on the other side, promising hidden dangers and potential treasures.


    "We''re on an island," Jim stated, his voice carrying over the sound of the waves. "Limited space means limited resources and potentially, limited escape routes."


    Sera, her eyes sparkling with excitement, was already shedding her clothes, eager to dive into the water. "I''m going for a swim!" she exclaimed, before plunging into the refreshing waves.


    Jake, ever the cautious one, hesitated. The water was inviting, but something about it felt off. He decided to wait and observe.


    As they explored the island, they discovered strange, glowing plants and unusual marine life. There was a sense of otherworldly beauty to the place, but it was undeniable that there was something sinister lurking beneath the surface.


    "This place is too perfect," Jim muttered, his suspicion growing. "Something''s not right."


    As they ventured deeper into the jungle, they encountered their first challenge: a group of lizard-like creatures with razor-sharp claws and venomous tails. The battle was fierce, and it quickly became apparent that these creatures were far more intelligent and organized than the goblins they had faced before.


    The group was hesitant to attack first; however the lizard did not have any hesitation as they looked at the foreign players. The lizard creatures lunged, their bodies moving with surprising agility for their size. Their claws raked at the air, missing Jake by inches. Jake dodged each attack and falled back into the group of players for them to take care of. Everyone was puzzled wondering how a blind man moved so well. They didn¡¯t ask a lot of questions as they fought the lizard tribe.


    The battle was chaotic, a blur of teeth and claws. The lizard creatures fought with a feral intensity, their eyes filled with a primal hatred. It was clear that they saw the humans as invaders, a threat to their territory. Lucklily, the lizardman were barely stronger than the goblins however, a quarter of the players received slight damages. Mostly external wounds but the healers came forward. The healers were about to use an area of effect healing before Jake said ¡°stop¡±. He commanded the healers to use the spell after he started praying. The healers agreed and received a boost to their healing for 20%. This saved the healing spells needed and mana for the healing classes.


    Jake commanded the group about his healing and buff skill. However, he asked the players in return to collect seeds of plants from the surrounding. Everyone agreed. As they collected seeds, they saw many variety of seeds. Some were small seeds, some smelled like apples, some were glowing. As they made their way more into the center of the jungle, more lizardmen appeared. The group prepared for battle again.


    As the battle raged on, the lizard creatures began to tire, their attacks growing less coordinated. The group, emboldened by Jake''s buffing skill and the increased efficiency of the healers, pressed their advantage. They began to push the lizard creatures back, forcing them to retreat deeper into the jungle.


    With the battle seemingly under control, the players began to collect the seeds as Jake had requested. A variety of strange, glowing plants dotted the battlefield, their vibrant colors a stark contrast to the carnage.


    Sera and Jake questioned Jim why he wanted the seeds. The answer was simple. Collect everything they can of value. Seeds from a different environment was enticing as he wanted to create a vast ecosystem for the world tree. Jim felt that the more effort he placed on creating an environment favorable for the world tree would benefit him. He wouldn¡¯t know until the world tree seed sprouts.


    As the last of the lizard creatures retreated, the group took a moment to catch their breath. The sun was beginning to set, casting long, eerie shadows over the island. They knew they couldn''t afford to rest for long. There were still countless mysteries to uncover, and they had a feeling that this was just the beginning.

 30 – (Season 1) Lizard king Gerard

    30 ¨C Lizard king Gerard


    Day 1


    As the lizards retreated once more, Jake started praying allowing the healers to heal the group more efficiently. As they healed, Jim started planting all of the various seeds around the seed of the world tree. The mana around Jake was drawn to this soul. It was not significant enough to be noticed, but a small amount was constantly being sucked in. As soon as everyone was healed, the group saw a fortress built out of a mud like substance. Calling it a fortress was an overstatement and was closer to a size of a village. The walls were 20 foot high with a square-like structure.


    Jake commanded the group as he summoned his golden hands to pick up large boulders and nearby trees. He threw the large objects at the front wall. After the fifth attempt with boulders and trees, the front wall collapsed. Jim immediately started praying to provide a group wide buff. In order to conserve energy, Jake started praying and meditating at the same time. He learned that he can consistently draw mana from the surrounding environment using pressure. He was able to redirect the mana to gather at the stomach and create a hypothetical mana cylinder with holes everywhere. As there was a high pressure of mana around his stomach, it logically will be moved to a lower pressure toward his heart allowing him to forcibly gather mana and provide extra mana to all over his body. This increased the potency of his golden hands but currently did not provide any benefits. Instead he diverted his mana to his ring where the seeds were placed. Jim and Jake could vaguely sense that seeds wiggling wondering if this was there was of expressing joy/happiness.


    The group made quick work of the first group of lizards. Only 100 lizards remain with one having the title of lizard king. As the two sides clashed the lizard king made his move. The initial clash was a blur of scales and steel. The group, hardened by their previous skirmishes, moved with lethal efficiency. Arrows found their mark, swords bit deep, and magic crackled in the air. The lizard horde, though numerous, began to thin rapidly. Yet, amidst the chaos, a figure emerged. Larger, more imposing than its kin, the lizard king was a terrifying sight. Its scales shimmered with an unnatural light, and its eyes burned with a predatory intensity. With a guttural roar, it charged.


    Jake commanded using a basic strategy of tanks in front and ranged attacks in the back with close range melee attackers mixed in with the tanks. Jake''s voice, clear and commanding, cut through the chaos. The group responded instinctively. The heavy-armored warriors formed a protective wall, their shields raised, while archers and mages positioned themselves behind them. Nimble fighters, swords drawn, slipped through the gaps, ready to strike at opportune moments.


    The lizard king, a monstrous figure, bore down upon them. Its scaled hide glinted in the sunlight as it charged, its roar a deafening crescendo. The first line of defense braced themselves, their bodies tensed. The battle was about to escalate to a whole new level.


    With a cunning that belied its reptilian form, the lizard king abandoned its initial charge and veered towards Jake. Its target clear, it moved with surprising speed and agility. The creature''s eyes, burning with a cold, predatory light, were locked onto Jake.


    The rest of the group, realizing the grave danger their leader was in, shifted their focus. Arrows flew, spells were cast, and swords were raised in a desperate attempt to intercept the monstrous creature.


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    Jake commanded the group to focus on the other lizards while he takes care of the king. Others interfering with this battle would only hinder him. As the lizard king was getting closer, Jim took on a horse stance. He summoned his golden fists which started breaking the lizard kings momentum. However, the lizard king was too strong and started putting its arm up to slowly advance. As it staggered its way within 10 feet of Jake, it dashed at full speed towards Jake. In order to take this to a close range fight, Jake stopped summoning his golden fist and instead enveloped his own fists with a golden aura.


    As the two sides clashed, it was obvious that the lizard king was at a disadvantage. As Jake switched from golden hands to golden fists, redirecting the aura towards his own fist decreased the area of impact, but increased its destructive force. As Jake continued to pummel the lizard king, the advantage continued to grow. Eventually, the lizard king met its end after a couple of minutes. The remaining group were finishing their battles. Jake moved the corpse of the lizard king into his ring. He rang back into action and started praying to provide the buffs back to his group. Eventually all the lizards were killed. Everyone tried to fit as much of the corpses, armor, weapons, anything they could see into their storage, however, the storage space was limited unless it was a special item like Jim¡¯s time ring. Jim went around and collected samples of the dirt, more corposes, literally anything he could get his hands on. People started to wonder how many items he could hold and greed started to appear in some people¡¯s eyes. They concluded that their commander must have a rare item that allows a huge storage space compared to what they have. However, no one acted upon their greed as they knew the difference in strength between the group and Jake. After all, Jake was able to best them in a battle royale without breaking a sweat and the lizard king was not an opponent they would survive against. The system announced the reward for the clear and provided one sealing page of the lessor demons leg. After everything ended, a portal appeared and everyone stepped into the portal. They arrived back to the main hall.


    The healers started to heal the group while jake was praying to provide increased healing buffs. After everyone was healed, they waited for the other groups to return.


    Eventually, the other 12 groups returned one by one. The leaders of each group formed a circle and discussed what they found. Each group faced a different environment. Each group received a sealing page for a body part. One group received a hand, another group received a foot. Everyone could see the pattern. Each portal provided a sealing page for a body part. If everything worked as planned, each group would only need to clear 2 more portals each to have all of the sealing pages to face the lessor demon. Everyone was resting and healing as the other groups did not have as many healers. The only group that was healing as fast as Jake¡¯s group was the church; however, they were still slower than Jakes group. A glint of greed shined through Sera and Jim¡¯s eyes. He took over the main body and walked to each group to expedite the healing process. He said that he will accept payment in 10 gold coin per group or they can trade items they found in the dungeons. Most of the groups rejected the offer, but one group was significantly injured. They accepted to trade what they found in the dungeons. The injured group came over to Jake¡¯s group and requested healing. Jake started praying and his healers started healing them. All the other groups were shocked at the healing speed. Everyone was back to full health in less than 5 minutes. Meanwhile, all of the other groups were still healing as they were closer to 70% health. Everyone still rejected the offer as they wanted to save money. Little did they know, this would harm them in the future.


    Once everyone was healed they each picked another portal to enter.

 31 – (Season 1) Frozen Tundra

    31 ¨C (Season 1) Frozen Tundra


    Day 2


    As the group entered the portal, the temperature dropped significantly. The wind howled like a wounded beast, whipping snow into stinging darts. The sky was a bleak expanse of gray, and the only sounds were the crunch of snow underfoot and the distant crackle of ice. The tundra stretched out in endless white, punctuated by the jagged silhouettes of snow-covered mountains.


    Nobody expected the sudden environmental change. Many were still remembering the warm and sunny tropical weather they were in. Everyone started changing into heavier clothing. The less unfortunate players who did not prepare for winter clothing started noticing their health slowly decrease. It wasn¡¯t noticeable as it didn¡¯t even register at 1%; however, it did have a mental and physical effect. Jake noticed the sluggishness in most players. They were approximately at 95% no 90% of their peak. This wouldn¡¯t bode well for the group. The group had two choices right now. Walk up and down the mountain or walk around the mountain. Jake activated super sight and looked a few miles up the mountain. He spotted white furry monsters with an orge like build. He was able to see a small group of yetis.


    Jake corralled the group together and discussed their options. He knew that the way around the mountain would easily waste a day but recommended it anyways as it was not advantageous to fight against monsters if they were at the bottom of the hill vs the top of the hill. Half the group disagreed and wanted to go through the mountain even if they have to walk up a hill. Jake warned them not to go up the hill as the yetis most likely have a trap waiting for them. They underestimated the yetis like the lizardmen. They started marching up the hill.


    Meanwhile jake and his leftover group of 50 people started gathering sticks. Jim used his golden hands to make a large hut with walls made of mud and rocks. Using the existing trees, Jake looked for the largest trees and developed a large hut enough to hold 500 people. Each person had space similar to an apartment. The 50 players jaw dropped and vowed to follow Jake forever. However, Jim was not as kind as Jake. He made a proposal to all players to bring in seeds, animals, and wood. Part of this was for their food supply, another was so that Jim could collect samples of this environment. As other players were out searching for food, Jim constructed multiple fire places and started burning the firewood that the explorers brought. He knew that this would take more than 2 days to cross the mountain and get around. Their best chance of survival is to be as well prepared and move slowly. As he finished the fireplaces, the room heated up quickly. Jake instructed the remaining players to find food, animals, plants and start cooking. As they look for food, Jake decided to look for water.


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    The mountain air was thin and biting as Jake ventured deeper into the wilderness. By circulating mana around his body, the cold temperature meant nothing to Jake.


    The higher he climbed, the more barren the landscape became. Snow-capped peaks glinted in the distance, their icy allure a stark contrast to the pressing thirst gnawing at his insides. He scanned the terrain, his eyes searching for any sign of water: a trickling stream, a hidden spring, or even a patch of melting snow.


    Moss, Jake knew, indicated the presence of water. With renewed vigor, he carefully made his way towards the patch. Kneeling down, he began to dig through the snow, summoning golden hands Jake kept digging. After what felt like an eternity, he struck something hard. Water started to fill up the hole that he dug. As Jim used his time ring to suck a large amount of water, he had enough to feed for a couple of months. The well was so large, it was most likely an underground well. After Jake took his fare share, animals started gathering near him. They were still a good distance from him as they were wary of Jake. He didn¡¯t mind this and started praying. The calming aura drew in more animals which started to drink and leave after a couple of sips. Jake saw injured animals and summoned multiple small palms to scoop the water and bring them to the injured does and deers.


    Suddenly a voice whispered into Jakes mind.


    System Notification: A water elemental is touched by your kindness towards the animal. They have blessed your soul with water affinity. You can sense nearby water and can alter the mineral contents in water.


    Jake was surprised and said Amitabha as the voice faded away as if it was never there.


    Jake returned back to the camp as nightfall soon approached as the sun was setting. Jake created multiple large buckets with the wood that the players gathered and filled them with water. This didn¡¯t even make a dent in the water left in the time ring. The players started bowing down and chanted ¡°Long live God Jake, Long Live God Jake¡±. As everyone was eating the roasted animals they brought, jake chose to eat plants. Jim started puking in his mind when there was fresh meat available right there but did not say anything as Jake was in control of the main body. As everyone was eating, the earlier group that set out to climb the mountain came back covered in scars and blood. Jake stood up and greeted them.


    ¡°Amithaba, it looks like you had a tough journey. Please join us for food and water¡± Jake did not hold a grudge. Both sides were crying and they munched on food, water and a place to stay. As everyone was going to sleep, Jake volunteered to keep the night guard watch. Everyone was moved and decided to trust in Jake. Now that Jake had some free time, he wanted to experiment with detection skills.

 32 – (Season 1) Creating a new skill

    32 ¨C (Season 1) Creating a new skill


    As Jake was familiar with practicing mana domain, he didn¡¯t need to heavy consumption of using a mana domain. The main function he was looking for was just detection. He didn¡¯t need to reduce the opponents stats by pressuring them with mana. Instead of creating heavy mana pressure, he changed the frequency of mana. He tried to get it as calm as possible, almost like a lake.


    After 5<sup>th</sup> attempt, Jake was able to stabilize the mana around him to remain calm and unmoving. This allowed him to setup a 100 ft perimeter around him to detect any mana signatures that is significant. As a scouting tool, this was exactly what he was looking for. Jim and Sera was impressed that Jake was also very skilled in using mana. However, when he moved, the mana detection ring decreased in size to 50 feet. This was still useful to know the range of enemies near him and the mana cost to deploy this skill was zero since he didn¡¯t use his own mana. He used the environment¡¯s mana; however, this did increase the stress on his concentration reducing his ability to perform other complex tasks to some degree. However, this skill was so negligible when he wasn¡¯t moving that he decided to keep it active at all times.


    Now that Jake has setup an acceptable detection system better than the old string and bells, Jake sat down to meditate. He visited Jake and Sera within his soul and all of them decided to visit Adam.


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    They all went into his time ring and saw Adam sitting down meditating. Everyone but Sera was shocked. Jake and Jim knew Adam¡¯s personality. He was a wild and eccentric guy, nothing matched the description of Adam sitting down. Everyone approached Adam with caution and as soon as Adam detected their presence, he stood up and greeted everyone. Everyone thought that he was Jake as he was speaking very peacefully. Jim asked if he was alright and Adam responded that he has never felt better. Adam pointed to a spot in the blank time ring and the ground indicated a small bulge. He said that is the seed of the world tree and it only just started growing very slowly. Next to the tree was the Phoenix Egg that was stuck to the tree like glue. In some ways, they were growing symbiotically and benefitting from each other¡¯s presence. Adam coulnt figure out the exact method but found that reflecting on the growing plant and egg filled in the missing void that he had from his childhood. It was always the Jim, Jake, Adam, Michael and Lucifer sharing the body but every ego was independent of each other and did not really need a brother figure.


    Jake and Jim were glad that Adam was able to find peace and tranquility and missed that quirky side of Adam now.


    Adam interrupted them and told them that the reason the tree and egg called out to him after he received his reward for beating Hidden Cloud, he received the body reformation technique and there was a strong synergy with the seed of the world tree. Adam knew what path he had to take and he said ¡° I want to become..¡±

 33 – (Season 1) Birth of an unexpected job

    33 ¨C (Season 1) Birth of an unexpected job


    Adam said with confidence ¡°I want to be a farmer¡±


    Everyone looked at Adam dumbfounded. This was the most leftfield answer they all expected him to say. After a brief second, everyone congratulated him on his dream to be a farmer. Everyone asked if he was ready to come out of the time ring and he said not for the time being. Adam explained that there is still work to be done. He was trying to build an ecosystem for the plant and egg. For this he needed to create the best fertilizer he could make. He still had the fermented bugs from their chicken run but he was saving this for the egg. He was focused on creating dense mana rich soil for the seed and found some success.


    Adam passed on the body reformation on to Jake, Jim and Sera. Jake was able to demonstrate what he learned from the skill. The body is malleable through training and is dependent on what you are most familiar with. In their case, it was their strengths. Jakes golden hangs, Jims mana domain and Sera¡¯s space time manipulation. The technique was vague and only explained to merge your strength to exponentially increase your strength. Everyone pondered for a few minutes to see how they use this. They were thinking and Jake was the first person to try an application. He threw two golden palms out, the first palm was slow and the second palm was traveling faster. He tried to hit the same target but he missed the timing and hit two different targets. Sera told them to move to a different area if they want a wall to hit. They moved to a different place and entered into a brown room. Jake tried practicing some more and his control was getting better. Eventually, he instead to two vibrations on the wall, he felt 1 vibration. This wall vibration was at least 3 times stronger than the past two vibrations. Everyone was impressed on the vibration felt through the wall. Nobody wanted to be on the receiving end of that. Jake tried again but was unable to complete it. Sera offered her assistance and worked with Jake together. Sera suggested to try using his skills without changing the speed and just focus on sending it to the same spot. Jake agreed and sent two palms towards the same spot in the wall. Sera used space magic and attached space mana on the palms. As they were moving to the wall, they slowly started to become attracted to each other and moved closer to each other. As soon and they merged, one giant golden palm appeared and shook the room violently.


    Everyone was amazed the power produced by combination. Even better, since this was a skill Jake created, there was no cooldown limit. As long as he has enough mana, he can continually use this. Sera started teaching jake the basics of space mana. While Jake and Sera were continuing their training. Jim was deep in thought. He had his own idea of combining power but he wasn¡¯t sure how to approach it. Combining attacks was not Jim¡¯s strength and kept thinking about how to take his own approach. Everyone could feel the temperature of the main body slowly rising indicating the sun was starting to rise. Everyone hugged Adam good bye and hoped to see him soon.


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    Jake opened his eyes and returned met the group ready to go out. They started walking around the mountain. They met few resistances, mostly hunting animals such as wolves. They mainly ignored the animals as they still have enough rations to last them a couple of weeks if needed. As they continued walking, they saw a large group of yetis, about 300-500 hundred yetis on top of the mountain. Among them was one large Yeti, most likely the group leader. Jake paused the group and told them to wait here. Jake walked 2-3 more miles. He looked for a large boulder to hide behind and created a clone. Then he threw a small rock vertically. One the rock reached its peak, it was about the same height as the top of the mountain and he used substitution jutsu to switch places with rock. Once he was high up in the air, he concentrated to throw out two very large golden hands and connected them together with space mana to combing them into one golden palm twice the size of the original golden palms. Once he attacked, the clone on the bottom used substitution just switch places with Jake and he returned to the ground instantly behind the large boulder. Once his golden palm hit the top of the mountain, a loud avalanche started forming. Jake could tell with his detection skill that the yetis mana signatures were starting to disappear quickly. Jake used his golden hands to support the boulder. As the avalanche continued, more yeti mana signatures kept disappearing. After a couple of minutes the avalanche stopped. Jake¡¯s group quickly ran over as the avalanche was ongoing. Only 20 yetis remain alive at the bottom of the mountain and the group engaged in battle. Jake started praying to provide a buff to everyone and the group quickly took care all the yetis including the boss. This time, quantity beat out quality as the boss took too much damage from 100 players and it was already weakened by the avalnace. A system notification sounded and provided a reward with a sealing scroll with another picture of a leg. Before the portal opened, Jake was diligently collecting the fallen corpses of the yetis and left with the group once the portal opened.


    Everyone returned back to the original cave and they were the first to return. Everyone started to unwind and rest until the remaining group returned.

 34 – (season 1) Dwindling numbers

    34 ¨C (season 1) Dwindling numbers


    As the parties slowly came back from their respective portals, three of the parties did not make it back. Everyone waited one day to recuperate. The system marked 24/30 demon sealing pages. The main portal leaked less and less demonic energy as more sealing pages were collected. All the groups decided that the remaining groups were most likely not going to return. With only ten groups left, the parties reorganized to make six parties. Jakes party did not receive any additional players as they were the first group to return with all of their players showing their strength. Instead, the church of damian¡¯s joined the weakest three groups and one group was dissolved to merge into another group. Before everyone was set to enter their respective portals, a small group of 10 players from the church of damian requested to join Jake¡¯s party. Jake did not object but was wary of the church¡¯s intention. They were either trying to gauge Jake¡¯s strength or have an ulterior motive.


    As everyone entered the portal, they braced for their next environment. As they entered the portal, everyone felt a strong heat wave. The temperature rose and it looked like they entered a desert.


    The first order of business, Jake built a quick make shift tent using the wood from the previous two explorations. Unfortunately he did not have any sheets to make a tent but he had a lot of wood which he used to make a square house to provide shade. The church was impressed at not just his preparedness but also what his storage system. Everyone guessed that he must have a rare storage bag or item. Luckily, everyone had a cloak for anonymity which provided shade. The church discussed with Jake as they did not have any water which was a priority for them. Nobody panicked as Jake¡¯s group knew how much water they have. He demonstrated the vast amount of water available by providing everyone water before they depart. The church¡¯s opinion of Jake improved significantly as they were ready to depart. Before they departed, the church took out a compass to determine which direction to depart as it looked like an endless desert in all directions.


    The party leader Michelle from the church of Damian requested 10 minutes to find the direction to walk in. Jake quickly used super sight and found multiple mana signatures about 80 miles north of their camp. Every other direction did not have any mana signatures. Jake told the church that they will be heading north soon but didn¡¯t mind waiting 10 minutes to confirm.


    As 10 minutes flew by, the compass projected a holographic needle pointing north. As they agreed on a direction, Michele and Jake discussed battle tactics and strategies. The church consisted of 2 healers, 3 tanks, 2 ranged and 2 melee and 1 support. Michele was the support provided holy buffs to the team increasing their strength by 20 percent, the same amount Jake could before stacking his clone to potentially provide a 30 percent buff. Jake did not disclose the ability of his clone to stack buffs but shared his buffing skill. Michele and the church was impressed. As they were walking about an hour, Jake detected long creatures moving below the earth. Their mana signature showed their body was similar to a long worm and he instantly through of sand worm. Jim told everyone to get ready for battle. The church moved into position and both Jake and Michele started praying. Both players provided buffs which stacked. Everyone received a flat 40% buff allowing their to feel confident of their skills. 6 sandworms surfaced above the sand standing 20 meters long. The church decided to take care of two of the worms while Jake decided to take care of the remaining 4. The tanks in the front received the damage in front without getting pushed back. The damage was minimal thanks to Jake and Michele¡¯s buff. Jake¡¯s group slowly whittled down 1 of the sand worms while the tanks blocked the other 3 sandworms. They were able to kill the sandworm within 5 minutes.


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    Jake was inspecting the sandworms for weaknesses. He tried using fire, earth and water. All three elements did not do any damage. However, he did notice that the area where he attacked with water softened their armor and a player was able to slice the worm in half with ease. With 3 worms remaining he told the everyone to distract the other three sandworms taking as little damage as possible. Everyone followed his command and started attacking focusing more on dodging then dealing damage. Jake ran up to the sand worm and collected the water held in the corpse through the time ring. In a few seconds, he collected as much water as it could.


    He manifested two golden hands which he sat on and flew over the remaining three sandworms. He told his group to back off. Once everyone retreated a safe distance, Jake released the water he collected earlier and released it on the worms. Everyone including the church was confused as to why he would waste so much water, but before they could finish their thoughts the 3 worms were roaring with what sounds to be pain. They were thrashing on the ground trying to wash the water off with sand. Before Jake gave them a chance, he summoned to large golden palms which moved in closing the space between the worms. The golden palms performed a slap squishing and killing the remaining 3 worms.


    Jake quickly collected the water from the dead sandworms and did the same thing to the worms over by the church. The church was able to kill the monster quickly once they were hit water.


    As Jake was collecting the corpses, the church did not have an objection as they did not have enough space to collect the worms. Everyone asked how he knew water was their weakness. Jake responded by saying that he wasn¡¯t just praying, he was also testing different elements against the sand worms to find a weakness. Everyone¡¯s opinion about Jakes leadership had risen over the battle. The church admitted that they didn¡¯t bring enough water and requested Jake to share his water during the battles. Jake did not mind sharing the water and only requested to keep all of the corpses after battle. The two side agreed and continued to walk north.


    After travelling for a day, the sun started to set and they decided to set up camp. Jake assembled his wooden house again and started to create fireplaces for heat. While the desert might look like you can sleep without heat, Jake knew the temperature would drop significantly. As everyone was discussing topics, the church members came to sit with Jake.


    Michele said ¡°I would like to discuss privately about the real mission of this raid¡±.

 35 – (Season 1) Ranked item 985 Luciel Radiant Spear

    35 ¨C (Season 1) Ranked item 985 Luciel Radiant Spear


    The holy church members created a silent room for privacy as they were going to discuss the real mission. After the church members created a silent barrier, Michele started speaking. They were tasked to bring back a holy weapon. Within the church, there are few artifacts which hold significance to the church in both symbols and power. Their strength can only be used by followers of the church and are ranked through the churches appraisal system. Within useful artifacts, the church has listed over 1,000 artifacts. Anything above number 1000 is at best above ordinary, however, there was a significant jump in what makes an artifact numbered below 1,000. There were stories and legends written how a single artifact ended wars and defeated the hell army back underground. Even in the future, some of these weapons were never discovered. The highest numbered artifact was ranked 794 in the future and its name Apollo¡¯s fists allowed a fighter to rise the ranks to one of the top ranked fighter classes. Legends were recorded as he single handedly defeated a raid boss due to the weapon.


    This brought significance to the mission as the church received information about Luciel¡¯s Radiant Spear within the dungeon. All the church members except Michele gasped in the presence of a holy artifact. Even though Jim knew the significance of a ranked item under 1,000, Jake was in control of the main body. To not raise suspicion, Jake also gasped with the church members. When Michele asked if he has heard about this holy artifact, Jake responded by insisting that he did not know the significance of this item. Michele was confused and asked why he gasped. Jake admitted that everyone else here gasped so he just went along with it. Everyone started laughing uncontrollably as it was one of the funnier things they heard in a while. Michele was included in the laughter as she never met a guy quite like Jake.


    Michele concluded that while the information may not be accurate, it is highly likely that defeating the lesser demon may reward the winning team the artifact. Michele asked for Jakes cooperation if he receives the item that he will be genereously rewarded if he gifts the item to the church. Jake and Jim didn¡¯t think much of it as they could not use the item as it is a church exclusive item and they were keen on joining the church of damian.


    Jake agreed that he will return the spear if he receives it as a reward.  After discussing the ranked item, the group discussed battle plans. The church was impressed with Jakes leadership and ability to deal damage and play a buffing role. They never saw a player that could provide a buff as large as Jake could as normally there would be a limit to players receiving the buff such as staying within a certain area. Other buffs may be granted per player but is usually limited to small parties around 5-10 players max. The per player buff was stronger but limited to a small amount of players. Jakes buff did not have this issue as all of his party members received the buff and stacked with Michele¡¯s buff. Normally, when there are multiple buffs, they would not stack and the strongest buff would be applied to a player. Jake¡¯s buff was unique in that it was a separate buff that stacked with everyone¡¯s buff. Everyone assumed that he had a hidden class which was true to some extent but his buffing abilities was a unique talent born from Jake when he was still a ninja class. While he is a hidden class now, he hasn¡¯t learned anything about his new class yet.


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    Discussions ensued to keep Jakes buff active at all times and the church will protect him as best as they can.  The church members were confident in succeeding in the raid with everyone¡¯s effort.  After they discussed all plans, the silent barrier was undone and everyone went to rest. Jake went to rest as well while keeping his barrier skill active. Luckily, nothing tripped the mana detection skill he created and he was able to get a good nights sleep. In the morning, everyone prepared for the day as they ate food, prepared their gear and got ready to journey again in the hot desert. Jake quickly stored everything in his inventory again. As they walked that church members discussed with Jake about his inventory item. They wanted to know if they could buy the inventory item from Jake. Unfortunately, Jake refused as it was a bound item to him and no duplicates were found. The church was sad about this situation but knew that such an item would be a fortuitous encounter. As they hiked across the desert, they met more sandworms which proved to be of little threat as they found out the weakness from their weak skins. Jake just splashed a large amount of water and the players were able to kill the threat quickly. As usually, Jake collected the corpses and collect some sand as well. As they stopped to setup for camp again for the night, Jim kept pondering about the body reformation skill. How can he benefit from the technique. It was too vague and everyone would have their own interpretation of it. Jake and Sera were able to understand the concept of combining attacks with space mana; however, Jim did not think that this was the best utilization of his mana. He kept thinking, however, nothing came to mind and the night passed.


    As they set out for the third day, they noticed they were close to large mana signatures. They observed the first structure since they arrived at this world. A large cave appeared empty. As the group got closer to it, Jake only sensed one large mana signature in the cave. He sensed multiple small mana signatures but they were so weak and faint that Jake did not count them as enemies. About 50 small mana signatures were found. As the adventurers entered the cave, the temperature dropped. The opening and pathway was huge as it allowed all players to enter at the same time.

 36 – (season 1) Offering a better life

    36 ¨C (season 1) Offering a better life


    Everyone approached with caution within the cave. They could feel the tension in the air as if battle was imminent in the near future. Once everyone got close to the snake, it started speaking in the human language.


    ¡°Leave now or be destroyed¡±


    Everyone was puzzled as it was rare for monsters to speak the same language as humans. Very rarely would there be creatures that aside from demons that spoke the same language. Jake commanded everyone to stand down.


    As he approached the snake he made a request.


    ¡°Oh great snake, we will leave as quickly as possible. However, we are here to find a demon sealing scroll. Can you give us the demon sealing scroll¡±


    The snake did not respond immediately and pondered for a few seconds. Eventually it replied.


    ¡°I have been tasked with guarding the page here. I cannot hand it over to you without an equivalent exchange¡±


    Jake picked up on the clue ¡°equivalent exchange¡±. He remembered as he was walking here dead carcasses of what looked to be baby snakes. He quickly deduced that in this environment where there is no water and barely any resources, it would be difficult for the snake or its offspring to survive. Jake proposed a solution to the snake.


    ¡°I can offer you something better than your current situation here. If I am not mistaken, it is rare for you to find food and water in this environment. I can provide this and more for you and your offsprings¡±


    As soon as Jake mentioned a hospitable environment for the snake¡¯s offsprings, it lowered its defenses. To show his sincerity, Jake summoned some corpses of the sand worms and yetis in front of him. He then found a divot on the ground and filled it with clean water. The snake quickly jumped in front of the food and water. Although it hesitated for a second, it quickly devoured the food and water. The snake¡¯s impression for Jake rose quickly.


    ¡°Can you provide more food and water, enough for my eggs to flourish?¡±


    Jake responded with yes.


    The snake agreed and dug up a hole in the ground with a demon sealing page.


    System notification: You have acquired a demon sealing page.


    As soon as the notification popped up a portal opened. Everyone including the church members didn¡¯t know what to feel. They completed a mission with minimal fighting and injuries. The church thanked Jake for his unconventional idea. Jake communicated with everyone that he is going to collect more corpses before the portal closes. No one wanted to stay in the desert environment and chose to go back to the original cave. Jake handed over enough rations for the group to survive 3 days in the cave.


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    After everyone left, he made a contract with the snake. The snake and its 50 eggs moved within the time ring. The mother snake thanked Jake and saw the amount of fresh water, corpses. It felt secure enough to leave the eggs to bring it some corpses and water to keep close by. Soon after, Jake went outside the cave and sucked up all the sand around him. Even though he sucked all the sand out of the desert with the time ring, a hard layer of rocks laid below the sand. Even though he acquired what seemed to be an endless amount of sand, it only took up a very small amount of room in the time ring. In another area of the time ring, there was a small garden that was growing. Although it wasn¡¯t a forest yet, it was on pace to become a large forest in the future. The snake was ecstatic to see an environment other than sand.


    Another human approach the snake and introduced himself as Jim and Adam. The snake was vary of the humans who approached him as they were unknown to it. Jake quickly calmed the snake down and explained that they are family. The snake lowered its guard again. The snake wanted to have a discussion after sleeping. It couldn¡¯t remember the last time it slept so peacefully.


    Before Jake was about to return to the main cave through the portal another system notification was announced to him.


    System notification: A water spirit has noticed your actions to feed animals water. It has approved of your actions to bring life and nourishment. The water spirit has left a lower level water seed to you.


    Jake check his hand to see a blue seed pulsing with mana. It almost seemed alive. Jake took the seed and gave it to Adam to hold onto.


    Jake went back to the main cave as the portal closed for the last time. The church members quickly relayed the information that they were the first team back and that there were about 3 days left. Everyone was resting and preparing for the final boss once everyone came back. After a few hours passed, the snake called for Jake to discuss its origins.


    In the time ring everyone huddled up. The snake shared its story and origin. The world is not only dominated by humans. There are areas within the world that are territories of other races including animals. The snake initially did not have intelligence at first but slowly acquired sentience. Once it learned sentience, it instinctively knew where to go back to its territory. However, before it could reach the territory, it was captured by the lesser demon and was made to guard its weakness, one of its 30 scrolls which could unlock the entrance to its room. It is currently still recovering from its battle with a higher life form. As soon as it told its story, it wanted Jake to help it return to its territory. Jake agreed and told it would help to the best of its ability. The snake returned back to its nest to rest. Jake went back in to the real world and started meditating.


    After a day passed, the second group came back through the portal. Half of its members were missing, but it was not one of the groups with the church members. Jakes group looked shock as they looked like they haven¡¯t eaten food or water for days. Quickly, the healers and Jake started praying to heal the adventures while they ate food and water. Everyone asked what happened once they finished eating and healing.

 37 – (season 1) Lessor Demon Ajax

    37 ¨C (season 1) Lessor Demon Ajax


    The second group recovered and looked weary. Once they were in stable condition, the group leader spoke.


    ¡°It was horrendous. We were not prepared for the harsh desert environment. We lost a quarter of our group due to a water shortage. Once we reached the boss, a fierce battle ensued and we lost another quarter of the group. It was a hellish 4 day trip¡±


    No one mentioned Jake''s strategy and techniques that breezed them through the raid. Slowly, all of the groups came out of their respective portals. Even the groups which had church members suffered equally as they all look weary. All of the healers worked on getting everyone back to full health. Although everyone was healed, fatigue was written all over everyone''s faces. Since they had 2 days left to complete the task, everyone decided to rest and recover their mental health. While everyone was recovering, all of the church members and group leaders of the remaining groups held a secret huddle.


    Jake was present at the meeting as the church revealed the same information about the true mission and the rumored rank 985 item. Some of the group leaders displayed hints of greed even though there are restrictions on the item as a church exclusive item. Unfortunately, no one had any insight into the boss fight and strategized a standard tank line with long range casters in the back. No one had any exceptions. As Jake scanned the group, other than the three church members, only 3 other group leaders had high mana levels. The solo berserker who could grow in size was one of the members who Jake could depend on. The other two leaders consisted of a swordsman and mage. Jake did not have any recollections of their names in the future, however, they did belong to large guilds. Jake did not bother to memorize their names as they didn''t look as strong as the berserker Giant Axe. After the brief meeting, everyone went their seperate ways to rest and prepare for battle.


    The next morning.


    Everyone gathered at the center with all of their preparations in hand. Everyone crossed the final gate. Suddenly, the air crackled with demonic energy. A monstrous figure, cloaked in shadows, emerged from a shadowy alcove. Its eyes burned with an infernal glow, and its jagged teeth glistened with malice. This was Ajax, a lesser demon with 30 health bars. Everyone took their positions as they got ready to fight. The tanks performed their part well as all of the aggro was focused on them while the melee and ranged players all attacked the boss. As the boss started to retaliate with its dark claws, the healers and jake jumped into action as they started praying and healing all of the tanks. As the boss''s health slowly chipped to 20 health bars left, he prepared a large scale demonic spell. Everyone was caught of guard and fear started to trickle into the players mindset. 80% of the players started running away from the boss. It was too late for the fleaing player as a demon swiped its demonic claw, five light waves were released from each claw which headed towards the players. Anyone who was fleaing was instantly caught by the claw light and died instantly. Only the church members and the 3 group leaders survived by blocking with their weapons and shields. The healers instantly started to heal everyone with Jake''s help. The claw blew off a part of a boulder which revealed an injured angel. As soon as the angel appeared, everyone''s gaze shifted to a higher life form. Unfortunately, everyone could tell it was not as strong as the demon. Despite the difference in power, the angel was recovering faster and faster every second. Jake activated supersight and the angel was not drawing in mana but drawing in the soul power. Jake traced the sources of soul power and it was coming from trees, plant animals. A system notification suddenly popped up.


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    System notification: you have learned unique trait ¡°Angel soul¡±


    By observing an angel true recovery through their soul, you have obtained an inferior legenedary technique :Soul collection. You can ask to take the soul power of living beings that have souls.


    Warning: The angels do not permit a lower being to wield the angel soul technique. It was been restricted to request borrow soul power instead of forcefully taking it. The angels deem this to be an appropriate restriction for a unique trait.


    Jake was astounded that he was able to learn a soul recovery technique. This is different from just healing as healing does not relieve mental stress and damages to the soul. This was a pleasant bonus for him. Animals started moving closer to the angel to offer their souls. The demon was not a fool and saw through its recovery. Ajax started summoning lower demonic skeletons to distract the players while it heads toward the angel. Jake told everyone to focus on the demon as he can take care of the thousand demon skeletons. Jake summoned his golden and started crushing the skeletons to the floor. Ajax felt a threat to his power and needed to take care of this monk first. Before Ajax could finish this thought, all of the adventures started attacking the demon. Coordination improved as everyone started using their strongest attacks. Giant Axe grew 5 times its size and started attacking the boss. Spellcasters started chanting their strongest tier 1 spells. A mix of Fire and thunder spells started to unleash their power on the boss. Slowly the boss''s health fell to 10 bars of health.


    Ajax abandoned its skeleton army and summoned a a hell knight which was much stronger. Although it was only 1 hell knight, its power could decimate that skeleton army from before 5 times over. Jake assured everyone that it can take care of the hell knight and that everyone should continue to focus on the demon Ajax.


    Hell Knight Juno started charging at Jake. At this points, Jake had no choice but to bring out all of his cards against such a strong opponent. Jake summoned a golden palm to slam the hell knight ot the ground. He failed as the hell knight pulled out its sword to slice the golden palm while moving forward. Jake changed its approach and made compact golden fists. As the first golden fist made contact the hell knight couldnt push forward as it was slicing the golden fists. Jake was deciding if he should test his new technique even thought it was perfected yet. Instead of fists, Jake shot golden fingers at the hell knight. The reduced area of impact was overcome through the sheer impact. The force was almost comparable to a modern day bullet. The hell knight was starting to get pushed back. However, the hell knight started to get accustomed to the living world and recovered enough mana to create hell mana blade. The golden finger bullets stopped working on the hell knight as it was being slashed apart by the hell mana blade. Jake asked for Jim''s support and he agreed. Jim took over Jakes body as he was the better swordsman.


    Jim created a mana blade which stopped the hell knight in its track. It was rare to find a skilled opponent for the hell knight to fight against. It spoke for the first time. What is your name? Jim introduced himself. The hell knight would remember this name as he killed Jim.

 38 – (season 1) Hell knight Juno

    38 ¨C (season 1) Hell knight Juno


    The hell knight charged at Jim. Once he got within 10 feet of Jim, he accelerated the last few steps and swung his hell blade down. Jim activated supersight and saw the swing coming ahead of time. He was intrigued and swung his blade up. Once they clashed, Jim was sent back 20 feet before he regained his footing. While his weapon could withstand the hell blade, his attributes fell short. If he kept on repeating his clash, he would lose in pure attributes.


    While Jim was fighting the hell knight, the other party members were fighting Ajax. They kept hacking away at Ajax as the tanks switched in and out while they were being healed. Ajax fell down to his last 10 bars of health. Everyone checked on Jake to see if he was still standing. To everyone''s suprise, Jake was holding a mana blade and fighting evenly with the hell knight.


    While everyone focused back on their enemy in front of them, Jim had activated his mana domain. It brought the hell knights attributes to similar levels as Jim. He kept on replaying his battle with the hell knight. At this rate, they would be tied unless the hell knight has an ace up his sleeve. Knowing the game, they always have a last minute berserk move. Jim asked jake to make small bubbles with holy mana inside and leave a small amount of air in each bubble. Jake understood his intent and started making holy bubbles. Jim only had to buy 2 minutes to fill all of the bubbles. As he kept the hell knight busy, he started to sense danger. The hell knight started to attack faster and more aggressively, almost as if he knew he would lose if he kept attacking at the same pace. As they approached 2 minutes, thousands of holy bubbles glowed yellow around them. The hell knight demonstrated its weakness as it tried to avoid touching the bubbles. Jim summoned 6 clones with one situated as far back away from the bubbles. While sera was not summoned as a clone, she started to manipulate the space mana around them to attract all of the bubbles toward the hell knight. The 5 clones and Jim distracted the hell knight as the bubbles merged into one giant bubble. The hell knight was now merged with the within the holy bubble and its stats plunged further down. The hell knight stopped attacking as if he knew that he had lost. It tossed its sword at Jim.


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    The hell knight said ¡°Keep it. It is one of the 13 cursed swords of the underworld. I hope to see you in hell one day so I can take it back.¡±


    Jim acknowled how strong his enemy was and took the sword out of respect. He said good bye as he used his substitution jutsu with the clone farthest away and outside the holy mana bubble. Jake went ahead and detonated the holy bubble and a large explosion of holy power exploded. Everyone''s eyes turned toward Jake''s direction as a large shockwave came to them. Everyone braced for impact.


    Nobody would have thought that this was a single battle. If anything, people would have believed that the raid boss was over there and that Ajax was a minion of the hell knight. When everyone was distracted, Ajax created a dark bubble and started to slowly recover. It was too late as the group tried to attack the dark egg like shield. Their attacks had no effect. They were so close as the bank was at his last health bar.


    After the holy explosion, Jake quickly ran towards the main battle. No one could penetrate the shield as Ajax was recovering. The problem seemed to be that they lacked a weapon strong enough to penetrate it. Jake asked if Giant Axe could use his beserk skill to increase his size. He confirmed that it is off cooldown. Jake told everyone to prepare to attack once Giant Axe breaks the barrier. Everyone braced for attacking as Giant axe shouted as he increased his size. Once he reached the maximum size, Jake went ahead and coated his gigantic axe with holy mana. Jim helped rotate the holy mana to create a mana axe blade. As a make shift holy axe, everyone was impressed at Jakes utility. Giant Axe leap into the air and used his strongest strike at the shield. Once the axe made contact with the shield, it started to break apart the layer of shield. Ajax was worried but one he saw Giant Axe retreat, he breathed a sigh of relief. Jake shouted to try again. This time, instead of rotating the holy mana, he switched to vibrating the mana back and forth to create a high pitched noise. Giant Axe lept again and made contact with the shield again making more progress than last time. However, he needed a final push to break the shield. As he was putting his entire body weight into it, Jake used the substitution jutsu to swap places with Giant axe. He summoned as much holy mana into his fist and slammed it into the shield giving it the final push it needed to break. As soon as the shield broke, everyone stopped attacking the shield and attacked the boss. History was made as they defeated Ajax, a lessor demon. Soon, a system announcement was made.


    Everyone in the final group received the title demon hunter. As soon as the system notification ended, 10 items burst out of the body. As the body was slowly fading, Jake took out his bone weapon and sucked up as much blood as it could before the body vanished. He stored the bone back into his time ring. Everyone was overflowing with joy and made their way to the angel.

 39 - (season 1) Spoils of war

    39 - (season 1) Spoils of war


    The air shimmered with the residual energy of the battle, the scent of ozone and burnt flesh still heavy in the air. Jim, his hand trembling slightly, examined the cursed sword. It was a magnificent weapon, the blade forged from an obsidian-like material that seemed to absorb light. Runes, ancient and arcane, etched themselves across the surface, glowing faintly with an eerie inner light.


    A shiver ran down his spine. The Hell Knight''s parting words echoed in his mind, ¡°I hope to see you in hell one day so I can take it back.¡±


    He sheathed the sword, a knot of unease settling in his stomach. This wasn''t just any weapon. It was a piece of hell, a conduit for dark energies. He had a feeling this sword would be more trouble than it was worth.


    Jim, still buzzing with adrenaline, examined the remaining items. There were several rare potions, a set of enchanted armor, and a strange, pulsating orb that hummed with an otherworldly energy.


    "What''s that thing?" Jim questioned, gesturing towards the orb.


    Jake shrugged, "No idea. But it feels¡­ powerful."


    Sera, her eyes gleaming with curiosity, reached out a tentative finger towards the orb. It thrummed violently in response, sending a jolt of energy through her. She recoiled, her face pale.


    "Whoa, that thing''s alive!" she exclaimed.


    Jim raised an eyebrow. "Alive? How?"


    "I don''t know," Sera replied, her voice still trembling. "But it''s definitely sentient. It''s trying to¡­ communicate."


    The orb began to pulsate more rapidly, the humming intensifying. Then, a voice, ancient and ethereal, resonated within Jim''s mind.


    ¡°Free¡­ me¡­ from¡­ this¡­ prison¡­¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    The voice was weak, barely a whisper, but it sent a shiver down Jim''s spine. The orb, he realized, was a prisoner, trapped within its own confines.


    "What do you think it is?" Jim asked, his voice low.


    Jake looked at the orb, his eyes narrowed. "Some kind of ancient spirit, I guess. Maybe a djinn, or something even older."


    "But why is it trapped here?" Sera asked.


    The orb thrummed again, the voice growing slightly stronger. ¡°Betrayed¡­ imprisoned¡­ by¡­ the¡­ very¡­ beings¡­ I¡­ sought¡­ to¡­ protect¡­¡±


    The story was intriguing, but also dangerous. Jim knew they shouldn''t interfere. Ancient beings, especially those imprisoned for a reason, were rarely benevolent.


    "We should leave it alone," Jim said, his voice firm. "We''ve already dealt with enough trouble for one day."


    Jake and Sera exchanged glances, but ultimately agreed. They had faced a Hell Knight and a Lesser Demon in a single day. They needed a break.


    As they turned to leave, the voice of the orb grew desperate. ¡°Please¡­ help¡­ me¡­ I¡­ can¡­ offer¡­ you¡­ great¡­ power¡­¡±


    Jim hesitated. Power was always tempting. But he remembered the Hell Knight, the whispers of the damned. He wouldn''t be swayed by empty promises.


    "No," he said, his voice unwavering. "We have our own path to follow."


    With that, he turned and walked away, leaving the imprisoned spirit to its fate. The voice of the orb faded, replaced by the rustling of leaves and the distant chirping of crickets.


    Suddenly the snake spoke up ¡°You should reconsider its words. It is not an evil spirit, it is an ancient spirit that was being controlled by an evil spirit.¡±


    Jim was in thought about what to do. After some thought, Sera spoke up, there is a ceasefire seal I can place so neither party can do anything without majority consent. In this case, it would benefit you Jim since you count as 4 people vs this one being.


    Jim asked ¡°Is there any backlash? Nothing in this world is free¡±


    Sera responded ¡° It will slowly siphon mana from the environment and will recover its strength slowly. Depending on the strength of the spirit, it may recover to undo the seal but it would need to be stronger than I was in prime. But with my current strength it would only hold to tier 6.¡±


    Jim knew this wasn''t the end of their encounter with the forces of darkness. The world was full of secrets, and some were best left undisturbed. But he also knew that they would face more challenges, more dangers. And he was ready. He was ready to face whatever came their way, to protect the innocent, and to uphold the honor of true heroes.


    Do you agree to partner with me. I do not kill without reason. Jim asked waiting for a response.


    The spirit did not respond immediately. Call me by my past name Asura and I will agree to your terms. As soon as they agreed, time resumed as everyone was running up to the angel.

 Chapter 40 – (Season 1) Angels Gift

    Chapter 40 ¨C Angels Gift


    Nobody thought about the journey back to apple. The weight of their victory against Ajax hung heavy in the air, a strange mix of exhaustion and exhilaration. They had defeated a powerful demon, earned the title of "Demon Hunter," and acquired valuable loot. The remaining group of Giant Axe, Jim, 3 members of the holy church and one mage arrived at the angel.


    The angel spoke ¡°Thank you for defeating the lessor demon Ajax. For your bravery, I would like to reward you from the following list¡± Different from a normal game, the angel is allowing the group to choose their own rewards. There were legendary materials, legendary weapons, armor ¡­ however, the points they accumulated was not enough to buy legendary materials. At best they would be able to choose rare item, maybe epic item. To buy a legendary item, they would need to pool all of the holy churches member that participated in the raid to have a chance at buying. On top of that, it was a ranked legendary weapon which is more valuable than common legendary weapons.


    The church was shy of a couple of reward contributions to redeem the legendary spear Luciel ranked 985. This spear was recorded in history as one of the four holy weapons that drove demons back to hell in the past. The church needed to retrieve this weapon at all cost as they may not be able to have the chance in the future. They asked all participants if they would contribute their reward points to purchase the spear. The only players who has enough reward points were part of the original group that defeated Ajax. No one showed interest to give up their rewards to the church.


    Just as the church was about to give up on the reward, Jim offered his points in rewards to talk to the Bishop in charge for a favor. They agreed to a meeting but could not promise anything. The church purchased the spear as soon as Jim transferred the reward points. Once everyone has chosen their reward, the angel turned his head to Jim and asked what he would like for his reward. Everyone turned their head toward Jim as they saw him give the reward points to the Church. The angel explained that he single handedly defeated a hell knight which are extremely strong. Everyone turned to Jim to see what he would purchase.


    Jim spoke ¡°Can I spend the remaining time with you alone?¡± Everyone was dumbfounded. He could have easily asked for a unique weapon. The top rankers who defeated Ajax thought that was a reasonable request. Information is valuable on the type of information. Who knows, maybe Jim will get the best reward out of all of us.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The angel accepted the terms and said that there is 1 hour before he will return to heaven. He teleported everyone outside the dungeon. The angel asked what he would like to talk about. Jim started by asking the history of Angels and demons.


    The angel said ¡°Very well. To start, we are not the overlords of this planet. Out of the nine planets in Universe 1, Earth is the weakest planet by miles. Not to your detriment, but the game was introduced recently, other planets have had the game for decades. Their planets have already developed to stronger civilizations. Given time, Earth may also evolve to stronger civilizations. Just as species such as fishman evolved to breathe underwater, humans have the ability to evolve as well. To oversee the development of a species angels and demons are present on each planet.¡±


    What is your purpose then Jim asked.


    ¡°I cannot say more of this subject until you meet certain requirements¡± Discussing this with the angel took around 10 minutes to know the general history of these beings. Jim did not know this information in the future as information of divine and demonic beings were kept a secret.


    Suddenly the asura spirit spoke to Jim. ¡°Ask him about the qualities of divine mana. You may not get another chance¡±


    The angel looked at Jim in an intrigued way. ¡°You have a spirit that does not belong in this era. Even before my time, the spirit existed. Interesting. I will answer your question. Divine mana is the purification of holy mana. You cannot have divine mana as a human, at most you can only have holy mana. One of your earlier moves with the holy bubbles is a variation of holy mana. All holy mana share the same trait of light, wind, water. When you mix the mana in a certain way, you create holy mana. It is not mana that could only be used by the church but it is a technique that we angels have passed down to them.


    Why cant humans handle divine mana?


    The angel responded, the human body cannot handle the weight of divine mana. The density of divine mana is 1000x heavier than holy mana. Let alone the weight of mana, the human body does not have a method to dispel the weight of mana through the body and will likely explode when they try.


    Jim thought about what the angel said. It is true that there is a limit to the amount of holy bubbles he could make. Most likely, the weight of mana is restricting his control.


    After spending about half of the time talking with the angel, Jim started to forage around grabbing plants and soil from the environment. When the angel saw him transport materials out of thin air, he said Seratul.


    As soon as the angel said the name, Sera turned her attention to the angel and asked why she knew her master¡¯s name?

 Chapter 41 – (season 1) A Pioneer?

    The angel''s casual utterance of "Seratul" sent a jolt through Sera. Her eyes widened, and she instinctively drew closer to Jim, a protective instinct surging within her.


    "You¡­ you know my master''s name?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.


    The angel turned his gaze towards Sera, his expression unreadable. "Seratul," he repeated, the name rolling off his tongue like a whisper on the wind. "An ancient name, indeed. A name that carries the weight of countless eons."


    Sera felt a chill crawl down her spine. The angel knew her master''s name. How? And what did it mean?


    Jim, sensing the tension, gently placed a hand on Sera''s shoulder. "Sera, calm down," he whispered. "The angel may simply be knowledgeable of ancient history."


    Sera took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions. "But¡­ how could he know? Seratul is¡­" She hesitated, unsure of what to reveal.


    The angel, as if sensing her reluctance, simply smiled. "Many things are older than you can possibly imagine, child. This world, and indeed, this universe, is teeming with secrets. Some are best left undisturbed, while others¡­ well, others have a way of revealing themselves in the most unexpected ways."


    The angel''s words left an unsettling silence hanging in the air. Sera, still shaken, turned away, her gaze fixed on the ground. Jim, sensing her distress, decided to change the subject.


    "Earlier," he said, "you mentioned that divine mana is far denser than holy mana. I was wondering¡­ could it be used to enhance physical abilities?"


    The angel''s eyes flickered with interest. "An intriguing question. In theory, yes. Divine mana, in its purest form, could potentially enhance strength, speed, and even regeneration. But as I said, it is incredibly dangerous for humans to handle."


    Jake nodded, his mind racing. He remembered the limitations he had encountered with his holy mana techniques. Perhaps, if he could somehow harness a minuscule amount of divine mana, he could overcome those limitations.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    He began to experiment, carefully manipulating his mana flow, attempting to mimic the subtle vibrations of divine mana as described by the angel. It was a delicate process, requiring immense focus and control. Sweat beaded on his brow as he pushed himself to the limit, his body trembling with the exertion.


    Suddenly, a surge of energy coursed through him, far more potent than any he had experienced before. He felt a surge of power, his senses heightened, his body feeling lighter, faster, stronger. He had done it. He had tapped into a minuscule amount of divine mana. However, the mana weighed down on both the soul and body. Jake quickly dug his hands into the ground and dispersed the heavier divine mana, the surrounding ground suddenly started to grow with life. Trees, plants, vegetables started to grow rapidly in a thousand yards around them.


    The angel watched Jim with growing interest. "Impressive," he acknowledged. "You have a unique talent, young one. A rare affinity for energies beyond the ordinary. If you can solve the problem of dispersing or containing the divine mana, you may become a formidable warrior to fight for this universe. Oops, I have said too much."


    Jim, feeling a surge of exhilaration, continued to experiment, pushing the boundaries of his newfound power. He discovered that he could move with unprecedented speed, his movements a blur of motion. His strikes were imbued with a newfound power, capable of shattering rocks with ease.


    But the power was fleeting. The surge of divine mana quickly subsided in the next 10 seconds, leaving him feeling drained. He realized that he was still far from mastering this newfound ability. It would require years of dedicated training, of pushing his limits, to truly harness the power of divine mana.


    As the allotted hour drew to a close, the angel prepared to depart. "Remember," he said, his voice grave, "power comes with responsibility. Use it wisely, young one. The fate of this world may one day rest upon your shoulders."


    With that, the angel vanished in a burst of blinding light, leaving Jim and the others standing in stunned silence. They had witnessed a glimpse of true power, a power beyond human comprehension. And they knew, with a certainty that chilled them to the bone, that their journey had just begun.


    As Jim was teleported outside, three people remained at the entrance. A member of the holy church, Giant Axe and an unknown mage. They were all interested to see what he would come back with. No one dared to ambush Jim after they saw the connection with the Holy church of Damian. To go against the church was a death wish. The holy church member relayed the message to visit the church this week to see the bishop. Giant Axe and the mage discussed some tactics with Jim and found the conversation to be enjoyable. No secrets were spilled about the angel¡¯s conversation but that was to be expected. Jim added Giant Axe to his friends list and invited the mage as well as he had talent; however, unexpectedly, the mage declined.

 Chapter 42 - (season 1) Garden of Damien

    As Jim arrived at the church of Damien, he was greeted by church members. Shortly, Jim was escorted to a room with Bishop Carl who proposed the expedition.


    As Jim walked in the room, a certain warmth started to enter his soul. Something that could not be mentioned with words but makes a person more calm. As Jim entered the room, he greeted Bishop Carl.


    Pleasure to meet you again Bishop Carl as Jim shook his hand.


    The Bishop reciprocated and gestured to have a seat. ¡°Thank you for helping our church retrieve the spear. I heard you were monumental in slaying the lessor demon and even donating points to the Church to retrieve the weapon.¡±


    Jim leaned forward, intrigued. "Tell me more about this spear. What makes it so special?"


    The Bishop leaned back, his expression thoughtful. "Legend speaks of the spear of Luciel, used to fight back the demons in countless battles in our history. He forged this spear from angel¡¯s blessing, imbuing it with the power light. It is said to be capable of resurrecting the dead, of binding souls to eternal torment, and even of shattering the very fabric of reality."


    Jim whistled softly, impressed. "That''s... quite a list of abilities."


    "Indeed," the Bishop agreed. "And it is precisely because of its power that we must recover it. The Spear has been missing for centuries and would propel the church in its fight against demons. Like our church, there are cultists who have opposite beliefs and would try to destroy this weapon to further their goals.


    Jim frowned. " I''ve heard whispers of them. They worship ancient evils."


    Jim felt a shiver run down his spine.


    "What do you propose, Bishop?" he asked, his voice firm.


    The Bishop smiled, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "We would like to give you an honorary title of Priest which is a title below Bishops but you need not follow our beliefs. You can resume your activities like normal"


    Jim met the Bishop''s gaze, a silent understanding passing between them. This was a good deal for Jim but his actions would now be under scrutiny by the public.


    "I''m in," Jim said, a resolute glint in his eyes. "I will help the church when possible ."Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    The Bishop nodded. "I heard your request to visit the Garden of Damien. Since you have the honorary title of Priest, you are allowed access to most gardens owned by the church."


    Jim rose to his feet, a sense of purpose filling him. "Can you lead the way Bishop Carl"


    Bishop Carl led Jim through a series of intricate corridors, the air thick with the scent of incense and hushed prayers. Finally, they reached a massive oak door, intricately carved with symbols of faith. As Bishop Carl pushed it open, a wave of cool air washed over them, carrying with it the scent of damp earth and something faintly metallic.


    The Garden of Damien was unlike anything Jim had ever seen. Towering trees, their leaves shimmering with an unnatural luminescence, cast long, eerie shadows across the manicured paths. Strange, otherworldly plants, some resembling grotesque flowers, others like writhing tentacles, lined the borders. A small, obsidian pool, its surface reflecting the moonlight like shattered glass, lay at the heart of the garden.


    "This garden is more than just a place of beauty," Bishop Carl explained, his voice a hushed whisper. "It is a repository of ancient knowledge, a living library of forgotten lore. Many of the plants here possess unique properties, some with healing powers, others with¡­ more potent effects."


    Jim cautiously approached the obsidian pool. Its surface was eerily calm, reflecting the stars above like a million tiny diamonds. He felt a strange pull towards it, an inexplicable urge to touch the icy water.


    "What lies beneath?" Jim asked, his voice barely a murmur.


    Bishop Carl shook his head. "No one knows for sure. Some say it''s a gateway to another realm, a portal to the underworld. Others believe it holds the secrets of eternal life."


    Bishop, do you mind if I take small soil samples and maybe a couple of plants.


    Unfortunately, you cannot take anything from the garden. However, we do sell some potted plants in our gift shop if you are interested. The bishop grinned like a merchant from a past life. Jim felt chills run down his spine. The bishop chuckled softly, you can ask other priests at the church if they will scoop some soil and plants. You may not have the privilege to yet but that does not extend to church members gifting you plants. Just be mindful not to take too much Honorary Priest.


    Thank you Bishop Carl. If nothing else, I should get going.


    Actually, there is one more thing I would like to talk to you about honorary priest. How would you like to represent the church in the upcoming Christmas Bowl.


    Intrigued Jim asked what the Christmas Bowl was.


    The Christmas bowl is a friendly competition between members of the Church. There are four main regions that the church is grouped. You have the northern region here where we are, and three other regions, south, west, east. Whoever wins the Christmas bowl, their church receives additional support for one year until the next Christmas bowl. I will be frank with you, our region has historically finished last in the last couple of years. Participants must be from the region of the church they represent and Bishops cannot participate for obvious reasons. If you participate for the northern church region, I can put in a special request to the archbishop of the north to permit you to work and share plants from the garden of Damien. How about it Honorary priest, are you interest in participating for the northern region?

 Chapter 43 - (season 1) Christmas Bowl

    Jim stared at Bishop Carl, a mixture of surprise and amusement on his face. "The Christmas Bowl? You want me to¡­ compete?"


    The Bishop chuckled. "Indeed. We believe your unique skills, not to mention your¡­ unconventional abilities to wield holy power, could give us a much-needed edge."


    Jim considered the offer. While he wasn''t exactly known for his piety, he did enjoy a good challenge. And the prospect of utilizing the Garden of Damien''s unique flora for the competition was intriguing.


    "What kind of competition is this, exactly?" Jim inquired.


    "It¡¯s a tournament series. Four representatives from each region are randomly assigned to have matches daily. The Christmas bowl will start in one month. I will contact you the three days before we depart"


    Jim grinned. "Depart. Where are we departing too?"


    The Bishop beamed. "Its in the holy kingdom of Damien located in the central plains. I will inform the Archbishop of your decision and begin making the necessary arrangements. In the meantime, I encourage you to explore the garden further. You may find some inspiration for the competition amongst its flora."


    With that, Bishop Carl departed, leaving Jim alone in the eerie beauty of the Garden of Damien. He spent the next few days exploring the garden, meticulously observing the strange and wondrous plants. He discovered a vine that glowed with an eerie light, a flower that emitted a calming scent, and a moss that seemed to absorb and amplify any sound.


    The possibilities were endless. Jim began to sketch out his plans, his mind buzzing with ideas. The one thing that was unexpected is the amount of holy mana in the garden. There is a vast amount of holy mana but there is also something else mixed in the deeper parts of the garden. Curiously Jim wanted to know what kind of mana is located in the deeper parts of the garden but his intuition stopped him from moving farther in. He could tell that the deeper the garden is, the more volatile the holy mana behaved. Jim created a clone body for Jake to control as he wanted to study the holy mana at the church as well. Jim was able to that the holy mana here utilizes the light element more heavily than Jakes holy mana. If he had to guess, the composition of light, fire, wind is structured differently from Jake. Jim needed to understand the holy mana structure himself in order to utilize the holy mana like Jake. He even thought that understanding the process would improve and maybe learn a new mana sword technique. Currently, Jim was limited to neutral mana to either spin to create a mana sword or vibrate to increase the penetration power. His application of mana was limited and he wanted inspiration from holy mana.


    As Jim was walking around the garden, he stumbled upon monkey fighting in the garden. Jim kept his distance and watched their fight. Two monkeys were screeching for a couple of minutes. All of a sudden, one monkey created a mana spear. Jim was shocked at this occurrence. The other monkey created a mana sword out of thin air. To create solid holy mana swords and spears out of nothing shocked Jim. Adding aura to weapons was a common tactic starting at tier 4, but no one ever managed to create actual aura weapons prior to this.


    Jim was stunned. The sight of the monkeys wielding pure mana weapons had shattered his preconceived notions about the limits of mana manipulation. He had always believed that creating solid objects from pure mana was beyond the realm of human possibility.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    He spent the next few days observing the monkeys, fascinated by their agility, their ferocity, and their uncanny ability to wield mana with such precision. He noticed that the monkeys seemed to draw their mana directly from the environment, absorbing the ambient energy and shaping it into weapons with incredible speed and accuracy.


    The monkey with the spear created some distance and started creating 10 spears around the original spear and threw it at the other monkey. Jim¡¯s jaw dropped as he knew how hard it was to maintain 1 mana weapon but to create 10 in an instance was unheard of. Even among tier 6 players, only the top players could create multiple mana weapons let alone in an instance. As the spears arrived closer to the sword monkey, the sword monkey swung its mana sword at only one of the mana spear shattering it. The remaining 9 mana spears pierced the sword monkey; however, no damage was done.


    Jim pondered an illusion with light magic, how interesting. Mana could also be used like this.  As Jim continued watching, the sword monkey sliced three times in different directions nowhere close to the spear monkey. Jim was confused as there was no point in randomly swinging the sword that way. However, as soon as he thought about it, the three sword waves suddenly switched directions multiple times moving in an irregular pattern but ultimately landed at the spear monkey. The spear monkey was flew across the forest until it hit a large tree. Jim couldn¡¯t follow the monkeys as the mana was too dense there.


    Watching the fight brought inspiration with lots of things he wanted to experiment with. Jim walked back to where Jake was meditating and started theory crafting. Crafting mana sword illusions and switching directions in the middle of an attack was things he did not think of.


    Jim, inspired by the monkey''s astonishing display, started meticulously analyzing his own mana flow. He focused on refining his control, striving for the fluidity and precision he had witnessed in the monkeys'' movements. He practiced creating small, ephemeral constructs ¨C shimmering butterflies of light, wisps of swirling mist ¨C honing his ability to shape and manipulate mana with greater finesse.


    He began to experiment with illusions, drawing upon the lessons learned from the seemingly illusory spears. Previously, he was adept and moving mana but shaping mana was more difficult. Needles were easy to shape and were his bread and butter as a shape to control. Creating a sword of mana was much more difficult to create but he doesn¡¯t have to fill the sword with mana. Instead, Jim practiced controlling light refractions to create a hollow sword mana. This was much easier to control as it was like controlling a beach ball compared to a basketball. Swinging around a beach ball which was essentially weightless was much easier that swinging a basketball around metaphorically. Jim was able to control 5 swords as a distraction to be used in fights. Now he could focus all of his efforts on what the sword monkey was doing.


    From his initially memories, Jim analyzed the mana patterns the sword monkey used. He remembered the area around the sword monkey had almost like a static field around it. Some moments, the mana moved in one direction, other times, it moved in another direction. Almost like the wind was blowing left then right. Jim realized that might have been something similar to a mana zone. The way it uses a mana zone is to control the mana in a zone without moving the mana. That way, when someone enters the zone it feels like they would have to walk through water creating a resistance or drag slowing them down. The monkey was much more innovative as it moved the mana in a zone around it causing the mana blades to move and turn sharply making it unpredictable. If Jim can control this than he can cover not only his front but also his back creating a perfect defense. Jim started practicing moving his mana in a zone over and over for the rest of the day.


    In the deeper parts of the garden, the young monkeys and a few senior monkeys watched Jim and was impressed that a human was able to copy their techniques fairly quickly, The senior monkey were less impressed as this was only rudimentary techniques. The monkeys soon retreated into the garden.

 Chapter 44 - (season 1) Weight vs shape

    "Jim spent day and night trying to perfect mana zone manipulation. So far, he had only been able to create one consistent pattern of moving mana within the zone. Relying on on-the-spot improvisation proved ineffective; the enemy''s movements were unpredictable, and constantly adapting his strategy mid-combat was mentally taxing.


    Therefore, Jim decided to focus on pre-determined movement patterns. He would establish fixed paths for his mana within the zone, eliminating the need to constantly react to the enemy''s movements and ensuring his attacks converged on a specific target area.


    At night, Jim meditated, pondering his next challenge: the limitations of his current mana constructs. He could create needles, thin and fast but lacking in power, or bubbles, slow but capable of holding a significant charge for powerful explosions. The needles, despite their speed, lacked the mass to hold enough mana for a substantial explosion, making them more effective for piercing or penetrating. The bubbles, while potent, were too slow to hit agile targets effectively.


    He considered the mana blade, a Tier 3 skill available through the system. As a Tier 1 player, he was ineligible to learn it. However, he realized that demonstrating a high level of mana control, perhaps at a near-Tier 3 level, might grant him early access to the skill.


    He remembered how, in the future, many players who learned the mana blade developed unique variations of the technique. Some wielded massive, sweeping blades, while others utilized rapid, consecutive strikes. These variations often involved bypassing the skill''s inherent cooldown, allowing for multiple strikes within a fraction of a second. The standard cooldown for a mana blade was a hefty three minutes.


    Jim considered the origins of these variations. Were they player-created techniques, developed through individual experimentation and innovation? Or were they passed down through "legacies," knowledge and skills handed down outside the established system? While legacies existed, they seemed less common.


    Jim, having never reached the highest echelons of power in the future, wasn''t certain about the exact origins of these advanced techniques. He suspected that many of these variations were born from individual ingenuity, players pushing the boundaries of their own understanding and developing unique applications of the base skill.


    This realization presented a dilemma. While relying on system-taught skills could provide a solid foundation, it might also limit his growth in the long run.


    He kept thinking about the fundamental challenge: maintaining shape while achieving high-speed movement. His current constructs suffered from this inherent trade-off. The needles, prioritizing speed, sacrificed power, while the bubbles, prioritizing power, sacrificed speed.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    How could he overcome this limitation? How could he move mana quickly while simultaneously maintaining its shape and integrity? Jim pondered this question deeply, searching for a solution.


    He then sought advice from Jake. "Can you show me your ''Golden Hands'' technique?" he asked.


    Jake complied, gathering holy mana in his hands and shooting a beam of pure energy straight into the air. Jim observed, trying to understand how Jake maintained the shape of the beam while achieving such speed and power.


    Jake shrugged. "It''s hard to explain," he admitted. "It''s like learning to ride a bike. You don''t consciously think about how to balance; you just do it."


    This left Jim with more questions than answers. Perhaps some people were simply innately talented in certain areas. This led him back to his own strengths: mana control and clone techniques.


    Suddenly, an epiphany struck him. "What is a clone?" he mused. "It''s essentially dividing my concentration, allowing me to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. What if I applied this concept to my mana manipulation? Instead of creating a clone, what if I treated the act of creating the mana shape as a separate task, allowing me to simultaneously focus on maintaining its speed and power?"


    Jim took a deep breath, concentrating. In a flash, he swung his sword, a portion of his focus dedicated to maintaining the crescent moon shape while the other part focused on speed and power.


    System Notification: Self-created skill: Mana Blade ¨C Creates a mana blade. Cooldown: None.


    Jim felt a surge of exhilaration. He had done it! He had successfully created a mana blade, a testament to his own ingenuity and his understanding of mana manipulation. He swung his sword again, and again, and again, successfully creating three consecutive mana blades before the strain began to tell. Three blades seemed to be his limit, but it was a significant breakthrough.


    He finally understood what Jake meant. Some skills, like riding a bike, became ingrained, almost instinctive. He would never forget how to create this mana blade, even if he couldn''t consciously recall the exact moment of its creation.


    After spending a few days practicing his new technique, Jim returned to the Church and walked towards the healing center. He encountered Bishop Carl and the two engaged in conversation.


    "Recently," the Bishop began, "we''ve seen an unusual increase in the number of patients brought in after animal attacks."


    Jim raised an eyebrow. "These were normal animals, weren''t they? Animals that the Church has been feeding for years?"


    The Bishop nodded, his expression grave. "Yes, but lately, they''ve become increasingly aggressive, attacking gardeners and farmers without provocation. But the most concerning aspect is the nature of their injuries."


    The Bishop led Jim inside the healing center. As they observed the healers treating a patient, Jim activated his "Supersight," allowing him to perceive the flow of mana within the patient''s body. He noticed a disturbing phenomenon: the bruised areas were infused with a strange, pitch-black mana, obstructing the natural flow of healing energy.


    The healers, despite their best efforts, struggled to overcome this dark influence. It took them an agonizing thirty to forty minutes to clear the affected areas, a significant delay compared to the usual healing times.


    Jim pointed out his observation to the Bishop, describing the presence of the pitch-black mana. The Bishop, intrigued, asked Jim to confirm his findings.


    "I can show you," Jim replied, his voice firm.


    And so, Jim prepared to demonstrate the true extent of his understanding of mana, not just as a warrior, but as a healer."

 Chapter 45 - (season 1) Cultists

    "Jim held the bubble containing the extracted pitch-black mana, his gaze fixed on the swirling energy within. It was unlike anything he had ever encountered before. Holy mana, even when corrupted, still retained a faint aura of purity, a glimmer of divine light. But this¡­ this was something else entirely. It was a raw, untamed energy, a manifestation of pure evil, pulsating with a sinister life of its own.


    He cautiously extended a tendril of his own mana towards the bubble, attempting to probe the nature of the dark energy within. As soon as his mana touched the bubble, a jolt of pain surged through him, as if he had touched a live wire. He hastily retracted his mana, his hand trembling slightly.


    This was clearly no ordinary impurity. It was something¡­ dangerous.


    He decided to isolate the bubble, placing it within a small, airtight container crafted from a rare, naturally occurring crystal found deep within the Garden of Damien. The crystal, imbued with the calming influence of the garden''s holy mana, seemed to contain the dark energy, preventing it from leaking out and corrupting the surrounding environment.


    Jim spent the next few days studying the contained energy, observing its fluctuations, its patterns, its subtle attempts to break free. He found that the dark energy was constantly seeking an outlet, attempting to leech off the life force of anything in its vicinity. He even noticed that it was subtly influencing the flow of holy mana within the garden, creating small pockets of corruption, like a cancer spreading through a healthy organism.


    He realized that this was not just an isolated incident. The presence of this malevolent energy within the patient suggested a deeper, more insidious threat. It was a sign, a warning, that the forces of darkness were awakening, their influence spreading like a shadow across the land.


    The Bishop reminded Jim that they would have to depart tomorrow for the Christmas Bowl. Jim was prepared for the trip and waited in front of the teleportation portal. The Bishop arrived, accompanied by familiar faces: Giant Axe, Link, and Priest Grandis, members of the recent Ajax raid operation. Everyone greeted each other, eager to begin the journey to the holy kingdom of Damian.


    The Bishop secured separate rooms and accommodations for everyone for the week. "The competition will begin tomorrow," he explained, "so we will have a team meeting tonight at 6:00 PM to discuss our strategy."


    With that, the group settled into their respective rooms, each member contemplating the challenges that lay ahead."


    The evening of the team meeting arrived, and Jim found himself seated at a long oak table in a cozy tavern within the holy kingdom of Damian. Across from him sat Bishop Carl, his expression grave. To his left sat Giant Axe, a towering figure with a broadsword sheathed at his hip, and to his right was Link, a nimble rogue with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Priest Grandis, a woman of quiet strength with a serene aura, completed the group.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Welcome," Bishop Carl began, his voice echoing slightly in the tavern''s dim light. "As you know, the Christmas Bowl is not merely a competition; it''s an opportunity for each region to showcase its strengths and to foster camaraderie amongst the faithful."


    He paused, his gaze sweeping across the faces of his companions. "However, this year, the stakes feel higher. There''s a darkness stirring, a malevolent influence that threatens to disrupt the balance of the world. The Christmas Bowl may not only determine the fate of our region but also play a crucial role in combating this growing threat."


    Jim, remembering the pitch-black mana he had extracted, felt a chill run down his spine. He decided to share his findings.


    "Bishop, I believe I may have uncovered something significant," he began, explaining his encounter with the corrupted patient and the discovery of the malevolent energy. He described the nature of the dark mana, its insidious influence, and his concerns about its growing presence.


    The others listened intently, their faces etched with concern. Giant Axe, his brow furrowed, commented, "This is serious. If this darkness continues to spread, it could threaten the very foundations of the Church."


    Link, ever the pragmatist, asked, "Do you have any idea where this dark energy is coming from?"


    Jim shook his head. "Not yet. But I believe it''s connected to evil cultists. I don¡¯t know what they are planning but this type of mana should only be useful for malicious players."


    Priest Grandis, her voice calm and measured, said, "We must be vigilant. We must not allow our focus to be diverted from the competition, but we must also be prepared to face any unforeseen threats."


    Bishop Carl nodded. "Priest Grandis is right. The Christmas Bowl is our immediate focus. We must demonstrate our strength and unity to the other regions, to show them that the North stands strong against any threat. But we must also be prepared to act decisively if any unforeseen dangers arise."


    He turned to Jim. "Jim, your insights are invaluable. I believe your unique abilities will be crucial to our success. We need your expertise in mana manipulation, your ability to analyze and adapt, and your unwavering resolve."


    Jim nodded, a sense of purpose filling him. He was ready. He was ready to face any challenge, to protect his allies, and to defend the light against the encroaching darkness.


    After the discussion of dark mana passed, the Bishop switched the topic to the Christmas Bowl. The organization has changed the rules of competition. The first event will be a team competition. Each team will have a random team and the following day will be the finals for the team competition. The second event in the following day will be individuals fights. The third event will be a talent competition which is still being kept a secret to all Bishops.


    As the meeting drew to a close, Jim felt a renewed sense of camaraderie, a shared determination to succeed, not just in the competition, but in their mission to protect the world from the encroaching darkness. The Christmas Bowl was about to begin, and Jim, armed with his newfound strength and a growing sense of purpose, was ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.

 Chapter 46 - (season 1) Synergy

    The morning of the team competition dawned crisp and clear. The arena, a vast expanse of green field surrounded by a towering amphitheater, was alive with the energy of the crowd. Each region, resplendent in their colorful uniforms, was eager to showcase their strength and claim victory.


    The Northern team, their spirits high after the successful training session, awaited their opponent. The draw determined their first match against the Eastern region, a team renowned for their swiftness and agility. No one famous was present on the Eastern team, but the presence of a powerful Champion was rumored to be lurking in their ranks.


    Both teams shook hands and stared at the projection in the middle of the arena. The referee announced the first challenge: a total elimination match. The arena projected a random stage, a bustling cityscape with abandoned buildings, perfect for cover for covert and long-range classes. Everyone was randomly teleported within the arena, separated from their teammates, and left to either camp or go on the offensive. Jim found himself on the eastern side of the arena, with only a vague map showing the boundaries but no indication of enemy or friendly locations.


    As the competition began, Jim cautiously moved through the urban landscape, his senses heightened, his mana flowing through him like a silent river. He encountered a lone Eastern warrior, a nimble rogue moving with fluid grace. The rogue launched a surprise attack, a flurry of daggers raining down on Jim.


    Jim, reacting instinctively, deflected the incoming daggers with a swift movement of his sword, creating a shimmering shield of mana. He then counterattacked, unleashing a barrage of mana needles that pierced the rogue''s defenses. The rogue, caught off guard, stumbled back, clutching his wounds.


    Jim pressed his advantage, moving with swift precision, his every move calculated and controlled. He activated his mana blade, a shimmering crescent moon of energy arcing through the air, and followed it up with a volley of mana needles, creating a whirlwind of deadly projectiles that overwhelmed the rogue.


    The rogue, overwhelmed by Jim''s skill and the ferocity of his attacks, was quickly defeated.


    The Bishops outside the arena took note of Jim''s strength. "That was impressive," one Bishop murmured to another. "That young man has a bright future."


    As Jim moved deeper into the arena, he reached the center of the map. He activated his mana zone, not for offensive purposes, but for situational awareness. He had learned from the Ajax raid that the mana zone could be used for supportive roles, such as detecting enemies and allies within a certain radius.


    He quickly located Giant Axe engaged in a fierce battle with two opponents. He was tanking fairly well, but his health was slowly being chipped away. At this rate, he may hold on for about five minutes if nothing serious happened. Jim quickly wrote a message on the ground, "Head to center," and then activated his enhanced speed, sprinting towards Giant Axe''s location.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Giant Axe, noticing the message, immediately abandoned his frontal defense and started running towards the center of the map as instructed.


    Jim, while running, sensed Link''s presence northwest of Giant Axe. He quickly wrote another message on the ground, directing Link to prepare for a pincer attack as Giant Axe closed in on his position. Link, understanding the plan, readied his weapons.


    The pincer attack was executed flawlessly. Jim, with his enhanced speed and agility, flanked the enemies, while Giant Axe charged head-on. The enemies, caught between two forces, were quickly overwhelmed and defeated. Priest Grandis, who had been observing the situation fought off the last enemy in the southern region of the map.


    The Northern team emerged victorious from the first encounter, their teamwork and coordination proving to be a formidable force.


    The crowd outside the arena, initially impressed by Jim''s individual prowess, were now beginning to understand the true strength of the Northern team. Their teamwork, their strategic thinking, and their unwavering resolve made them a force to be reckoned with.


    There was an hour break before the next region''s match, giving the teams a chance to rest and prepare for the upcoming challenges.


    The hour-long break provided a welcome respite. Jim, despite the adrenaline still coursing through his veins, took the opportunity to meditate, focusing on calming his mind and replenishing his mana.


    Priest Grandis, her eyes closed in meditation, added, "We must remain calm and observant. We must anticipate their every move, and be prepared to adapt to any situation."


    The break ended, and the teams prepared for the final round of the team competition for southern region against the Western region. The Western team, a formidable group of warriors, entered the arena with a confident swagger. Their leader, a stoic warrior named Kale, exuded an aura of power and authority.


    The challenge this time was a test of teamwork and resourcefulness. The teams were tasked with navigating a treacherous labyrinth, overcoming a series of deadly traps and puzzles all while working to eliminate the other team.


    The Western team, with their cunning and strategic brilliance, proved to be a formidable opponent. They moved with a precision and coordination that rivaled the southern team, expecting every trap set for them. Ultimately the southern team lost fight. There was nothing that stood out between the battle and most of the damage were done by traps set by the stage. As night fell, the team finals were set tomorrow. Jim logged off for the day to relax and check the internet forums for anything interesting.


    A couple of clicks into the forum and the Christmas Bowl was a hot topic despite people not personally fighting, there was a betting stage on who would be the team champion for the first challenge. Jim was intrigued and the bets were sealed with Champion in game contracts. Jim was interested and bet everything he had on the northern team to win. So far the bets were 50/50 with a 5% commission to the game. Players were excited as they compared battle videos to see what the true odds for tomorrow¡¯s final are. Jim didn¡¯t think much of it and went to sleep.

 Chapter 47 - (season 1) Capture the Flag

    Suddenly, a hush fell over the crowd as three figures approached the center of the arena. Archbishop Feng, a venerable figure with a serene aura, led the way. Beside him walked Monk Gyatso, a man of imposing stature with a shaved head and piercing eyes. Bringing up the rear was a figure shrouded in a long, dark cloak, their face obscured by a wide-brimmed hat.


    The arrival of these unexpected guests sent a ripple of excitement through the crowd. The Archbishop, with a gentle smile, addressed the assembled teams. "Greetings, champions. The Christmas Bowl this year will be unlike any other. For this event, we have invited special guests to witness your prowess and to offer their own unique challenges."


    Monk Gyatso, his voice booming like thunder, stepped forward. "This year," he declared, "we will test not only your strength and skill, but also your courage and your compassion."


    The cloaked figure remained silent, their presence shrouded in an air of mystery.


    The crowd buzzed with anticipation. The arrival of these unexpected guests had added a new layer of intrigue to the competition. The Northern team, already aware of the growing darkness, felt a sense of unease. They knew that the challenges ahead would be greater than they had ever imagined.


    The Christmas Bowl, once a simple competition, had now transformed into something much more, a test not only of their physical and mental strength, but also of their courage, their compassion, and their unwavering faith in the face of impending darkness.


    As both teams prepared for the stage, a random selection was made. Capture the Flag or eliminate all enemies. This was an interesting challenge as you could win with either condition but the warriors of the West appear to specialize in Defense.


    Before either team could discuss strategy, all players were teleported inside the arena. For this challenge both teams were teleported as a group. The western group was teleported to the flag and the northern group was about 1000 yards (0.5 miles) away from them. The clock has started as the western group held the flag and started running to the edge of the arena. This stage did not have any obstacles or buildings as was just a flat arena where everyone could watch. Both groups saw a 10 minute countdown to secure the flag. In a couple of seconds, the western group created a formation and started chanting a verse. This was unknown but the northern group did not have a good feeling about this as they continued to run to where the western group was holding the flag. In a couple of seconds, a triple multi barrier made out of light was cast.


    The northern group halted and analyzed the barrier. Grandis gave a quick explanation that was a church of Damien formation. The triple light barrier also known as the gold shield was a tier 3 formation that was durable and would need significant firepower in order to break through. Once this formation was completed it would not run out until the users mana supply is drained which could take 1-2 hours based on the current consumption rate. Giant Axe asked what if we constantly attack the barrier, will that accelerate the mana consumption. Grandis shook her head and said no. Link wasn¡¯t sure and threw a couple of mana spears at the gold shield. Jim activated super sight and confirmed that the mana drain was not accelerated when attacking. Jim deactivated super sight and discussed with the team. He asked Grandis, If the shield is keeps attacks out, is the opposite true, are they stuck in the shield as well. Grandis answered with a puzzled look ¡°Yes, technically they are trapped inside¡±.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Jim had an evil smile that nobody could see, not even Jake who was controlling the main body knew what he was thinking. Jim quickly reminded Jake what they did in the frozen thundra against the yetis in Ajax lair. Jake asked what does this have to do with our current situation. Well if we create mana bubbles to float in the air, we can substitute it with Boulders from our garden in the time ring. I can hollow out the center and fill them with compressed air and fire mana. Then we drop them from the sky. But you have to do something for me first.


    Jake did not like where this was going but didn¡¯t see the harm in this.


    Jake discussed the plan for Link and Giant Axe to block the front with Grandis to start buffing everyone. Jake started chanting and performing a rain dance. Everyone was curious what he was doing and some spectators started laughing. After about 5 minutes, the bubble reached the highest point of the ceiling. Jake stopped dancing and took out the Golden Buddha he received from the Ajax raid. The golden buddha enhanced the mana around them with dense holy mana. Jim used this time to transfer the holy mana into the time ring where the boulders were. The mix of compressed air, fire and holy mana should detonate when the boulders are dropped from their height. Jim gave Jake the signal to start. Jake replace one bubble at the ceiling with a mana boulder.


    The western team was panicking as a huge boulder was heading their way with no means to escape. The captain of the western team calmed them down reminding them of the power of the gold shield. It should be stronger than a tier 3 spell to break it. As the boulder initially descended slowly, Jake told everyone to assume a low stance as the blast recoil was coming. 3 . 2 . 1.


    The mana boulder crashed into the gold shield activating the mana core filled with holy mana, air and fire mana causing a large explosion. After the dust settled the gold shield remained in effect but the western team looked visibly drained to about half of their mana supply.


    Giant Axe exclaimed that they were so close that is a pity they would have to give up on the challenge. Jake reminded him by saying ¡°If one boulder is not enough, then we just need to keep going. Jake substituted three mana bubbles with three more mana boulders slowly descending. Everyone¡¯s jaw dropped. Even the Archbishop was impressed. As soon as the remaining three boulders exploded the challenge ended with the northern team winning the challenge.

 Chapter 48 - (season 1 end) Second Challenge

    The dust settled, revealing the stunned faces of the Western team. Their gold shield, once a beacon of impregnable defense, shimmered weakly, cracks spidering across its surface. The Archbishop, his eyes wide with a mixture of awe and apprehension, slowly rose from his seat.


    "An¡­ impressive display," he finally conceded, his voice a low rumble. "Such raw power. But at what cost?"


    Jake, still panting from the exertion, grinned. "A small price for victory, Your Grace. Besides," he added, glancing at Jim who maintained an unsettlingly calm demeanor, "we wouldn''t want to make things too easy, now would we?" Jake kept a false show of fatigue to not raise any suspicion.


    Jake, finally acknowledging the Archbishop''s gaze, offered a slight bow. "Apologies for the¡­ unorthodox methods, Your Grace. But the rules did not explicitly prohibit¡­ unconventional tactics."


    The Archbishop, his expression unreadable, waved a dismissive hand. "Indeed. The Northern team has proven their ingenuity and strength. They are the victors."


    A wave of jubilation erupted from the Northern team. Link, his face flushed, roared with laughter, while Giant Axe, despite his exhaustion, flexed his massive arms in triumph. Grandis, ever so silent smiled with grace.


    But the celebration was short-lived. The second challenge was set to begin in an hour allowing all teams to rest. Priests were stationed to each to heal everyone back to their prime condition.


    The northern team all looked toward the Bishop Carl to ascertain what the next challenge would be. Unfortunately, the organizers were tight lipped about the competition and would only reveal itself in due time. Bishop Carl promised each contestant personal training as their individual rewards for winning the team battles and representing the northern region.


    As the hour passed, all of the contestants returned to the arena. The archbishop was stern as usual and announced the second challenge. ¡°The first challenge demonstrated team work, the second challenge will test your talent¡±. As he stopped talking, the archbishop opened a chest and a holy cross was revealed. In an instant the holy cross sent pulses of holy mana throughout the arena. The center of the arena was filled with dense holy mana with the edge of the arena having the lowest density of holy mana.


    The archbishop spoke ¡°This challenge will test your compatibility with holy mana. Everyone has 10 minutes to get as close to the cross. The ring was 100 yards in diameter with a radius of 50 yards. Everyone will start at the edge of the arena and make their way through the mana. The challenge will begin now¡±


    As soon as the Archbishop spoke, everyone started running toward the center. Jim, Grandis and one member from the southern region didn¡¯t move and observed everyone else. This wasn¡¯t a race and there was 10 minutes to get to the center. Everyone who ran for 10 seconds slowed down considerably and stopped after 20 yards. Jim surmised that about every 10 yards represented mana density that correlates to 1 tier. So 10 yards would represent about tier 1, 20 yards about tier 2 ¡­ up to 50 yards which would roughly be tier 5. Everyone struggled to take more than a few yards after 20 yards putting them relatively comfortable with tier 2 mana density. This did not correlate directly to combat standards but it does represent the player¡¯s ability to handle denser mana. After one minute passed, all the contestants stopped. The average players stopped around 20 yards while above average players landed around 25 yards. Jim, Grandis and the southern player started walking toward the center of the arena. 5, 10 ,15, 20 yards quickly passed by as all three players started to slow down. Jim stopped around 28 yards matching Grandis and the southern player. The three players were locked in a stalemate unable to move past 28 yards. After 5 minutes passed, everyone was locked in sitting down as they could feel their limits were reached. Only the exceptionally strong willed individuals kept challenging the extra yard with no avail. Jim had an idea and activated supersight. He checked the arena for areas of less dense mana. To the average eye, it appears that the holy cross is equally distributing mana but Jim was able to see slight gaps where mana density was moderately lower. The only problem was the area that was parallel to where Jim was standing. He would have to walk in a bizarre manner taking a few steps back and forth to get to the area with less mana. He surmised that this would take about 3 minutes to get to 30 yards leaving him about 1 minute left for the challenge to end. Jim decided to take the risk and started walking back and forth in a strange directions. The audience did not understand what was going on and though he was having a mental breakdown. Only the strange guest the Archbishop brought had a subtle smile unnoticed by all.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    After 2 minutes, Jim was back to 28 yards and started moving to 29 then 30 yards. This was the closest anyone has gotten so far. With one minute left, Jim could have easily won the competition just standing at 30 yards. This opportunity to experiment with dense holy mana would not likely happen for another couple of years. Jim utilized him ability to create mana threads as thin as hair and started moving toward the holy cross. After 20 seconds he was able to connect with the holy cross.


    System Notification: You have connected with an ancient relic ¡°Holy Cross of Damien¡± Maintain connection for 10 seconds to receive a hidden reward.


    Keeping the mana strand connected to the relic already started to take its toll with Jim as he started sweating after 1 second. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 ,3 ,2 ,1.  After lasting 10 seconds with the relic Jim used up all of the remaining mana in his body which pushed him back to 0 yards at the edge of the arena. Despite Jim taking some damage from the knockback, he slumped on the edge of the arena with a smile. Jim did not have enough time or strength to move back to the center of the arena and let the remaining minute pass.


    The archbishop announced that the second challenge is over with a tie between the southern player and Grandis as the champions for this event. Jim was not mentioned as his final place was 0 yards, the lowest of the all players. This did not deter Jim as he had received a prize that might be priceless. With the end of the second challenge, the Archbishop announced that the third challenge will be postponed until the summer bowl as something urgent came up. With that, the Archbishop, Monk Gyatso and the clocked figure left the arena.


    As everyone was healed by the priests on site each team mingled with all four regions before heading back to their regions. The northern team returned to the Church of Damien in the northern region of Apple town and received individual rewards from Bishop Carl. With a week left, Jim received permission to stay at the Church of Damien with Bishop Carl¡¯s blessing.  As the server counted down, the end of season 1 concluded as Jim logged off.

 Chapter 49 – (Season 2) Government Program

    Jim was eagerly awaiting the release of the second season patch for "Champion" when he received an unexpected invitation: a government program seeking his participation. While initially hesitant about government work, Jim recognized the potential benefits. Joining a top guild could be incredibly lucrative, but its player retention system was highly competitive, rewarding only the most skilled players. In contrast, the government program offered consistent benefits for all participants, regardless of individual performance.


    However, this stability came at a cost. The program required daily reporting of in-game data, such as playtime and crash reports. While manageable, this added an extra hour to Jim''s daily routine. The most appealing contract option, the 5-year term, included an obligation to participate in government missions when requested. While most missions were manageable, scouting missions were notoriously time-consuming.


    Despite these considerations, Jim ultimately decided to accept the government offer. The consistent benefits outweighed the potential drawbacks, and the prospect of government service didn''t seem overly burdensome. He confirmed his acceptance via email and scheduled an in-person meeting for lunch that day.


    The fluorescent lights of the government office buzzed, casting a sterile glow on Jim as he nervously adjusted his chair. Across the polished oak table sat Agent Smith, his face a mask of serious professionalism. A stack of documents lay between them, each page crisp and intimidating.


    "Welcome, Jim," Agent Smith began, his voice a low rumble. "Thank you for accepting our invitation. As you know, the Champion program is crucial to national security."


    Jim nodded, trying to appear calm despite the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He had spent the past few days researching the program, piecing together the vague information provided in the initial email. It involved utilizing in-game skills and knowledge to assist government agencies in various, unspecified ways.


    "The program offers unique advantages," Agent Smith continued, sliding a document across the table. "Access to cutting-edge technology, exclusive training programs, and in-game resources. You''ll be integrated into a unit, working alongside other players."


    Jim scanned the document, his eyes drawn to the section on benefits. It was indeed impressive: advanced gear, in-game currency, and even the opportunity to participate in the development of future missions. The allure was undeniable as his current occupation is part time jobs and being a full time student. If he accepted this offer, Jim would not be considered rich but would not have to worry about a part time job and put his full focus on game.


    "Of course," Agent Smith added, his tone shifting slightly, "there are certain¡­ obligations. As outlined in the contract, you will be required to assist in government missions when called upon."


    Jim braced himself. "I understand. What kind of missions are we talking about?"Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Agent Smith leaned forward, his eyes intense. "Cybersecurity threats, intelligence gathering, even¡­ unconventional operations. As you might have known, every nation has their own agenda and might clash over resources with other nations. You may be called upon for certain missions such as recon, target eliminations¡­ This is all done within the game, you will not have to physically harm anyone."


    Jim felt a jolt of adrenaline. Unconventional operations? This was far more than he had anticipated. The initial excitement began to wane, replaced by a growing sense of unease. He had expected to contribute his gaming skills, perhaps by analyzing game data or developing strategies. But covert operations within the game? This was a whole different level.


    "I¡­ I need some time to consider this," Jim stammered, feeling a cold sweat prickle his skin.


    Agent Smith nodded understandingly. "What if we double the benefits and missions will be short term in nature unless critically required?"


    As a gamer, Jim knew the power shifted as he was about to leave the room. He was almost certain that his recent performance at the Christmas Bowl was valuable to the government and he could leverage this. He agreed only if they paid the 5 year contract and the bonus to double the benefits up front into a trust that could not be changed or meddled with. Jim did not want to think about any issues if he cannot logoff for a period of time or get called away during an important moment in the game.


    Agent Smith did not reply right away and instead called someone on his phone. After a couple of minutes he agreed and would send over an email with the new terms and conditions agreed upon today. The night ended as the email was received and Jim reread the agreement. Interestingly enough, there is a separate facility providing everything he could want, room and board, food, entertainment, fitness. This was a new facility spearheaded by the government after esports took off. Jim did not hesitate to sign up for the facility as he could take his classes online for the next four years if he decides to invest in education. He logged into the Champion forums for any interesting forums. The first couple of forums was dominated by the Christmas bowl videos. Players who were lucky enough to watch from the sidelines recorded all of the events. While players support Jim when he won the team event, players quickly criticized his reckless behavior in the second challenge when he ended up in last place. Jim found these comments funny and looked through his email messages as tons of fans supported him with cash or in game currency. Jim forgot that he used to be a streamer in the past life and donations were a common source of income. Jim regretted signing the contract with the government so rashly but nothing could be done. He added all of his assets and bought more shares of the Champion¡¯s parent company.


    The next day he logged on.


    Champion Season 2


    System notification: Would you like to choose another character and start over or continue with your recent character.


    Jim thought about his past as he only picked one class to play and missed out on other classes. He chose to start a new class. Jim was teleported to Apple town in the beginner zone again and was prompted to enter the character name. He changed his name to Jim as it was starting to get confusing when people called him Sera with her soul bound to him. He changed his name to ¡°Jim¡±. As he exited the beginner zone, Jim traveled quickly to the Church of Damien in the northern region to meet with Bishop Carl.


    Bishop Carl greeted Jim and showed him the plot of land that he could use in the Garden of Damien for performing so well in the Christmas Bowl. Jim thanked him and started to choose his next class which was actually something no one would think of. He scrolled through the job classes and selected ¡°farmer¡±.


    Jim honored Adam¡¯s choice in Season 1 as he wanted to become a farmer.


    System Notification: you are now a farmer.

 Chapter 50 – (Season 2) Farming Life

    The sun beat down on Jim''s brow as he surveyed his plot of land in the Garden of Damien. It was a decent size, a generous reward for his unexpected victory at the Christmas Bowl. But instead of the imposing fortress he had envisioned, or the sleek, high-tech workshop he had initially considered, he had chosen to become a farmer.


    The decision still felt surreal. After weeks of agonizing over the government program, the intense negotiations, and the unsettling revelations about the program''s true nature, he had chosen this¡­ this peaceful, almost mundane path.


    He knelt, examining the rich soil. He had spent the last few days learning the basics of farming from other players, his initial apprehension giving way to a surprising sense of calm. There was something therapeutic about the rhythm of it all - the tilling of the soil, the planting of seeds, the anticipation of the harvest.


    A notification chimed on his wrist. It was a message from Agent Smith.


    "Mr. Davis," it read, "Your progress in the program is being monitored. We understand your desire to pursue your own path within the game. However, we expect you to maintain a level of preparedness at all times. Regular reports will be scheduled."


    Jim sighed. He had hoped that by choosing this seemingly innocuous path, he could minimize his involvement with the government. But it seemed his hopes were misplaced.


    He spent the rest of the day tending to his crops, his mind a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. He was enjoying the tranquility of his new life, the simple satisfaction of nurturing something from seed to fruition. Yet, the shadow of the government program loomed large, a constant reminder of the obligations he had undertaken.


    He wondered if he had made a mistake. Would his farming skills be considered a liability by the program? Would they view his dedication to this peaceful pursuit as a sign of weakness, a distraction from his duties?


    As the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the fields, Jim made a decision. He would excel at this. He would become the most successful farmer in the Garden of Damien. He would prove to the government, and to himself, that even in the face of adversity, he could find purpose and fulfillment.


    And perhaps, just perhaps, his unique skills could be used in unexpected ways. After all, even the most powerful armies need to eat. Out of habit, Jim summoned two clones for Adam and Jake to pursue what they wanted to do.


    In shock, Jim opened up his status window to check why he could still make clones as his new class was farmer. When a new season started, players who chose a class would immediately lose all class skills from the prior class. Jim didn¡¯t know what was going on but was delighted that he kept all of his ninja skills. This meant that Jim could cycle through new classes every season. The possibilities started formulating in his brain of what type of classes he would want to learn and combine in his arsenal of skills.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Jim joined the farmers in the church of Damien to learn farming techniques. Jim nodded, feeling a genuine warmth towards the old man. He spent the next few hours immersed in the wisdom of the elder farmers. They shared their secrets: the best times to plant, the most effective fertilizers, the ancient lore of the land. He learned about the delicate balance of nature, the importance of patience, and the satisfaction of nurturing life from seed to harvest.


    As the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the fields, Jim felt a sense of peace he hadn''t experienced in a long time. This wasn''t just a game anymore; it was a way of life. He was becoming a part of something bigger, something that connected him to the very essence of the game world.


    But the shadow of the government program still lingered. He knew his peaceful existence would be disrupted, his newfound serenity shattered by the demands of his clandestine duties. He sighed, a wistful longing for a simpler time, a time before the government had entered his life.


    Yet, as he gazed out at the sprawling fields, a mischievous glint returned to his eyes. He would excel at this. He would become the most renowned farmer in the Garden of Damien, a symbol of prosperity and resilience. And when the time came, when the government demanded his assistance, he would be ready. He would be the "Farmer Ninja," a force of nature, a protector of the land, and a thorn in the side of any who dared to threaten the peace


    The following day, Jim started practicing farming techniques. Starting with a simple hoe, Jim struck the ground working the ground with his back muscles. Surprisingly, this is similar to sword training but the added resistance plowing through a field made this more challenging. He started training muscles that would not normally be used adding rotation through his hips.


    The other farmers watched him with awe as he plowed through the whole field in what would have taken the farmers a couple of days with specialized equipment. After plowing the fields, Jim started meditating. He never forgot what he learned from the angel¡¯s encounter at the lessor demon Ajax raid. In order to reach divine mana he needs a technique to contain the mana in his body and a way to release the mana contained in an effective way.


    While his body might be stronger than an average body, he hasn¡¯t officially created a mana body which is not available until tier 5 standards. Currently he is tier 1 as he restarted the character in season 2 but strangely enough, he can bring his power to tier 2, no maybe even tier 2.5  from the Christmas bowl but it would take time to recreate that level of power in this season. As Jim was deep in thought,  he thought about what the farmers told him. The soil environment plays a big influence in the development of the seeds. Without proper nutrients, the seed will never grow to its full potential.


    How does a seed grow? Jim kept pondering this exact question as he was close to a break through. Suddenly, Jim was struck with inspiration. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I think of this earlier¡±. He took his hands and placed them on the dirt ground. Jim focused on the ground and sensed an enormous amount of mana exuding from the ground.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t I think of this earlier. Mana is abundant in the air but where is the mana from the air coming from¡± As he asked himself he pondered the mana from earth. Jim was unable to take in a large amount of mana within his body he could use the earth to release a tremendous amount of mana at once compared to what he could do in the air.


    As if lightning could strike the same location twice, Jim had another brilliant idea.


    ¡°Cant we use the earth to release Divine Mana?¡±.

 Chapter 51 – (Season 2) Speck of Life

    Jim stood in the quiet of his time ring dimension, surrounded by the vibrant growth he''d nurtured with holy mana. The mini trees, flowers, and plants bloomed around him, each one thriving faster than natural cycles allowed. But his thoughts weren¡¯t on the beauty of the scene. They were fixated on the next challenge: divine mana. Despite his repeated attempts, he had yet to successfully convert holy mana into divine mana. The difference between the two was vast, and his failure stung more with each attempt.


    But Jim was used to failure. In fact, he embraced it. Every failure was a stepping stone, a necessary part of growth. The more he failed, the closer he was to understanding the true nature of mana¡ªand himself.


    He sat down on the soft earth, his mind whirring with possibilities. Holy mana was easy to conjure, but divine mana¡ªthat was elusive. He could feel the divine energy all around him, lingering just out of reach. It was frustrating. He clenched his fists, focused, and placed his hands on the soil once more, attempting to tap into the very essence of divine mana.


    But once again, his efforts were futile. The divine mana eluded him like a whisper in the wind, taunting him with its potential but never allowing him to grasp it.


    After the twentieth failed attempt, Jim sighed and leaned back. As his hands left the soil, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction¡ªnot from the failure, but from something else. He turned his head, eyes widening in surprise.


    The area around him had changed. Where there had been barren patches of soil or sparse growth before, vibrant flowers, vegetables, and miniature trees now filled the landscape. It was as if the land itself had responded to his repeated efforts, blossoming in ways that would have taken months in the real world.


    Jim¡¯s lips curved into a smile. Holy mana wasn¡¯t just a means to an end. It was a force in its own right¡ªa force that could nurture and accelerate growth. He had been focused on converting it into divine mana, but it seemed that the mana¡¯s power could manifest in ways he hadn¡¯t anticipated.


    "I¡¯ve been going about this all wrong," he murmured to himself.


    An idea sparked in his mind. If holy mana could cause this kind of growth, what would happen if he used it in other environments? Jim had a wealth of resources in his time ring dimension, including the soil from other dimensions he had collected. A desert, a tundra, a forest¡ªall of them had their own unique characteristics, each environment requiring its own balance of mana. What if he could manipulate the holy mana to enhance these different environments?


    Without hesitation, Jim walked toward the edge of the forest, where the soil from the forest dimension had been deposited. He placed his hands on the ground, closing his eyes and summoning the holy mana from within his body. Unlike before, where his attempts were focused on divine mana, this time Jim focused solely on enriching the environment with holy mana. He infused the soil, feeling it resonate with the power he channeled.


    As the mana flowed into the earth, the changes were almost immediate. The trees began to grow, their trunks thickening, their leaves unfurling faster than any normal cycle would allow. The air grew thicker with the scent of life, and the very ground seemed to pulse with energy. Jim smiled, watching as the forest flourished before his eyes.


    However, as he repeated the process a second time, something strange happened. The forest¡¯s growth slowed, and eventually, it came to a halt. Jim furrowed his brow. He wasn¡¯t sure why, but it seemed like the soil could only accept a certain amount of mana before it became saturated. He could feel the mana within his body draining more quickly than he expected.


    ¡°Is there a limit?¡± he muttered under his breath.


    It wasn¡¯t a complete loss¡ªhe had learned something valuable. There was a threshold, a point at which the soil and plants could no longer absorb more mana without becoming overwhelmed. After the second infusion, the forest¡¯s growth had stopped. It was as though the plants had reached their limit, unable to process any more mana.


    Jim leaned back and crossed his arms, thinking. If the plants have a limit, then they¡¯ll need time to adjust before they can take more mana.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    His eyes gleamed as he realized the implications. This wasn¡¯t just about the mana he could produce¡ªit was about managing the flow, ensuring the right balance between the land, the plants, and the energy he infused into it.


    Before he could dive further into his thoughts, a sudden presence caught his attention. It wasn¡¯t the usual hum of mana, nor the rush of nature. It was something... different.


    Jim turned, his heart quickening slightly as he saw an old man sitting cross-legged on the forest floor. His long gray hair fell past his shoulders, and his robes shimmered with an aura of power that Jim couldn¡¯t quite place. The man¡¯s eyes were closed in meditation, but as Jim focused on him, he could sense an immense energy radiating from him. This man wasn¡¯t ordinary by any means.


    Jim¡¯s instincts flared, and he stood up slowly, preparing himself. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes opened, revealing a pair of deep silver orbs. He smiled faintly, an expression that seemed both wise and amused at the same time. ¡°I am the Asura Spirit. The one who has watched over your journey.¡±


    Jim froze, his mind racing. The Asura Spirit? He recalled the asura spirit but it has never taken a physical form in the past. Maybe it was from the mana he infused into the environment, the asura spirit might have benefitted from it.


    ¡°...You''re the Asura Spirit?¡± Jim¡¯s voice was full of disbelief.


    The spirit nodded, his expression unchanging. ¡°Indeed. I have observed your efforts to harness the divine forces, and I must say, you have been... persistent.¡±


    Jim didn¡¯t know what to say. Part of him wanted to ask a thousand questions, but the other part of him understood that the spirit wouldn¡¯t have come without reason. He took a step forward. ¡°If you¡¯re here to teach me about divine mana, I¡¯m ready.¡±


    The Asura Spirit¡¯s smile widened, and his gaze softened. ¡°You misunderstand, Jim. I have not come to teach you. I¡¯ve come to show you the path.¡±


    Jim¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡°The path?¡±


    The Asura Spirit rose slowly to his feet, his movements fluid and deliberate. ¡°You seek to control divine mana, but there is more to it than mere control. You must learn to align yourself with it. You must understand that divine mana is not a tool to be wielded at will, but a force to be nurtured, respected, and ultimately, embraced.¡±


    Jim¡¯s thoughts whirled as he processed the spirit¡¯s words. Align, nurture, embrace¡­ He had always viewed mana as something he could manipulate, something to gain power over. But the idea of alignment¡ªa partnership, not mastery¡ªwas something new.


    Just like divine mana, there are many paths energy can manifest in. In your time, it is called mana. Back in my time, divine mana was only one path of mana. Masters found new paths for mana, each with its own distinct qualities. Divine mana is a powerful force, but it is only the beginning of mana paths. This world¡¯s mana quality has significantly deteriorated since my time. It is ¡­ a disappointment but understandable in the way your time views mana. Its almost as if someone is stealing the mana from this universe.


    Jim was shocked that that the asura spirit knew about the multiple universes as this was a secret that even he did not find out if only by accident.


    As Jim was lost in though, the Asura spirit continued ¡°There were roughly 100 universes back in my time but it looks like there aren¡¯t many universes left in your time. Something is definitely behind this and it seems that it is your journey to take and find out about this world¡±


    As I was saying ¡°Holy mana is the link between the mortal and the divine. It is a conduit, but you must be willing to let go of your desires. To truly wield divine mana, you must become part of the flow. You must not seek to control it, but to become one with it.¡±


    Jim took a step back, processing the weight of the spirit¡¯s words. He had always thought of mana as a resource to exploit. But now, it was becoming clear. To control divine mana, I must become its equal, not its master.


    The Asura Spirit¡¯s silver eyes glinted with approval. ¡°You are on the right path. But you are only beginning to understand. The road ahead is long, and the challenges will grow greater. But with the right mindset, you can learn to wield the divine forces as they were meant to be wielded.¡±


    With that, the Asura Spirit began to fade, his form dissolving into the air like smoke. ¡°It seems that this is the amount of time I can spend with you right now. I can feel my spirit weakening, but I will try to come find you again once I have recovered. Besides it looks like you have another guest waiting¡±


    You must not seek to control, but to become one with it.


    Jim stood in the middle of the flourishing forest, a quiet resolve settling over him. He wasn¡¯t just a farmer. He wasn¡¯t just a ninja. He was something more. And with this newfound understanding, he would carve a new path¡ªa path that would reshape the world itself.


    As the asura spirit dissipated, a voice shouted near the small tree ¡° Over here¡±


    He turned to find Adam, along with another figure¡ªa new spirit, standing nearby in the central area of the time ring. The spirit was older, with a jovial expression. ¡°You can call me Old Man Jenkins,¡± the spirit greeted, his grin wide and mischievous.


    Jim¡¯s brow arched, a sense of curiosity flooding him. Another spirit? This day just keeps getting more interesting.

 Chapter 52 – (Season 2) Old Man Jenkins

    Jim studied the figure before him, his eyes narrowing in curiosity. The spirit called Old Man Jenkins seemed out of place in the vibrant, mystical forest of the time ring dimension. Unlike the Asura Spirit, whose presence radiated a sense of ancient wisdom and power, Jenkins exuded an air of mischief, with a twinkle in his eyes that made it hard to take him seriously.


    ¡°You must be Jim,¡± Jenkins said, crossing his arms and leaning casually against a small tree. ¡°The boy who thinks he can crack the secrets of divine mana. A bold move, I must say.¡±


    Jim tilted his head. ¡°And who are you to judge?¡±


    Adam chuckled from where he stood, arms folded. ¡°Don¡¯t let his demeanor fool you, Jim. Old Man Jenkins might act like a clown, but he knows things¡ªthings you can¡¯t even begin to imagine.¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Jenkins said, jabbing a thumb at his chest. ¡°I¡¯ve forgotten more about mana than you¡¯ll ever learn in ten lifetimes. And I¡¯m here because, well¡­¡± He grinned wide, his expression turning almost comically sinister. ¡°You¡¯re gonna need me.¡±


    Jim raised a skeptical brow. ¡°Need you for what? Another vague lecture about how I¡¯m doing everything wrong, and where did you come from anyways?¡±


    Jenkins barked a laugh. ¡°Oh, no, no. That¡¯s the Asura Spirit¡¯s gig. I have you to thank for freeing me from the holy treasure chest. I was working on one of my techniques when I passed away from old age. I guess my obsession to complete my own style forced my spirit to stay in the mortal realm. Since I have you to thank from releasing my spirit from the Christmas bowl I¡¯ll give you something as a reward for freeing me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to teach you something far more practical. You¡¯ve got the holy mana trick down, and you¡¯re dabbling in divine stuff, sure. But there¡¯s a whole world of mana out there you haven¡¯t even scratched the surface of. Different paths, different flavors, and some of them? Well, let¡¯s just say they make divine mana look like child¡¯s play.¡±


    Jim crossed his arms, intrigued despite himself. ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°Ever heard of chaos mana?¡± Jenkins asked, his grin widening as though he was letting Jim in on a cosmic secret.


    The words sent a shiver down Jim¡¯s spine. Chaos mana was a concept he¡¯d only encountered in fragments¡ªwhispers in old texts and theories that were dismissed as dangerous or unstable. Most scholars believed it to be a destructive force, one that defied control and corrupted anything it touched.


    ¡°You¡¯re joking,¡± Jim said cautiously.


    ¡°Do I look like the joking type?¡± Jenkins replied, gesturing grandly to his jovial face.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Jim deadpanned.


    Adam stifled a laugh, but Jenkins ignored him, straightening up and adopting a more serious tone. ¡°Chaos mana isn¡¯t just destruction, boy. It¡¯s creation. Change. Potential. The raw, untamed force that underpins everything. Without chaos, there¡¯s no order. Without order, there¡¯s no growth. If you want to master divine mana¡ªor any mana, for that matter¡ªyou¡¯ll need to understand that balance.¡±


    Jim frowned. ¡°And you think you can teach me?¡±


    Jenkins shrugged. ¡°I can do better than that. I can show you.¡± He turned toward the dessert environment, motioning for Jim to follow.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Curiosity outweighed caution, and Jim trailed after him, Adam close behind. As they walked, the lush growth of the forest gave way to a clearing, where the ground was marked by intricate symbols etched into the soil. The patterns seemed to hum with latent energy, and Jim could feel a faint pull, as though the air itself was vibrating.


    Jenkins stopped at the edge of the clearing and turned to face Jim. ¡°This,¡± he said, sweeping his arm dramatically, ¡°is your first lesson.¡±


    Jim studied the symbols, their chaotic loops and jagged lines unlike any mana inscriptions he¡¯d seen before. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°A containment field,¡± Jenkins replied. ¡°The only thing keeping the chaos mana from leaking out and wreaking havoc. I¡¯ve been collecting it for¡­ oh, centuries, I¡¯d say. Figured someone like you would come along eventually. Someone stubborn enough to try and tame the untamable.¡±


    Jim hesitated. ¡°And you think I¡¯m ready for this?¡±


    Jenkins smirked. ¡°Nope. But that¡¯s the beauty of chaos¡ªit doesn¡¯t care if you¡¯re ready. It just is. Your job is to survive it long enough to learn from it.¡±


    Before Jim could respond, Jenkins clapped his hands together, and the containment field began to glow. The air grew thick with pressure, and the symbols pulsed with an otherworldly light.


    ¡°Wait¡ª¡± Jim started, but it was too late.


    The ground beneath his feet trembled, and the clearing erupted in a torrent of swirling energy. The chaos mana surged upward, a writhing mass of colors and shapes that defied logic. It wasn¡¯t like any mana Jim had ever seen¡ªwild and unpredictable, shifting between beauty and terror in an instant.


    ¡°Focus!¡± Jenkins shouted over the roar of the energy. ¡°Don¡¯t fight it¡ªfeel it! Let it flow through you!¡±


    Jim clenched his fists, his instincts screaming at him to resist. But as the chaos mana swirled around him, he remembered the Asura Spirit¡¯s words: You must not seek to control it, but to become one with it.


    Taking a deep breath, Jim closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. The chaos mana was overwhelming, a storm of emotions and possibilities that threatened to tear him apart. But as he let go of his fear, he began to sense something deeper¡ªa rhythm, a pattern hidden within the chaos.


    Slowly, cautiously, Jim allowed the mana to flow into him. It was unlike anything he¡¯d ever experienced¡ªwild and untamed, but also alive with potential. It filled him with a surge of power and clarity, and for a brief moment, he felt as though he could see the threads of the universe itself.


    But just as quickly as it came, the energy turned volatile. Jim cried out as the mana surged out of control, threatening to consume him.


    ¡°Enough!¡± Jenkins shouted, slamming his hand onto the ground. The containment field reactivated, and the chaos mana was drawn back into the symbols, leaving the clearing silent once more.


    Jim collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath. His body ached, and his mind was reeling, but he felt¡­ different.


    Jenkins crouched beside him, a satisfied grin on his face. ¡°Not bad for a first try. You didn¡¯t explode, so I¡¯d call that a win.¡±


    Jim glared at him. ¡°You could¡¯ve warned me.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the fun in that?¡± Jenkins replied, clapping him on the shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ve got potential, kid. But chaos mana isn¡¯t something you master overnight. It¡¯s going to take time, effort, and a lot more near-death experiences. Lucky for you, I¡¯ve got nothing better to do.¡±


    ¡°Would you care for a spin Adam?¡±


    Adam wasn¡¯t sure but Jenkins didn¡¯t care enough about his feelings to stop as he hadn¡¯t had anyone to talk to in centuries.


    As Jenkins unleashed the chaos mana within the symbol the mana shook violently as if it was a raging torrent, than a tornado. There was no method to the shape of chaos mana which was why it was tricky. The chaotic mana seems to influcence the surrounding environment which normal mana did not exhibit.


    Adam was thrilled as he jumped head in first. At first glance, it looked like Adam was moving like he was riding a bull, however, you could tell he was enjoying the ride as he was smiling and laughing the whole time.


    Jenkins eyebrow widened as if he saw a rare gem. After a couple of minutes, Jenkins slammed the mana symbols on the ground. ¡°This kid has a natural affinity for chaos mana. Only a handful of people in the world can survive more than a minute with the chaos mana. This Adam punk isn¡¯t half bad.


    Jim and Adam groaned, but a small smile tugged at his lips. He didn¡¯t know where this new path would lead, but one thing was certain¡ªhis journey had just become a lot more unpredictable.


    ¡°Well looks like ill be busy for a couple more centuries¡± as the Jenkins grinned.

 Chapter 53 – (Season 2) Teacher and Disciple

    Jim wiped the sweat from his brow as the swirling energy of chaos mana faded, leaving the air thick with tension. His muscles ached, but his mind was sharper than ever. Chaos mana was unlike anything he¡¯d ever encountered, and its power was both intoxicating and terrifying. He had barely scratched the surface of its potential.


    Old Man Jenkins stood a few feet away, a crooked smile on his face. ¡°Not bad, kid. You didn¡¯t turn into a pile of ash, so I¡¯d say you¡¯re off to a good start.¡±


    Jim shot him a look. ¡°Yeah, real comforting.¡±


    Jenkins chuckled, clearly amused by Jim¡¯s struggle. ¡°I warned you¡ªchaos isn¡¯t something you just learn. You have to let it in, let it become part of you. Only then can you wield it properly.¡±


    Jim took a deep breath, steadying himself. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡±


    Jenkins tilted his head, considering him for a moment. Then, with a wave of his hand, a sword appeared out of thin air¡ªa long, slender blade with a shimmering edge. The hilt was simple, yet there was an unmistakable aura of power radiating from the weapon.


    ¡°This,¡± Jenkins said, holding the sword up, ¡°is what you need to master next. Chaos is one thing, but controlling it through something as disciplined as a sword? That¡¯s where the real challenge lies.¡±


    Jim eyed the blade warily. ¡°You want me to fight with chaos mana?¡±


    Jenkins nodded. ¡°More than that. I want you to fuse it with your swordsmanship. Chaos isn¡¯t just wild energy. It can be shaped, molded¡ªturned into something precise and deadly.¡±


    Jim frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve never used chaos mana with a weapon before. I don¡¯t even know where to start.¡±


    Jenkins tossed the sword to him. ¡°You start by forgetting everything you think you know. Swordsmanship is about control, balance, precision. Chaos is the opposite. But when you bring the two together¡­ well, that¡¯s where the fun begins.¡±


    Jim caught the sword and felt the weight of it in his hand. It was lighter than he expected, but there was a strange, buzzing sensation that ran up his arm as he held it, like the blade itself was vibrating with chaotic energy.


    Jenkins moved to the center of the clearing and gestured for Jim to follow. ¡°I¡¯m going to show you a technique. It¡¯s something I developed a long time ago¡ªa way to channel chaos mana through a sword. But don¡¯t expect it to be easy.¡±


    Jim nodded, his grip tightening on the sword. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Jenkins grinned. ¡°We¡¯ll see about that.¡±


    He raised his own hand, and a sword materialized in his grip¡ªa jagged, twisted blade that seemed to shimmer with chaotic light. Jenkins moved with surprising grace for an old man, his body shifting into a stance that radiated confidence and power.


    ¡°Watch closely,¡± Jenkins said. ¡°This is called the Blade of Fractured Paths. It¡¯s a sword technique that uses chaos to disrupt your opponent¡¯s flow, to throw them off balance. But it¡¯s more than just random strikes¡ªit¡¯s about finding the chaos in your opponent and using it against them.¡±


    With a sudden burst of speed, Jenkins moved. His sword slashed through the air, but the movements were unpredictable¡ªsharp, sudden changes in direction that seemed to defy logic. The blade danced between precision and madness, each strike flowing seamlessly into the next, yet carrying an underlying force that was wild and uncontrollable.


    Jim watched, mesmerized by the display. Jenkins¡¯ swordplay wasn¡¯t like anything he¡¯d ever seen. It was both graceful and chaotic, a perfect blend of discipline and unpredictability. Each strike seemed to fracture the air itself, as though reality bent around the chaotic energy radiating from his sword.


    Jenkins finished his demonstration and lowered his blade, breathing steadily. ¡°That¡¯s the essence of the technique. You have to let chaos guide you, but not control you. It¡¯s about embracing the unpredictability while maintaining just enough focus to direct it.¡±


    Jim swallowed, his heart racing. ¡°That was¡­ incredible.¡±


    Jenkins smirked. ¡°Your turn.¡±


    Jim took a deep breath and stepped forward, gripping the sword tightly. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the chaotic energy of the blade flow through him. He could feel it¡ªwild, untamed power, just waiting to be unleashed.


    ¡°Relax,¡± Jenkins said. ¡°Don¡¯t fight the chaos. Let it in.¡±


    Jim nodded and opened his eyes, focusing on the clearing ahead of him. He raised the sword and began to move, mimicking the unpredictable slashes he had seen Jenkins perform. At first, his movements were clumsy, the chaotic energy slipping out of his control. But as he continued, he began to feel a rhythm¡ªan underlying pattern within the chaos.


    His strikes became sharper, more fluid. The chaotic energy flowed through the blade, amplifying each movement. Jim could feel the power coursing through him, and for a brief moment, he felt as though he was on the edge of something greater¡ªsomething he couldn¡¯t fully comprehend yet.


    But then, just as quickly as it came, the energy slipped from his grasp. His movements faltered, and the blade clattered to the ground as the chaotic energy dissipated.


    Jim cursed under his breath, frustrated with himself.


    Jenkins approached, nodding in approval. ¡°Not bad for a first try. You¡¯re starting to get it.¡±


    Jim looked up at him. ¡°I lost control.¡±


    ¡°Of course you did,¡± Jenkins said. ¡°Chaos isn¡¯t something you can control outright. It¡¯s a force of nature. But you¡¯re learning to work with it, to guide it. That¡¯s the key.¡±


    Jim picked up the sword, his grip tightening. ¡°I¡¯ll do it again.¡±


    Jenkins grinned. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. But remember¡ªchaos doesn¡¯t care how hard you try. It¡¯ll break you if you¡¯re too rigid. Loosen up. Let it guide you.¡±


    Jim nodded and took his stance once more, determined to master the technique. The road ahead was long, and chaos was unpredictable, but he wasn¡¯t backing down.


    With Jenkins¡¯ guidance, Jim would forge a new path¡ªa path that blended chaos and discipline, a sword technique unlike any other.


    And with each step, he knew he was getting closer to unlocking the true potential of chaos mana.

 Chapter 54 – (Season 2) shaping an idea

    Five days went by as Jim trained in the Garden of Damien while inside his time dimension. He spent 50 days in the time chamber training with Jenkins which equated to 5 days in the game as the time flow was 10 days in the time ring dimension to 1 day in the game world.


    Jenkins called Jim over after mastering the basics of blades of fractured paths and harmonic fractures. Jenkins decided it was time to discuss how to gather chaos mana. ¡°Do you know why I called you over¡±


    Jim didn¡¯t think much of it and replied with a no. After a long pause, Jenkins sighed ¡°You don¡¯t have great compatibility with chaos mana. I have watched you train and guided you, but that is only from my understanding of chaos mana. It doesn¡¯t suit you where you emphasize mana control as your strength where my strength is through relinquishing control. All is not lost though boy, just because you don¡¯t have compatibility with chaos mana does not mean it is useless for you. Just as I have developed my techniques you have to develop your techniques with Chaos. I inscribe markings and symbols in the area to attract chaos mana, you will have to find your own way¡±


    Jim took the night about what he was saying before receiving a request from the government. New York state regionals were going to be held at the end of the month and they requested Jim to participate. It looks like the state government was looking to build a team to represent New York. Participation was guaranteed to increase benefits including pay. There was no downside as it was only a one day event. Jim accepted the invitation starting in one week.


    He entered the time ring dimension after accepting the invite.


    ¡°Old man Jenkins, where are you¡± as Jim looked for him


    ¡°Im right here, you don¡¯t need to yell when someone¡¯s taking a nap¡± Jenkins responded.


    Jim excitedly shared his ideas ¡°I have thought of a solution to chaos mana. What if I create my own chaos mana?¡±


    Intrigued by Jim¡¯s solution Jenkins told him to continue with his theory.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the problem lie with the chaos mana your summoning through the inscriptions. You flow with the chaos mana because it isn¡¯t inherently your mana. However, what if you isolate chaos mana to its smallest quantity and feed your own mana slowly. Eventually it will recognize your mana adapt to it. Wouldn¡¯t this be a good solution for me?¡±


    Jenkins thought about it and nothing he said was wrong. The only issue is the time it would take chaos to adapt to someone¡¯s mana. It took Jenkins a decade just to learn the flow and match it. There¡¯s no telling how long it would take to convert chaos mana.


    ¡°Kid, you know that this would take a very long time. I cant count how long this would take if its even possible¡±


    Jim didn¡¯t have any doubts, especially in the time dimension ring where time flows 10 to 1. Out of curiosity, Jenkins summoned a speck of chaos mana through inscriptions on the ground. A small speck of light no larger than a firefly was summoned.


    The chaos mana flew in random directions, however, once it was within the range of the Yggdrasil, it looked like it was sucked in to the small plant. Instantly the tree grew a little larger almost reaching to Jim¡¯s waist. Additionally, a new branch sprouted with a leaf. Both Jenkins and Jim inspected the leaf. There was a symbol of a spiral imprinted on the leaf. At the same time Jim noticed a spiral symbol appearing on both of his palms.


    Jenkins and Jim were both dumbfounded. Neither one knew how to respond as this was a new sight.


    Jenkins was the first to break the silence and asked Jim ¡°Where did you get the tree and can I have one as well?¡± Both started chuckling at the funny joke. Jenkins congratulated Jim on the strange phenomenon. Jim wanted to test out the changes to his body and requested a spar with old man Jenkins. Both agreed to a friendly spar.


    As they entered the dessert, Jenkins started by inscribing the ground to summon chaos mana. As soon as he finished drawing, he started attacking Jim in an unpredictable way. Jim was able to block most of the swings as he had sparred with chaos mana so he picked up the small fluctuations of chaos mana. Jenkins impressed at his adaptation was impressed and saddened that his techniques did not suit Jim. After a flurry of swings, Jim counterattacked with his own flurry of swings. He noticed that on his third swing, the force of his swing doubled, the fourth swing changed directions randomly. This pattern restarted after every fourth swing.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Jenkins and Jim counted to make sure if this was a fluke or something permanent. Jim repeated 100 slashes and every slash had this characteristic. ¡°Alright, kid,¡± Jenkins said, pacing slowly, his sword resting lazily on his shoulder. ¡°Those spirals¡­ they¡¯ve done something to you. I don¡¯t know what, and honestly, I don¡¯t like not knowing. But one thing¡¯s for sure: you¡¯re not the same fighter you were a day ago.¡±


    Jenkins stopped pacing, his eyes narrowing. ¡°That¡¯s not just chaos mana anymore. That¡¯s something new. Chaos doesn¡¯t follow patterns like that, but whatever this spiral thing is, it¡¯s blending chaos with your own mana¡ªyour control. A hybrid of sorts.¡±


    Jim nodded. ¡°Then I need to figure out how to use it properly. I can¡¯t rely on random effects. If I can master this¡­ it might be my path forward.¡±


    Jenkins smirked, his playful demeanor returning. ¡°Well, kid, you¡¯ve got my attention. Let¡¯s see if we can unravel this spiral of yours.¡±


    The next several days in the time ring dimension were grueling. Jenkins pushed Jim to his limits, devising drills to help him understand and control the strange new effect. They sparred endlessly, Jenkins wielding chaos mana with his characteristic unpredictability, while Jim focused on integrating the spiral¡¯s properties into his combat style.


    ¡°Focus on the rhythm!¡± Jenkins barked during one particularly intense session. ¡°Your swings follow a sequence now¡ªuse that to your advantage!¡±


    Jim gritted his teeth as he parried a flurry of strikes, his body moving instinctively. The spiral¡¯s effects were growing more pronounced. The third swing felt like it carried the weight of a boulder, while the fourth moved almost faster than his thoughts, deflecting Jenkins¡¯ blade at an impossible angle.


    ¡°It¡¯s like a build-up,¡± Jim muttered, panting as he backed away to catch his breath. ¡°Each swing leads into the next, like a momentum that peaks on the third and breaks free on the fourth.¡±


    Jenkins grinned, leaning on his sword. ¡°That¡¯s the idea, kid. But you¡¯re still too stiff. You¡¯re treating it like a rigid sequence when it¡¯s more like a flowing current. Loosen up!¡±


    Jim frowned but nodded, stepping back into his stance. This time, he let himself relax, focusing not on each individual swing but on the rhythm of his movements. As he attacked, the spiral¡¯s effects felt smoother, more integrated. The doubling force of the third strike flowed naturally into the chaotic unpredictability of the fourth, creating a sequence that felt almost¡­ alive.


    Jenkins blocked the fourth strike and laughed. ¡°There you go! That¡¯s the spirit!¡±


    By the tenth day, Jim¡¯s progress was undeniable. The spiral effects were no longer a surprise; they were tools he could wield with intent. Jenkins, however, wasn¡¯t satisfied.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got the basics down,¡± Jenkins said, tossing Jim a waterskin as they rested under the shade of a rocky outcrop. ¡°But this isn¡¯t just about swinging your sword harder or faster. That spiral of yours is tied to chaos and control¡ªa balance that most people can¡¯t even imagine, let alone achieve. If you¡¯re going to use it, you need to go beyond the surface.¡±


    Jim took a sip of water, wiping sweat from his brow. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Jenkins leaned forward, his tone uncharacteristically serious. ¡°Chaos mana isn¡¯t just about destruction or unpredictability. At its core, it¡¯s about potential. It¡¯s raw energy, waiting to be shaped. Your spiral¡ªwhatever it is¡ªseems to tap into that potential, but you¡¯re only scratching the surface. If you can learn to guide that potential, to shape it with your intent, you won¡¯t just have a fancy attack sequence. You¡¯ll have a weapon that can adapt to any situation.¡±


    Jim¡¯s eyes widened as the implications sank in. ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­ I could use the spiral to create techniques of my own?¡±


    Jenkins nodded. ¡°Exactly. But don¡¯t get cocky, kid. That kind of control takes more than skill¡ªit takes vision. You need to know what you want the spiral to do, and you need to trust it to respond. That¡¯s the hard part.¡±


    Jim nodded slowly, determination burning in his eyes. ¡°Then let¡¯s keep going. I¡¯m not stopping until I figure this out.¡±


    The next phase of training was unlike anything Jim had experienced. Jenkins pushed him to think beyond the mechanics of his swings, encouraging him to experiment with the spiral¡¯s effects. They trained in different environments¡ªforest, desert, even near the small stream that ran through the garden¡ªeach setting presenting new challenges and opportunities.


    One breakthrough came when Jim discovered he could channel the spiral¡¯s effects into his footwork. During a sparring session, he found that the chaotic burst of the fourth strike could be redirected into a sudden, unpredictable movement, allowing him to evade Jenkins¡¯ attacks and counter from unexpected angles.


    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± Jenkins shouted, his laughter echoing across the clearing. ¡°You¡¯re starting to get it, kid! Chaos isn¡¯t just in your strikes¡ªit¡¯s in everything you do!¡±


    Jim grinned, the thrill of discovery driving him forward. For the first time, he felt like he was truly connecting with chaos mana¡ªnot as something foreign, but as a part of himself.


    As the 50th day in the time ring dimension drew to a close, Jim stood before Jenkins, his sword at the ready. The spiral symbols on his palms glowed faintly, their energy thrumming in harmony with his own.


    ¡°You¡¯ve come a long way,¡± Jenkins said, his tone a mix of pride and respect. ¡°You¡¯re not just swinging a blade anymore. You¡¯re creating something. That spiral of yours¡­ it¡¯s got potential. And so do you.¡±


    Jim nodded, his expression resolute. ¡°This is only the beginning. I still have a lot to learn, but with this¡­ I think I¡¯ve found my path.¡±


    Jenkins chuckled, leaning on his sword. ¡°Well, don¡¯t get too comfortable, boy. The real world isn¡¯t going to wait for you to figure things out. You¡¯ve got a tournament coming up, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Jim smirked. ¡°Yeah. And I¡¯m ready for it.¡±


    As he stepped out of the time ring dimension and back into the game world, Jim felt a newfound confidence. The spiral had awakened something within him¡ªa power that was uniquely his. And as he prepared for the New York State Regionals, he knew one thing for certain:


    The road ahead would be anything but predictable.

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