《Trinity》 Chapter 1: The calm before the storm Knock, knock, knock. In the hallway of an average apartment stood a lone man. He had long, dirty, blond hair that curled a bit at the end. The man sighed and shifted his weight. He placed a hand on his chin, the other on his elbow. ¡®Maybe he¡¯s not home..¡¯ he thought to himself. The man could be considered a hippie type. He had a little bit of stubble on his chin and slightly drooping eyes from years of partying and underage intoxication. He stood at about 5¡¯9, burly and was beginning to grow a gut. He had sandy blond hair and was clearly young, barely in his twenties. He shifted his weight again. The apartments were fairly well maintained, They were clean and didn''t carry any unpleasant odors but the damn lighting was a real headache. Snapping the fingers that previously rested on his chin he started, ¡°you know what? I''ll just come back later.." He said and began to spin around. However, midway through his turn the door he had just been knocking on opened inward. ¡°Jacob.. How have you been, buddy?¡± The man who opened the door was the lifelong friend of the blond fellow who was apparently named Jacob. Though technically only best friends, the two of them were more akin to brothers. They had grown up together their entire lives, from infants to now, in their early twenties. The apartment tenant had sunken-in features and unruly black hair that went just down past his eyes. He looked almost unhealthily thin and pale as if he hadn''t been eating or sleeping. His eyes were a sapphire blue much like Jacob''s own but darker. The thinly man had dark circles under those eyes... The blonde man, Jacob, faced his best friend and scratched the back of his head ¡°Uhh, hey buddy.. how you doing?¡± He asked tenderly. Jake''s eyes always seemed to convey his thoughts and emotions and currently they were screaming caution and a deep caring. The black haired man laughed, ¡°Yeah, Yeah, I look like shit don''t give me that look. Come in you big goon.¡± He said, gesturing for Jake to come in while holding the door open wide. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Oh thank God. I''m absolutely terrible at emotional stuff.¡± Jake said, waltzing in and making his way to the fridge to retrieve a brisk, cold, Dr pepper. Taking a sip he ambled back over to his dark haired friend who was waiting with his arms crossed. Jake''s friend was much shorter than him, standing at only 5¡¯4. The young man was athletic and muscular. The two could not have looked more distinctly different. Taking a sip from his soda Jake started, ¡°No but seriously.. you doing alright? It''s crazy what happened. I''m here if you need anything.¡± The black haired man nodded and lowered his head, hair just barely covering his eyes. ¡°yeah. Yeah. it''s been three months but it still feels like it was only yesterday. I''m getting better though. I''ll be ok.¡± Looking back up at his friend he grinned and scratched the back of his head in an awkward manner. ¡°so anyways what have we got going on tonight?" Jake shook his head. "I swear man, your memory is worse than my granny''s and she had dementia. We''re staying up all weekend binging that new game they''ve got for Xbox and ordering copious amounts of food! But first.. I gotta hit the can!" The man had began to raise his voice and clutch his gut near the end of his declaration whilst he made a beeline for the bathroom. His dark haired friend was left laughing in his wake. Once Jake had rounded the corner and firmly closed the door, the stranger''s smile began to fade. He looked down at trembling hands, rushing quickly over to his living room coffee table. Tears began to stream down his face as he reached under and pulled out a small black firearm. He hurried off to his room where he returned the gun to its rightful resting spot: his gun safe. "What a damn fool I''ve been.." He muttered out loud. "Nobody''s dying tonight.." The man finished sweeping his hair back and out of his now puffy eyes. He had been through heartbreak, yes, but death was not the solution. Killing himself wouldn''t make the pain go away.. it would just spread more to the ones he still cared about. Everyone he loved had been hurt and he vowed that if he could help it, he''d never let them feel that pain of loss again. He certainly wouldn''t be the cause of it. A few days later... The door to the cozy apartment opened once more and Jacob stumbled through, out into the hall. Any stray passerby would have probably thought the young man was drunk, but Jake no longer drank. Instead his current loss of motor function could be attributed to a severe lack of sleep from a long weekend of hanging out with the only person he''d never give up on. Their bond was unbreakable. Before Jake had made it more than a few uneasy steps, his best friend popped out from around the apartment door. "Hey Jake?" The dark haired fellow called. Jake, turning his head just enough to look at his friend over his shoulder, simply raised an eyebrow. The guy scratched his head and continued. "Thanks for coming man.. I really needed this." Jake laughed and continued on his way. Before rounding the corner he threw one final wave over his shoulder. "Don''t mention it man. I love ya. Take care." And with that he was on his way. The dark haired man slowly closed the door of his apartment. Staring at the dull, faded wood he sighed. "I love you too buddy.." End of chapter one. Death. Rumbleeeeee! Screeeeech! A long gray train squealed to a halt in the gloomy, smelly subways of New York City. The platform of the station was fairly large, longer even than the train itself. There were large pillars every 30 feet or so with dozens of fluorescent lights and long metal heaters between each one. Even so, the entirety of the subway seemed cold and dark.. *DING* a voice spoke over large speakers from somewhere within the station. ¡°Attention passengers. The doors are now opening. For your safety please remain clear. Have a pleasant day.¡± For those who don''t know about subway trains in big cities, one has to move with a sense of urgency and purpose. The doors of a subway train close very quickly and are often crowded at times. Most subway doors are installed with what is known as ¡®sensitive edges¡¯ a mechanism which prevents the doors from closing with more than 45 pounds of force. Unfortunately this complicated system is not entirely immune to malfunction nor does every train have this feature. If a train seems too packed or the path is unclear, consider being patient and waiting for the next. The doors of the train opened with a steaming hiss. A short young man stepped hurriedly off the train and onto a dirty platform where he began fumbling with his Suit and tie with his right hand. The white knuckles of his left hand gripped a large, black suitcase that looked nearly too large for the small fellow to hold. He stumbled when he was suddenly bumped from behind, apparently not moving quickly enough for the crowd. ¡°Oh I''m so sorr-¡° The dark haired man made to turn around and apologize but it was for naught as any number of the dozens of people behind him could have been the culprit. His face flushed red and he turned back around, putting his head down as he proceeded across the platform. It was about 3 months ago when the 21 year old man decided he was going to change his life around for the better. His current situation was not quite what he had in mind.. With a heavy suitcase in one hand and his phone in the other, the man was aimlessly traversing the subway. He heaved a sigh and let his shoulders fall. The fellow had dealt with bouts of anxiety and depression all his life but he handled it easier as an adult than he had as a teen.. Even still there were some situations that triggered him, and being lost in a noisy crowd was a damn good way to do it. Plus this place was uncomfortably damp, and it stank. Many homeless used the subway as a temporary shelter and sometimes.. a toilet. He stomped his foot, and buried his nose in his phone¡¯s GPS trying his best to block out the noise of the crowd around him. ¡®Sometimes.. I wish everyone would just.. go the hell away just for a while so I could concentrate damn it!¡¯ He thought to himself frustratingly. After 15 minutes of walking, the gentleman felt like he was finally beginning to understand the layout of the underground subway station a bit, when he slowly came to a stop in the middle of yet another platform. His stomach sank when he looked up, eyes widening. Ever since arriving in New York three weeks ago, the two constants in his life were noise and people. Now, here in this dank, dark station he was surrounded by neither. If anything the quietness and seclusion seemed to be even more suffocsting and deafening, increase his anxiety. He began to sweat a bit despite the chilly evening air. His own heartbeat echoed loudly in his ear drums. His palms began to sweat. The smell of the tunnel began to make him nauseous in a way it hadn''t since he''d first arrived. Looking rapidly left and right he couldn''t help himself but to call out, ¡°H..Hey! Anyone there?..¡± He was answered by the yearning whistle of the wind. He looked again once to his left and then to the right listening closely in both directions, but not hearing a single sound... *DING* ¡°Ah!¡± The black haired man jumped, startled by the sudden and loud sound in the previously silent tunnel. Huh, it was strange. For a second it was almost as if the sound was in his head... What happened next would change his life forever. With a deafening pop everything went black. The man made to scream but no sound came out. It suddenly felt as if his entire body had been stuffed in an extremely tiny tube. It wasn''t painful per say but it was exceedingly uncomfortable. Fortunately the feeling didn''t last long and in the next moment he felt completely weightless. Breathing heavily he began to panic once more when suddenly he heard noise. Voices perhaps, and there was no doubt this time, that it was in his head. In a manner not unlike an RPG at the exact same time as he heard the words in his head they appeared in front of his very eyes on.. a blue window?.. CONGRATU- ERROR... EROrror.. Erorr Recalculating.. synchronizing.. Congratulations! Your home world has been successfully integrated into the nexus. Current world level: UNKNOWN. Current location: UNKNOWN. Congratulations and welcome to the Nexus. Due to unusual circumstances current status is unknown please consult the nearest system HUB or one of your home world¡¯s Tavern Owners. Good luck! There was a second, equally loud pop, and light was restored to the world again. Only.. the man had to blink rapidly because he was no longer in the subway stations of New York. Now he was in a large clearing of tall grass. He was facing a massive, expansive jungle that stretched as far as the eye could see in either direction. The air here was heavy and felt somehow oppressive and hostile. It made his skin crawl if he were being honest. The jungle was approximately 100 feet in front of him and directly behind him was an insurmountable mountain that also stretched seemingly infinitely in all directions. Scanning the base of the mountain he noticed an opening. This particular opening seemed peculiar, as if it were man made. The rest of the mountain was jagged and uneven yet the triangle shaped opening was perfectly symmetrical and smooth. There seemed to be a strange.. pressure coming off of the mouth of the cave and almost golden/black speckles drifting within but that could have been the heat playing tricks on him. As he began to calm down he tried to make sense of what happened. The Nexus? Hubs? Taverns? What the heck was going on. And what did it mean by ''home world''? Was he no longer on earth? His suitcase and phone had fallen out of his hands during the commotion so he bent down to pick them up. No signal of course so he stuffed the phone in his pocket. The man sighed in frustration. During his observations of the surrounding areas he couldn''t help but notice the blue window remaining within his range of vision. He couldn''t get rid of the damn thing even while his eyes were closed so he figured he might as well sit down and try to figure it out. After several minutes of experimenting the black haired man had more or less figured the window out. It seemed to respond to simple thoughts; if you wanted it to open you simply think open, if you wanted it to close simply think close. ¡®So.. he thought to himself. What next?¡± He wondered. As if the window understood his dilemma it began to prompt him for a name. ¡®Just like a game.. huh.. is this real?¡¯ The man asked himself for what felt like the tenth time. He began to type his real name. However, halfway through he paused. With a hum he began to backspace. ¡°you know what? I came to this city.. if I''m still in this city.. to try a new start at life. Maybe a change of name is exactly what I need.¡± He sighed. After several minutes of contemplating and tapping his chin he decided to imitate the name of his favorite video game characters. Welcome: Vincent. Race: human Level: 1 XP needed 0/1000 (0%) Class: N/A Health: 200/200 Mana: 1000/1000 Stats: Strength: 2 Endurance: 2 Vitality: 1 Intelligence: 10 Perception: 5 Agility: 2 The blue eyed man, who chose to call himself Vincent, studied the screen for a few moments. The stats.. well they all seemed a bit.. low.. but at least they were balanced!.. right? He sighed dejectedly before choosing to focus on strength in more detail. As he did so an explanation popped up and he couldn''t help but grin. ¡®I''m beginning to understand the deal here. The blue window starts off blank and then I think it carefully enough and it happens. As long as my intentions are transparent..¡¯ He thought. The explanation for strength read: determines overall physical power and defense. Vincent raised an eyebrow. Strength determines both strength and defense? In most RPG¡¯s he was used to playing in the old world, strength and defense were separate stats. He didn''t mind though, it kept things simple. He supposed most adults in his situation would probably be freaking out but honestly? he''d always wanted to live in a fantasy world. Besides what were the chances all of this wasn''t some kind of twisted hyper-realistic dream? Obviously he had too much coffee before getting on the train this afternoon.. Right? Next he looked at Endurance, naturally. Endurance read: Governs overall health and stamina and how quickly it is consumed. "Nothing too special there.." He mumbled. Next he looked at vitality which read: Determines how quickly health, magic and stamina regenerate. ¡®Hmm.. interesting that Vitality actually increases recovery and not my health..¡¯ He re-read the description again. Vincent paused. ¡°Wait a second..?¡± He noticed something odd. Twice now stamina had been mentioned yet he didn''t see it in his stats by his health and mana. Maybe it was a hidden stat if such a thing existed or maybe he would unlock it later, he figured. Deciding it was unproductive to focus on the matter, he continued on. As he inspected Intelligence it read: determines overall magic as well as how quickly you learn and understand things. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Seems simple enough. He chuckled. This explained why his magic was so much higher than his health. It seemed most of his questions would be answered by the system itself in time, if he was patient. Though he did wonder why itthat stat was so much higher than the rest and how he would even go about using it. Overall he felt exactly the same as he did before he arrived at this strange place if only a little uncomfortable due to the heat and heavy air. Without much thought he moved on. Perception was pretty straight forward, it read: Determines how well you comprehend the environment and energies around you as well as the distance of all your senses. He was sure that would be a very valuable Stat in the future. Last but not least was Agility which read: determines how much speed you have, how swiftly and accurately you move, and balance when traversing your physical environment. It all seemed a bit.. overwhelming. ¡®This is.. a lot.¡¯ He thought to himself. ¡®but also.. I wanted something new and this is as far from my old life as I could possibly get so.. maybe I''m a bit excited?¡¯ He had never really belonged in the old world. He always felt lost and misunderstood. Maybe here in this new world he''d find a place where he belonged. Rubbing sweat off his forehead he decided, ¡°it can''t be worse than the world I left behind.¡± Why did a city as large as New York ever have homeless to begin with..? He clenched his fist with determination and willed himself to walk with trembling knees toward the looming Forrest ahead. He decided the ominous cave was just too suspicious right now. The chest-high grass was thick, and wet with humidity. It felt like wading through unreasonably heavy shower curtains. He had trudged his way forward for nearly half the distance to the forest when he stopped, heaving for breath. "What in the¡­ damn¡­ can''t breathe.. it''s literally as if.. the gravity and air here are.. 10 times heavier than earth''s.." He panted out between heavy breaths. Confusion etched itself into his brow, his face contorting as if he tasted something sour. "Maybe that''s not right. Maybe this IS Earth only.. this.. ''system'' or ''blue window'' or whatever changed my home the same way it had changed me..?" He began to breathe at a more steady pace and decided that he would walk slowly and more deliberately from now on rather than trudging through the uneven terrain with excess force. Even though he cound''t see his stamina he was sure it was low. It was apparent he was going to need to conserve as much energy as possible. Pacing himself it took Vincent nearly ten minutes to reach the place where the clearing ended and the jungle began. He was drenched in sweat and at this point he was severely regretting having brought his suitcase. It would be tedious and frustrating but at least he could get around better without it, he figured. He knew soon he would need to find some food and water though, and when he did he''d need a place to put them. He stood at the entrance, hesitating. Vincent heard a myriad of loud, aggressive noises from beyond the jungle''s threshold. His pulse pounded in his ears. He couldn''t help but wonder, ''What''s in there..? Will they be regular animals like in the Amazon or will they be.. monsters like in the movies.. guess there''s only one way to find out." As if on cue his stomach began to rumble and he sighed knowing that he no longer had a choice. He had to move forward, there was no turning back and no waiting, at least not forever. It was possible other people may stumble upon him and rescue him but it was equally possible that they wouldn''t and he couldn''t take that chance. Besides, he was never really the patient type. He gripped his suitcase and stalked slowly into the heavily shaded forest. The first thing he noticed was the immediate change in the environment upon entering the shaded region. The temperature had dropped, no longer being overly hot nor stuffy, but a crisp cool feeling. A stiff breeze blew steadily through the canvas of the jungle. There was no pause in the wind, as if a world size fan had been aimed directly at the trees and permanently set to on. Unfortunately, the gravity still seemed much stronger than the pre-system earth his body was accustomed to, so he was far from comfortable. Not only that but he would now have to step over thick roots and vines as he hiked through the jungle. Looking around it seemed as if paths branched endlessly, like a maze, in all directions of the jungle. Nothing in his immediate surroundings seemed overly aggressive or dangerous as far as he could tell, so he decided to keep it simple and continue straight. While walking he brought up the blue window, which appeared to slide over the world like a transparent bubble. He could focus both on the window and the world as needed so as not to trip on any of the low-hanging branches or roots. God forbid he run into any thorny bushes. He tried focusing and thinking about things like map, location, Ect but apparently the system had no such feature or else he didn''t know how to activate it. After another half an hour of walking, exhaustion was beginning to overtake the young man. The endless cycles of trekking through the perilous terrain and resting were beginning to wear away at his mind as well. If he didn''t find something soon¡­ As if God himself answered his prayer he suddenly noticed the sound of running water. Pure excitement and joy overcame his exhaustion and he ran towards the source of the sound. His steps were awkward and off-balance due to the gravity but in a few moments he broke a small clearing with a sapphire blue crick running through it. The small clearing contained the first signs of wildlife he had seen since being transported to this new place. Across the 20 foot crick stood one loan deer with long chipped antlers. Clearly they had known years of conflict. It sipped peacefully from the water barely looking up as Vincent approached. The water was cleaner than any he had ever seen and the sound of the gently flowing substance soothed his mind. As he bent down and cupped the ice cold liquid in his hands he couldn''t help but notice the amount of birds gathering around the clearing. Nearly 1000 had appeared just since he''d arrived. He didn''t think too much of it however, as he was thirsty and the crick was more than large enough for even ten thousand birds. He briefly wondered if this water was safe or if he was about to get deathly sick but the dryness in his mouth quickly made him realize he didn''t really care. Upon drinking the soul refreshing water he instantly felt better and strangely enough the system pulsed with a message. Gaia''s blood consumed! All stamina restored! A small amount of health restored! Some mana restored! Doubles all regenerations for the next 10 minutes! Tip: healing from any food or drink item has an hour long cooldown! There is no cool down for status effects such as doubling regenerations. Vincent blinked several times. "Gaia''s blood..?" He wondered. "It was literally just water.. granted it was a very deep blue and the cleanest best tasting damn water I''ve ever had but.. Gaia''s blood seems a bit.. dramatic, doesn''t it?" He thought out loud. Vincent bent down and unzipped his suitcase for the first time since having arrived in this place. He pulled out several large plastic containers with lids. He was thanking God right now for his obsession with carrying spare tupperware. After filling the containers with the godly azure liquid he scratched his chin. "Now where the hell do I put this shit?" As if on cue the system prompted his attention once more. Congratulations! Due to unusual circumstances you have been given one free trial reward! You have been awarded with the ''inventory'' page. Spacial storage is limitless and automatically organizes itself according to the wishes of its user. Enjoy! ''Well.. that''s convenient.'' He thought. "But what exactly is a trial..?" He spent a few minutes learning the ins and outs of the inventory page. Essesnially it took the appearence of a shimmering purple vortex from within which he could place or remove objects. It wasn''t difficult at all. After storing his luggage and containers now filled with water (Or what the system recognized as a titan''s blood or some shit) he sat back and breathed a sigh of relief. It was a strange process, watching the items disappear into a portal that comes and goes with no evidence of it having ever been there the moment it swirled out of existence. He felt like he was in a damn video game. Suddenly the air shifted. An ominous energy filled the surroundings. The deer at the other end of the crick stiffened and looked up. Vincent mirrored the creature and noticed the amount of birds had multiplied to nearly ten times its original number. It seemed his theory on whether or not the river could accommodate ten thousand birds was about to be tested. But why did he have such a terrible feeling in his gut? The man, newly renamed as Vincent began to tremble¡­ Congratulations! Skill: Predatory instincts (common) achieved! Allows the user to sense danger and determine how best to avoid it. Also allows the user to determine the weakness of foes weaker than him/her. Due to the ''common'' rarity, range and clarity of detection gain an Inferior boost with each skill level. Perception grants a minor boost to this skill. (Passive skill) ''What!?.. what in the hell was that??'' He wondered. The description seemed suspiciously like Spider-Man''s spider-sense from Earth''s comic books. He didn''t have time to contemplate much on this new development however, as it quickly became apparent that something was wrong. The birds'' intended target was never the water to begin with¡­ It was the deer. Within seconds the massive army of avian creatures swarmed the deer, sending chunks of gore flying through the air. They left nothing but bones behind in their wake as they retreated just as quickly as they came. It was all over in less than five seconds. Vincent resisted the urge to vomit and watched with growing horror as they returned to the trees. Each of the countless birds turned their starving gazes toward him. His breathing was erratic and he swallowed several times but he dared not move. His new and improved instincts told him not to. His limbs were frozen in shock and fear. His mind was jumbled and he couldn''t gather his thoughts. He merely stood there, helpless and shaking, waiting for the moment the birds would grow bored of toying with their prey and descend. But it never came. Minutes passed and then an hour. More and more birds grew disinterested and flew off until finally there were less than a hundred. He had been getting a few system messages but had ignored them in lieu of paying close attention to the birds. Now that he felt he could breathe more steadily he opened the system window. Congratulations! Skill: predatory instincts has increased Congratulations! Skill: predatory instincts has increased Congratulations! Skill: predatory instincts has increased¡­.. Congratulations! Skill: predatory instincts has increased to level 7! Vincent shook his head. Just by staying alive in a dangerous situation he had gained a skill and began to level it.. what kind of monstrous system had sunk it''s claws into his life? He knew instinctively, probably courtesy of his new skill no doubt, that as soon as he moved the remaining birds would attack him. The good news is.. they''d dwindled down to 10. How dangerous could ten birds be?.. right? Congratulations! Skill: predatory instincts has increased to level 8! That confirmed it. He knew at that moment the rest of the birds would not go away. He would have to run, or die trying. He immediately decided the clearing where he first began would be his best bet. Hopefully that mysterious cave would hold some sort of key to his survival. He began to slowly back up, retracing his steps. Most of the birds cocked their heads and squaked in aggressive, threatening tones but that was it. He had crawled at a snail''s pace for nearly 100 feet and was long out of sight of the river due to the thick trunks of the innumerable trees and brush that comprised the jungle. He breathed in deeply and exhaled for several long moments. Seeing that deer ripped apart in seconds had been absolutely terrifying and he wondered how he could have ever thought this new life was somehow going to be better for him just because he couldn''t get along with people in his old one? He began walking at a steady pace checking back over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure the birds weren''t following. After about another 5 minutes he stepped on a small twig that created an echoing crunch seeming much too loud in the otherwise silent wood. He hadn''t thought much of it and continued walking. In a matter of seconds, his predatory instincts flared and without fully understanding what was going on he began running for the clearing from which he had originally begun his journey. How long had it taken him to walk this far at a slow and steady pace? At least 10 minutes.. as far as he figured if he ran at max speed he might possibly be able to get back to the clearing within a few minutes but even then.. Somehow even without being able to see them he could tell the birds from way back at the Creek were hot on his trail and they''d reach him long before he reached the clearing. Plus, could he even run that far with the extra heavy air and generally perilous terrain? He reckoned by no other choice than necessity he was about to find out. It was another full minute of running non-stop as best he could before he made contact with the first bird. The small black beast was difficult to keep track of as it bounded from tree to tree using its wings to propel itself in-between jumps. It certainly didn''t act like any bird he''d ever seen. That didn''t change the fact that it''s movements were effective. It massively cut the distance between them with each hop. He knew based on the thing''s speed and unpredictable movement patterns he''d never be able to dodge it. The first impact was like a speeding bullet. The creature hit him in the left shoulder tearing out a large chunk of flesh causing him to gasp in pain and shock. He stumbled, blood spraying everywhere, but quickly continued running. His new skill was working on its own to keep his legs moving. He lost sight of the bird after the first impact but had no doubt it was nearby. He turned around briefly and saw nothing. So he turned his numb, dazed attention foward and kept running with all his might. A little more than a minute later the birds had re-grouped and were upon him again. Perhaps the one before was simply a scout but now it had brought It''s friends. He was almost to the clearing.. if he could just hold out a few more minutes.. but he couldn''t take many more of those birds dive bombing him, especially if they hit him somewhere like his knee or head.. he was screwed. He had been walking at this point, too exhausted to continue his half trot half stumble. For whatever reason, maybe because he was no longer running, the birds seemed to observe and follow him for a few moments. Unfortunately his reprieve couldn''t last forever as the birds cawed loudly and began to dash at him in pairs of two, not quite as fast as before but still faster than he could comprehend. 7 damage received! 3 damage received! 11¡­ Warning! Your health is below 75%! In some passes the man received only minor cuts and bruises, in others he lost inch long chunks of flesh and muscle. He knew something was inherently wrong. First off, regular birds didn''t have this kind of strength; there''s no way they could cause the types of wounds he was sustaining. Secondly they were nowhere near this aggressive, even when defending their nests. He briefly wondered what that poor deer must have gone through, being attacked by nearly a thousand times more birds than he was currently. It never stood a chance. The dazed line of thought couldn''t continue long, as at the moment he was merely trying to survive. He was screaming out and crying with each blow. There was more blood than skin about his body at this point. Waving his arms and running like a frantic lunatic, he was sure he looked undignified as all hell but in this situation did it really even matter? Pecked to death by a bunch of damn birds. What a way to go. And of course his underwhelming death would happen right after he decided to change his life around for the better and truly live. Between the uneven terrain and constant, excruciating attacks from the birds, he simply couldn''t keep his balance. He stumbled and crawled just as much as he ran. Blood covered his eyes and the man could no longer see where he was running. At this point he really didn''t care. He hoped he was still making his way back toward the clearing, toward the cave, toward anything but these damn birds! Not long after having such a thought the man broke the clearing of the jungle. He would have yelled for joy but he could barely move and could hardly make more than a whimper at this point. The sun appeared to still be high in the sky and as soon as it hit his raw bloody flesh it was uncomfortably warm. The birds watched as he stumbled and crawled through the chest high grass, leaving a crimson trail in his wake. They waited just at the line where the shade and sun met. The man, delirious as he was, prayed to some form of God that the birds couldn''t stand the unnatural heat without the aid of the shade. He had made it nearly halfway to the mouth of the cave and his spirits were beginning to rise. Even his levels of adrenaline couldn''t fight off most of the pain but it kept his legs moving, despite how exhausted and wounded he was. It was all he could dp. He would not die here. Not like this! The man stopped dead. His heart sank. He couldn''t help but turn slowly around as he heard the squawks of now not ten, but hundreds of birds once more. Fresh tears began to streak down his blood and dirt crusted cheeks. The birds were jumping, some diving in circles. They looked akin to excited children about to rip into a birthday cake. Unfortunately Vincent was the cake in this situation. The base of the trees looked more black than green. Dozens more birds piled up every second. He was beginning to feel cold, despite the blistering heat of the unnaturally potent sun. How could this happen? This wasn''t fair.. The birds descended. Within seconds they caught up to the short, black-haired man. If you could call him a man. At 21 had he even really lived? He only wanted to get away from the drag of his daily routine life¡­ to wake up one day and not feel the crushing weight of depression at all his loss and failures. A pity party till the very end. No one had ever cared.. no one would notice if he was gone.. the world would keep turning. It didn''t matter.. He closed his eyes as indiscernible noise and darkness overtook him. End of chapter 2 A very close call..? "No!" There was darkness and a terrible screeching all around. For a brief moment Vincent had closed his eyes and accepted his fate but near instantly they snapped back open as he let out a defiant yell. He couldn''t die here.. he couldn''t give up! No one would miss him..? What about his best friend Jacob? What about his family!? Were they also brought to this new, harsh reality? If so, were they also being attacked or in otherwise unprecedented danger? Regret and anger began to overtake his mind-numbing fear. He was still scared, petrified in fact. What would he even do against the massive sea of black death less than an arm''s length away? He didn''t know but he had to do something. Time seemed to have slowed causing his final moments to stretch on forever. He raised an arm while shouting his rejection to the birds¡­ Bone was visible on the bloody, shredded appendage. Still, he used the feeble limb to pathetically try and stop the approaching wall of feathery flame. Imagine his surprise when it actually did stop, less than an inch from his shredded limb. A pounding headache took him and his vision turned red. He couldn''t tell at that moment, but his blue eyes became red and his pupils became dark black slits. Congratulations! Skill: predatory instincts has increased to level 9! Congratulations! Skill: predatory instincts has increased to level 10! Warning.. error.. recalculating.. Congratulations! Your skill predatory instincts (common) has successfully evolved into Predatory instincts (uncommon) Warning: if the required amount of soulspace is not met, sickness and death may occur. Congrat-! Error.. due to unusual circumstances and the ambient Nectar in the air, the system fuels the evolution of your skill. Please seek the nearest Nexus HUB or your local world''s Tavern Owner for immediate assistance. Vincent was extremely confused, trying to comprehend the slew of messages he received and the fact that the birds had stopped inches from his face. It was as if some invisible bubble separated his arm from the wall of death. The birds were still flapping their wings and cawing, turning their heads side to side to focus their thousands of beady red eyes on their target. A single bird was indiscernible in the endless black abyss of feathers; there were simply too many. Vincent was sure if even just ten of them attacked him his life would end. Nevertheless, the swarm seemed completely unable to close the final distance between them and their prey. Still entirely unsure of what was going on or how to proceed, Vincent was faintly aware he could feel a tugging in his gut. He wasn''t quite sure on the ''how'' part but he knew instinctively (pun intended) his skill; predatory instincts was dragging him away from the sea of evil birds and towards the mouth of the cave that had been his destination since the moment the massacre of the deer had occurred. He let his body move on its own, too exhausted physically and emotionally to comprehend what was happening. It all seemed like a dream but the pain and nausea confirmed it was very real. He had nearly been killed and had somehow stopped them with his newly evolved skill. Vincent kept one wary eye on the birds as he made his final few steps toward the mouth of the cave. Upon reaching said entrance it was as if a switch had been flipped. His massive headache receded a bit and the endless wall of birds dispersed in a horrifying, loud, cloud of darkness. They flew back toward the jungle finally allowing the blistering sun to penetrate the clearing once more. In less than a minute not a single creature remained in the clearing save the bloody, exhausted blob that identified as Vincent. The world was dead silent. Not even a breeze dared make itself known that day, lest the birds come back. He shook his head and shuddered stepping uneasily beyond the threshold of the cave. Once inside it was as if all sound was cut off from the outside world. It was dark but not so much so that Vincent couldn''t make things out well enough to get around and get the basic layout. The cave wasn''t exactly huge by any means, But it was certainly cozy. There was enough room for perhaps a small party of three people to spread out and camp peacefully just in the front half. The entirety of the cave was pleasantly warm completely unlike the blistering heat outside. He shivered, still feeling cold despite the natural warmth. It was a deep chill. How much blood had he lost at this point? Looking around he noticed the cave was shaped in an oddly symmetric circle. Vincent considered once again that this place had to have been man-made. In the middle of the area a large obsidian pillar reached from the ground to the smooth ceiling above. Wincing in pain, he slowly limped over to the center of the room, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. His body throbbed and he held his sides, trying feebly to squish the pain and cold away. With a groan he slowly looked up in an attempt to pop his neck. It was then, looking at the top of the cave that he noticed the source of the light. His mouth was agape, blue eyes wide with fascination. "What..?" It looked like a vast sea of gold stars and tiny black holes intertwining and weaving around one another. Motes of light shot off from the luminescent, cloud-like substance. Looking closely at the substance he noticed it seemed thicker around the pillar that was directly in the center of the cave. He sensed more than felt an extraordinary pressure from the substance. He was somewhat glad it seemed to have the properties of a gas, lest he have to discern whether or not the substance was toxic. For now it served as a simple source of light, and quite a beautiful one at that. As Vincent approached the pillar in the center of the area he noticed something carved into whatever obsidian material composed it. He reached out with one of his broken, bloody arms and touched the engravings. The object felt unlike any he had ever known. It was smooth and sleek like metal, but also solid and porous like a rock. The structure seemed like a contradiction. How could something have both smooth unbending metallic properties yet permeable and flexible rock elements as well? Curious as he was about the chemical makeup of the pillar he was even more fascinated by the carvings. It looked as if they were various symbols interwoven and interlocking within one another. If he didn''t know any better he would swear they were some kind of language or writing? His finger scraped across one of the engravings, and a tiny arc of electricity jumped between them. Vincent gasped and shuddered. He moved around the metallic-stone pillar slowly caressing the symbols as he did. The pillar itself was extremely thick, easily measuring 5 meters across. Once he had gotten around to the backside he paused, eyes wide at what lay on the other side. Coming directly out the back of the pillar was a blue stream that continued all the way to some small, invisible exit on the back end of the cave. The stream was about a foot wide and probably equally as deep. It seemed to move unnaturally slowly. On either side of the stream were large patches of dirt as if the stream were an aqueduct to support two small gardens. He wasn''t sure how he hadn''t noticed the stone floor of the cave turning to dirt directly halfway past the pillar, but it really didn''t matter. The whole situation was different than what he was used to. Would anything even be able to grow here? Admittedly the lighting was adequate but did the mysterious light possess the same nutritional qualities as sunlight did for photosynthetic organisms? Vincent was unsure. He knelt down to further study the liquid. It was clearly the same liquid as before.. the.. blood or whatever, but this kind was very different. It was a darker blue for one thing and it seemed to be more dense yet it somehow moved more fluidly than the water he''d found in the woods. He thought about drinking some in hopes of healing but right now¡­ His trust for this world was not deep. It could be poison.. He studied the substance carefully for several minutes, his body in unimaginable pain. As he studied the stuff his eyes began to tingle, softly at first but it quickly became an annoying itch. "Ah! Give me a fucking break." He muttered, wiping his eyes with what remained of his shredded suit. He figured the blood in his eyes must be irritating his cornea but the stinging wouldn''t desist. In fact, it continued to build until it was a legitimate burning. "Ahhh, damn it!" He glared, stomping his foot and focusing the entirety of his attention on the water beneath him. He didn''t know why but he somehow felt as if his predatory instincts wanted him to focus all his pain and frustration on the running liquid. The pain radiating from his eyes now seemed to encompass a large part of his frontal lobe. As he felt the pain reach a crescendo, he thought for sure his head would explode. Suddenly, with a slight ''pop'' a great deal of the pain and stinging disappeared. Vincent breathed a sigh of relief and couldn''t help but chuckle as a system notification forced its way to the center of his attention. ''Tired of being ignored, huh?'' Congratulations! The skill: identify (common) has been achieved! Skill: identify (common) Allows the user to identify various life forms and inanimate objects. Due to the ''common'' rarity, chance of success and details of the identification gain a minor increase with each skill level. Perception grants a minor boost to this skill. (Passive skill) The activation of this particular skill was much more uncomfortable than the first, and he couldn''t help but feel like the system did it on purpose due to his lack of attention to its constant messages and notifications. ''Temperamental bastard ain''t ya?'' with a smirk. He thought to himself, though he had a sneaking suspension the system understood him perfectly. He sighed and relaxed his body. Thankfully there were no immediately obvious odors within the cave. It would have been hard to concentrate if an animal had left a giant pile of dung near the azure liquid. He sat cross-legged beside the steady stream and closed his eyes so that he could more easily focus on the system window. His brow creased in worry upon reading the very first backlogged message. The concern only grew from there. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Urgent! Warning! Urgent! Health is below 10 percent! WARNING! health is below 1 percent! Seek immediate medical attention! Your consciousness grows dim as death closes in.. The embers of your fire dwindle away to ash.. System interference detected! A spark reunites! Welcome: Kakarot. Race: human Level: 1 XP needed 0/1000 (0%) Class: N/A Health: 22/200 Mana: 1000/1000 Stats: Strength: 2 Endurance: 2 Vitality: 1 Intelligence: 10 Perception: 5 Agility: 2 Congratulations! Feat achieved! Feats are unique to each individual within the Nexus and grant various perks. Some feats can be achieved multiple times. Feat: survive against impossible odds achieved! Perk: will to survive achieved! Will to survive: you have stared death in the face and defied its cold, dark grip. Your will to persevere is unparalleled. Perk: will to survive. Grants user a permanent +1% to vitality! ''Funny the description is something like that and yet 6 months ago I was ready to ride that long black train..'' he thought ironically. ''Perks huh..? And they grant permanent bonuses..?'' He wondered to himself. Sure 1 percent certainly didn''t seem like much but if perks could be stacked and repeatedly obtained? He was curious so he went back and checked and sure enough his Vitality now read vitality: 1 (+1%) He didn''t feel any different but he trusted the system. Truthfully all he felt was pain and exhaustion. And it was no wonder why.. Less than one percent out of two hundred health points? So what he had literally hit 1? How The hell did the system even quantify that? What sort of injuries in the old world would bring a man to this sort of brink, where in terms of number his health was less than one percent? Since stumbling into the cave it had taken him half an hour just to get to this point and get 22 health back. There was a snail''s trail of blood and some bits of flesh that had fallen off the man. The trail ran from the mouth of the cave over to the pillar, around it and then over to the pond where he now rested. He breathed in deep, shuddering breaths. Looking at his stats one last time he noticed his health had climbed pathetically to 27. At least it wasn''t going down, he complained internally¡­ How long had he been in this position now looking over the window and steadying his breath? 5 minutes maybe? Regenerating 1 point per minute seemed awfully pathetic but his vitality was his lowest stat so maybe that made sense. He supposed really he should just count his blessings. Had this been the regular world that he was used to, not only would his crippling injuries certainly have resulted in death, but the intense conditions of this planet would lead to catastrophic side effects on his body over time. Somehow he felt that within the system.. the body would trigger a rapid evolutionary response to your environment. After leaving the stats page, he briefly checked his newly evolved skill and was surprised when he did. He hadn''t noticed the change in the description before¡­ evolving in rarity must have added a new function to the skill, he decided. Skill: Predatory instincts (common) Allows the user to sense danger and determine how best to avoid it. Also allows the user to determine the weakness of foes weaker than him/her. Due to the ''common'' rarity, range and clarity of detection gain an inferior boost with each skill level. Perception grants a minor boost to this skill. (Passive skill) ---> Skill: Predatory instincts (uncommon) Allows the user to sense danger¡­¡­ In rare circumstances the instincts of a predator may freeze its prey. Due to the ''uncommon'' rarity, range and clarity of detection gain a minor boost with each skill level. Due to the ''uncommon'' rarity, the chance to paralyze weaker prey is marginally increased. Perception grants a minor boost to this skill. (Passive skill) There it was. It was barely even a change at all. It was easy to miss the differences when he was running for his God damn life. His uncommon rarity had not only given his skill an extraordinary new function that had already proved vital in his survival, but it had also increased the level scaling bonus from Inferior to minor. He wasn''t sure what sort of difference that made but he was sure it was at least something. He decided to try and make use of the second skill he had acquired, opening his eyes, he began focusing directly on the stream in front of him once more. If his suspicions were correct the system responded to his will.. Seeing as identify was a passive ability he was sure all he had to do was focus on something or someone and ask the system to feed him information about said subject. His theory was quickly proven accurate when the system responded with.. Ding! Identify partially unsuccessful.. skill level too low.. Object: Gaia''s blood +100 Uses; unknown. Effects; unknown. Congratulations! Skill: identify has increased by 1 Congratulations! Skill: identify has increased Congratulations! Skill: identify has increased¡­ Congratulations! Skill: identify has increased to level 9. ''Gaia''s blood again..?'' He wondered. But this was somehow different? Stronger because it was a higher level as indicated by the plus 100 by the name maybe? There was certainly much less of it than the natural creek from before, yet it seemed more dense. More and more questions and no answers. "So.. my identify wasn''t strong enough huh..? But I gained quite a few levels from that single attempt.." He wondered out loud. "Perhaps.." He tried to use identify on the water several times more but was met with the same notification each time. Ding! Identify partially unsuccessful.. skill level too low.. Object: Gaia''s blood +100 Uses; unknown. Effects; unknown. He shook his head. Apparently you couldn''t get experience for the same action twice. Or at least not in this particular situation. He somehow got the feeling that the amount of experience gained for each skill use was largely determined on the difficulty and the nature of the task performed. Of course he currently had no way to test that theory but it made sense, didn''t it? He had gained a ton of levels from identifying the level 100 substance, or at least attempting to. When he was surrounded by the thousands of birds that nearly slaughtered him, his predatory instincts also rose rapidly. It was apparent from the get go the system expected you to struggle to survive to grow stronger quickly. Sighing for what had to have been the hundredth time he finally closed the window and bent down to drink some of the precious liquid before him. At this point he was willing to risk it for the biscuit. Instantly upon doing so he went ramrod straight. A shudder of pleasure ran up-and-down his spine. His body tingled all over and he released another sigh, though this one was of contentment and relief. "Jesus fucking christ.. what was that..?" He asked aloud. The system supplied an instant answer in the form of another notification. ''Of course you''re involved. I just closed you. Damn thing demands all my attention, doesn''t it? Although I have to admit.. having my own equivalent to a Jarvis built into my head is proving quite convenient..'' Gaia''s blood +100 consumed! All stamina restored! All mana restored! All heath restored! Regeneration multiplied by three for 24 hours! Tip: healing from any food or drink item has an hour long cooldown! There is no cool down for status effects such as doubling regenerations. He was baffled by the potency of this new source of water versus the natural crick he had found. It was strange though, he obviously now knew the effects of the mysterious fluid, yet the description still read the effect as unknown. Opening his inventory he quickly retrieved the contents of his containers. He splashed the old liquid over the garden and quickly replaced it with the much more potent and powerful substance. The initial regeneration effect alone was unlike anything he had ever felt. This would have put any type of pre-system medicine to absolute shame. Big pharma would kill to get their greedy hands on this stuff. It was extremely weird to Vincent that you could only heal with food items once an hour but he supposed there would be no incentive to create potions if you could just full-heal with a glass of water in the middle of battle. However, the initial burst of healing and energy wasn''t all the water had done for him. Now that his Vitality was effectively functioning at 4 he could truly feel his energy levels higher than they had ever been before. He had always been in decent shape but this must have been what the peak of human conditioning felt like. He could only assume that Vitality was directly linked to one''s metabolism, specifically the anabolic portion, which emphasized the use of energy to grow and build. He flexed his hands. He felt like an anime character that had grown stronger simply by surviving a near death experience.. which he supposed wasn''t too far from the truth. He felt somewhat torn now that his pain and exhaustion had been mended. He felt great, as if he could do anything! But.. somehow at the same time there was a lingering metal weiriness and physical exhaustion, driving home just how close he had come to death. That instinctual fear kept his thoughts humble and logical. Realistically.. he knew in his mind that if he were to encounter those birds again and in such large numbers he would die. Of that, there was no question. His predatory instincts saved him once, in his closest ever brush with death but it had been close.. closer than he had even known.. could the skill save his life a second time? He wasn''t so sure and he honestly didn''t want to risk it. His growling stomach quickly made him aware of another problem. Even though he now had a source of water he knew he would soon need food to survive. Eventually by no other choice than necessity he would have to leave his safe place¡­ he shuddered and wished at that very moment he could just change his dang clothes¡­ of all the things he brought in his useless briefcase, a fresh change of clothes was unfortunately not something he thought he''d need to pack. He was simply traveling from one side of New York to the other.. he hadn''t planned for all this. The vast majority of the briefcase''s contents were honestly the tupperware which now resided in what Vincent would describe as ''magic swirly portal storage thingy'' because.. why not? Other than that he mostly had paperwork and maps for the city. In the pre-system world, Vincent was sort of a freelance, home health-care worker. He used to joke to his friends and family that children and the elderly were the only humans he could ever really stand. For better or for worse, it wasn''t much of a joke. It had occurred to him throughout his life that he had always enjoyed solitude.. he did his best thinking when he was alone. He was a bit anti-social in the old world. People didn''t really make any sense to him. Maybe it was for that reason that, contrary to what he was sure most people would feel, he was glad there was no one around. Embarrassing death by bird aside, it seemed easier this way. He decided to sit cross-legged beside the stream once more. He breathed in deeply and relaxed. He had always enjoyed yoga and meditation in the real world. Besides this place just seemed comfortable and tranquil. Some people thought yoga was far too feminine for a male athlete. Vincent strongly disagreed. Training one''s mind was just as important as training the body, and getting plenty of rest was absolutely a must in the fitness world. Yoga was a great way to relax and achieve that rest. He greatly enjoyed stretching out his sore muscles and realigning his breathing after pushing his body to the limit with a series of intense workouts in the gym. In fact he enjoyed the cool down period just as much if not more so than working out. He always felt like he had earned it. As he sat pondering what to do next and syncing his breathing with the flow of the water it occurred to him a warm fullness had begun to invade his chest and stomach. Though he kept his eyes closed, a shit-eating grin appeared on the blue eyed man''s face. "You''re shitting me..?" Congratulations! Skill: complete tranquility (epic) achieved! Skill: complete tranquility (epic) Extremely rare and evolved variation of the skill: meditation (rare). While using complete tranquility all regenerations are tripled. Intelligence is doubled. Solutions to problems come more easily. You begin to glimpse a deeper understanding of the system and your place within the Nexus. Due to the (epic) rarity all effects of the skill receive a moderate boost per skill level. Receives a moderate boost from intelligence. (Active ability) Vincent let out a breath he hadn''t realized he''d been holding. Towards the end, the warmness in his torso began to gave way to a light stininging, which slowly became an intense pressure, and then a burning pain. Much like the identify skill, once the system had awarded him with an ability most of the discomfort faded, leaving the original warm feeling once more. He immediately dropped his skill. He stood, stretching "Phew.. an epic skill.. right off the bat! How about that? The system must really play to your strengths. lengthy explanation that one.. but damn those effects are certainly impressive.. my highest stat gets doubled and my regenerations, which are already at times three, get multiplied by a further three? Ridiculous. That last bit makes me a little uneasy, though... Hmm.. I''m sure I''ll understand things more clearly later.." He finished scratching his chin. He briefly wondered if it was this easy for all creatures in the system to gain skills this easily. He figured it certainly it had to be based on how those birds, who certainly had shit stats, were able to move and attack so viciously. He drank a little bit of the water from the stream seeing the familiar status effect notification pop up. It seemed that while the healing portion of consumables only worked once an hour, every time the water was consumed the status effect was re-applied regardless of the effect''s current duration. The tip said as much but it was a pretty good feeling to see the timer reset with his own eyes. Sitting once more in his familiar position, he began to use his newfound power. Instantly he noticed how much smoother his thoughts and feelings seemed to flow. He was sure this was going to be one of his all time favorites. Ten minutes into his thoughts and his attention was drawn again to the ever present blue window. He grinned. It took a while longer than the others but.. his epic skill had gained its first skill level. End of chapter 3 Settling in.. a whole new world. "Damn it.. this is taking too long. I''ll have to go back out at this rate." In a moderately well-lit cave a lone man stood near a campfire. He had wild, black hair the tips of which reached just to his shoulders. The man''s attire was.. different to say the least. He wore a shirt, bracers, pants, and shoes that all seemed to be a haphazard blend between wood, mud and plants. Upon first glance one couldn''t tell but the wild looking man had a stone blade with a wood-based handle strapped firmly to his right side with vines. It blended in well with his armor. A large chunk of tree trunk took up a good portion of the man''s back and even some of his legs. Clearly it was some type of makeshift shield. Honestly, it was probably quite effective as the bark was much more gnarly and thick than any wood found in the pre-system world. The source of the man''s current frustration seemed to be a dozen tiny plants on both sides of the aqueduct containing Gaia''s blood. The last three months had been extremely eventful for the man and that was putting it less than mildly. Truly, surviving here had been an absolute shit show so far. He was sure if there were any other humans left when the system came into existence they were long gone now. He didn''t mean to sound pessimistic but damn.. He had gotten very lucky to have found this cave which was apparently safe from any and all types of predators. He didn''t understand why and he didn''t question it either. All he knew was that when he approached the mouth of the cave any manner of beast that had ever chased him, no matter how far they''d run or how wounded he''d been, had always stopped dead far away from the cave. It was just as well because, as it turned out, he was severely outclassed by everything he had encountered thus far. That was not an exaggeration. He had tried using identify on everything, living or otherwise and had almost always yielded either unsuccessful or partially unsuccessful results. Even when Vincent had managed to get close to a loan bird not far from the safety of his cave, he had been unable to discern any real detail about the bird. The system had read Identify failed: skill level too low or opponent''s level too high. Name: hellspawn. ''Yeah that''s Goddamn right..'' Vincent had thought upon reading the name. Level: unknown. Stats: unknown. If there were any creatures weaker than the birds, he hadn''t seen them thus far. Probably because the damn things ate everything. He had observed the birds many times at this point. He knew that they weren''t all that strong compared to most of the creatures in the jungle, especially individually. But what they lacked in might they made up for in sheer numbers and they nearly always traveled in large flocks. They were by far the most numerous creatures around. You couldn''t go a hundred feet without running into them ganging up on some new meal. Vincent hadn''t ever made it more than a mile or two from the entrance of the jungle but it seemed the birds were native to all parts of the jungle. The good news was their perception seemed to be ridiculously low for birds. Even without trying to be sneaky, just standing still was usually enough to lose the birds'' attention. So with scavenging not being much of an option and hunting not being an option at all, he did the only thing he could think of... Attempt to grow his own food. Vincent, of course, knew absolutely nothing about farming or even different types of plants for that matter. By some miracle of the Nexus, he didn''t have to. The way Farming worked was extremely bizarre in that any fruit or plant that was buried would reproduce. Currently the situation was this; food was scarce and although the 12 fruits and 12 vegetables he had planted grew exponentially fast due to Gaia''s blood and the pulsing light above, it simply wouldn''t be enough to sustain him. Beyond that, planting a new crop was still extremely taxing even with the farming skill he had achieved. Vincent''s first sowing of seeds was rough to say the least¡­ Brief flashback Initially, when it came to foraging, Vincent was not optimistic. Nearly everything he had encountered in this world was changed by the system. From the very air, to the rocks and trees. Everything just seemed more durable and dense. Even the simple act of digging or gathering firewood became a daunting, tedious task. When he had first come across a batch of system made bananas nearly 3 months ago, he was hesitant as he was sure knowing his luck they were poison. But he couldn''t help himself. He had been on the brink of starving after three weeks of little to no food each day, and maximum effort to survive. After nearly an hour of painstaking work, he harvested the bananas. Once they were off the vine they seemed much easier to handle, which literally made no sense. Fortunately not only were the fruits not poisonous, but he assumed the system must somehow enhance the properties of all things it touched because the bananas tasted ungodly, even after they lost their unnatural durability. He devoured all of the food he could find which also included a few other familiar fruits and even some he didn''t recognize. Identify was little to no help as apparently his level was too low to make use of any of it but that didn''t really matter. It was healthy, delicious food. That was all he needed to know. After replenishing his body''s carbohydrates for the first time in weeks, his vastly improved body was able to move much faster than ever before allowing him to cover nearly two miles in the day. He found all manner of fruits, vegetables, berries and nuts. Having gorged himself as much as possible, Vincent snuck back to his cave with at least a month''s supply of food. He really hoped food didn''t rot within his inventory space¡­ Upon returning to the cave Vincent got to work on his makeshift garden. Soon the man found himself sorely wishing he knew how to make some semblance of a gardening tool from sticks and stones like in a survivor video game¡­ He blew gently on his burning hands which had been rubbed raw to the point of bleeding. He looked down at the ground which regenerated nearly as fast as he could dig it.. His farming skill helped a lot once he had gotten it, going from making pitiful tiny scratches to ripping up handfuls of dirt but even still the skill took stamina and mana. Currently he was only capable of planting one precious fruit at a time before having to take a break to regain his energy and let his aching hands rest. Present Vincent placed a hand on the gaping maw of the cave. He breathed deeply in. His stats had risen a bit and he had gained some useful skills and perks.. but the outside world was still too dangerous to tread casually. The first 3 weeks nearly broke his will to go on. Multiple times he had been placed near death often by what would have ordinarily been the feeblest of creatures. Thankfully most of the monsters seemed to view him as a waste of their time, choosing instead to fight primarily with each other. He supposed, once again, he was just too weak to matter.. A Lot of the jungle''s inhabitants looked like varieties of animals he was used to with a few minor differences, but some were new beasts altogether that he was sure couldn''t have existed in any form before.. He chose to open the system window and take stock of his growth so far before his exodus from the cave. Welcome Vincent. Level: 1 XP 0/1000 (0%) Class: N/A Health: 2200/2200 Mana: 1000/1000 Stats: Strength: 10 Endurance: 22 Vitality: 11 (+1%) Intelligence: 10 Perception: 5 Agility: 10 Skills: Predatory instincts (uncommon) lvl 14 Identify (common) lvl 18 Complete tranquility (epic) lvl 5 Smithing (common) lvl 15 Farming (common) lvl 20 Sneak (common) lvl 15 Perks: Will to survive Lifebringer Smithing Limit breaker Camouflage. Firstly, he chose to focus on the skills he had unlocked his first day here. Predatory instincts had risen only 4 more levels. He honestly expected more since, well, it was one of his constantly active passive skills and he relied on it so heavily... But he supposed he really hadn''t gotten a grasp on how skill experience worked yet. He was sure he''d have to kill things for level xp but he was far from ready for that daunting task. Nothing much had changed with the skill and he''d been unable to activate the paralysis ability like he had that first day when he was almost pecked to death by Satan''s pet birds. Next was the identity ability which had risen sharply in comparison to his PI. It had jumped from 9 to 18 and somehow he could feel it was on the edge of another level. Though he had been mostly unsuccessful at identifying pretty much anything, his gains in skill level were a testament to the fact that everything around him was just way above his level. Honestly it seemed completely unfair but he supposed you could never enter a RPG in God mode without cheats¡­ While the environment and mobs you faced typically started off around your level, most of the creatures in the game were way stronger than you, and your average main character quickly trains up enough to overtake his evil foes. Unfortunately, this was no game and death was a very real possibility.. he only hoped his skills would grow fast enough to keep him alive. It occurred to him that the rarity of the skill certainly must have played some sort of role in leveling speed. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! This theory was proven largely true by his next skill, complete tranquility, which sat at a measly 5. It was easily lower than any of his other skills including his new ones. Sure it was an epic rarity but it was also the skill he used the most while idle. The boost to intelligence coupled with the regeneration multiplier made recuperating and planning his next move almost predertermindly easy. He supposed that too, was part of the gimmick of leveling. The more useful or powerful a skill the harder it would be to level, regardless of rarity. The rarity and complexity of the skill certainly affected the body and mind differently.. Unlocking the epic skill had been incredibly difficult to accomplish due to the firey pain it had caused within him. Next he examined a skill that, strangely enough, first came in the form of a perk.. Vincent had been out in the jungle not long after his very first day here. His clothes were all but useless to him by then and if for no other reason than dignity he felt he needed some form of covering. If he were being honest it was an absolute disaster at first. Vincent had a severe lack of crafting skills and couldn''t even make clothing with a sewing machine, let alone raw materials found lying around on the jungle floor. He was sure after the first week he was probably just going to have to spend the rest of his life in the nude hoping some real jerk of a monster didn''t take advantage of his more sensitive appendages. (looking at you, birds.) Nevertheless, patience and necessity are the greatest teachers and with enough perseverance and hard work the system would be willing to guide you to accomplish anything. By the second or third week of trying, he had managed to create what the system recognized as a legitimate tool. Congratulations! Feat: crafting, crafting, crafting! (Craft any article of clothing or any hand-held tool to unlock) Achieved! Perk: Smithing achieved! Smithing: The system rewards those who work hard at work worth doing. For showing ingenuity in the art of crafting you can now use any material to create any item! Success is determined by skill level, knowledge of what''s being made, and quality of materials used. Perk: smithing. Grants access to the smithing ability. Permanently raises Strength and Agility by +3. Since then his skill had risen to 15. He was able to create a shirt, pants, bracers, a small weapon, and a massive shield all of which the system recognized and assigned stats. Unfortunately all of his equipment was Common currently and gave a combined total of seven defense and five attack. What that translated to in terms of stats he had no damn clue and the shield gave him most of the defense. But hey at least it was a start and he was no longer completely defenseless¡­ Or naked. He thanked the gods there weren''t giant mosquitoes or anything like that... That he knew of, anyways. The rating system from the.. well.. system was entirely too dis-interesting for him to truly pay too much attention to. From what he gathered the first few basic rarities were common < uncommon < rare < epic < legendary and there was a series of question marks thereafter, so he was sure there were more levels he hadn''t yet discovered. It didn''t matter as everything he had crafted was common rarity anyways. Not long after having been there a month, the young hero had encountered a new threat that he hadn''t faced before. It was similar to a boar but with much, much thicker tusks and muscles than a regular mammal''s. The creature wasn''t too ridiculously fast like the birds were, but it was still much faster than Vincent could ever hope to be in his current state. The good news was that once the boar-like creature had started running, it couldn''t change direction until it had come to a complete stop. With patience, predatory instincts, and sweaty Palms he had managed to outmaneuver the animal enough to get it to Crack one of its tusks on a large tree. This was how most of his ''battles'' were fought, with him outmaneuvering slower predators and completely avoiding others¡­ As if it were an infant throwing a tantrum the boar had begun kicking and screaming, throwing itself around like a pouting child. At the time, Vincent couldn''t help but chuckle before the boar looked at him and gave him one final glare promising unending agony. Vincent sweat dropped before retrieving the tusk that had broken off and placing it into his inventory. Might prove useful, he figured. He was on his way back to the cave that day when it happened. His predatory instincts gained another level and his gut screamed for him to hide. The man wasted no time in throwing himself into a large cluster of bushes. Not a moment too soon as a second later two boars nearly ten times the size of the previous one came crashing through the spot he had just been. It was apparent to him from what he could tell, that the young boar had run off to get it''s parents because clearly a bully had been picking on him¡­ the whole situation left him numb and scared for his life once more. He did his best to appear small and slowed his breathing. Thankfully the bus sized boars were not very thorough in their search, and grew agitated rather quickly. Once they had stormed off and he was sure it was safe he crawled from the bushes he had submerged himself in. He wiped what he seriously hoped was mud off his face. He sighed and continued in a trot back to the cave. He opened up the blue window and a grin broke across his face. He had neglected to read the notification that had popped up while focusing all of his attention on the boars. They were fast and wild, and Vincent was ready to run at a moment''s notice. He thanked whatever God existed in this world, that it hadn''t come to that because¡­ Frankly it wouldn''t have ended well. Congratulations! Skill: Sneaking (Common) achieved! Sneaking (Common) Become one with the shadows, for the fastest punch thrown is the one unseen. user shifts his stance and weight to move as silently as possible while undetected. Due to the (common) rarity gain a small boost to effectiveness of sneaking based on skill level. Receives a large bonus from Agility. (Active skill) Since having unlocked said skill he had leveled it all the way to 17 which was unsurprising considering he used it pretty much all day every day when he wasn''t in the cave. But truthfully he had gotten nearly a third of the levels as well as an awesome perk all from one, damn-near tragic day. On the day in question, Vincent had been using his Sneak which currently sat at level 12, pretty much non-stop since unlocking the ability. He had come to find out that Sneak coupled with predatory instincts was an absolute godsend in terms of avoiding potentially dangerous situations. The most powerful and hostile creatures the forest had to offer tended to roam deeper in; therefore, he tried his best to stay within running distance of the clearing where the cave was located. Unfortunately, one day he had gotten himself utterly lost. After jogging for nearly half an hour he realized he had gotten turned around somewhere. He made to take a break and leaned heavily against a tree while taking water from his inventory. After only a couple of swigs of the refreshing liquid his heart sank in his stomach as the ''tree'' He had previously been leaning on opened one massive yellow eye and rose to its full height. It was a goddamn dragon. There was a dragon in the jungle. Vincent did not move an inch. He really hoped that dragons were like snakes and had bad eyesight¡­ Wait, wasn''t that only until they got up close? The dragon roared and Vincent gulped. Still he did not move. Every instinct in his body told him not to, even though he assuredly wanted to do so. He wasn''t sure why he wasn''t dead yet, until he received his new perk which was the only thing that saved his life that day. And even then he felt it had been close. Feat: Camouflaged achieved! Perk: Camouflage achieved! Camouflage: Your instincts and intellect serve you well. You know which foes to confront and when to stay hidden. For having avoided detection from an entity massively more powerful than you, the system rewards you! Perk: camouflage. Grants a permanent +5 to Agility! Makes you 50% harder to detect when standing still! The beast nearly stepped on Vincent as some other poor woodland creature far off in the distance became the victim of the monster''s wrath. It moved impossibly fast and Vincent found it ironic he hadn''t really seen the beast until now. It seemed ironic that Vincent would uncover a camouflage skill after having just fallen for one from this massive creature. When it was camouflaged with the trees it was a black and dark grey but when it was completely unfurled it was a stony gray and chalky white. It had massive wings and a long barbed tail. The appendage was a thick muscle swaying slowly side to side. He faintly registered at least a dozen birds among the beast pecking away lazily at the dragon, some clinging to its stony scales. The beast didn''t seem to mind them, or else he didn''t notice. Vincent was the only thing left in a massive dragon shaped crater between the trees. The blue eyed man didn''t return to the cave for nearly an hour after that. He may not have ever moved at all if he wasn''t scared of the dragon returning to reclaim its nest. Back in the present day Vincent stepped out of the cave into the crisp cool night air. He found that if he moved at night most of the more aggressive creatures tended to slumber. It made no difference to him as his predatory instincts did most of the navigation in his life. During the evening time most of the God awful heat dissipated and the nights brought refreshing breezes and an occasional drizzle. Tonight was one such night where a steady rain fell upon the land. Vincent didn''t mind the rain. It was the closest he could get to a shower anymore. However he briefly considered waiting out the rain, given the circumstances. If he went now it would be much easier for him to avoid detection, yes, but it would also be much more difficult to locate his intended target; food. In the early days of him trying to survive he couldn''t handle traveling more than a few miles at a time before exhaustion set in. The excess gravity and fluctuations in temperature were wreaking havoc on his presumably invisible stamina. Thankfully the system didn''t make him suffer forever. On his seventh week just as he was sure he was about to starve he gained another perk. His eyes shot open as he read what the perk entailed. Feat: limit breaker achieved! Perk: Limit breaker achieved! Limit breaker: For days on end you have pushed your body to the brink and beyond merely to survive the harsh environment around you. The system sees your hard work and rewards your continued existence. You''ve unlocked the secret to shattering your limits and are now much stronger physically and mentally because of it. Perk: Limit breaker. Grants a permanent +20 to endurance and +5 to strength! Vincent couldn''t believe his sapphire eyes. Sure he had busted his ass off and nearly died twenty or so times to get to this point but a perk that gave him 25 stats?! That was more than half of all his previous stats combined. He looked his arms up and down and breathed deeply in and out. He certainly felt different. He somehow felt more dense as if this increase in his stats had increased his physical mass. He checked the window and with the addition of twenty points Endurance had become his highest stat at twenty-two, giving him a total of 2200 health. For the first time in weeks it felt as if he may actually survive this dumpster fire. With the additional stamina and health Vincent was able to explore a little deeper into the jungle without fear of exhaustion leaving him as a sitting duck. His only real issue currently was his crappy regenerations that still sat at a pathetic 1. Even still, he had Gaia''s blood to replenish his vital energies in a pinch, so he wasn''t particularly worried. His perception was also low but predatory instincts more than covered that department. He truly had gotten lucky with the system''s generous skill giving, thus far. Within a week of having stumbled upon his first real source of food, the bananas he had unlocked the farming skill, and leveled it quickly to level 20. It seemed anytime he did anything such as planting, or harvesting he would gain XP for farming. He also seemed to gain a passive bit of xp while he was away from the cave, courtesy of his plants growing. The amount of xp he gained passively was increased when he was within the cave; therefore, he spent much of his time meditating next to his garden. He would go through cycles of using each skill until he was out of stamina and or mana, and then proceed to meditate until his stats were full once more. Upon the sprouting of his first plant he obtained the final perk currently in his possession. Feat: Creator of life achieved! Perk: Lifebringer achieved! Lifebringer: to take the life of another is easy. Nearly every being in the Nexus has done so. There is glory in battle but true beauty comes from life itself. You have come to realize that there must be balance in all things. While you wield the potential to inflict death, so too does your attitude for life grow. Perk: lifebringer. Grants a permanent +10 to vitality! The wild haired fellow couldn''t help but laugh at his fortune. The sound was hollow and echoed loudly within the cave. His heart beat rapidly with his boosted vitality. All of his stats had now reached double digits except for his perception. But there would be time for that later. It wasn''t lost on him that every single stat he''d gotten was from perks and none save the very first he''d received was percent based. Although that was probably for the best at this early stage. He could only assume he wouldn''t get a good use out of any percentage based power ups for a while. Raw stats on the other hand he could certainly make use of now. This was nearly a week into his fourth month and Vincent decided his life needed a change of pace. There was only so much farming and crafting you could do without going insane, and besides that Vincent lacked any real materials besides what he found in the woods. Before entering the jungle Vincent paused and sighed. He had gotten a lot stronger and honestly it felt great. The system was beginning to literally change his body. He had grown an inch taller and gained at least 5 pounds of muscle mass. He felt like he had enough energy to run for a mile even with the intense atmosphere of the planet. Yet he couldn''t help but wonder¡­ would he ever see any of his loved ones again? Was anyone from his past life even alive at this point? It had only been a month yet it somehow felt like it had been years, struggling for survival day in and day out. Alas.. was this all his life would ever be again? Grinding stats until he was no longer deathly afraid for his life at the sight of a mere animal? He still shuddered at the thought of how he watched on as the deer was devoured all those weeks ago. He thought about how all sentient creatures feared those miserable birds save maybe that fucking dragon¡­ ''Still cant believe there''s a dragon lazing about in the jungle¡­'' He often thought to himself. You couldn''t help but to respect the magnificent creature after surviving such an encounter. Vincent idly wondered if he could ever reach the raw stats of a dragon. Would he someday become the creature that all living things residing there feared and respected? Heh.. now that he really thought about it, King of the jungle didn''t seem all that bad. He chuckled which turned into a full blow cackle as he entered his soon to be kingdom. Chapter 4 end The Fang of Flame. Vincent rolled his shoulders, earning a satisfying crunch in the process. He had been walking for nearly half an hour, hiding whenever his predatory instincts warned him of possible incoming danger. He wasn''t exactly sure what the range or scope of his ability was, he estimated it was around 25 feet but he couldn''t know. What he did know, was it was just enough that he usually had time to activate camouflage and hide. It seemed the stronger the enemy was, the more powerful his instincts and range so maybe it was more akin to a radar that amplified incoming signals from other creatures? No matter the case, he certainly appreciated the ability and it had even grown a level on the journey here. The only thing he''d really seen on the way were some type of screaming monkeys and some sneaky, poisonous, green frogs. He couldn''t help but wonder if monkeys and frogs were just a common theme in all fantasy based realities He specifically recalled reading a LitRPG with those exact same creatures in it. What had that book been called? He wondered. He loved it dearly when he had read it but alas he had lost the name over the years. He grumbled and kicked the ground "The legendary Randy Rabbit?" No that definitely wasn''t it. But it was kind of similar to that. Vincent shook his head, wishing he could have met the man who wrote those particular stories so he could have told him what a joyous inspiration he was to the young man. He wondered if that man had somehow survived the coming of the system and what sort of hero he would be today if he had. Some kind of Godly being, probably. Continuing on his journey Vincent had quickly snuck past the creatures as he was not a huge fan of deadly, aggressive monkeys and certainly no fan of acid spitting frogs. Now, standing drenched in sweat, even deeper in the jungle than when he accidentally ran into the dragon he found what he was looking for. Well.. kind of. He hadn''t found any extra food or materials but he had discovered something else he''d been hoping to see. He found a symbol. Exactly like the ones found in the cave. There was only one and he was kind of hoping to find dozens but this did confirm at least one thing. People had been here before. It was entirely possible they still could be. Deciding not to press his luck for the day he did his best to take a mental picture of the symbol before turning back in the direction of the cave. He had just taken his first step to make his way home when he noticed something he somehow missed before. He supposed he never thought about how his perception being so low, and predatory instincts being an organic based skill, he was likely missing out on tons of inanimate loot in the world. To be fair he wasn''t sure such a thing existed before.. but now looking slightly above eye level on a low hanging branch he spotted a small golden object. The corner just barely poked out over the low branch''s colossal width. He supposed based on the size of the branch there''s no way he would have seen it on the way here, only coming back. A reward for adventuring this far, perhaps? He regarded the tree cautiously. Sure he could pull himself up on that branch, it was low enough, and the bark was plenty gnarly to use as hand holds. Not to mention the systems improvements to his body meant he was working with a little extra strength. Even with the excess weight of this place, his strength stat was 5 times higher than when the nexus first integrated him into the system. That had to count for something. His primary concern was whether or not the tree or even the chest was booby trapped. If not for how exposed and vulnerable he was he would have activated camouflage so that he could meditate on the matter. He had discovered he could use his Sneaking skill and camouflage perk in conjunction with meditation. The only real problem was he couldn''t move much while in his meditation mode. Even the act of opening his eyes often broke his concentration. Patience was a quality he''d had no choice but to master in this last month in this hell hole. The days slid by like molasses on a cold sidewalk. Oftentimes he would find himself hunkered down hiding for hours on end from whole swaths of predators sensing the much weaker prey. Sometimes they would get bored and fight amongst one another but nearly always he would have to escape from at least one deadly creature a day. He sighed and decided; screw it, he would risk it for the biscuit on this one. He had to place his tree trunk shield in his spatial storage due to the extra weight and the awkward bulk of the thing. It was as simple as thinking as much and the portal opened, the shield being swallowed up by the endless abyss that was his inventory. It was a simple climb up the large branch, being only a few feet above his head. He placed one hand and foot on the bark and hoisted himself up with one mighty thrust, clearing the whole branch and landing in a squat. He brushed himself off and took a step forward. ''Damn.. I am strong.'' He thought with a grin. Upon reaching the chest, which measured about four feet by four feet, he observed its design. It was clear that at one point it was a glorious white and gold. Unfortunately, years of exposure to the natural elements had eroded its edges slightly and caused significant discoloration so that it was closer to rusty brown. He wasn''t sure how long it had been here but.. he was certain it was years if not decades. There was moss and vines growing over nearly all of the chest. He ripped them away as best he could and tried his damndest to open the chest but to no avail. It seemed it required a key. He hoisted the chest which, by the way, was ridiculously heavy and slid it into his spacial storage. ''Thank god there seems to be no weight limit for the portal.'' Vincent had thought while jumping down from the branch. His landing produced a solid thud, the force bending his knees slightly. As he rose from his crouched position he couldn''t help but develop a tick on his forehead. In his observations of the life around him, he had come to the conclusion that despite the system making everything far more deadly than before, nature hadn''t really changed all that much. Monsters bred and created nests, they grew families and socialized with other creatures. The cycle of life continued as it always had, only this time much faster and more brutal than before. He noticed Monsters typically bred whole litters within weeks. The only reason populations didn''t explode was that each and every creature in the jungle, save the birds, seemed to have their own natural nemeses. Each creature seemed to have its own stats, though it was impossible to determine what those were as the most he ever garnered from his identify ability was the name of some creatures. Each creature also possessed its own personality and habits meaning that some creatures were excellent hunters and knew exactly when to ambush their distracted prey... The reason for his current dissatisfaction was his own short-sightedness. In his haste to return to his cavern, he hadn''t bothered looking around before jumping onto the jungle floor. Waiting there for him was a strange hybrid between a hyena and a wolf. The basic shape of the four legged monster was where the similarities between it and pre-system creatures end. It''s height and mass were outlandish, standing at about 7 feet on all fours and almost equally as wide. The fur of the beast was crimson and black with spots of orange close to its snout. Its tail seemed extraordinarily bushy. It was pure instinct to cast identify on any creature he hadn''t yet seen but the result was dreadfully predictable. Identify failed. Skill level too low or enemy level too high. Name: Fang of Flame. Level: unknown. Stats: unknown. ''Heh. Figures. Just a name.. but.. that''s peculiar..'' He thought, pulse pounding in his ears. Despite the rising fear in his stomach he couldn''t help but quirk an eyebrow. The name of this particular creature was red, whereas most creatures he''d found thus far were yellow.. though he had no idea what the colors meant. One thing was for sure.. he felt some sort of pressure coming off the beast that he hadn''t felt since nearly being crushed by the dragon. Actually.. this thing may have been stronger than the dragon. It was hard to tell. If the dragon he''d run into had had a name he didn''t see it. Vincent was faintly aware his predatory instincts increased another six levels rapidly. Meanwhile both his skill; Sneak and his perk; Camouflage, activated automatically. It was quickly made clear how useless this tactic was as the creature raked its paw across the ground and growled. It narrowed its eyes directly at him. He looked up at the impenetrable ceiling of trees, noting all the birds. They were half hidden, half watching the encounter, waiting to scavenge whatever remains were left. It seemed even the Hellspawn feared this magnificent creature.. this.. Fang. He could not rely on them to save his life. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. It appeared he would have no more time to contemplate his situation as an instant later the Fang lunged. It was fast. Faster than he could possibly understand. How did any creature that size move in such a manner? Thankfully his mind didn''t need to understand what was happening as predatory instincts took over. He crouched, grabbing two handfuls of dirt. His mind had been overcome with fear so often at this point that he simply took it for what it was; his innate instincts to survive. He dove under the paw of the large beast which was every bit as large as his torso was, tossing the dirt directly in the eyes of the impossibly fast thing. He had to admit those radiant golden orbs were absolutely gorgeous¡­ too bad they viewed him as lunch. The beast was far swifter than Vincent could ever hope to be, adjusting its swipe mid-swing to allow it to still carve a huge chunk of flesh out of the man''s ribs. He screamed in pain but followed through with his roll. he scrambled to his feet and continued running past the beast. The stats of the monster had to have been in the triple digits at least, though Vincent had no real concept of stats so maybe not. Either way, he had a gut wrenching feeling the beast was far from using its maximum effort. It was merely toying with him. If his endurance hadn''t received such a massive boost from his perk; limit breaker, he had no doubt he would have already been dead. As it stood he barely had any health left. A huge gash ran across his left rib cage. Blood spurted profusely from the wound and even his deep muscle had been exposed. Clutching his side to apply pressure, Vincent looked over his shoulder with a wince as he ran. The Wolf-like creature roared in agony and hatred behind him, pouncing at random and tearing huge swaths in the ground. Seeing the creature''s movements and the destruction wrought in its wake left no doubt in his mind.. it had barely even put any effort in that first lunge. If a single paw swipe connected directly he was dead. He had an idea of course but.. it was without a doubt the most moronic thought he''d ever had. He had managed to run for nearly a full minute before the Fang of flame caught up once more. Traversing the strange terrain was a breeze for his body these days compared to when he''d first arrived in the system so he made decent time in that minute. Still it wasn''t enough. The creature burst through a massive tree trunk directly behind Vincent, catapulting him several feet through the air and into a thick knot of roots. He gasped in pain and rolled around for a few seconds before bounding to his feet. The creature watched him with murderous intent. It crouched low. It was clear it meant to show him how slow and painful this would be for how much of a nuisance it''s meal was being. Standing less than a bus length away from the thing that he was sure would bring him death, it occurred to Vincent that his legs had suddenly started to burn. An unnatural burn that didn''t come from muscle fatigue. It wasn''t too painful, more like an annoying itch. Despite himself he laughed, causing the beast to raise an eyebrow. The thing was sure the man was on the verge of becoming hysterical. Congratulations! Skill: improved Dash (epic) achieved! Skill: Improved dash (epic) Allows the user to move several times their max speed in any direction. Very rare evolved variation of the skill: Dash (uncommon) Due to the (Epic) rarity gains a moderate reduction bonus towards mana consumed and a large boost towards distance traveled per skill level. (Active skill) (consumes 250 mana) Vincent smiled proudly, looking at the second epic skill he had achieved since the system had taken him into its folds. His smile gave way to a frown; However, once his eyes read the cost of the usage for the spell. He truly hoped the distance traveled was enough to get this monster off his trail. No more than three seconds later, he was forced to find out as the creature made to crush him between its jaws. He wasn''t sure which direction he had even thought of when he activated the skill, he just had to get the hell out of dodge. It was an indistinguishable feeling. One second his life was flashing before his eyes, massive jaws closing in around his throat.. The next he was weightless. His body became transparent and dark. The world fell away. Time slowed and his ethereal form moved through the dark tunnel of space all on it''s own. It seemed much more like a teleport than a dash to him. His skill spit him out a few seconds after its activation nearly 30 yards from the monster hunting him. Vincent thought for sure he could breathe a sigh of relief when suddenly the creature appeared in front of him, standing on hind legs paw reared back to end his life. The creature snarled angrily, determined that Vincent wouldn''t get away this time. The man''s face became ashen, eyes wide in disbelief. This thing could move¡­ even faster..? Or did it too have some sort of dash ability..? What happened next he wasn''t quite certain. To put it simply, it was as if his predatory instincts had activated his improved Dash on its own accord and taken him in a direction if it''s choosing. It saved his life certainly but he landed on unsteady feet having been caught completely off guard. This was the first time Vincent had ever expended such large amounts of mana, let alone half his entire pool in ten seconds. It was as if his blood sugar had dropped, leaving him with a feeling of weakness and unsteadiness. He shook his head, hearing but no longer seeing the raging creature not far from where he was. The skill had easily shot him twice as far as before but where had it taken him and which way was the damn cave..!? He placed a hand on the closest tree to steady himself. His hand rested on what he thought was bark for less than a second before the slitted yellow eyes fluttered open. He would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all if he hadn''t been about to shit himself. Just as the Fang of flame had redetermined Vincent''s location, the dragon raised its massive head and roared. By some act of divine intervention his predatory instincts had acted upon the plan he''d formed back where he''d found the chest. The skill purposely dashed him towards the dragon''s powerful aura. Vincent himself couldn''t sense the beast or even really remember where its nest was but apparently his ability could, at least within this close proximity. Vincent balled his fist and activated his ability once more, landing much more comfortably this time around now that he was prepared for the feeling of weakness that overcame him next. He shook his head and looked up in time to see the dragon try and swallow the Fang whole, only for the much smaller creature to dodge swiftly past, clipping the dragon''s shoulder as it did so. The damage wasn''t much and the dragon barely furrowed a brow. If he felt it he hadn''t noticed. Feeling as if this was his best chance Vincent dared use the very last of his mana and dashed one last time back toward the general direction of the cave. He briefly registered a system message mentioning his mana had reached 0 and that he may feel nausea and weakness until it returned to stable levels. Seemed like a harsh punishment for using up all your mana but for all he knew it may have been some sort of vital energy akin to blood but for your soul. In any case he didn''t care. He began running as fast as his tired, cramping legs would carry him. Once he''d returned to the cave he couldn''t stop himself from breaking down into a shuddering cry. How was he ever supposed to survive here? How did the system ever expect him to get that strong? Or maybe it didn''t.. maybe it wanted him dead. He tried to picture the kind of battle the two titans must have been having and he honestly couldn''t. The Fang had been so fast and unlike anything he''d ever seen... And the dragon''s raw power was unparalleled. Eventually he gathered himself and ambled slowly over to his garden. His plants had grown an inch just since he''d been gone, but it was hardly a concern now. He drank from the stream marveling at how his skin stitched itself together as his health rose rapidly from 370 back to its full 2200. Ridiculous that he had taken so much damage from barely a passing glance. His makeshift clothing had been torn to pieces but it seemed all system made tools had a self repair function. They would be good as new in an hour or so. He rolled over, breathing deep, shuddering breaths. He hated feeling so helpless.. so weak.. his consciousness faded. It was a few days later and he had no choice. He had to leave the cave. His stomach growled constantly, crippling hunger pains racked his gut. It felt like a black hole resided in his abdomen. He had to find food or he would die. That is, if he didn''t lose his mind first. His garden grew fast, producing food every week, but eating once a week was not ideal in any way shape or form. Especially not with the amount of calories he burned on a daily basis. He came upon the sight of the battle between the two apex predators which he had fled from a few days prior. He honestly wasn''t even shocked by what he saw. Large, scorched gouges littered the earth in all directions. Multiple craters had formed across the ground. There were large pools of dried blood everywhere and innumerable felled trees. The path of destruction seemed about a hundred feet wide and went in the direction he had found the chest for as far as his eyes could see. He decided to go the opposite way instead. He was walking cautiously in lieu of the situation he''d found himself in the last time he tried searching for sustenance. It had been about fifteen minutes when he came upon something he''d never seen before; large patches of red and blue crystal, each about the size of a beach ball. He found 3 of each. He assumed they probably weren''t edible but figured they must have some general use, so he crafted a.. passable stone ax and harvested the materials. They were extremely hard and he had to hit each patch a dozen times to produce results. He chuckled and went about his way, storing his new tool and goods in his system inventory. Not long after that he finally had a stroke of fortune.. with a catch. There were several freshly dead animals that looked similar to elk but much larger and coming in a variety of colors. Most of them had to have been at least three times the max size of a regular elk. Some still had blood oozing from their wounds and were twitching on the ground. The last of the of the seven dead animals currently had the jaws of the predator responsible for the massacre locked around it''s throat. It was a tiger-like creature with massive arms and legs. It''s muscles were like a gorilla''s, bulging and twitching underneath its fur. It was white, with green and black on one stretch of its back. Parts of its snout were dotted yellow. It quickly snapped the neck of its prey, wasting no time toying with it. If Vincent thought the elk looking creature was big, the tiger would easily put it to shame. He dwarfed each of the elk by nearly seven times. It was every bit the size of a semi. Before he''d even realized he''d done it his camouflage and sneak had activated. The beast began to rip into its bounty almost immediately after killing the last of its victims. It''s back was turned so Vincent slowly began to stalk towards the closest dead animal. Vincent moved slowly, inching just a little at a time. Unfortunately, even while barely inching forward he couldn''t keep camouflage active, which is what his predatory instincts was screaming for him to use. He had made it to within an arms reach of his goal when he froze, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. The creature stopped chewing, turning nearly fully around and looking towards Vincent''s general vicinity. As soon as he had stopped moving his camouflage had activated. He just hoped it would be enough to keep the occupied beast from sensing him. He imagined it probably helped that he was so weak. These top tier beasts probably had trouble sensing his pathetic presence. Even still it seemed as if the creature looked right at him. It narrowed its eyes, slowly chewing what remained of its previous meal. It tossed the remains, which were mostly bone at this point, and took a couple of huge lumbering steps towards Vincent''s position. The man in question began to shake, hoping the act of doing so wouldn''t deactivate his camouflage. He was sure the tiger had found him and was preparing to pounce at any moment. It reared back, raising one paw in the air. This was it.. he would have to use dash as soon as the attack came! He tensed his muscles, preparing for the creature to strike. But it never did. Instead the massive tiger skewered another corpse and turned back around to resume his feast. Vincent pilfered the corpse closest to him and got the hell out of dodge before the tiger had any indication of him having ever been there at all. He dashed only twice so as to bring himself to more familiar territory, leaving him with nearly a hundred feet less of distance to travel. He grinned as he ran. "Thanks for the food. Nemean Lion." He chuckled out loud. It was the only other creature he had ever seen with a red name. End of chapter 5 A sixth sense. Evolution. A species'' ability to change and adapt to its environment. Evolution has always been the key factor in determining how well any sentient race would fair in life. On earth, after nearly 5 billion years, some form of life would evolve into what would become known as.. humans. Humans were an especially peculiar race. Possessing virtually no inherent defense nor offense, humans had no choice but to adapt to survive. They grew smarter. They built that which did not exist before. The human brain was a marvel possessing unprecedented capabilities in the animal world. Through evolution humans became the apex predators of earth. Given enough time and dedication, humanity could master the seemingly impossible. Bodies and minds often pushed the boundaries of what was physically possible. For anything which did not kill them.. would only make them stronger. Vincent sat resting with his back to the large obsidian pillar.. a small fire roasted some type of blue meat a few feet in front of him. Typically one would never want to light a fire in an enclosed cave; However, whatever abnormal substance gave this place light also seemed to devour any smoke that rose to meet it. A convenient albeit strange property. It had been nearly seven days since he had managed to pilfer the bounty of meat and he had been steadily devouring it ever since. It was the first meat he had eaten in a month, and it was pure ecstasy. He was sure now the system somehow enhanced flavors because.. he was certainly no chef and this cooking method was rudimentary at best, yet it tasted like the best food he''d ever had. After eating the curious meat for the first time a few days ago, something strange had occurred. He got a system notification. Congratulations! Meal: tender roast consumed! All stats retored! All regenerations doubled for the next 24 hours! He shook his head. The amount of items that doubled regeneration was astounding. Even the fruits, nuts and berries he scavenged provided a flat healing at least. It was probably for the best though. If he had to rely on his natural regenerations to restore his stamina and health he''d have to take frequent breaks lasting for hours at a time. Performing tasks was getting easier by the day, but running and engaging in strenuous activities for an extended period of time was a whole other beast still. His progression would have been ridiculously hindered. After finishing cooking his food he ate his fill and stored the rest. Moving to the other side of the pillar, near the flowing blood of Gaia, Vincent sat to begin meditation. He decided it was time to Consolidate his stat gains. Welcome: Vincent. Level: 1 XP 0/1000 (0%) Class: N/A Health: 2200/2200 Mana: 1500/1500 Stats: Strength: 10 Endurance: 22 Vitality: 11 (+1%) Intelligence: 15 Perception: 10 Agility: 10 His intelligence and perception had risen a bit but other than that his attributes remained largely unchanged. He wasn''t worried about that, however. It was his two newest skills and his new perk that really interested him. Skill: cooking (common) mix together a plethora of edible ingredients to create a tasty meal! At higher qualities, some foods may have restorative properties and even give you permanent stats! Quality of ingredients greatly affects outcome. Due to the ''common'' rarity a small bonus per level is given to flavor and restorative abilities of items cooked by the user. Receives a minor bonus from intelligence, perception and Agility. (Passive skill) On the first day after having made it back to the cave with the ridiculously large and heavy elk, he made quick work of skinning and gutting the whole thing. He kept most of the carcass for lateer use in crafting, and began cooking about a third of the meat. Almost immediately once the flame hit the meat, he had unlocked the cooking skill. The skill itself was relatively straightforward and it came with an immediate feat and perk. Connoisseur: this grants fundamental knowledge in cooking, crafting and alchemy. Also allows user to more easily find and identify Ingredients for cooking, crafting or alchemy. +5 Intelligence and Perception After having read the description he knew there must also be an alchemy skill. It was difficult but he eventually managed to unlock it by breaking off tiny pieces of the crystals he had found and mixing them with Gaia''s blood. The system, likely due to his new perk, was a huge help in this regard. When he used the identify ability on the crystals or his plants the description was a little more detailed. It didn''t give him any concrete numbers but it explained enough. He inspected the red one first, then the blue one, which was nearly identical. Health crystal: used as the base ingredient in health potions. Mana crystal: used as the base ingredient in mana potions. Skill: Alchemy (uncommon) mix together a plethora of ingredients to create a potion that may be consumed to cause a variety of effects! Quality of ingredients greatly affects outcome. Due to the ''uncommon'' rarity a small bonus is given to the effects and duration of crafted potions based on skill level. Receives a minor bonus from intelligence, perception and Agility. After unlocking his new ability he spent a few days experimenting. His trial and error led him to discover that if he crushed the crystals they dissolved much better into the blood making more potent potions. The better the ratio of water to powder, the less sentiment there would be once the potion was finished. It took him hours to find just the right ratio to maximize his effectiveness. He also discovered that he could mix the red and blue powder, resulting in a purple concoction. He chose not to however, as the effects of the resulting potion were drastically reduced. The combined total of restored mana and health was only half of what a pure red or blue potion would restore on their own. Mixing the ingredients didn''t take long, but he wished he had better tools than regular old tupperware. Thankfully all the containers were large enough to qualify as ''large'' potions. He wasn''t sure what the exact amounts were. Large was apparently around a quart. He also discovered you didn''t have to drink all the potion to gain its restorative effects. If you drank half a large potion, you got half the healing effects and the other half was saved with the rest of the liquid. He was sure if he had better items, like a cauldron and flasks perhaps, he could not only mix the ingredients better but also cook the potion. While performing alchemy the system explained that cooking potions maximizes the effectiveness by energizing the potions. Taking some of the teeth of the elk he had cooked, he crushed them as best he could and tried adding the powder to a health potion. Sure enough, adding other items and materials acted as a catalyst causing the potions effects to either be increased or diminished depending on the success of the potion. It was truthfully impossible to tell what items had what effects at this point but he was sure he would learn things as he went. He took a quick glance at his list of skills which had been steadily growing by the day Skills: Predatory instincts (uncommon) lvl 24 Identify (common) lvl 23 Complete tranquility (epic) lvl 7 Smithing (common) lvl 18 Farming (common) lvl 24 Sneak (common) lvl 20 Improved dash (epic) lvl 3 Cooking (common) lvl 11 Alchemy (uncommon) lvl 17 Closing the window a frown danced across the man''s face. He couldn''t help but notice he didn''t really have any offense abilities. He barely had defensive ones. He supposed that was only natural. One had to learn to survive before they could dare challenge the creatures of the jungle. He stood and brushed his hands together. No matter the difficulties he would become the king, he vowed. But there was much to do. The strongest potion he had been able to make only restored 1000 health and 200 mana. He supposed the effects were pretty high considering he started at skill level 1. But he was also working with what he inherently knew were extremely high grade ingredients. He currently had three health potions and two mana. He also kept some of Gaia''s water and some cooked meat for emergencies. What was currently in his storage was the last of the meat and his entire supply of crystals was depleted. It was time to leave the safety of his sanctuary once more. He didn''t know if he had just gotten unlucky or what the hell but everything here was un-comically over-leveled and all of the materials were ridiculously high grade. If he didn''t know any better he would say he had somehow spawned in an end game area and was now desperately struggling to survive somewhere he had no business being. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. How else could you explain the current situation and the lack of other people around? He hadn''t even come across anything remotely resembling human remains. He was making his way toward the light of the outside world when he paused as a strange urge struck him. Perhaps it was instinct or perhaps, an increase of skill levels but Vincent had a slight bit of Intuition he didn''t possess before and wanted to try something before he left his cave. Glancing over at the few plants that were growing in his makeshift garden he brought out some of the animal remains he had processed for alchemic purposes. Making his way over to the garden he dug a fresh plot of dirt. There he implanted his last remaining strawberry, but before covering the precious, sweet fruit with soil he sprinkled some of the monster remains over top. Congratulations! Large amount of skill XP received! The plant: Strawberry has been successfully fertilized! Yield will be slightly increased once full grown! Vincent''s eyes widened. ''Farming, Cooking and Alchemy.. Huh.. How about that?'' He chuckled. Exiting the cave he stepped out into the blistering sun and began his trek through the chest high grass. He was seriously considering cutting a large path from the mouth of the cave to the entrance of the jungle but the grass grew back just as rapidly as the dirt so it was a moot point unless he got some kind of ability to control plants... Moreover most of the grass here served as a natural cover which, when combined with his Sneak and camouflage, did wonders keeping him safe from any stray predators that may have followed him into the field. Most creatures must not have been able to withstand the intensity of the sun because they often turned tail immediately upon exiting the jungle. Or maybe it was the creepy cave with it''s ominous golden energies. Who knows? He wasn''t sure how long he''d been exploring, but it must have been hours. He couldn''t help but shake his head at how little he had truly seen of the jungle before. Normally he was running for his life, not having any time to try and understand the various creatures and objects he passed in his travels. Now, with his new perk Connoisseur at least giving him some insight into what materials were used for what purpose, he noticed countless little details he had missed before. He found dozens of red and white mushrooms that would restore health. (about 50 points a piece) he also found some green and black ones that serve as the base ingredient for a potent toxin. The last group of mushrooms he found were merely labeled as a source of food and were either brown or grey. The optimistic young man located large clearings full of nuts and berries that also served as a diverse source of nutrition. Really, the only thing he had never been able to find another source of was the water; Gaia''s blood. There was the unwavering fountain flowing from the pillar in the cave, and the much less potent, natural creek he had found on his first day exploring.. He shuddered remembering his initial integration to the system and all the PTSD that came with surviving that first day. He supposed it didn''t matter, even if he did find another source of water he would probably avoid it. He imagined the more ancient and powerful beasts stayed within a short distance to monopolize them. He wasn''t really sure which direction he was going as the sun was never visible from the jungle. He knew that the crick was a straight shot into the jungle from the cave. The dragon was located to the left of the jungle''s entrance, and the Fang a slight bit further in the same direction. His current direction took him to the right of the jungle''s entrance. The lighting was barely passable, and some areas were completely pitch black. He typically avoided those as well. It was never possible to tell how far exactly from the edge of the jungle he traveled. Other than the primary entrance Vincent had found, the rest of the outer edge of the jungle was blocked off by thick thorns, roots and trees in all directions. Once entering this place he could only ever exit by finding the opening he came through. He was beginning to get a sneaking suspicion the jungle was in the shape of a dome. Which also begged the question; if he continued walking through the grass rather than entering the jungle.. could he bypass it entirely and find what lies beyond? He wasn''t sure he could survive the heat long enough to do so. The further Vincent walked the more he noticed a familiar stinging in his eyes. It was as if his predatory instincts and identify were being activated for the first time all over again. He frowned, clutching his eyes. It was becoming difficult to see. He was way too far from the cave to safely hide. If he was attacked here while distracted he would no doubt perish. Vincent used his improved Dash to move fifty feet straight up in the air, angling himself so that he landed with an ungraceful thump and a slight wobble on a high up tree branch. The branch was wide enough for him to sit cross-legged and assume his favorite meditative position. He hoped no stray animals found their way to his crook among the trees while he prepared for whatever came next. He didn''t have to wait much longer. Just as the burning began to reach a level akin to soap in the eyes, a message appeared. Congratulations! Skill: predatory instincts has increased to 25! Congratulations! Skill: farming has increased to 25! Congratulations! 2 new trials available! Would you like a tutorial on trials? Y/N Vincent blinked rapidly. The pain had instantly subsided. This was the first time the system had ever offered to explain something in the form of a tutorial and it was trials nonetheless. Something that had been vaguely referenced by the system only once, and that was when he had apparently been given a free reward... Naturally he clicked yes. Tutorial selected. The blue screen filled the entirety of his vision and a slew of information passed. Trials are tests that first become available upon meeting certain conditions or reaching prerequisite skill levels. Each trial is unique to the individual and no two skills progress the same. It is possible for skills to evolve and or branch through trials. It is possible to unlock various permanent upgrades through trials. Most trials can be attempted an infinite number of times, however, dying in a trial results in a real death. Any skills evolved or gained through trials will not consume any Nectar/Soulspace. Time does not move while an individual is in a trial. An individual cannot initiate a trial while in another trial. An individual cannot initiate a trial during combat with the exclusion of exceptional circumstances. Trial(s) available: journey of the soul seed (farming lvl 25) Sixth sense. Skill evolution. (Predatory instincts lvl 25) Vincent hesitated. In his excitement to discover something new, he wanted to immediately begin one of the two trials. He knew in his mind, however, that carelessness was what almost cost him his life when he was ambushed by the Fang. He instead decided to return to the cave for now and to gather as many materials along the way as he could. Upon reaching his destination, Vincent couldn''t help but giggle at his fortune. Perhaps these trials were the secret to gaining the kind of power needed to contend with the likes of the dragon in this blasted place..? He was curious about this Nectar and Soulspace business as he had seen it referenced twice now by the system, but all attempts to dig deeper into the word yielded no results. He figured it was best not to dwell on a puzzle that currently seems unsolvable. Entering complete tranquility once more beside his nearly full-grown crops, Vincent contemplated which trial he should begin first. It didn''t take him long to decide. Predatory instincts had been his first and arguably most valuable skill. It had been the only thing that had kept him alive against such impossible odds. Besides, he had always had strong instincts, and a chance at a free upgrade seemed a little too tempting for him to pass up. He wasn''t sure how he felt about the fact that dying in the trials resulted in dying in real life, but he figured he faced death on a daily basis anyway so to hell with it. With that he began the trial: Sixth Sense. His world faded to black, his body becoming weightless. Everything seemed foggy and disoriented as the world slowly came back. He wasn''t in the cave anymore. Or the subways of New York. He was home, in the hallway of his old apartment. He wasn''t sure how he knew, but he just knew it was a little over a year ago. He drifted like a ghost through the door of his apartment and over to his coffee table. On it sat a newspaper, with coffee stains on the bottom corner. The front headlines of the paper featured a hit and run homicide. Two adults were hit by a drunk driver on their way to their son''s for new year. Vincent''s parents'' names were at the center of the article. A lump formed in his throat. He tried to swallow but it was as if his physical body wasn''t even there. He noticed a pair of pink flip-flops under the table. His girlfriend''s, at the time. His ghostly form slid toward the bedroom, feet not even touching the floor. As he did so little details made themselves known to him. He tried to look away but he couldn''t. An extra pair of shoes that shouldn''t have been there.. A strapless bra strewn across the couch. A pair of jeans discarded haphazardly before the bedroom door which was wide open. Audible moans and gasps came from the beckoning doorway. Vincent''s face flushed. He remembered it as if it were yesterday. He rounded the corner and as he did so his hands clenched into fist, heart caught in his throat. The two people in the bed immediately noticed the new presence. They threw themselves apart and back against the frame of the queen sized bed. They made to cover themselves with the comforter but it was an effort in futility. Vincent had seen enough. He ran. He was faintly aware his now ex-girlfriend and one of his closest friends, Sam, were screaming for him to wait so they could explain but he couldn''t be reasoned with. He was seeing red. He had to leave before.. before.. he did something he''d regret. His phone received numerous missed calls and texts that night. He didn''t care. He couldn''t breathe. He knew.. he felt like he had honestly always known. Selene was way out of his league. She never had any business giving him the time of day. He was insecure and anti-social. He never had any wild ambition or drive, as long as he had enough to get by and some privacy he was content. And Sam.. Sam was the popular jock type. Confident and outgoing. The man wanted to go places in life, unlike Vincent. If he thought back on it, more often than not if Selene was around, Sam was as well.. There was no way he hadn''t noticed the lingering stares. The heavy tension. He had simply chosen to ignore it all. He also sensed something the day his parents were hit. He didn''t know how but his gut told him.. something was horribly wrong. That was a few months ago. He supposed.. he had always had a sixth sense. He was driving, tears turning his vision into bright streaks of light. The speedometer continued to rise. 40..50..60..70.. the world was ripped away once more and darkness settled across his body. He felt his consciousness returning. Congratulations! Skill: predatory instincts (uncommon) has successfully evolved to skill: sixth sense (rare). Skill level will be maintained. Skill: sixth sense (rare) Allows the user to sense danger and determine how best to avoid it. Also allows the user to determine the weakness of foes. Gives the user a general idea on how best to improve. Due to the ''rare'' rarity, gain a small boost to all effects with each skill level. Perception grants a small boost to this skill. (Passive skill) Vincent slowly opened his eyes and sighed. That was.. unpleasant. He hoped every trial he faced wasn''t revisiting shitty memories. Nothing breaks quite like a heart. They had been together for six years. The experience had left him lost and uncertain. And the betrayal from his childhood friend left him bitter and untrusting. And his parents.. their killer was never found. The cops barely even tried. They died instantly. No witnesses for miles around. Not much more to say there. He would never get closure. At the time it had all been too much.. But in the wake of having been sucked into the system all of his past worries somehow felt like small, distant memories. Sure he still felt the stinging from the death of his parents, especially on silent lonely nights, of which there were many. And certainly the pain of betrayal was one he would never forget.. Yet it was hard to focus on those things when every day the vast majority of his mental capacity was spent on survival. Life was unfair but the way he saw it he either learned to live with the pain or.. he gave up. And that simply wasn''t an option. He didn''t waste any time selecting the next trial deciding he needed a damn distraction. Hell he would take a 1v1 with the dragon at this point. Trial: journey of the soul seed (farming lvl 25) Trial selected. The trial began much like the first one with his consciousness drifting away from his body and into a black void. This time, however, Vincent was deposited in a lush field of flowers and bright green grass. A refreshing breeze and euphoric smell filled the air. There was an immediate difference in the overall feeling of the atmosphere. This trial certainly wasn''t a memory. The vegetation stretched on as far as the eye could see. Approximately fifteen feet in front of Vincent a small glowing object was gently bobbing up and down. Vincent strode forward and bent down regarding the object with a curious eye. Upon closer inspection it appeared the object was a small seed with a tiny root growing out of the bottom. From the shell appeared to grow a small stem with a single leaf on the end. The object was glowing in a faint, golden light. Without much thought to the consequence, Vincent reached out and grabbed the cute little thing. As soon as he did so the system presented him with a choice. Congratulations! You have acquired a soulseed! (Unique) based on your stats and achievements, choose between the following evolutions for your soul seed: Soul-bound companion. Soul-bound weapons and armor. Vincent raised a brow. He had never seen unique used as a rarity before. He assumed that meant no one else would be able to achieve this result because it was unique to his circumstances. In any case he was left with a difficult decision. On one hand weapons and armor could be a great boost to his suitability and honestly seemed like the obvious choice. But.. he couldn''t help thinking of all the possibilities that would come with having a companion that was magically bound to him or whatever. Plus if he were being entirely honest with himself, even he was beginning to feel mighty lonely these days. He chose the companion. Congratulations! Soul seed: Soul-bound companion selected. Your companion will be infused with a piece of your soul! Companion has half of all its progenitors stats and all skills/skill levels. + Companions level and evolve separate from creator Vincent was immediately satisfied with his choice. It appeared that the companion not only got half of Vincent''s own growth in stats, and all his skills, but the companion gained power on its own as well. He hoped it would serve as a powerful body guard if nothing else. As the cave came back into existence around him Vincent frowned. In front of his eyes the soul seed was taking shape and he wasn''t overly impressed with what he was seeing. It was a literal copy of him, made of emerald green vines. He crossed his arms and sighed. As the creature fully finished forming it mimicked the man. This caused him to chuckle a bit which the thing did too. It was him but it wasn''t. It was a little more cartoonish. Vincent wouldn''t say he himself was ugly, but he wasn''t a male model by any means. His copy however was downright cute. ''This might not be too bad..'' He thought, beginning to plan for the coming days ahead. Already he could feel his sixth sense, hard at work. He knew what he needed to do next to achieve the maximum growth results given his current capabilities. He needed to get his alchemy skill to level 25. End of chapter 6. Grinding... Chapter 7 It was mid day and, as always, the sun was sweltering in the large clearing located between the insurmountable mountain and the impregnable jungle. Not a creature could be seen in the vast expanse of unkempt grass. A heat haze rolled across the entirety of the fields. Had this been the pre-system earth, the heat certainly would have dried out the grass and caused it to combust within the hour. The jungle had a tall archway, large enough to comfortably fit a semi truck through. On the opposite side of the field of grass, perfectly parallel with the entrance to the jungle was the mouth of the mysterious cave. If one were to listen closely they could hear a slew of curses being bellowed from within. Within it''s dark confines Vincent sat vigorously stirring a bubbling, purple liquid contained in a large plastic bowl. He was currently glaring across the cave at what appeared to be a plant based version of the man himself albeit, with much more child-like features. The being made entirely of vines was whistling a happy tune, swinging its hips in a little dance while it tended a small hand-made garden. "Useless bastard." Vincent muttered, turning his attention back on the potion he currently brewed. The reason for his current dissatisfaction was a stroke of such bad luck, that it could only have been described as the gods screwing with him. It turned out his soul bound companion could not leave the cave as it''s primary function was to tend the garden. The thing apparently had to dedicate at least 8 hours of its time a day tending the fields, even if there appeared to be nothing to do most days as they were so moderate in size. The rest of the thing''s time it could brew potions, cook, craft pretty much anything as long as it didn''t leave the cave. "What a stupid directive for the system to give it. And he''s just over there having the time of his stupid life. Bumbling idiot. You were supposed to be my body shield and you''re in here tending the gardens while I still have to fight for my life to survive? What sort of sick joke is this? What did I do in my past life..?" He ranted out loud crying fake tears as he methodically stirred the simmering brew before him. One thing that eased the pain a little was any skill experience his companion gained such as in farming or other skills, also went to Vincent. The spell had mentioned his companion gained half of Vincent''s growth but it neglected to mention he gained some of his companion''s as well. A happy little discovery, fortunately. He didn''t even need to be in the vicinity to gain the xp. It had only been a week but Vincent was positive he was on the verge of finally getting his alchemy to level 25. And that wasn''t the only thing. Continuing to stir, he took a quick glance at his skills. Skills: Sixth sense (rare) lvl 25 Identify (common) lvl 24 Complete tranquility (epic) lvl 8 Smithing (common) lvl 20 Farming (common) lvl 25 Sneak (common) lvl 24 Improved dash (epic) lvl 4 Cooking (common) lvl 15 Alchemy (uncommon) lvl 24 It seemed his Sneak and his Identify were also on the cusp of reaching 25, which he assumed would grant him two more trials. He knew he shouldn''t expect one at every 25 levels of his skills as the description itself even said each skill was unique and evolved differently. Even so, he was becoming a bit spoiled. His cooking left a lot to be desired but he hadn''t exactly had a lot of ingredients to work with. He did what he could, making stews, glazes and jellies from the jungle''s inanimate contents and honestly he did quite well but he spent the least amount of time in that department overall. As his companion finished it''s chores he set it to work taking over his alchemy for him. He left the entirety of all his supplies as he made to leave the cave. He needed to find some way to vent his pent up frustration and besides, being in the grasp of danger seemed to force his skills to grow faster. It didn''t take him long to decide which direction he wanted to go. Before long he found himself close to the site of the battle between the colossal dragon and the impossibly quick, Fang of flame. It was strange.. the battle had occurred only a couple weeks ago but the landscape had practically restored itself to its original state. That settled it. Even if this was somehow the earth it certainly couldn''t heal itself before. Not in this capacity at least. The system had changed the very planet itself. Based on the intensity of the sun and the intense gravity here it may have altered the entire universe. Vincent had been sneaking the whole way here, gathering materials as he went. Because of that factor, it had taken him far longer than usual to get to this point. He was beginning to get a bit frustrated at his lack of progress. There had been plenty of deadly encounters throughout the day, ranging from razor sharp mutated praying Mantises that bounced around unpredictability, to acid secreting slugs that lazily cut off his path. This caused him to have to waste mana with a dash to avoid the deadly substance. What was it with this place and acid? It seemed his progress couldn''t continue growing at the exemplary pace it had been, forever. He decided to begin his trek back, not wanting to get caught up in the jungle at night in this particular area. It had nearly been nighttime the day he had been ambushed by the Fang.. That bastard. He was most of the way back when his sixth sense warned him of the growing presence of the birds in the trees above. Congratulations! Skill: sixth sense has increased to 26! Congratulations! Skill: sixth sense has increased to 27! Vincent shuddered. Two skill levels at once wasn''t a good sign when it came to that particular skill. He decided to hunker down for now and activate his camouflage. Without fully understanding why so many birds were beginning to congregate, Vincent figured he''d best be patient and observe the situation. Besides, he was almost to the cave. He was confident in his ability to reach safety should the need arise but truthfully the Hellspawn rarely seemed to target him anymore due to his growing capabilities, primarily in stealth. He was not the same man he was half a year ago.. He thought they had spotted him for a second due to the fact that every single one of the thousands of birds came cascading down to the jungle floor in a massive feathery wall all at once. There was a bone rattling vibration as the birds crashed down all throughout the jungle. Thankfully he hadn''t been directly under any of the birds because not too far in front of him he witnessed what happened when something was. Across from his hiding spot, under one of the massive swarms of birds was one of the bus sized boars he''d encountered before. He wasn''t sure if it was one of those exact two or a different one altogether but it didn''t matter because the birds descended relentlessly until the creature was a pile of bones. To the boars credit it did not go without a fight but it appears the birds were willing to lose the numbers game today. Apparently this was what they did when they got hungry and couldn''t spot any weak prey for long enough. They would dive bomb the ground and attack any moving life form they came across, even if it outclassed them. It seemed primitive but effective. Turning green in the face Vincent supposed his life would have been a lot less disturbing if he wasn''t present for the horror that happened next. All of the birds, blood covered or otherwise, began to mate. An hour later they all dispersed, leaving a repulsed, sickened and quivering man in their wake. He was invisible to the average eye, of course so one couldn''t tell any of these details. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Fucking disgusting.." He muttered shakily, while continuing his sneaky escape to his safe house.. or safe cave rather. A few moments later he got a notification that almost made the gut wrenching grossness of the last hour bearable. Congratulations! Skill: sneak has increased to 25! Warning.. error.. recalculating.. Congratulations! Your skill Sneak (common) has successfully evolved into Sneak (uncommon) Warning: if the required amount of soulspace is not met, sickness and death may occur. Congrat-! Error.. due to unusual circumstances the ambient Nectar in the air fuels the transformation of your skill. Please seek the nearest Nexus HUB or your local world''s Tavern Owner for immediate assistance. Vincent was a tad bit disappointed that he hadn''t unlocked a trial for leveling up his skill but he supposed evolving one he already had to another rarity wasn''t too bad either. He checked to see if the description had changed at all. Skill: Sneak (uncommon) become one with the shadows, for the fastest punch thrown is the one unseen¡­ Due to the (uncommon) rarity gain a moderate boost to effectiveness of sneaking based on skill level. Receives a large bonus from Agility. (Active skill) It seemed as if only the scaling from the rarity had increased. Everything else remained the same. He kicked an exposed root "agh!" and continued walking with a huff, now sporting a throbbing toe. When he exited the jungle and entered the clearing the sun was blocked by ominous black clouds. Rain began to fall in thick heavy thuds. "Shhahh what the fuck!?" Vincent hissed, jumping back into the jungle and out of what was apparently.. acidic rain. "Are you¡­" He looked up at the sky and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I don''t have time for this shit." If he were being honest he was somewhat petrified the birds would follow him and.. force him to participate in their orgy/feast but nobody in this Goddamn world or the next needed to know that. He reached one arm out into the acid watching his health as he did so. He frowned heavily. The acid only ate about 10 health per second and he had 2200 so he would have nearly 4 minutes to reach the cave which was more than enough by a long shot.. But he wasn''t a fool. He knew there would be a massive difference not only in the amount of damage he took but the pain he felt when he fully submerged himself. And the burning sensation he currently felt in his arm alone was quickly becoming unbearable. He would have to hope his dash would carry him through the acid unharmed. At least that was what he assumed he would do when the system suddenly interrupted his line of thinking. Congratulations! Skill: acid resistance (common) achieved! Acid resistance: user negates pain and damage when acidic based contact with skin occurs. Due to the ''common'' rarity, a tiny bonus to damage and pain negation is gained per skill level. Endurance provides a small boost to this skill. (Passive skill) Vincent hummed in thought as he withdrew his arm. Acid resistance huh? What the hell was it with this damn system and acid? Fine. He''d play their little game. As soon as he acquired the skill the damage he received was cut in half. He was confident that if he could just.. "Improved Dash!" He disappeared and reappeared 60 feet away. Instantly he regretted the arrogant decision. Whatever amount of acid he came into contact with before paled in comparison to the bath be was soaking in now. The acid clung to the grass, sticking to him, weighing him down and drenching him further with acid as he stumbled. The pain was agonizing. It was strange to him how his skin melted yet the flimsy ass grass did not. He knew the system was warning him his health was dropping, while simultaneously he was gaining levels with his new skill, but it wasn''t enough. With stark horror Vincent realized he couldn''t see the cave, and didn''t have a clue where he was. He was going to die. As quickly as his aching, melting form would allow; he drank three health potions and dashed again, praying his sixth sense would take him to the cave. If he had been focused and in full health two dashes would have been more than enough to place him within the cave itself. As it was, with his mind jumbled from pain he barely cut the remaining distance in half. He dashed twice more, crashing hard into the mountain, just two feet from the cave entrance. His nose was crushed upon impact. "I fate my wife.." He sputtered, his words unintelligible due to blood and spit filling his mouth. As fast as he could, he drank his last potion, healing him just enough for his legs to function as he intended. He sprang through the mouth of the cave, rolling inside. He came to a halt on his hands and knees panting. He checked his health. Health: 900/2200 Congratulations! Skill: acid resistance (common) has increased to level¡­ Congratulations! Skill: acid resistance (common) has increased to level 12! This system was masochistic and cruel. That was the conclusion he came up with. It forces you to grow stronger by suffering unending pain and threat of death. Ultimately the environment was just preparation for the hunt. You either devour others for strength or allow them to do the same to you. He closed the system and hoisted himself to his feet. As he looked up he noticed the vine copy of himself lumbering toward him gayly. Vincent scowled as the thing approached, raising one leaf strewn arm. Its index finger extended toward as if it wanted him to ''E.T.'' it. "Get the hell away from me you moron. I don''t have time for your antics. I nearly died out there.. and dont think that i didn''t see you tending the garden rather than increasing my alchemy you slacker. Your 8 hours are already up!.." He threw his hands up in exasperation and continued ranting. "That acid burns me at a rate of at least 100 points a second.. I need to get way stronger. not that you understand a damn thing I''m saying.." He muttered hair covering his eyes. His sixth sense made it impossible not to know the child-like creature was still bouncing around. It danced in front of him with its finger extended, waiting for Vincent to reach out and touch it with his own. "What, do, you, waaaaant damn it??" He cursed. The man from Earth groaned and rubbed his forehead. Fine.. If it was the only way to make the damn thing go away¡­ he''d play its stupid game. Glaring, he slowly reached out and touched the creature''s finger. As soon as he did so his eyes widened to the size of saucers. Congratulations! Health, stamina and mana restored! There was a flash of light and then it was gone as soon as it came. The plant like being made its way back over to it''s perosnal alchemy set up. He looked a little bit gray and moved with a lot less buoyancy but its childish smile remained. Vincent observed the creature in silence, panting with the feeling of suddenly having all of his energy restored. ''You.. gave me your stats and took all the damage..?'' The creature had barely stirred the substance within the plastic bowl for but a few seconds when another notification arrived from the system. ''Heh.. and you deliberately waited until I got home for me to unlock my next trial¡­ I guess I seriously underestimated you. Maybe this won''t be so bad.." He pondered while opening his system window. Congratulations! Skill: Alchemy (uncommon) increased to level 25! Congratulations! 1 new trial available! Trial(s) available: Merchant shop. Vincent scoffed. The ''trial'' was as simple as selecting the merchant shop and a notification telling him that he had unlocked a new system tab appeared. This was the current best way for him to gain power? What did that even mean? He decided to check out the systems shop and nearly choked on his spit as he did. His current balance was zero. The first piece of equipment listed cost a little over one trillion gold. It was some sort of golden sword with abilities all listed as question marks because of course it was way too high a level for him to use. In fact that''s about how everything listed was from the armor to the weapons, all he could see were the names. "Jesus fuck.. Just like every large corporation ever.. Greedy bastards." He looked at the items page and was pleasantly surprised however, when he spotted a few cauldrons. He also saw some glass vials of multiple sizes and a wide variety of materials and minerals including ores he had never even heard of. There were many elements he did recognize as well, such as iron and gold so it wasn''t all entirely foreign. Scanning through the atomic composition of the ores, which was so graciously provided by the system, his eyes widened. He immediately discerned that half of these elements couldn''t exist on earth from a few semesters in college which included chemistry courses. The prices here were much more manageable.. or at least some of them were. The most expensive glass vials which were extra large only cost 3000 gold. The price of the cauldrons ranged from 10k to 100k gold. He wondered how he was supposed to make the majority of his money though¡­ He figured probably by selling items like potions he crafted or carcasses from the dead wildlife he scaveaged. Perhaps he''d get more for his fruits and vegetables from his gardens since the system rewarded effort and they took more time to produce. Upon switching to the sell tab, the first thing he noticed was his hand crafted weapons and armor all sold for 5 a piece so that wasn''t viable. In-fact most of the items he possessed weren''t worth all that much. That was until he got to the various animal parts he had collected. Titanium-tusk boar tusk (Supreme) sell? Y/N gold: 13k Impenetrable elk hide (supreme) sell? Y/N gold: 27k The list went on. Anything he had gathered from a creature of the jungle seemed like it was worth a small fortune. This was good news as he would have no shortage of cash for at least some of the more basic supplies. Dead creatures were difficult to find but not impossible. What was impossible, at least for now was for Vincent to draw out the full potential of the items he used. So it made more sense to sell them for monetary gains. He was sure the stats of his items would get stronger as his smithing skill rose. He also couldn''t yet kill these animals himself, reinforcing once again the idea that everything here was ridiculously over-leveled in comparison to himself. He sold his items and purchased two cauldrons and as many flasks as he could as well as some basic ores. There was an option to purchase entire ingots as well but the cost rose sharply by a factor of ten compared to the plain ores from which they were made. Plus he decided he probably needed the skill XP for his smithing ability so he might as well go the extra mile. As for why he had decided on two cauldrons, it would essentially allow both he and his companion to brew potions at once. This in turn would more than double their XP growth as they shared the resource gains which was compounded with their own. He didn''t have many of the red and blue crystals and he didn''t see any in the system shop.. They were a bit of a bitch to come by honestly. More than likely the man would have to go out again soon, but he figured he could at least make 3 of each type of X-large potion: Health, Mana, and a mix of both. The extra large were about 5 times as dense as the large but volume wise apparently remained the same. Not long after exiting the shop the two found themselves hard at work. While staring absent-mindedly at the fire beneath his cauldron Vincent couldn''t help but get an¡­ unwise idea. He reached his hand steadily towards the flame, hissing as he got close enough for the flames to lick his skin. His companion watched him with a lopsided frown. Sure enough after a portion of his flesh had been burned away he heard a familiar ding. Congratulations! Skill: Fire resistance (common) achieved! Fire resistance: user negates pain and damage when heat based contact with skin occurs. Due to the ''common'' rarity, a tiny bonus to damage and pain negation is gained per skill level. Endurance provides a small boost to this skill. (Passive skill) He smirked. ''Predictable..'' He couldn''t help but laugh as his companion mimicked him from its spot near its own fire, shaking its vine appendage violently as it jerked away from the heat in fright and pain. That''s one skill he would likely be leveling all by himself, he figured. With a growing sense of appreciation for his pre-system life of luxury and safety, he groaned. He really was going insane with this isolation. His closest friend and biggest growing source of entertainment was this juvenile, plant person. You really didn''t know how much you took things for granted until you lost it and were left with nothing at all. Something had to change soon. End of chapter 7 Ecology, the study of life. Vincent Looked up at the strange, pulsing substance above him. He had Identify pushed to its max and was willing the system to tell him more than it had. He was long past the point of having a headache, but he had no intention of stopping his current action. It seemed the more powerful or complex a skill the more strain it placed on the body. Often, skills such as Identify primarily used the eye muscles and brain to function so the most stress was placed there. So far he had discerned that the strange light was some type of dense energy with unstable properties. It wouldn''t give him a name or function but it did mention the nexus was full of the stuff if you knew how to find it. He had a strong feeling the energies could make you powerful if you could learn to harness their potential.. He was beginning to grow impatient when he felt it. A fire began building in his chest, which expanded rapidly throughout his body. It didn''t stop there, however. As the pain began to intensify Vincent began shaking, the sensation felt as if it extended further and further from his body in all directions. He began to groan as it felt like he was exploding from the inside. An electric firey aura snapped into existence around him. It was gold and pulsing. Congratulations! Skill: identify (common) has increased to level 25! 1 new trial available! Trial(s) available; Identify: vision beyond what meets the eyes. Vincent wasted no time in selecting the trial which unfortunately still caused one last burst of pain far more intense than any before. The golden aura around the blue eyed, black-haired man pulsed once more. A loud yell of pain clawed itself from his lips and the energy exploded. Vincent''s consciousness left his body as the pulse traveled across the entirety of the world, dragging his consciousness with it. It was as if he was soaring, flying over everything in the world. The system window pulsed before him. Branching path! Due to unusual circumstances your skill begins to mutate and evolve as it grows. Please select from the following choices: Scan Ecologist Reflexive defense The ethereal Vincent considered the options carefully. It seemed it would give him no more info than what he saw now until he made a choice. Instinctively he knew that scan would ignore enemies levels and give him all the information he needed about them which, quite frankly, was sorely tempting. He was sick of being entirely clueless about everything like he had been in the last month and a half he''d been here. Ecology was a term that he understood as the study of energy in the circle of life or something. He figured the system gave him that option as a little nudge towards understanding the mysterious energies from the cave. And Reflexive defense he assumed was something akin to an automatic counter move or system. For all he knew it required a shield and he preferred not to get hit at all, if he could avoid it. He decided to go with Ecology as he had originally leveled up his ability while trying to understand the mysterious energy anyways, so he might as well continue along that path. Congratulations! New perk acquired! Perk: Ecologist. Ecologist: allows the user to study and understand the infinite flow of energy connecting all organisms. As you climb deeper into the heart of the nexus you come to the realization that all types of energy originate from the same source. Grants the epic ability Ecologist! Grants a permanent +25 to perception! Skill: identify (common) ---> Skill: Ecology (epic) An improved version of the skill identify, obtained through the unique perk ecologist. Very few attempt to understand the core of the Nexus, and even fewer still succeed, but your ambition pulls you towards truth. Allows the user to identify various life forms and inanimate objects. Allows the user to sense calorific flows. Allows the user to sense Auras. Due to the epic rarity gain a large boost to Range and Detail per level. Perception grants a moderate boost to this skill. (Passive skill) Skill level has been reset. Vincent sighed. It was a lengthy explanation. He didn''t fully understand everything he''d read but.. a plus 25 to his attributes was the highest he''d ever seen in a single gain, and the ability to sense energy didn''t sound bad either. He wasn''t sure how he felt about his skill level completely resetting though. As he looked out over the vast open world below him, his eyes pulsed with golden light. He saw the flows of energy between all living things. Everything was connected. Everything that died was absorbed by that which lived, and all beings originated from and returned to the planet. Once the planet died all of it''s energies would be dispersed across the universe.. The planet itself had a massive concentration of light at the center that he assumed was the core. It pulsed periodically like a heart, pumping energy through its infinite veins and arteries. He would have stayed and studied life forever but he felt his consciousness being returned to his body. He gasped as he came to, feeling a tingling sensation all over his body. It felt as if his Ecology and sixth sense somehow amplified one another, allowing him to feel the very environment around him albeit faintly. He looked once more at the ceiling, focusing with all his might. Congratulations! Your skill: Ecology (epic) has grown to level.. Congratulations! Your skill: Ecology (epic) has grown to level.. Congratulations! Your skill: Ecology (epic) has grown to level 5! "Gah!" He gssped, clutching his eyes. Still nothing but a massive throbbing headache. His Identify skill had been irritating before but now, evolved and coupled with his sixth sense, the pain in his eyes and head were damn near unbearable. Beyond that.. he couldn''t garner any real details other than the fact that it was some type of unstable energy found throughout the nexus. He did notice though that he didn''t just see things in the physical sense now¡­ Everything had its own color. Oftentimes that color matched its physical counterpart. For example, Gaia''s blood, which was a deep blue, had a similar color outlining it. It shined much more intensely than the color around most objects, probably because it was level 100. He spent countless hours experimenting with his new ability. With a little practice Vincent was starting to sense through certain ebbs and flows of energies what purpose they served and in the case of his food, roughly how many points of health or mana it contained. He also found out that though it was a passive ability, he could more or less turn it off which he reflexively did when looking at the ceiling because it began to give him a massive headache after trying to study it further. It seemed he was heading in the right direction but it was far beyond his current self to comprehend. He understood some energies were just crazy dense compared to others but that made it alot more difficult to pry apart their shapes and determine functions. Gaia''s blood was the second densest energy in the entire cave. The floating mess on the ceiling being the first. It made the blood water seem like a match beside a torch. He grinned. He didn''t know where things would go from here but he was optimistic for the first time in a long time. He looked at his stats. Level: 1 XP 0/1000 (0%) Class: N/A Health: 2200/2200 Mana: 1500/1500 Stats: Strength: 10 Endurance: 22 Vitality: 11 (+1%) Intelligence: 15 Perception: 35 Agility: 10 Skills: Sixth sense (rare) lvl 27 Ecology (epic) lvl 5 Complete tranquility (epic) lvl 8 Smithing (common) lvl 20 Farming (common) lvl 27 Sneak (uncommon) lvl 25 Improved dash (epic) lvl 4 Cooking (common) lvl 15 Alchemy (uncommon) lvl 26 Acid resistance (uncommon) lvl 7 Fire resistance (uncommon);lvl 1 Perks: Will to survive +1% vitality Lifebringer +10 vitality Smithing +3 strength and agility Limit breaker + 20 endurance +5 strength Camouflage. Harder to detect +5 Agility. Connoisseur. Cooking, crafting, alchemy knowledge. +5 Intelligence and Perception. Ecologist. Ecology. +25 perception. Vincent felt like he was in a conundrum. He had quite a few skills but none of them could really be used offensively and his strength was laughable compared to just about everything he''d come across. He looked at his companion who was gazing around in wonder, still endlessly fascinated with the new skill they shared. He forced the creature to focus and asked if they shared inventory as well, which it appeared they did not. For what he had planned, he would have to craft his companion its own set of identical gear. He commanded his companion to tend the garden in the meantime as it looked like the contents would finally be ready for harvest within the hour. It didn''t take him long to go out and get what he needed. He made short work of crafting a copy of his gear which was cake for him compared to his first attempt. Not only that but the combined total defense was now 10 and the attack was 6. Vincent deposited everything the creature had harvested from the garden into his inventory space and then reseeded all the plots. Vincent proceeded to instruct his companion to adone it''s gear. The plant-like thing even had a copy of his stone sword and bark shield. His idea was simple. He stood no chance against the enemies of the jungle, but maybe he could hone his fighting skills by fighting his slightly weaker copy self. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. He''d never really used a sword or shield before and he was sure his stance and grip were probably just as wrong as they felt. But he didn''t get discouraged. His companion seemed to mirror his excitement at finally having something new to try, both to alleviate boredom and to grow stronger. They went at each other with sloppy, wide swings. It wasn''t much of a contest at first. Vincent hadn''t considered that the thing only had half of his own stats so although his personal strength was only a low 10, this creature''s was a mere 5. He completely cleaved its arm off with his first swing, sending the Vine creature''s sword flying. They stared at one another, blinking in confusion before both broke into a grin. With a little bit of the miracle cure, Gaia''s blood, his companion''s arm regenerated in seconds. They resumed their training. This time, Vincent made sure to hold back enough that he didn''t completely overpower the plant version of himself. However it couldn''t be denied that he thoroughly enjoyed finally being stronger than something for the first time since the system sucked him away from the earth. They went through cycles of hitting one another''s shield and trying to somewhat parry one another''s swings with their swords. "Hiiyah!" Vincent yelled, swinging his sword savagely at his companion''s shield, again and again.. ''Clang!'' ''Clang!'''' ''Ceaaack!'' After nearly an hour of ''training'' they encountered a problem. Vincent Looked at the broken form of his stone sword. It was missing large chunks in several areas and the rest was cracked. Looking over at his shield it seemed he had about the same problem, with various dents and holes in the bark. Vincent sighed and shook his head. He looked at his companion. "Well it''s about time for you to take a break and garden so I guess I''ll cook and repair our shit.. then we''ll go again.. after a nap." After about two days of this rinse and repeat process it finally happened. Congratulations! Skill: sword and shield (common) achieved Sword and shield (common) Allows the user to fight with a sword and or a shield. The way of the sword and shield requires an honest heart. You must be true to yourself and others. A true master can cut any obstacle and parry any danger. Due to the ''Common'' rarity gain a minor boost to capability and knowledge with a sword and shield per level. Skill gains a very small bonus from Strength, Agility, and Endurance. (Passive skill) ''Of course most of the bonus would be from strength and agility, my lowest attributes..'' He thought with a dark cloud over his head. Far from being discouraged however he found himself more excited than ever. He had always loved the thought of learning how to use a sword¡­ The two of them fought for hours on end only taking breaks to heal or for Vincent to eat and repair the equipment. Unfortunately, he did this often, so his progress was not as quick as he would have liked. At level 10 the two were pleasantly surprised with a new perk. New perk achieved! Perk: Fortitude. Fortitude. Grants the user a permanent + 5 in strength and agility After pushing each other beyond the brink of both physical and mental exhaustion, the two decided it was time for an extended break. The companion continued its work in the garden, with Vincent deciding he needed new ingredients for potions, so he would need to venture out. He took a brief look at his stats before he did so. Welcome: Vincent Level: 1 XP 0/1000 (0%) Class: N/A Health: 2200/2200 Mana: 1500/1500 Stats: Strength: 15 Endurance: 22 Vitality: 11 (+1%) Intelligence: 15 Perception: 35 Agility: 15 Skills: Sixth sense (rare) lvl 28 Ecology (epic) lvl 5 Complete tranquility (epic) lvl 8 Smithing (common) lvl 20 Farming (common) lvl 29 Sneak (uncommon) lvl 25 Improved dash (epic) lvl 5 Cooking (common) lvl 20 Alchemy (uncommon) lvl 27 Acid resistance (uncommon) lvl 7 Fire resistance (uncommon);lvl 1 Sword and shield (common) lvl 15 He grinned. He really had come a long way in the short time he''d been here. He was truly beginning to feel a difference in his body. He appeared healthier, stronger, and confident. Vincent''s trek through the jungle quickly served to spoil his optimistic attitude, however. In the jungle soon thereafter.. His Sneak was pushed to its limits as fear and anxiety clouded his judgment. Every few dozen yards he found that he couldn''t, or rather shouldn''t move, making the journey slow and tedious. He hadn''t made it very far in. Maybe a few miles.. but he couldn''t believe the things he saw. His new Ecology skill allowed him to perceive the Aura and energy flow of everything around him. It was difficult to parse apart exactly what he was seeing as it was all ridiculously bright and obtuse. He figured this must have been what acid was like. He was not a fan. Throughout his travels he was left in shock and awe at just how little comprehension he possessed about the kind of dangers he faced on a daily basis. He saw hundreds of powerful creatures hiding amongst the jungle foliage and trees that he''d never noticed before. Wolves, snakes, massive birds and things he had no names for. For some, their innate stealth skills seemed to defy the laws of physics. For others they simply hid in deeper darker parts of the wood that his natural vision hadn''t been able to pierce through before. Any number of them could have slaughtered him at any time in the past.. and he had thought his pitiful Sneak skill had been keeping him safe.. He highly doubled it now that he knew beasts like these existed. He simply wasn''t worth their time. He swallowed and forced himself forward. All he had to do was avoid the predators that purposely weren''t hiding their physical presence.. no problem.. right? That settled it. He had no business being in this jungle, and he had to find a way out. There had to be somewhere safe beyond. But as he currently was the man harbored no doubts that he stood no chance of surviving long enough to make it through the jungle to whatever lay beyond. He decided to spend the next few days merely observing the creatures of the forest and their interactions as well as studying various plants and materials that he harvested along the way. His new perk and skill were especially enlightening on the subject of sentient beings, because by watching the energy of a living creature he could begin to tell what actions they were taking, what mood they were in, and roughly how powerful they were compared to other beasts of the forest. He didn''t even need to have a direct line of sight to track something by its energy, or Aura rather. Being able to see the target did help tremendously through so he always tried to keep them in range of his natural vision. It was particularly challenging blocking out all the other information he was receiving in tandem with his primary target, but eventually his mind focused enough to be passable at reading the influx of information. One of his favorite pre-system earth movies had actually been the inspiration for his breakthrough. The movie was titled: Man of steel and had been released in 2013 back on his Earth. The film was directed and produced by Zack Snider and Christopher Nolan. He faintly remembered a few other contributors to the production of the film, but the damn credits always moved so fast he couldn''t remember who they were. In the movie there''s a scene where Clark Kent as a young boy in elementary school is being overwhelmed by his rapidly developing powers causing him to flee to a janitor''s closet and lock himself in. His mother comes and he begs for her to make all the overwhelming sensations stop. She more or less tells him you can''t make it stop. You can only make it small. The world was indeed too large for any one person to understand. But with practice one could focus on the parts that matter and tune out the rest. So with trial and error and a lot of straining effort, he began to raise his skill level. It seemed the more you fundamentally understood the way a skill worked, the faster its level rose. It seemed his companion was also hard at work because every once in a while he would gain a level in skills he hadn''t even been using, such as cooking and sword and shield. The little thing had an unparalleled work ethic if nothing else, he''d give it that. Even when Vincent slept or took frequent breaks on days where his emotions overwhelmed him, his companion continued grinding away at the limited skills it could use. The childish entity seemed to particularly enjoy using the Improved dash to propel itself any distance in any direction within the confines of the cozy cave. Vincent didn''t want to admit it but he was beginning to truly care for the goofy thing. It''s happy can do attitude was infectious when all he had known otherwise was hostility and hopelessness. Having access to the system shop meant never having to worry about running out of supplies as long as he had income to spare. And of course his inventory provided him with infinite spatial storage. On the fly he could buy new flasks and such to brew potions whenever he found potent new ingredients, and it seemed most creatures in the jungle were deathly afraid of fire so if he made one large enough he could typically brew in peace. He really wondered why he hadn''t thought of that earlier. He didn''t want to test whether or not fire could frighten the likes of the dragon and he was sure a beast dubbed the Fang of Flame would probably laugh at the welcoming gift Vincent had set out for it, so he avoided the areas he was sure they resided. It seemed even the most powerful of beasts never really left their nests unless food became scarce. With his new ability Vincent decided he wanted to challenge himself by seeing how long he could stay in the jungle without returning to the safety of the cave. Before, he had never really remained in the jungle for longer than eight consecutive hours, and that was only by necessity as he had gotten himself caught up in a particularly nasty territory war between the birds and some kind of crab-like monster. He clearly remembered the birds had completely shredded the crab creature''s eyes, leaving them hanging limply in gross wet strings of muscle and nerve. Make no mistake, that didn''t mean the crab was losing by any means. Dozens of the birds had lain skewered and maimed, crushed and cut asunder all around. It seemed that while the birds couldn''t penetrate the crab''s tough shell in order to get to its vital organs, it had no problem snatching them out of the air without the use of its eyes. That had been a long and miserable day. Especially when blood and other bodily fluids found their way onto him from his hastily chosen cover. He dared not move lest he lose his camouflage and a few stray birds pick him off. Shaking his head to bring himself back to the present day, Vincent had just finished packing up a makeshift camp when he froze, Sixth sense and Ecology screaming in unison. He used Improved dash three times in quick succession, heading roughly in the direction of the cave. Immediately upon landing he spun around. Taking cover and activating camouflage. He was panting heavily. By his estimation he''d eaten through a little less than half of his mana but at the moment he dare not check. The entirety of his focus was directed to the oddly unmoving jungle before him. It had just been for a split second.. but.. something had touched up against the edges of his senses. Something the likes of which he had never encountered and hoped he''d never have to in his entire life. Sweaty and pale, he remained stock still for nearly ten minutes, hoping the monster he sensed didn''t have some sort of sensory or tracking ability of it''s own. Smacking his forehead with his palm, he eventually stood on shaking knees. Under the influence of that spike of terrible energy, he had felt so insignificant. So suppressed. It left him shaken to say the least. He decided to head home and plan his next move carefully. He managed to remain out and about in the jungle for roughly a week and it seemed some unavoidable danger lurked in all directions. He had learned much in his times and had even garnered a few skill levels. Upon exiting the jungle and entering the clearing, he casually looked up. His eyes bulged at what he saw. The dragon was flying high above the jungle canopy. It looked alot smaller from whatever staggering height it flew at. Apparently the thing had no troubles at all with the heat. It didn''t seem to notice him as it flew along, seemingly not in any sort of hurry. He wondered why it was here, and not within the confines of the jungle..? Did it have something to do with that presence he felt? Could the dragon possibly be one of its natural prey? The mysterious creature''s power he felt before dashing away from his campsite was great enough for that to certainly be the case. He supposed it didn''t really matter as long as it didn''t bother him. There were many beings in this jungle to which he simply didn''t hold a candle. Staring intently at the massive beast in the sky, Vincent couldn''t help but notice the dragon''s aura was a putrid yellowish green, like a rotten version of the energy in the cave. He shuttered. The sheer intensity of the energy put most other beasts to shame. He lost sight of the dragon as it flew over the jungle and off into the horizon. That confirmed it then.. there must have been other points of entry in and out of the jungle. He supposed it was just as likely that there were openings in the top of the jungle ceiling as well, if one knew where to look. He made his way back into the cave and over to his companion who was happily waiting with a small feast prepared. "God what are you, my wife?" Vincent joked. Ironically he had never been much of a chef, whereas this plant version of himself had a cooking skill that had to have been equivalent to pre-system Gordon Ramsey levels. But hey, he made a mean TV dinner or perhaps an elegant frozen pizza. He flashed back within his mind to when he was a kid, and his biggest concern was how long it took for the oven to preheat.. Those were easier times it seemed.. before his parents'' accident. Before he withdrew from the world. From her.. He couldn''t help but think about Selene. She always knew how to make a damn good meal from basically nothing. He supposed really his withdrawal was why she had done what she had. He just wasn''t there for her anymore and she didn''t know how else to respond. He saw that now. Sighing he shook his head. "No use dwelling on the past.." He mumbled. His priorities had changed entirely. Careers and love interests were no longer a factor in his complex daily life. These days he focused entirely on the struggle to survive. Vincent was making his way over to the garden plots when he noticed something rather peculiar. One patch of garden seemed to be thriving far more than the other, although both were superb. He raised an eyebrow and waived over his companion who had been watching him silently with its lopsided smile. Vincent stared questioningly, unsure how to express his wishes, but it seemed irrelevant as the plant creature seemed to fully understand his desire. He wanted to know what was going on. The creature happily ambled over to a plot of garden that was near ready to be harvested anyways and he did so. He then placed a new seed in the hole, moving slowly and with exaggerated movements to make sure Vincent caught everything. The man in question rolled his eyes. But then the creature did something he really didn''t expect. It ran over to the alchemy stash, grabbed a small blue crystal, a small red one and a bit of Gaia''s blood before returning to the plot with the seed and placing all three of the items within. He then buried it and began clapping his hands, as if to applaud his own ingenuity. Vincent had to admit.. it was a goddamn genius move. He didn''t fully understand the whole process but he watched as potent energies from the mana crystal, health crystal, and Gaia''s blood all entertained and mixed like thick water-paints running together. They spread out over the seed and soil, instantly providing a noticeably improved rate of growth. It was essentially the same concept as when he added monster parts only far more potent due to the system naturally recognizing the process of mixing the basic alchemical ingredients needed for potions. He looked at his companion with a new found respect. If such things were possible in a simple practice as gardening.. he was sure he could do similar things in cooking and crafting. By using other materials such as the potent crystal or Gaia''s blood in conjunction with various monster cells, could he make better tasting food? Could he craft stronger gear? He wasn''t sure. He would have to spend a few days experimenting at least. With a sigh the man opened the system merchant window and sure enough, upon searching he found what he needed; Cooking utensils and other kitchen supplies. It seemed the system really would provide him with anything he could possibly need.. He had plenty of money from his week long jungle binge so it was time to do some shopping. He made sure to buy some material for crafting such as ingots and leather straps. He also built a large stone smelter by hand so that he could properly heat the ores and metals. Of course he also had to buy various tools such as calipers and what not. Making such specific items was tedious. He quickly came to the conclusion that his current system stats clearly did not make him immune to the level of heat produced by the forge nor did it give him the capability to alter the materials by hand. Hell a camp fire burned his hand to a crisp in just a few seconds and even breaking wood still resulted in broken bones. But someday.. He immediately set to work trying his best to understand how to melt down and reshape metal. He dearly wished this sort of thing came with a manual, but as he experimented and discovered new things, his smithing level grew. This in turn caused him to achieve inherent knowledge as the system had a tendency to nudge those who worked hard enough in the right direction. After a few days of tinkering he finally began to get a feel for the craft of metal working. Now it was simply a matter of shaping the metal and finding the right ratio of various other materials such as monster bones, Gaia''s blood, etcetera. Really anything he could get his hands on he tried to infuse in his workings. Not just his crafting but his cooking and gardening as well. Some results fared much better than others¡­ Congratulations! New feat(s): natural inclination to alchemy and forerunner of the new scientific world acquired! Perk: marquis of science achieved! Perk: transmutation achieved! Marques of Science: a perk granted by those who have achieved the unique feat forerunner of the new scientific world. Allows the user to better understand mathematical formulas and theoretical practices. Provides a permanent +10 to intelligence. Transmutation: a perk gained from the unique feat natural inclination to alchemy. Allows the user to be more susceptible to inspirational breakthroughs when creating something new. Allows the user to better understand the generic composition of something. Allows the user a small amount of insight into what elements work best in what combinations. +5 to intelligence. Vincent sighed in relief, tossing his newly made ''steel'' sword to the side. This was what he had been waiting for. A fucking ability that was functionly an instruction manual. Though one of the Perks was just a simple increase to his Intelligence attribute the other functioned similarly to an active skill, giving him inherent knowledge based on his skill levels. He also found that even though it was technically an alchemy based perk it would do wonders for smithing and cooking. Vincent tapped his chin. He grimaced with the thought of what was to come next. He knew he needed to grind and he wanted to start with his lowest skill. This was going to be painful.. he sold all his newly created equipment, as he knew he could make stronger things later. He then bought more materials for his companion to use while he underwent this tortuous training alone. Groaning he brought the forge back to its highest possible temperature with a few quick compresses from the bellow. He knew this wasn''t how you were supposed to do it. Certainly he was supoosed to fight some fire type enemy more akin to his capabilities. But no such thing existed in this place. A single fireball from a rat''s ass would burn him to a crisp. Here. In the jungle there was only merciless death at the slightest mistake. He couldn''t risk that so instead he stuck a leather strap between his teeth and with tears of fear prickling his eyes he shoved his entire arm into the forge. "GRRRG-UH-UH-UH-UHH¡­ RRRRG!!" Congratulations! Skill: Fire resistance has increased by¡­ End of Chapter 8 Unbendable Vincent stood arms crossed, staring at the massive wall of trees that comprised the jungle of its outer layer. He huffed in annoyance, placing his arms once more on one of the colossal, viney trunks. He thought about being in the jungle and all the times that he had nearly gotten himself decimated because he couldn''t find adequate cover in the random layout of the place. His thought process was simple; if he could somehow discover a skill that allowed him to manipulate the plant life around him, then he could create his own places to hide on the fly. He felt the energy in the trees and how it reacted with the physical matter that constituted their genetic composition in order to give shape and durability to the tree that would have been impossible in the old world. The system strengthened everything by altering and adding to its atomic structure. There''s no reason Vincent couldn''t do the same.. Understanding all this he tried asserting his will in a way such that his own minuscule amount of energy altered the flow of the energy within the tree to something that better suited his needs. It was hours later and the heat of the day coupled with his various efforts would see him drenched in sweat. He was close to something.. he could feel it. He knew that he probably should have started with something small and less unyielding but the massive amounts of energy in the trees made observing the flows of energy much, much easier. Multiple times he had been close to giving up. As close as he thought himself to be, it would still be several more hours of watching his tiny, insignificant energy rearrange the structure of the atoms within the tree before he finally heard the familiar ''ding''! signaling that all his efforts and frustrations had finally paid off. "Jesus.." He panted out between heavy breaths. Congratulations! Skill: Planta/Plante (Rare) achieved! Planta/Plante (Rare) Sprout in latin or young tree in old english. Allows the user to manipulate the molecular structure of any and all plant life around him. Due to the ''Rare'' rarity, the user gains a small bonus to the speed and strength of manipulation per skill level.Vitality grants a small bonus to this skill. (Active skill) He would have jumped for joy at the notification but he instantly noticed a problem. His new skill made it a great deal easier to exert his will over the green energies within the tree as the system guided and assisted him with the process now. Even still, the plant life that comprised the jungle was simply too tough for him to manipulate to any meaningful degree. That is, other than pieces that had broken off from the source already, such as his shield. For whatever reason it seemed the detached or broken parts lost a lot of their structural integrity. After many hours of strenuous effort Vincent had barely managed to grow little more than a sapling and his skill had barely risen at all. He groaned in audible frustration and decided to cut his losses for now. He was leveling it rather quickly compared to most skills, obviously being able to see how the skill worked due to ecology helped tremendously. Even still it wouldn''t be any help at this level. He sighed. Another useless skill in the bag. ''Are plants even considered an element?..'' He idly wondered while scratching his chin. Upon returning to his cave he made a very fortunate discovery. With his new skill he could actually manipulate the structure of his soul seed, which was technically plant based, in order to make various small improvements to his companion such as hardening its skin and organs. What this translated into in terms of stats he wasn''t sure, but with the increase in functionality he was hoping the thing would be able to keep a better pace in training. He quickly realized he could also use his ability to help improve the health of his garden. Reaching within the ground Vincent strengthened the various plant roots and caused them to grow longer. He placed them in a way such that they were prohibited from interfering with one another''s growth. He would have used it to pull the weeds too, he was sure, but his companion spent an absurd amount of time tending to the thing daily anyways so it hardly mattered. All in all he supposed the skill wasn''t a total waste and would likely become more universal later on. Drinking some juice made from the fruits and veggies in his garden, he hummed contentedly. He had been working hard lately and he figured he might as well relax for a little bit and realign his Ki. He got comfortable in his favorite spot near the stream and entered Complete tranquility. He thought about his ability to practically create new skills as necessary. Well that technically wasn''t correct, he was just discovering and repurposing skills that already existed within the system. He wasn''t sure but it certainly felt like his power was rising just as much in response to his desires as it was to his needs. In other words it felt like he had more control over the direction of his development these days as opposed to the earlier months in the system. He wondered exactly what kind of monstrous effects he''d need to produce in order to dominate this wretched place.. He was sure, as it was, that his body currently couldn''t handle the type of skills he would need in order to damage even the level 25 creature''s he''d run into thus far. Based on the problematic and strenuous effects that occurred when he produced epic ones, he was sure it would wreak havoc on his insides as well as his mind to produce a ''Legendary'' skill. He supposed part of that was probably his level. How many people at level one had not just one or even two, but three Epic skills? Not only that but they seemed unusually complex in nature, despite their rarity. He supposed there was at least one thing he hadn''t thought about trying yet. He could try to raise his attributes directly. In the old world exercises such as the simple act of lifting weight or running long distances would improve overall physical health. Who''s to say that anything like that wasn''t possible or even something better with the introduction of the system? With that in mind he decided to have his companion construct a pair of heavy weighted clothing while he continued his meditation. He was getting too complacent with the natural atmosphere of this world. He needed to continue challenging himself. A few hours later Vincent had begun to grow claustrophobic due to his time being spent primarily in his cave. With his increased skill fire resistance he could spend longer periods in the direct heat of the sun and most fiends didn''t venture out into the grassy fields anyways. Therefore he decided to train his plante skill by clearing the chest high grass, which was impossibly easier compared to the thick trees of the jungle. Even still it took a lot of concentration to dissolve the grass on a cellular level. Originally he tried just ripping the plants from the ground or somehow making his own that would replace them but he soon found that vaporizing them entirely by imbalancing their existing genetic structure was far easier. That was mostly because, again, he was working with something that existed already rather than making something new. He focused and fiddled until the soft, pale green energy of the plants began to vibrate and mutate before they began to turn into an acidic, bubbling soup. ''Gross..'' He thought, as the substance was reassured by the Earth. He sincerely hoped that by doing things this way, the stupid plants wouldn''t grow back within the hour. Once a large enough area had been cleared the man set up a forge, garden, cooking area and the works. He would probably still spend a fair amount of time in the cave training with his companion but whenever his companion tended the garden or Vincent did any kind of training best done alone he would do it outside in the sun¡­ A couple of days after finishing his makeshift outdoor workshop, on a particularly warm evening he felt a persistent nagging sensation in the pit of his stomach. It was as if all his instincts were begging him to enter the forest, which was highly suspicious and unusual. At first he figured maybe it was the heat activating his sixth sense but he realized that logically, it would have been far safer to cool off in the cave. When he finally grew too annoyed with the agitating feeling to work, he cussed, throwing his tools aside and stomping his way into the Forest. He didn''t know how far he had gone when he found the source of his anxiety. It was the freshly dead carcass of an extremely powerful creature. He paused and frowned, slowly taking in the scene before him. Slowly scanning left and then right he decided it was relatively safe for now as he bent down to inspect the body. What was left of the large beast was still cooling. It was missing huge chunks from its torso and head. It looked a lot like the Skullcrawler from the movie Kong: Skull island only it had 4 legs and a barbed tail like a stegosaurus. It was muscular and it''s tongue was long and appeared to ooze a poisonous substance. He quickly stashed the carcass in his inventory, thankful that such things didn''t rot any further while stored away and made his way back home before whatever had somehow killed that thing came back. He could feel a massive amount of energy within the dead creature and if it was this powerful when it was dead it must have taken a true monster to best it while it was alive. He wondered why his instincts had been so persistent in demanding he take time out of his day to go harvest this particular bounty.. Upon returning to his safe space he was met by the unfortunate discovery that he lacked the attributes necessary to do any work with the creature''s bodily materials.. Even dead it was simply too powerful for him to properly handle. Sighing, he re-deposited the body in his inventory for later use. One thing he could tell for sure was that the beast possessed an incredible toxic affinity. Without meaning to, he found himself tracing the symbols on the pillar with his finger. It was something he did often out of boredom and habit when contemplating things. He didn''t know why but he felt drawn to the symbols. He was sure they once pulsed with an absurd amount of energy but had lost most, damn near all of their potency due to time. He couldn''t help but wonder what the intricate engravings had once stood for. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. What could they possibly have meant? What function did they serve, if any..? So many questions about this place and absolutely no concrete answers. Vincent stretched, cracking his back. For now he needed to focus on what mattered, grinding and getting the hell out of here. He was contemplating whether or not he should go try and pick a fight with some creature just to push himself to the brink of death again when he noticed his companion jumping around like a fool to get his attention. Making his way over, Vincent immediately sensed the object of his companions'' fascination. It was a sharp, yellow potion brewed from alchemy but it had some peculiar results. It almost seemed to glow slightly. Upon inspecting the object it read; Elixir of great Endurance! An endurance potion of the highest quality! Made by a master alchemist. Adds a permanent +10 to endurance. Vincent''s eyebrows twitched. He looked at his companion. ''This bumbling idiot.. a master alchemist?'' He was baffled. ''No fucking way.'' "Hey show me how you did that." He demanded. The companion happily obliged. Or at least it pretended to. Halfway through a mess of adding random materials it became obvious the thing didn''t know what it was doing. "You.. don''t remember how you made this.. do you?" He asked the thing accusedly. It raised its hands in mock defense but then shook its head. He sighed. "Yeah that figures doesn''t it?.. Oh well.. I suppose that would have been too easy." He downed the potion, enjoying the feeling of warmth spreading through him as he did so. It was indescribable. A plus 10 in Endurance translated into a plus 1000 in health which wasn''t bad at all. The next couple of days of his time were spent making potions and armor worthy of his current stats and skills. He then recruited the assistance of his companion to help him grow accustomed to the new armor and capabilities. He took a look at his stats, decidingly satisfied with the rate of his growth recently. Level: 1 XP 0/1000 (0%) Class: N/A Health: 3200/3200 Mana: 3000/3000 Stats: Strength: 15 Endurance: 32 Vitality: 11 (+1%) Intelligence: 30 Perception: 35 Agility: 15 Skills: Sixth sense (rare) lvl 30 Ecology (epic) lvl 13 Complete tranquility (epic) lvl 11 Smithing (common) lvl 30 Farming (common) lvl 33 Sneak (uncommon) lvl 28 Improved dash (epic) lvl 9 Cooking (common) lvl 30 Alchemy (uncommon) lvl 30 Acid resistance (uncommon) lvl 7 Fire resistance (uncommon); lvl 15 Sword and shield (common) lvl 25 Planta/Plante (rare) lvl 10 His smithing, cooking and sword/shield skill had all earned him new trials which he had been putting off for different reasons. For the smithing and cooking he simply wanted to wait until after he''d become a bit more proficient from grinding and decided to consolidate his gains. He liked seeing numbers go up also. For the sword and shield he was waiting until one or possibly both of his other trials were completed because he was honestly slightly worried it would be extremely dangerous. Honestly maybe now was a good time to risk it for the biscuit. He wasn''t sure how long he''d been here exactly. Roughly 9 and a half months he figured. And in that time his stats had grown tremendously totaling 138 whereas at first they barely numbered in the twenties. He certainly felt better. His muscles had grown significantly yet they were still compact so that he could move quickly and with unnatural fluidity. He was kind of starting to look like an anime character. He''d grown to roughly 5''6, borderline 5''7 so he was nearly 3 inches taller than when he''d first arrived. He hoped this wasn''t a trend the system continued endlessly. He pictured himself as a 10'' tall muscle bound freak who couldn''t even scratch his own back as his stats rose and he shivered. That just didn''t sound appealing to him. He preferred to be swift and agile, wearing an enemy down and then finishing them with one ridiculously overpowering blow. He had only really ever fought against his companion but he instinctively knew which style would suit him best. Vincent''s muscles and mind worked together to give him sharp battle instincts in a way that could only be obtained through countless hours of training. Of course, none of this would be possible without his skills, primarily Sixth sense. That''s also the reason he chose to wield a sword and shield rather than, say, a giant claymore. It just felt right while the latter didn''t. That''s not to say that he wasn''t physically strong. He couldn''t be sure but he figured he had to be just slightly beyond what most pre-system human beings could have ever achieved without a lifetime dedicated to strength building. The gravity made it hard to truly push himself even at this level and besides, he usually had to hide or run from everything to survive. He didn''t really have a suitable means to measure his abilities. He was aware that he could comfortably lift two hundred pounds in each hand based on the weight (which was listed in the details) of certain materials he had bought from the shop. As strong as the man was when it came to certain ingots and other such materials Vincent often had to have his companion help him. With not much else to do he decided to quit putting it off. Trial(s) available: Unbendable (smithing lvl 25) Banquet of kings (cooking lvl 25) Courage and honor (sword and shield lvl 25) He selected Unbendable first as it was the first on the list anyways. He shivered at the familiar feeling of the world falling away. When he came to, he was near the summit of a massive mountain containing a silver forge at the top. The forge was lit and scalding even from this distance of roughly 20 feet. He knew what he needed to do. Prompted forward by the system, it was made clear that he was supposed to craft a sword and shield using this forge but this heat.. he honestly didn''t think he''d survive it. He used his Ecology and Sixth sense to study the energy of the large thing. It was a bright orange and red as one might expect, containing a flaming, spherical core that looked almost malleable if one could reach it. intense mirages of heat rolled off the thing. Liquid bits dripped off the bottom of it as if it were melting but the total mass of the substance never diminished. He closed his now stinging eyes and grimaced. This was gonna suck. But if he could use Ecology then maybe.. sure enough after standing close enough to take damage, but not close enough for it to be serious or permanent, Vincent got the familiar pulse and ding of a system message. Congratulations! Skill: fire resistance (Common) has increased by 1! He laughed. What luck!? The system allowed you to gain levels in even these types of skills while in trials? That really seemed broken if you considered how these places existed outside of time. What if someone was patient enough to train for a million years inside of one? Was that even possible? He shuddered imaging subjecting himself to a million years of torture to grind skill levels enough to survive this place. It took several levels but he could finally work well enough in the heat with his regenerations just barely eclipsing the damage done to his body. He knew he could exit the trial if things got dicey. Standing at the forge he grabbed the steel hammer that was provided by the system or trial or whatever. He wasn''t exactly sure what to do so just goofing off, he decided to hit the anvil before him as hard as he could with the hammer. As he did so a blinding shower of sparks exploded forth and in its wake a sword and shield appeared simultaneously on the anvil. The objects were badly damaged, to the point of being shattered. He somehow knew that with each swing the sword and shield would begin to repair themselves but if he didn''t know any better it felt as if the heat had risen a bit with that first swing.. the second and third swings confirmed that to be the case. He was thinking about quitting and coming back with a higher level of fire resistance but as if the system read his thoughts a notification appeared. Warning! You may discontinue the trial at any time but subsequent attempts will see the quality of crafted sword and shield diminished. This is a trial best attempted at an early level. He growled thinking to himself, ''Oh bullshit that figures.. you''re just making stuff up as you go along at this point.'' He decided his best bet was to probably just try and finish this quickly and not exit the trial. He figured most people who got to this point probably didn''t have a skill to resist fire in their arsenal when they did such a basic trial. Or maybe they did.. maybe this was common knowledge when you weren''t stranded in an end game jungle. He didn''t know. He began hammering like a mad man not really caring for finesse or skill. The heat around him rose rapidly, quickly overcoming his fire resistance and pitiful vitality. His health began to tick away. In seconds he began to rethink his approach as the sword and shield were less than half completed based on what he saw and sensed from the energies inside it. He tried to use Ecology, specifically the identify portion, on the sword and shield but it yielded no results. He began focusing and timing his blows to the blasts of heat from the furnace. This improved his progress by a bit but not enough to appease his fears as he began to lose health in the double digits every second. He decided to lay the hammer down and back away from the forge but after reaching a safe distance he noticed the energy from the sword and shield evaporating. "Oh come on, give me a break!" He screamed in frustration rubbing his boiling skin. It seemed he couldn''t take a timeout if he wanted to achieve maximum results. The heat hadn''t died down at all but nevertheless, he used dash to resubmerge himself in the flames once more. It was a gruesome and painful endeavor. His skill couldn''t rise quickly enough to stop the heat from melting away portions of his unprotected body. Before he knew it his health had dropped down from 3200 to 2100. He was losing 20 points per second st this point. The equipment was nearing three fourths completion but the pain itself was on the verge of overwhelming his senses. There were few pains like slowly being cooked to death especially when it was prolonged by system shenanigans. He couldn''t stop here, though. His stubborn pride wouldn''t allow him to finish without completing the task flawlessly. He was confident he would be able to finish the sword and shield in time as long as the pain didn''t overwhelm him. Not a second after he''d had the thought the heat suddenly multiplied. He yelped in agony and nearly dropped the hammer, shivering as the heat boiled his insides. He only needed to hit the items 9 or 10 more times but he wasn''t sure he could do it. He was beginning to think he would die, a stubborn slave to his own ambition when suddenly a large portion of his heath pool returned. Nearly half of it. With it came a rush of energy that allowed him to finish out his task. He hammered once.. then twice.. three times and finally after the ninth swing.. the pain receded rapidly. He gasped in relief. Immediately as he did so he was teleported back to the cave where two new items were waiting in his inventory. "Yes!" He pumped his hands in the air as a show of victory. He wasted no time healing himself to max, marveling as his skin instantly healed itself and his pain began to fade away. Soon it was a dull throb and then it was gone altogether. Where had that last burst of health came from? He looked around and it didn''t take him long to find the source. His companion lay soaking pitifully in the stream. He was severely burnt and blackened. Vincent''s smile slowly faded as he made his way over to the creature. For once it wasn''t smiling. "You.. saved me.." He whispered. The creature raised its head slightly and whimpered. "I know.. I know how bad it hurts. Let me return the favor for you, little guy." It may have only been 45 percent of Vincent''s health but that translated into 90% of his companion''s. Using a combination of his Plante skill and his Ecology he placed a hand on his whimpering companion. He slowly began to infuse his energy with the creature''s, healing it and numbing its pain. It sighed in content and relaxed, letting the process do its work. When he was done the sentient plant jumped for joy much like he had when he arrived. It gave him a big hug and tried to get Vincent to dance with it. "OK, OK. Calm down. I''m definitely not dancing with you. I appreciate you too buddy." He finished patting its head. It bounded back over to his garden and continued working as if nothing had ever happened. Vincent sighed. His fire resistance had climbed to level 23. The real treasure of the trial however, was in his inventory. Sword of Anguish (Unique) a Longsword bound to it''s user''s soul. Item''s personality reflects the user''s own. Grows stronger with repeated use. Warning Item''s evolution is seperate from the user''s. Guardian''s Embrace (Unique) a medium sized shield bound to the user''s soul. Item''s personality reflects the user''s own. Grows stronger with repeated use. Warning Item''s evolution is seperate from the user''s. Vincent was dumbfounded. A sword and shield they grew stronger the more he used them? That was just too good. The sword and shield materialized from a portal before him, allowing him to grab them and inspect them. The sword was black with a blood red streak down the middle. It had a curved edge at the end and was quite thick. The shield was shaped like a diamond and painted a metallic gold with a few large portions being red. He smirked, knowing he would enjoy getting used to his new toys. End of chapter 9 Courage and Honor Days flew by while he tested the limits of his new equipment. Eventually he decided he was satisfied, but it was bitter sweet. At base level they were far stronger on paper than anything he had crafted so far, giving 50 attack and defense respectively whereas his previous best was 15. He was wondering if he had some sort of addiction to RPG''s. Was it normal to enjoy grinding out stats as much as he did? The only problem was, using only the side of the mountain as a reference it was hard to gauge his progress in terms of damage output and strength. With his stone shortsword he possessed before, he barely made a scratch in the thing. Now he was cutting out.. larger scratches. He fared about the same with the trees. Was everything here continuously hardened by the system? That was the conclusion he had come to. He quickly discovered that he couldn''t gain XP for his sword simply by swinging it at unmoving objects. He had to be using it to attack or defend against sentient beings. He was sure if he killed something he''d get alot more but the only training partner he had was his soul bound companion and he didn''t want to lose him for some measly xp. Similarly his shield only really gained xp when blocking attacks that would have done significant physical harm to him. Banging it against a rock wouldn''t do much good. His companion unfortunately did not get a copy of his equipment and thus had to use Inferior equipment, causing his XP gains to be a lot smaller than he would have liked. Studying the energy of the sword and shield it appeared to him almost as if they were alive. They pulsed faintly and quivered with conceitedness anytime Vincent was in a battle even if it was only training. Vincent watched as his soul bound companion ambled slowly over to the edge of the cavern one day and began slashing at the solid rock wall much like he had on the outside. He shook his head at the pitiful divots that resulted. They were about the same length as the scratches Vincent had made with his old equip¡­ "Oh, my, God¡­"Suddenly he had an epiphany. Even if his copy didn''t get a set of its own weapons and armor it still had a piece of his soul just like his weapon and shield did and the thing possessed his skills so he should at least be able to use the equipment effectively, right? After a little trial and error this was proven to more or less be the case. Vincent began giving his companion his Sword of Anguish and his Guardian''s embrace when they trained. It also had the added benefit of giving him a better idea of how attack and defense worked in relation to one another. By and large the values seemed linear¡­ a 200% increase in strength would literally make someone hit twice as hard. Both attributes, attack and defense seemed to give the same percentage scaling bonus from strength and the overall formula meant spars were much more even now that his companion received a much larger boost of 50% to its 8 strength while Vincent received a smaller one of 15% to his 15 strength. ''That trial.. there''s no way I would have been able to complete it without my companion helping and most people probably don''t just have a spare health pool lying around. I wasn''t able to use my potions this time around¡­ are some of the trials designed to be incompletable?'' He wondered. That wouldn''t make much sense. How did the system expect them to grow if the greatest rewards were unobtainable? Them again, he had done it.. so maybe that in and of itself was the point. The maximum rewards would only be given to truly exceptional beings. A way to keep then ahead of the curve so to speak. He shrugged supposing it was just more questions for later. In any case he couldn''t argue the rewards were worth it if you did somehow obtain them. He hoped to continue this trend with his next two trials. Speaking of which, it was just about that time¡­ Trial(s) Banquet of kings (cooking lvl 25) Courage and honor (sword and shield lvl 25) Without further adieu he began the banquet of kings. When his eyes finally cooperated with him enough to make out the details of his surroundings he noticed he was in a massive banquet room similar to a ball. Lavishing crystal chandeliers were suspended above. A sweet and savory aroma filled the air and there was laughing and chatter all about. There were two long tables with a wide variety of dishes and food spread all about. Expensive wine sat in buckets of ice every few chairs down. A much larger, far more grand table ran perpendicular to the other two forming a U. Even though this table was the largest and arguably the most filled with food, it contained far less occupants than the other tables. There were only nine people on one side of the table facing everyone else. They looked to be some sort of nobility or perhaps even kings as the name of the trial would imply. "Well!?" One of the noblemen bellowed. Vincent became keenly aware the large portly man who was currently speaking was addressing him. With a raised eyebrow he stammered out "I.. I''m sorry what?" All of the kings present burst into overzealous laughter. Vincent''s face flushed, feeling very real shame as if he had just embarrassed himself in the face of someone truly important even though he knew none of this was technically real. He had been blindsided by the question while trying to take in the sights around him. The man in the middle, a fat greasy slob of a man wearing emerald jewelry stood wiping his chin. "Huhuhu.. a little slow on the uptake aren''t you?" He asked obnoxiously. This time Vincent bristled and flushed red with something that was not embarrassment. Kings or not he would not be treated like a child. He thought about expressing his views but decided to bite his tongue as he was aware the king was about to explain the nature of his question. "So you think you can produce a banquet fit for we nine kings? You? A mere farm hand? Laughable." He finished with a dismissive wave of his hand, earning further chuckles from his present company. Vincent tried not to let his confusion show through too much on his face. "Huh? I''m not a farm ha- What?" It was then that he looked down at his attire and noticed that he was, in fact, wearing some farming overalls and was covered in grime and filth. It seemed for this trial he was meant to play the life of a poor farm boy seeking to make his way into the palace as some form of royal chef.. Or some crao like that. Vincent sighed as he often did these days. Fine. He would play the part. If it got him out of these disgusting, rank clothes. He crossed his arms and fixed the kings with a stern look. The grandest king, the one in the middle raised his brow in amusement. "Oh? It seems the peasant wishes to speak?" Vincent leveled a glare at the man in response. "I''ll make your feast, great king. And then you will grant me residence within your palace and more land for my family." He demanded, puffing out his chest and really trying to get into character. The room fell deathly silent as he finished. The kings found themselves baffled and red faced, looking toward the high king for instruction on how to react to this new situation. Finally the grandest king broke the silence chuckling. "Well.. You''ve certainly changed your tune. How bold of you to speak so casually and demanding of a king of kings?" The king leaned forward slightly and inspected the boy. With a huff he clicked his tongue and said, "Very well. I admire your courage, boy. I''ll admit I had my doubts when you came before us as a sniveling and whimpering brat. But it seems you''ve found your heart. Or maybe it was all a ploy simply to get me to drop my guard, eh?" The king took a few moments to take loud obnoxious gulps from a goblet containing some sort of dark wine. The substance spilled itself down his chest and beard. He finished with a gasp of breath wiping away the excess liquids. Vincent had no doubt the damn fool was so full of himself he''d sacrifice the entirety of his kingdom to save him from a needle prick. "In any case now you''ll be given a small test and you best not fail or else. You''ll be given eight hours. I expect in that time you''ll have no problem serving enough food for each and every one of my present guests, myself included. I expect at least 10 full course meals and several desserts and appetizers. Oh and find me a bottle of the best champagne in the whole kingdom. You can accomplish at least that much, can''t you boy?" He asked in obvious contempt for the life before him. 15 minutes later Vincent found himself dressed in what he assumed passed as an extravagant chef''s outfit. It was ridiculously poofy and itchy. It all seemed a bit extra honestly. The kitchen that would serve as his workspace was absolutely massive. If he were being honest with himself he probably could have fit the entirety of his old apartment in this one lavish area. It seemed no matter what time or reality, there was always a wide disparity between the rich and the poor. He spent a few more minutes simply taking in the grandness of it all. There were various pots and pans lining the walls of the kitchen. Innumerable counters and sinks could be found with cupboards above them filled with various ingredients and tools. On the walls hung any number of utensils such as butcher''s knives and tongs. Anything he could possibly need for his assignment he knew he would find here. Deciding not to waste any more time than he already had, he gathered a wide variety of ingredients and tools. He wasn''t sure how long it would take to create a banquet for 9 kings and all of their guests but he thought 8 hours seemed a bit excessive; nonetheless, he wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible so he could finish this trial and claim the reward. Each and everyone of the ingredients was enhanced by the system. They all seem to pulse and glow with delicious flavor and smells. Of course he knew the faint glow wasn''t actually real. It was his skill, Ecology and his perks transmutation and connoisseur, displaying the latent energies and smells that make up the ingredients'' flavors. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Simply by sensing elemental composition and seeing the flows of energies within each one of the ingredients his mind automatically began to mix and blend together the best possible combinations for the highest potential flavors. As he ran through all the possibilities in his head he deftly noticed that without the excess gravity of the prison he''d been calling home the last few months, his movements seemed unnaturally swift and graceful. Each of his actions was fluid and purposeful, accomplishing on his own what would usually take a whole team of cooks. With his left hand he mixed together various ingredients while with his right hand he prepped all the different work stations and tools he would need to use. He flipped through several recipe books at once so as to discern the name and common uses of certain ingredients he knew nothing of. Every few minutes he would stop and smell the aroma wafting off of the various blends of ingredients he had concocted. Within an hour there was a chorus of noise and flavors drifting from the kitchen. Many of the kitchen staff stopped and watched in curiosity and wonder. They had heard about the poor farm boy who wanted to try his hand at a life in the palace. Unfortunately they knew his efforts were likely for naught. Few could appease the ridiculously high standards of the high king. The king would get an easy meal and the entertainment of degrading the man that had cooked it, all the while he would consume it greedily and send him on his way home disappointed and feeling like he had failed at his one true chance at a better life.. Still.. based on the smells and the bustling noise coming from the kitchen the young man was giving it his all. Several hours later, a sweating, panting Vincent finally finished his task and with not a moment to spare. Who knew preparing a feast for kings was such a tedious and daunting mission? He wiped his brow as dozens of maids and butlers began taking the platters of food to the tables of awaiting kings and guests. The main course was primarily composed of a type of meat similar to a mutton chop. A sweet and savory sauce was drizzled over the top with potatoesand some tiyoe of plant on the sides. There were numerous appetizers and various other dishes to go along with it but the high king seemed to waste no time digging into the piece-de-resistance. For the first few minutes everyone waited with baited breath as the kings dug in. They sat with their hands folded meekly in their laps, preparing to hear the king make a great show of embarrassing the poor young boy who did his best but simply couldn''t meet the unattainable standards of the king. Finishing his 1st plate and making a grand show wiping away the remaining food particles, the grandest of the kings addressed the entirety of the hall. "How dare the lot of you insult my exalted guest?.. And after he went to such great lengths to prepare this delicious food? Shameful!" He yelled the last few words, spittle flying from his mouth. All the guests sat stunned, disbelief written across their features. Truthfully, most of them had never even heard the king give praise to another living being before, let alone some no named peasant making his first ever banquet in the hall of kings. Of course the king''s version of a compliment largely amounted to assaulting the other attendees of the feast while offhandedly speaking as if Vincent and he were lifelong friends. But for those who knew the man well, they took it for what it truly was. A scarcely given approval. As the rest of the guests began to dig into the food, the king gestured for Vincent to make his way over which he gladly obliged. He too had eaten a plate of the food he made. While he had to admit it was pretty damn good he didn''t think it was so grand as the king was making it out to be. Then again if this was regular people from before the system, this particular food may have been divine compared to their standards just by sheer virtue of the quality of the ingredients. Meanwhile he had been enjoying the cooking of his companion who''s skill was just as high as his and with the quality ingredients provided by the system enriched jungle¡­ he supposed maybe he had become a bit spoiled. The king leaned over the table, loudly chewing his third mutton. "What is your name, young man?" He asked in between loud obnoxious breaths. His stench was putrid and Vincent couldn''t help but cringe a little as he leaned in. Raising a brow, Vincent did his best not to barf when he smelled the man''s breath. "Vincent." He answered plainly. The King, chewing something gritty, waved his mutton in a small circular motion. "Vinceeeent?" The king prompted, clearly expecting a last name to follow the young man''s answer. Vincent stared blankly for a few seconds before he internally sighed. "It''s just..Vincent." He finished, offering no further explanation. The king leaned back, nodding. "Well, ''just'' Vincent. Welcome to my court. You''ve done me a great service cooking this feast fit for the gods." He gestured to all the food on the table before him. "I was getting tired of the cardboard rubbish my ''esteemed'' chef''s serve me day in and day out." Vincent nodded. "Thank you.. my lord. You are too kind. So I passed..?" He asked, both to the king but also mostly to the system. The king raised an eyebrow but then he began to laugh. It appeared as if the king were simply going to continue laughing rather than answer his question so Vincent made to leave when he heard a familiar ''pop'' and the world dissolved away once more. Congratulations! Trial banquet of kings completed! The trial was a smashing success! Congratulations! Perk: Gourmet chef achieved! Gourmet chef: negates negative effects from ingested substances such as poison. Unlocks further bonuses from any and all food or drink made by the user based on skill level. In addition, improve regenerative effects of all created and consumed items. +10 vitality Higher bonuses to stats from food eh? And his lowest stat finally got a little bit of a boost. All in all, not a bad haul. Just to get a feel for exactly how potent this perk was he went ahead and crafted the most complex meal he could. It was meat smoked in a makeshift grill from some type of predator he had found a few days prior. shaking his head in disbelief, he read the effects. Restores some health. Restores most stamina. Restores some mana. All regenerations doubled for 1 hour! Increases strength by 5 for the next hour Strength was increased by 5 for an hour just for eating a half-assed meal he made? This didn''t seem like it could possibly be broken or exploited. "Alright. Let''s get this show on the road." The dark haired man said, punching his open palm. He took a single step and paused. "Right after a nap." He yawned, realizing how tired he was. When was the last time he slept? It had been long before he started his trial. He produced a bed from his inventory (imagine his joy the day a bed appeared in the merchants shop) and settled in for what would be some much needed, well deserved rest. It was nearly 18 hours later when Vincent came to. He probably wouldn''t have woken up at all but his companion insisted on cooking for him at least once that day. So with teary eyes and a groggy mind he arose like the dead from a crypt. He had to admit the meal wasn''t bad, and it increased his Agility by 10 for an hour. After his meal and a quick wash up from the stream he smacked his hands against his cheeks, cupping them into a fish face. "Let''s finish this last stupid trial.. I don''t even care if I die at this point." He opened his system menu with a roll of his eyes and began his final trial. Courage and honor. It sounded like a terrible movie from the 90''s honestly. When he appeared in the world newly generated by the trial, he had to stop himself from shaking his head and laughing. It even looked like something from a crappy 90''s movie. It was a massive gladiator arena that was probably supposed to have been a marble white originally but it had grayed with age and begun to turn brown from exposure to the elements. The arena battleground itself was probably close to the length of a football field, he figured, and equally as wide. On the opposite end of Vincent was a black knight kneeling, with his back turned. Vincent began walking toward the man when a system message appeared. Diverging path! Make a choice; the enemy before you possesses double your stats and very high level skills. In order to get the maximum reward you must defeat him. If your Sneak level is high enough deal extra damage while his guard is lowered! Vincent read the message several times over tapping his chin. It seemed simple enough. And he was sure he could do it.. but.. did he want to? Would he want to stab an enemy in the back in a trial called courage and honor? He definitely wanted that maximum reward though.. "Decisions, decisions.." he sighed. It wasn''t like it really mattered did it? He slid forward silently. The man was fog over the sea, not a sound nor sign of his presence. As he got closer to the black knight he couldn''t help but wonder if it was sweltering under that armor. He figured it probably had to be. He reached slowly forward with one arm¡­ "Hey, buddy!" He called shaking the knight. "Heh!" The knight responded, leaping to his feet and feigning surprise. "Ah! My word.. Please excuse me. I must have fallen asleep. How noble of you not to attack me while my back was turned." The knight claimed in multiple exaggerated gestures. Vincent sweat dropped. "Errm... right. Anyways.. I''m Vincent. And you are?" The human asked while raising a brow. The metallic knight seemed taken aback at the question. "Oh heavens.. where are my manners? Forgive me. I am sir Auric, of Erea. Pronounced ''area'' but spelled E-R-E-A. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am a noble and honorable knight from a long line of them!" He bowed. Vincent nodded slowly. "Hmm. Likewise. So.. we''re going to fight?" The blue eyed man asked nonchalantly. The knight nodded sagely. "Right you are! That is¡­ if you wish to pass this trial.. and claim your reward." Though the figure had a helmet on it was easy to tell he was smirking at Vincent as he spoke the last line. It certainly had its intended effect. Vincent''s eyes widened. "How did you.." He began but was quickly cut off by the black knight as if he expected the man''s question before he had even spoken it out loud. "Know this was a trial? Ha my dear boy. I am not some clueless tool at the system''s disposal. I mean.. I am a tool of the system. But I am not clueless." He explained. Vincent couldn''t stem the flow of questions that came to his mind. "How? Does every being in a trial know that they''re.. not real?" He asked. The knight laughed heartily, causing him to flush. "Ahh but we are as real as you! As anything in the Nexus is." He shrugged. "We simply exist at a fixed point in time. Trials are lessons and challenges that are recreated from system memories. Anything that has ever happened within the Nexus is saved, like an enormous computer beyond comprehension." Vincent''s mind race. How hadn''t he thought about that? Just because the earth was only recently inducted into the system.. didn''t mean it was only just created. What if it existed since time immemorial? What about before that? Were there multiple universes, each one like a server with some operator or desk jockey controlling all the inputs? This information completely demolished the way he''d thought of the system before. What if it really was more like a video game than it seemed on the surface? He supposed he could simply ask the black Knight but he had a strong feeling he couldn''t stand around badgering the man with questions all day. He settled into a stance, pulling out his Soul bound sword and shield as he did so. "Very well. Let''s dance." The knight nodded. "I admire your courage. I can tell you are an honorable man much like myself. May the best fighter win." He finished with a bow of his head. "Oh and in case you harbored any doubts.." The knight added as an afterthought as he slipped into a stance of his own pulling, out a long obsidian broadsword that covered almost the entirety of his 5''11 frame. "This will be to the death." Vincent planned on taking the initiative as he usually did in the spars against his companion but he grossly underestimated the tenacity of his opponent. Before Vincent had even taken three steps, the knight leaned back slightly before exploding forward, thrusting his blade in front of him with both hands. "Holy shit!" Vincent muttered under his breath while just barely managing to bring his shield up in a haphazard guard using both arms. He might as well have not wasted his time. The knight''s greatsword made contact with the hero''s shield and completely blew him off his feet. His breath was driven from his body as he impacted the ground and rolled to a heaping stop. He gasped in pain, head ringing. His nose began to bleed.. He had easily lost a third of his health from that one blow. But he had earned something for his troubles.. Congratulations! Skill: Unwavering guard (epic) achieved! Unwavering guard (epic) User expends stamina and mana to fortify defense by a multiplier of 5! Mana is only used if stamina consumption is too high. Stamina is only used when blocking attacks. Due to the ''Epic'' rarity, gain a moderate reduction to cost of stamina and mana per level. Strength and endurance give a small bonus to this skill. ''Note to self: edit status menu so it shows my attack and defense stats.'' Currently his defense was 75 with his full armor and shield. Based on the way the system worked his strength stat would then be increased +75% when factoring in damage received. With his new skill that rating was multiplied by 5 so it was his 15 strength + 375% which seemed like a lot but when he had lost a third of his health with a casual thrust of his opponent''s sword before.. he shuddered wondering if it would be enough. The system also explained that damage could never be reduced below 99%, which was just as well. What business would he have fighting something 100 times stronger than himself? "You can go ahead and heal if you want. I know my blows are mighty." The knight said, slowly walking up to the felled man. The knight shifted his sword from his right side to his left, holding it close to his body with both hands, tip pointed at the sky. Vincent couldn''t believe what he''d heard. This guy was willing to let him heal? He didn''t expect that.. He checked and sure enough the system would allow him to pop potions now, whereas he couldn''t in most trials before. He had at least 30 heals saved up but.. how honorable was that? He rose shakily to his knees and then his feet. "Not yet. I''ve got more in me." He said, grasping his sword and shield and settling into a stance once more. The knight paused in his stride, cocking his head to the side. "Commendable.. but is that how you choose to hold your blade? No wonder why you lost your footing so easily before. A sword is not some simple tool nor lump of sharp metal. It is an extension of your body and mind as well as your soul. And your shield is a partner you must trust with your life. You must believe that it can block any attack from any enemy. If you do not have faith in your sword and shield you forsake your very honor." The knight pulled out a shield of its own that was absolutely monstrous. It covered him from nearly head to toe. And in a move that Vincent wouldn''t have thought possible he hoisted his massive broadsword in one hand and his equally colossal shield in the other. The man''s equipment was honestly larger than he was. If not for the ridiculous amount of strength surely required to wield such items, one would have thought he was over compensating. "Come boy. I shall show you the true meaning of courage and honor and I shall school thee in the sacred art of sword and shield!" With that he took a thundering step and blasted forward once more. End of chapter 10 The mighty Gildarts His sword and shield clattered to the dusty arena ground below. His hands and knees hit the dirt. The stadium fell silent. The black knight strode forward stopping just a few feet away from the downed Vincent. Lifting the boy''s chin with his sword the knight spoke. "So you''re saying you.. give up?" From his keeling position Vincent had one eye closed as he grunted out. "I''m not.. *huff* *huff* gonna beg. But.. *huff* I''m no fool. I can''t win." He finished, lowering his head. The black knight nodded seemingly satisfied. "Your growth is truly impressive but you are correct. This fight was a hopeless endeavor from the beginning. I shall end this quickly." He drove his blade forward.. Vincent waited for the pain¡­ *THUD* But no pain came. He slowly gained the courage to open his eyes. When he did the black knight was offering him a hand up. He had run his blade into the ground beside the kneeling Vincent. The man looked up quizzically. "You fought admirably, with courage and honor." The knight explained. He continued, "Anyone can have courage. It takes a true hero to realize that not every battle is winnable, and not everyone can be saved. While it may sometimes feel cowardly to run away, you''re no good to anyone if you''re dead. Above all else you must live, so that you may continue the fight with honor and courage!" He finished with fire in his knightly eyes. Or at least.. one would assume if they could actually see his eyes instead of the red orbs in his helmet. Vincent merely huffed trying to regain his breath. He had been pushed to his limit for nearly a day, drinking potions as needed but never resting more than a few moments at a time. While it had been undeniably fruitful, he was regretting every minute of it. Without prompting the knight continued, once more using overly exaggerated arm movements. "Besides! It would be a shame to lose such a worthy rival! Most opponents stab me in the back and the few who don''t rarely put up a fight such as the one you did. I think, even though you did not defeat me, you deserve the maximum reward obtainable without killing me." Vincent slowly nodded. That was really all he needed to know. What sort of reward he would get. How his progress would be affected. It seemed that few actually fought the knight one on one and even fewer still somehow managed to win at such a lowly level. Even now with his sword and shield skill having risen ten levels through the duration of the trial he stood no chance. Vincent slowly stood and rubbed his aching body, cracking a few bones as well. "If.. we ever meet again..?" Vincent began. The knight shook his head. "I would not have any recollection of our prior engagement, I am afraid. The system.. has a tendency to disregard its tools once the excitement of the thing being new, fades. I shall never know anything more than my inherent purpose. To guard the truth. Like all trials and dungeons.. my world and its people are merely relics from a long forgotten time and space that the system grew bored of." Vincent nodded sadly. He thought about asking the knight to elaborate further but.. he was tired. He extended his arm. "Then. Until we are both forgotten, my friend." Shaking his hand the knight responded, "until then." And the world faded away once more. As his consciousness settled into the sanctuary of his cave once more Vincent rubbed his forehead. He was getting sick of getting his ass kicked just for a couple of skills and levels. He could tell that even without the doubled physical stats the knight had, his skill levels were probably well into the double digits. Each and every swing of his blade was angelic. His blade sang as it cleaved the air. Vinent was positive the being had gone knowingly easy on him the entire time and he still lost so decisively. The knight''s sword and shield technique were truly on another level.. Vincent had tried to incorporate bits and pieces of what he saw but he knew he needed to develop his own, unique style to truly grow as a swordsman. He briefly wondered how his pre-system self would fair to his current self. He was willing to bet it would look pretty similar to how that battle had just gone, with his current self being the metaphorical black knight. Or maybe he hadn''t really gotten much stronger than he was before and just couldn''t tell because of this psycho-inducing death prison.. He felt like he was truly losing his mind for the first time since the system had come. In the old days, his anxiety and depression had been his greatest weaknesses. His desire for solitude simply put him at a disadvantage in normal society. He couldn''t stand the daily routine of going to work and being treated like shit just for a paycheck. He had been fortunate in life.. privileged. He had a good family and a good education. Still, knowledge was often a curse. The way humans lived was doomed from the start, long before the system came. He hated people.. not necessarily people themselves just how humanity as a whole acted. He hated the way everything was. How easily everyone turned blind eyes to the ugliness around them. Corruption, crime, poverty.. such things shouldn''t exist in a ''civilized'' society. People should care more about one another. At least he thought so. What was the point and leaving mounting problems for our sons and daughters.. He supposed at the core of it all he hated himself the most. His own inability to change the world. To heal the pain. He felt so weak. So helpless.. What was the point in it all? In a hundred or even a thousand years what did it matter what he did or who he saved? He couldn''t make the world a better place. He couldn''t fix human nature. But here such things didn''t matter.. all that mattered was surviving. In fact being highly emotional could prove extremely beneficial if you could focus those feelings towards fuling growth and getting things done. Every waking second of every day was spent getting stronger and fighting to survive. He didn''t have time for failure or any room to think about how he might have let down the people he cared about... Truly maybe he just didn''t want to. He didn''t belong there.. but here he could see the difference he made in the world. He craved progress. A visible sign of his accomplishments. Currently it was primarily in the growth of his stats but someday he would change this world with his power.. Maybe he could make everything better. No more pain.. no more killing. No more hate.. For once he felt like there were no wrong or right answers, just pure freedom to do whatever he wanted and strive for his ambition. Follow any impulse or drive.. but the key to that freedom was power. He needed more.. so that he would never feel so helpless again. He brought up his system window, appreciating how much his stats had already grown. Level: 1 XP 0/1000 (0%) Class: N/A Health: 3200/3200 Mana: 3000/3000 Attk: 50 Defense: 75 Stats: Strength: 25 Endurance: 32 Vitality: 21 (+1%) Intelligence: 30 Perception: 35 Agility: 20 Skills: Sixth sense (rare) lvl 33 Ecology (epic) lvl 15 Complete tranquility (epic) lvl 14 Smithing (common) lvl 35 Farming (common) lvl 35 Sneak (uncommon) lvl 30 Improved dash (epic) lvl 12 Cooking (common) lvl 35 Alchemy (uncommon) lvl 32 Acid resistance (uncommon) lvl 10 Fire resistance (uncommon);lvl 24 Sword and shield (common) lvl 40 Planta/Plante (rare) lvl 12 Unyielding strike (epic) lvl 10 Unwavering guard (epic) lvl 10 Courage (rare) lvl 1 Perks: Will to survive +1% vitality Lifebringer +10 vitality Smithing +3 strength and agility Limit breaker + 20 endurance +5 strength Camouflage. Harder to detect +5 Agility. Connoisseur. Cooking, crafting, alchemy knowledge. +5 Intelligence and Perception. Ecologist. Ecology. +25 perception. Fortitude. Grants the user a permanent + 5 in strength and agility marquis of science. Grants +10 intelligence Transmutation grants knowledge of the atomic structure of all things +5 intelligence Gourmet chef. Permanent boost from food +10Vitality Honor: bonuses in 1v1. +10 strength +5 agility Vincent whistled at his growing list of stats and skills. It was a lot to keep track of. He decided to check out his two new skills and his new perk, beginning first with the second skill he had unlocked while battling against the black knight and then moving on to the skill and perk he received for completing the trial. Unyielding strike (epic) User focuses all of his physical capabilities into a single mighty blow. Works best when using a sword. Consumes stamina and mana based on charge up time. Due to the ''epic'' rarity gain a small reduction in stamina and mana consumed per level. Gains a moderate boost from strength, endurance, and agility. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Seemed pretty powerful in practice especially since it scaled on three different attributes. He was honestly just happy to finally have an offensive ability. He didn''t spend too much time thinking about it, and quickly moved on. He focused on the new perk next as something caught his eye. Honor: to live by the way of the sword and shield is to live by one''s honor. Whenever facing an enemy one on one, gain a 25% increase (multiplicative) in attack and defense. Receive greatly reduced damage from sneak attacks. grants a plus 10 in strength and a plus 5 in Agility. Now that.. was an interesting perk. A plus 25% boost to his attack and defense in one on one fights? Sounded a bit broken actually. The attributes were nice too. Courage (rare) your bravery inspires all allies within your vicinity as well as specific targets. Effect is divided amongst affected parties. All parties gain a boost to attack, defense and speed. Due to the ''rare'' rarity gains a small bonus to attack, defense, and speed per level. Allies gain a small amount of health per level dependent on the user''s health. Gain a small boost from intelligence and a minor bonus from strength. (Active skill) (consumes 1000 mana) Vincent''s eyebrows twitched as he tried to remain calm upon reading the last skill he had received. A growing tick mark appeared on his head as he spun around and located the reason for his current disposition. His companion. "Well imagine if I had anyone other than your useless ass to use this on." He growled, then sighed. "I guess at least you''ll be a step up in training huh?" And just as he''d had the thought he felt it. His own skill working in reverse. He looked at his companion astonished. He hadn''t considered.. His companion shared all of his abilities including this new one. And since Vincent was technically the Plant''s ally.. he was the target of the boost. He couldn''t be sure but he felt like it gave him roughly a 5% boost to all stats. Visually the numbers in his stat window were unaffected so apparently percent buffs weren''t calculated in stat totals. Still though he knew it worked because he literally felt the difference. It wasn''t bad considering it was level 1. He scratched his head. Honestly his companion was kind of a genius.. He turned and looked at said creature. "Guess I owe you an apology.. blah. Thanks." He choked out, continuing to scratch the back of his neck. As if to say don''t mention it, the thing bounded off happily to continue its never ending work. ''Seems you only have to pay the mana cost once and then the ability is active until you turn it off¡­ didn''t say anything about a distance limit either for the party just for allies in the vicinity. How interesting.'' He looked one more time at his skills.. there was one more that was almost at 25. Was he going to unlock another damn trial? He supposed he would have to torture himself first to find out. He decided to make things easy on himself and craft as much as he could with his bare hands to kill two birds with one stone. He gained experience in smithing and the heat from the forge slowly raised his fire resistance, the skill in question. It wasn''t long before he''d managed to achieve his goal... Congratulations! Your skill: fire resistance (uncommon) has grown to level 25! Branching path! Due to danger of the environment around you ANZ unknown conditions being met, a unique reward has been achieved! Choose reward: fireball Firecloak Flame sword. At first he breathed a sigh of relief but then he quickly realized this was almost just as bad, as all of those seemed like good options. He really sucked at making decisions. Almost immediately the flamesword was eliminated. While it would be cool as hell to have a flaming sword he wondered what would happen if he ran into the Fang of flame with such a thing. He shivered at the thought of the thing eating his sword and then him. Next he ruled out flamecloak. While it would no doubt be an invaluable defense skill he didn''t like the thought of being surrounded by flames, catching everything he touched on fire.. With that in mind he also considered that he probably really needed some ranged attacks so fireball was his best bet. Congratulations! Skill fireball (common) achieved! Fireball (common) user consumes a bit of mana to launch a flaming projectile at his intended target. Due to the ''common'' rarity gain a minor bonus to damage, speed and size of fireball. Intelligence gives a small boost to this skill. (Active skill) (consumes 100 mana) He wasted no time rushing outside to test his new ability. To call it a fireball was.. generous. It was barely more than an overgrown spark. It didn''t even burn the grass in the fields. "Well.. that wasn''t fair.." He frowned. He was sure getting hit in the chest by the small ball of heat would probably sting his companion quite a bit.. but that was about all it would do. It was dark out and the stars overhead were abnormally large it seemed. As if they were closer than usual. The only sources of light were from torches he had crafted and placed along the mountain side and a few more he''d created for his work area. He shook his head. Was this all he would ever know? Was this his new home? Looking up at the stars he couldn''t help but ask himself, were any of his friends and family still alive? Humans were social creatures at their core. Isolation can cause depression and in severe cases a dissociation from reality itself. Even the most introverted people craved the sound and touch of another. Maybe that''s why it came as no surprise that Vincent had begun to talk to himself. Or when he started drawing shapes of people on the walls of the cave. Maybe that''s why he didn''t notice himself slowly losing touch with what it meant to be.. Human. A little over a year after Vincent''s arrival to the system... Vincent walked in a slow calculated manner. His mind spun. Subconsciously he was aware his Sneak was on the verge of leveling again. He was willing to bet that for most it was probably no small feat to have the Sneak ability active without actually putting effort into moving silently but for this man it was like flexing a muscle. He knew each of his abilities intimately, using most of them constantly on a daily basis. He had taken the time to understand the function and origin of each one. What part of the body they originated from, how his energy formed to create them, how that energy reacted to the environment around him after it left his body.. He doubted many alive studied the flow and purpose of energy as often as he did. On the other hand there were bound to be experts of the field who have dedicated their lives to the art. There was a lot he simply didn''t know. The jungle around him was unusually silent. The few creatures he had encountered scurriedly quickly by, as if they had somewhere much more important to be. The temperature was cool and refreshing. A light breeze blew eerily through the trees. It carried with it the crisp soothing smells of nature. His shoulder length black hair reached lazily towards the ground behind him. The man barely seemed to possess any sort of presence at all. He wore black armor with various red designs. An obsidian Longsword was strapped to his back, a shield roughly 3 feet wide and 4 feet tall covered most of the blade from view. He sighed contentedly, producing a bottle of water from his spatial dimension. He downed the savory blue substance in seconds. He discovered he could survive without much sustenance on a day by day basis, but he still enjoyed remaining in tip top shape. The taste was an obvious plus, and with certain meals he got excellent stat bonuses even if they were only temporary. Currently he has increased stats by 20% and three hours of triple regenerations. It was strange because originally as the man''s stats grew he actually needed to consume more calories on a daily basis. However, at one point in time or another he had eclipsed a majority of his need for food without his noticing. He suspected it had something to do with his cooking skills and the quality of ingredients he used but there was no way to be sure. All he knew was he could probably get by just fine eating once a day, if not every other day. The man walked for roughly an hour when he came upon a large clearing with a stream nearly at the other side of the clearing. The stream seemed to run into a large, decrepit tree. All of its leaves had long since withered and it''s bark was gnarly and knotted. Beneath the tree was a freakish ogre of a man with his back turned. He had green skin and a black Mohawk. He wore bulky black armor with gold trim. The shoulder guards had various spikes jutting out of them. The man had to have been at least 8 feet tall. He had a long shield on his back and what appeared to be a crude but effective spiked club in his right hand. If one were not native to the system and thus intimately familiar with its many inhabitants one probably wouldn''t know this was an Orc. Vincemt certainly hadn''t at first. Though similar in shape to humans, Orcs were often much taller and wider overall in stature. While their intelligence is often lower than most, they more than make up for it with their unrivaled strength and generous endurance. Their facial features were often crude and pronounced like a Neanderthal''s probably would have been. As Vincent cautiously approached, the man turned. He grunted, instantly seeming annoyed with the new presence in the clearing. He smacked his club against his open left palm several times earning an audible thump with each impact. It was clear the Orc possessed great amounts of strength. The Orc fixed him with a stare before finally saying in a deep, gruff voice. "You''re late." Vincent flinched, still not used to hearing the voice of another person. Were Orcs considered people? He wondered. He didn''t want to accidentally be racist in the Nexus by referring to a similarly advanced sentient creature as an animal. He scratched the back of his head in a half-hearted apology. "Sorry I.. didn''t honestly think you''d show." Vincent couldn''t help but frown as he spoke.. Clearly the system translated things spoken between two beings into whatever language the user was most comfortable with. Even though Vincent could communicate with the towering giant before him with no difficulty whatsoever, it''s voice wasn''t actually human at all and his mouth moved in a manner that didn''t coincide with English.. It was as if the man spoke in a series of grunts and growls that Vincent automatically understood. The Orc hefted it''s weapon over his shoulder and smirked at the much smaller man. "Hmm. I can appreciate honesty. I too am a very honest man! But you thought wrong." ''Not the least bit humble neither are you?'' Vincent thought deftly, but said nothing. The Orc continued. "In case you''ve forgotten since our last encounter a week ago, I am the amazing, the all mighty, the most strongest Orc, GILDARTS!" He finished in a yell stomping his foot leaving a large divot in the process. The entirety of the jungle seemed to shake with the force of his stomp. Vincent couldn''t help but take his claim at face value, internally sweating a bit at the display of strength. Even if it did come from someone whose antics were entirely ridiculous. He honestly reminded Vincent of a certain white haired pervert from one of his favorite ninja animes from the old days. Man he''d kill to be able to watch anime again. After regaining his balance he did his best to look the colossus in the eyes. The Orc spoke again, barely breaking stride. "Lucky for you, pathetic one, I have agreed to take you under my wing until you are ready to fly on your own and are strong enough to build your own nest." Vincent''s eyebrow twitched and he developed a tick mark. "That is not what was said and you know it! And stop calling me pathetic. This place is just outlandish." He said with a heavy frown. The orc merely laughed and when it was clear he had nothing further to contribute Vincint pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well.. we both know I can''t take point.. lead the way." The Orc nodded and began cutting a breakneck pace with his large lumbering strides. Vincent practically had to run to keep up. While struggling not to fall behind he just barely made out what the man/Orc was saying. "You know.. You speak in a funny manner." It was a statement more than any sort of question and his off-handed, dismissive tone made that obvious. Vincent frowned heavily. ''You think I''m the weird one¡­? You''re like a big dumb brute. All brawn no brain.'' He shook his head while musing internally. He couldn''t help but wonder why out of all the people that certainly had to have existed in this fucking jungle, WHY had THIS guy been the one he had come across first? He groaned as his thoughts drifted back to the day the two had met. After an.. interesting introduction, the pair had agreed to meet again a week from that day in order to audit one another and participate in explorations together. The Orc had apparently never seen a human being within the system before and Vincent had never seen another intelligent being period so the natural conclusion was for the two of them to break bread so to speak. Really as weak as he was compared to the rest of the system inhabitants this was a golden opportunity for his survivability. Of course, It hadn''t come without inherent risks.. Vincent shuddered whenever he remembered how he had nearly died that day¡­ Brief flashback Vincent was sprinting as quickly as he could through the jungle. He wasn''t running from anything; he was merely in a hurry. Of course since he wasn''t sneaking, multiple critters took swipes at him but he deftly avoided the majority of them and parried the few that grazed him in passing. Of course he''d never be able to withstand a direct hit from a majority of the creatures in the jungle but with the reaction time of your average beast it wasn''t a problem as long as he wasn''t blind sid- WHOOSH! Sixth sense barely activated in time to save his life. He slid into a matrix style duck mid sprint, narrowly avoiding losing his head as a massive spiked club impacted the space it had occupied moments before. Vincent was completely lost. He rolled to his feet and had just enough time to register a second strike that would have likely caved the entirety of his chest in had he not used Improved dash to quickly fling himself fifty feet backward. Unfortunately in his haste his trajectory was off, causing him to impact an intervening tree with bone crushing force. He gasped and slid to the floor coming to rest on one knee. He looked up with a grimace and had to do a double take. Was that the incredible Hulk? ''Impossible that shits copyrighted.'' Vincent thought. As his vision came back into focus and the being got closer he noticed it was some type of.. Green Goliath? Had to be an Ogre, he figured. It had green skin and bulging, wiggly muscles. The thing had black hair in the shape of a Mohawk and deep Forest green eyes that were too narrow to be a humans. Its face, jaw especially, was square and solid like a Neanderthal. He had two thick tusks protruding from his bottom mandible. It''s eyebrows seemed unnaturally thick and they wriggled like caterpillars. His nose was square and squashed in. "Well!" The thing bellowed. "You''re rather fast for such a pathetic¡­ what exactly are you? Why can''t I see your level and stats?" It inquired, getting closer and lower its voice as it approached. If the creature was expecting Vincent to provide answers he was going to be sorely disappointed as the blue eyed human was equally as lost. "I umm.. see what?" Vincent asked, dumbfounded by the question. He really didn''t expect the thing to speak English, let alone to understand the concept of levels and stats. Well it was English but it wasn''t. Somehow Vincent knew what the man was saying but it came out in gruff, gravely grunts. What was going on here? He was debating whether or not he should run but.. based on how the thing had caught up to him in an instant after he used his dash¡­ and now it also seemed the beast of a man was intelligent to boot so he likely couldn''t trick it. His only choice was negotiation. "I asked you why I can''t see your level and stats, like I can for everyone and everything else. What are you, some kind of warlock?" The barbarian man inquired with one narrowed eye. Vincent quickly shook his head. "No I umm.. I can''t read yours either. Not even your name. It just shows a bunch of question marks.. is that what you see?" He stammered out. This only seemed to confuse the large man further. "How strange¡­. Amd your level?" He asked, ignoring the much smaller man''s question. Vincent barely reached the bottom of this behemoth''s torso, though, so.. he let it slide. Scratching his chin Vincint frowned. "I haven''t leveled up yet. I''m level 1." He finished, not exactly proud of his utter lack of level progression after an entire year within the system''s deadly game. The eyes of the giant green being widened before narrowing. "Hmm.. truly? Yet you move with such swiftness. How interesting.. but even still. That doesn''t explain why I can''t see your level or stats." He finished crossing his arms and scratching his nose. Vincint had to resist the urge to facepalm himself. "Well.. maybe it''s possible I can help you. Like I said when I look at you all I see is question marks. What about you?" The man studied him quizzically for a few moments before finally saying "That.. is simply because I am too high of a level for you to read. That happens with all things that are too powerful for you to comprehend. But for you.." He said, leaning in slightly as he spoke. The moment stretched on, dramatic tension filling the air. "When I look at you I see.. nothing. As if you don''t really exist." The man grunted out. It was u settling and weird to hear so many words with such little mouth movement¡­ End flashback After that the two of them had pretty much agreed to meet again so that they could try and solve the mystery of where Vincint had come from among other things. It was apparent to the man from Earth that most things were born into the system such as this Gildarts, which disclosed itself to Vincent as an Orc, had been. The green man agreed to teach Vincent a bit about the system. He told Vincent that for convenience sake they would meet back in this spot one time but.. Then it would be wise for him to first take him to a safer, more beneficial area as apparently he was in a very high end danger zone of the jungle. ''Dirty son of a bitch. I fucking knew it.'' He had thought to himself at the time. But while the Orc had agreed to teach him, there was an unfortunate problem with regards to his level. Not a single creature within the country that the Orc knew of was lower than level 25, and that was the Hellspawn. The strongest monsters were always level 100. There was no foreseeable way for Vincent to level up here¡­ Chapter 11 end. Stats... Vincent and Gildarts skidded to a halt roughly seven miles from where their journey began. Vincent was panting heavily but he quickly schooled his features. It had taken them less than ten minutes to arrive at their destination whereas usually it would take Vincent an hour or more to travel such a distance. And the Orc had established that he was merely ''walking'' and he was ''extremely uncomfortable'' going any slower. "Still.." Gildarts began, carefully observing the huffing man. "It is honestly amazing that at level one you can keep up with even this level of speed. How high are your stats and skills?" Vincent for his part looked sheepish. "Pretty high I guess.. I''ve been struggling to survive this place every day of my life for a year." Gildarnts nodded seemingly satisfied with the explanation. "That makes sense. Its much easier to learn new skills eithout a class, and sense you''ve not had one for a year you''ve surely accumulated a lot of useful abilities. There''s no limit to how many skills one can possess but most wait no longer than their 13th birthday to pick a class, as it is hard to become truly fearsome without the unique boosts provided by one." Vincent caught himself glancing up frequently at the giant beside him. There was something about the man that made Vincent want to garner his approval. Maybe it was the man''s strength but it felt like something.. more. Like he wanted to be enthralled to the man''s service. Gesturing one sweeping tree trunk of an arm the Orc demanded. "Explain to me your skills." Vincent hesitated. His survival instinct somewhat shaped him into a.. less than trusting individual over the years. What if this were some sort of trap to get him to lower his guard and expose his skills? He quickly squashed the thought. The being before him needed no handicap should he choose to end the man''s life.. He took a deep breath. "Well.. are you sure you want me to do that? I have a ton of skills and we could be here a while." He warned. The Orc shrugged his massive shoulders and crossed his arms. "I have time." Vincent shook his head and sighed. "These first ones are some skills I received in a relatively short time frame of me being here. Within two months I had amassed fourteen skills. I''ll start with those¡­ "First I have sixth sense which is an improved form of my predatory instincts. It was my first ever skill. I obtained it completely by accident while running for my life from some¡­" he paused. Picturing how harshly Gildarts Would tease him if he told him he was nearly pecked to death by birds. ".. from something. It basically allows me to sense danger and determine how best to avoid it. In rare circumstances I can freeze enemies weaker than me." As he finished the explanation of his first skill the Orc merely nodded so he took that as a sign to continue. "Next I have Ecology which is an improved form of my identify. It''s the general skill I use to understand objects and their basic properties." At this Gildarts was visibly perplexed. "Identify is the skill used commonly by all beings of the nexus, even those lacking communication skills..." He paused, seemingly chewing over his next words carefully. "But never in all my thirty years of living have I heard of a skill evolving into a higher rarity or form. You say you can now sense the energy within objects and how it functions? That is truly astonishing. Many warlocks believe the entire Nexus is shaped by how the energies of the world behaves and what purposes they serve. To be able to read and manipulate those flows is their lifelong ambition.. For doing so would essentially give one the key to reshaping reality on a whim. Only God should have such power." Vincint shook his head. "Let''s not go saying crazy things like that. I''m certainly no God and if there is one, he''s a huge dick. The skill merely helps me understand what things are made of and how they work. It''s also pretty damn convenient when trying to create or master new skills." The man explained. This too seemed extremely unusual to the man. Gildarts mentioned that for most beings they simply ''learned'' the skills that were well known and passed down. It wasn''t entirely unheard-of for new skills to be created but it was certainly rare and took years of practice and effort with clear focus and intent. Only the masters of their arts typically achieved such things. Of course there were very general skills like ''farming'' and ''cooking'' that anyone could learn rather quickly but they were basically common knowledge. Vincent explained that it always felt more like he was creating a skill tham discovering it, because as the basic shape of the skill was forming, he could change its energy patterns to better suit his various needs. "Based on how I manipulate energy, different effects can be achieved either within my own body or the environment around me." He finished thinking about how fascinating it always seemed to watch a skill take shape in front of his eyes. The multitude of colors blending together, forming various patterns that would give way to a tool that he could use for his ambition. Vincent couldn''t create new skills entirely from nothing yet, instead having to rely on the system giving him something to work with when he had a specific task in mind. But still whilst the skill was on the cusp of development his Ecology combined with his perks allowed him to constantly impose his will while it formed, and steer the direction of developing energies within him. The problem was, there were so many combinations of energies and patterns to understand.. not to mention the purity of intent and strength of desire of the user largely played a role in developing new skills.. It was hard to focus while processing so much information sometimes. He was afraid he would someday end up creating a skill that was legitimately useless or worse, had negative effects. If that were even possible.. Gildarts crossed his arms, closing his eyes and nodding. "Truly fascinating. Even one such as I, the legendary and mighty Gildarts do not possess such an ability. You have potential. Please continue. I should like to hear more of your skills. Surely there is more to even your measly self than two skills." Vincent''s head grew a tick mark but he obliged the Orc nonetheless. "Right.. well next is my complete tranquility which more or less is a fancy way of saying my meditation skill. It doubles my intelligence stat and improves my regeneration. It also makes it easier to solve complex problems and plan the next steps of my ascension." Gildarts cocked an eyebrow as the shorter man finished the explanation for his third skill. The reason for his bemused expression wasn''t because of the skill itself however, but rather how the young man had worded it. "Your ''Ascension''?" He couldn''t help but ask. Vincent nodded and fixed the giant with a smirk. "I''m going to be king of this blasted jungle before I leave to explore the rest of the world." This caused Several intense moments of silence as neither one seemed willing to break their staredown. All at once the two burst into spontaneous laughter, clutching their stomachs as the pair''s humor mounted. After they regained their composure and wiped away stray tears, Gildarts prompted Vincent to continue his explanation of his skills. "Next I''m going to explain four skills at once because, well frankly they''re pretty straight forward and I kind of consider them a set. They all benefit from one another in various ways. I have smithing, cooking, farming, and alchemy." He held up four fingers, dropping one with each named skill as he went. "Smithing allows me to craft potentially any physical item. cooking allows me to.. well cook. Farming allows me to grow both edible items and poisonous ones, as well as everything in between. I''m sure I could handle livestock just fine as well but that''s not really a factor here. And finally there''s my alchemy, it allows me to create potions out of just about any combination of any types of ingredients." Maintaining pace, he barely sucked in a breath before continuing. "Then I have my sneak and improved Dash skills. Pretty straight forward. Originally Sneak just allowed me to move more quickly but finally after I started to truly grasp the potential of the skill I''m learning to hide my presence all together even without altering my movements." "Ingenious.." Gildarts muttered under his breath, although Vincent would never have claimed to have heard it lest he start a boasting match and subject himself to any number of degrading titles. "Improved Dash lets me move roughly a hundred feet in literally any direction but I have to be aware of my surroundings because I will collide with any physical objects in my path and its never fun." He explained, rubbing various invisible bruises from a multitude of mishaps when he was learning to master his skill. "I can also move just a fraction of the total distance and use a proportional amount of mana." He paused, realizing only now that he had already counted out nine skills and he was less than half way through the list. ''Maybe I have a problem..'' He thought to himself sheepishly. Was skill addiction a thing? Would he wake up someday to find himself on the next episode of skill hoarders? Probably. "Then I have acid, ice and fire resistance which.. pretty much do just that but they have some weird branches to their growths." He said making a strange face as if he had tasted something bitter. Grinding his ice resistance had been a real pain. Honestly they all had but only the ice during the harsh but brief winter a few months ago resulted in certain extremities getting frozen solid to the side of his leg. That was.. an uncomfortable day. "Then I have planta/Plante which basically means young tree I think.. don''t let it fool you, I''m not even close to creating trees. Sometimes I can make a pretty big stick I guess." He sort of only half joked. Gildarts remained entirely stone faced, clearly not seeing the humor in Vincent''s lack of flashy abilities. Vincent sighed, thinking ''tough crowd'' sheepishly to himself before he continued on. "I have my Sword and shield skill, which is probably my personal favorite. Something about a sword in my hand just feels right, you know?" He asked rhetorically. Gildarts answered anyway. "Because a sword is tiny and pathetic like you. Nothing like my mighty club." Vincent resisted the urge to see just how long he would last in a fight against the behemoth because.. he imagined it wasn''t long. Rubbing the bridge of his nose he began again. "Next I have my Unyielding strike and Unwavering guard, the first of which allows me to basically strike with unnatural force depending on how much stamina and mana I consume. The other allows me to negate significant amounts of incoming damage at a very steep cost of stamina and mana consumption." Gildarts seemed satisfied with his explanation so far. Taking his silence as a good sign, he continued. Then I acquired courage which was more or less useless to me at the time. It provides bonuses to my allies and party members. Then there was fireball and Ice bolt which strangely enough came about as results of completing the fire and ice resistance trials. Told you they had weird growths." He opened his mouth to continue but was cut off. "What in the name of a Carsidion is a trial?" If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The equally confused Vincent wanted to ask what a carsidion was but came to the conclusion it didn''t really matter anyways. "You don''t.. have trials?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, but another question quickly sprang to mind. "Wait.. are there more of you?" He asked. Gildarts for his part huffed as if insulted. "Preposterous! I am the only me! There can be no one mightier! There can be only oooone! Hahaha!" He yelled, causing Vincent to grimace. "Yeah no, highlander, that''s not what I meant. Calm down. Jesus. I meant are there more of your people? Orcs?" He clarified. This in turn caused Gildarts to pause and scratch his chin. "Well yes of course. There is my home village of course and roughly a hundred other Orc settlements in this country alone. I do not pretend to be geographically inclined but I know the world is much bigger than our one country.. there must be more Orcs out there." He said with a focused expression. He shook his head. "Bah. Anyways.. Orcs do not leave the country. Something dangerous lies beyond the safety of the sea. The jungle covers roughly half of the country, the mountain another third and the rest is open plateaus. Far to the east of us, past my village, and past the royal castle, lies the endless sea. And beyond that.. we do not know¡­ Here, where Orc has lived peacefully for 1000 years, we have no natural enemies.. we are not the strongest.. but we are mighty." To hear the powerful Orc claim that there were species whose power far eclipsed his own was hard to believe. He couldn''t imagine what sort of monsters lurked in the bowels of the Nexus. Gildarts continued, seemingly predicting Vincent''s next line of thought. "Before you ask, no you may not see mine, nor any other Orc village. You are too weak. They would kill you merely for the sport of it. But also.. I can assure you none of my people have ever heard of these.. trials. You shall explain them. But first.. what of your own people?" Vincent thought about pressing the subject seeing as the self declared strongest Orc was sitting here having a conversation with his ''pathetic self'' but he dropped it deciding it wasn''t worth the energy. Besides.. Where were his people? "I.. don''t know. I haven''t seen anyone from my past life since coming here. But my people definitely weren''t born here like yours. We never would have survived as we were back home." He finished, mind reeling with more questions than answers. Not having much else to say he decided to answer the second part of the question. "Anyways trials are like.. tests that sometimes become available upon reaching certain skill levels. Usually 25 and I suspect 50 but it seems there''s a massive XP wall every tenth level." Gildarts nodded, confirmed as much "indeed. There is an even larger wall every 25 levels, the typical threshold for an evolution.." The large man explained with a nonchalant expression. Vincent sweatdropped. He had figured as much but knowing things only got harder from here on in was a daunting thought. "Well.." He sighed. ".. in some of these trials you have to fight against overwhelming odds. Others you have to be patient or clever. Sometimes it''s as simple as reliving a memory or making a choice between two outcomes. It''s difficult to describe.. but a lot of them can give you permanent perks and attribute bonuses." He said, shifting his weight and running his fingers through his hair. "But lately I haven''t been doing any trials, I''ve just been letting them pile up. I have a really strong feeling that if I just wait and push my skill levels higher before attempting the trials, I can get much better rewards at the cost of a much more difficult challenge. Which is all the same to me, I love pushing my limits." As he finished his explanation Gildarts nodded. "And that is one of the things that kept me from slaughtering you that day. I admire your grit and determination. You may be pathetic but you are certainly no coward. It''s just as well. There is no place in this world for those with weak hearts." Vincent didn''t know whether to feel insulted due to the frequently used nickname or to be flattered due to the semi compliment he had received. "Still.. These trials you describe are strange.. I have never heard of such a phenomenon. Then again the entirety of your situation seems very abnormal. This does explain why your stats are not entirely pitiful despite your level being so." As the Orc spoke, Vincent tried and failed to observe the energy of the man before him. If he could compare what he saw from the Orc to what he saw from himself, he could at least get a feeling for whether or not they were composed of the same elemental and energetic components. It seemed every species had its own unique energy field around it. And the density, complexity and shape of that.. aura was generally a good indicator of how powerful something was compared to other things. But if a creature or being such as the one before him, completely outclassed him, then he could garner no details from looking at them aside from their physical appearance. "Is it possible the system made a mistake and I''m not supposed to be here? You know like a glitch? Maybe I''m supposed to be across the sea with my own people.." the Orc quickly shook his head in denial of the prospect. "The system does not make mistakes." He grunted. "The system is all powerful and we all must abide by its rules. If one were to live with the intent to defy the system''s will, one''s life would be proportionally harder to their defiance. The system does not tolerate disobedience. You must recognize it as the only and most absolute truth." Vincent began to feel uneasy as the man continued speaking about the system as if it were some sort of sentient deity. Or maybe that''s the problem.. maybe it was alive. Vincent had been keenly aware for some time now that an individual could impose their very will on the world once it had become a segment of the system. So what if the reverse were also true? What if the system was constantly making a conscious effort to impose its will on you, only allowing you to grow in ways that it saw fit? He had noticed quite a bit of resistance anytime he tried to shape a skill that allowed him to interact with matter or energy. Some skills also leveled a lot slower. Ecology was a primary example of such a skill. What if those were purposeful restrictions imposed by a sentient system? How do you even fight against something that effectively constitutes the very universe around you? Vincent decided he had had enough of this sketchy dialog so he switched subjects back to his numerable skills. "Anyways.. I digress.. where were we? Ah yes so after fireball and Ice bolt, I managed to achieve my first ever legendary skill. That was probably the hardest thing I''ve ever done in my entire life aside from surviving in and of itself." Gildarts leaned in closer, particularly interested in hearing how a level 1 had managed to achieve a legendary skill. Legendary skills often took years of mastery in one''s profession whether it be swordsmanship, wizardry, farming anything you could think of. One had to understand the complexity of the function and composition of such a skill. Even then, when a being had dedicated their entire lives to a skill or practice, the system sometimes never saw fit to reward some with such a powerful tool. Much like the reality he had been used to before, it seemed the chances of success leaned heavily in the favor of some individuals above others. But why had the system seen fit to reward him with such an advantage? Was it this place, pushing him to the edge of his limits and beyond day after day or something more? He truly didn''t know. "It''s called bleeding heart. It was right around the one year mark of my system integration. The life I live now could not have been more opposed to the life of ease and safety I took for granted before. As I struggled to survive over the past year the trauma and isolation began to unravel my sanity. I nearly gave up.. so many times¡­" He explained, trailing off slightly. Then determination filled his eyes like fire. "But I didn''t." His fist clenched as he continued, getting more passionate as he described the intense feelings he had in those hellish, disorganized early days "I learned that focusing on specific desires, placing one''s life on the line and harnessing the power of emotions fueled skill growth and development. By channeling all my pain and anger into a singular purpose, I began to sense the development of a skill more complex than any I had previously witnessed. I spent nearly two months developing those dense, unstable energies. The stronger the skill became the more damaging it was to my body and mind, but I refused to release control of the pent up energy I had been slowly accumulating with the significance of my will and emotions." "My feelings themselves seemed to intensify by the day. I didn''t think my body nor mind could last much longer. The pain continued building to the point that I could barely function until one day.. An explosion of energy occured and it finally happened.. " Congratulations! The intensity of your emotions and your indomitable will have resulted in the birth of the unique feat: Emotional singularity. Emotional singularity: grants the perk ''A wailing significance is born unto the Nexus.'' A wailing significance is born unto the Nexus. The weight of your feelings and will demand to be witnessed by others. Activate your skill: bleeding heart, with the phrase ''feel my pain. Bleeding heart!'' User shares half of all damage received with the target. +100 vitality. +25 endurance Bleeding heart (legendary) User''s target shares half of all damage received during the duration of the spell. Due to the ''legendary'' rarity gain a large reduction in mana consumed per level. Remains active until target dies or user cancels its effects (Active skill) (consumes 2500 mana) The effects of the skill itself were phenomenal. His mind whirled with possibilities. If he cast the ability on an enemy then even if he couldn''t hit them it wouldn''t matter because every time Vincent sustained damage they would take just as much. All he would have to do is make sure he had enough health and heals to outlast them. At least in theory. But it was the plus 100 to vitality that truly set this skill apart from others. The extra boost to endurance was also incredibly beneficial. It allowed him to train for a lot longer under much harsher conditions. If someone consumed too much stamina and continued pushing themselves you could actually begin to lose HP. But push himself he did.. to the brink every single day, which played a large part in what eventually led him to achieving his second legendary skill.. Congratulations! Skill: Unparalleled physical fitness (legendary) achieved! Unparalleled physical fitness (legendary) Only obtainable by one who has shattered their limits day after day merely to survive and hence has evolved to inhuman levels of physical capabilities. This is a unique skill that grows based upon skill level and all stats. Grants the perk: Unparalleled physical fitness Unparalleled physical fitness. Grants the user 1 point of strength, endurance, and agility per level. Grants the user 2 points of vitality per level. "The skill itself didn''t really seem to do anything. But the perk that it grants. I''ve never seen anything like it. I unlocked it after months of intense physical training." Gildarts seemed to take the information in stride. "Though it is uncommon..it is not entirely unheard-of for skills to grant perks rather than having any real function themselves. However.. that particular perk seems especially powerful." He finished with a serious expression. "Be Careful who you reveal your abilities to.. there are some within the Nexus who grow stronger by devouring others. They will hunt down and murder anyone with a particularly powerful skill. Those are truly nasty beasts. We call them.. the depraved. Most of them lack consciousness, but some do not and they are very sneaky." Vincent considered such a possibility. If the system allowed for damn near any play style there had to have been someone out there running a vampire build right? He supposed if he were ever to encounter one such individual.. he would probably use improved Dash to get the hell out of there. How do you even block that? He pictured some unnaturally thin creature with pointed ears, sharp fangs and pale skin, darting around sucking skills out of people''s necks while their backs were turned. He wasn''t about to lose his hard earned skills because of a hickey. With a shudder he decided to continue on with the tedious task of explaining his abilities. "I have a geographical inclination which more or less lets me always know which direction is which and I never forget how to navigate places I''ve seen at least once before." He explained shrugging. It was a skill of convenience more than anything. "My Dodge ability well.. makes it easier to precisely time my dodges. Even if I can''t necessarily keep up with something''s speed. Mostly I use it to Dodge those damn birds if a few of them catch up to me on my travels." Gildarts nodded sagely. "A wise decision. The hellspawm terrorize all creatures of the Nexus." He replied somberly. After a moment of silence Vincent continued. "The next three abilities I unlocked all at once. It wasn''t exactly the most honorable training I''d ever done but.. I was hoping to increase my defense enough to survive at least one hit from.. literally anything." He explained. Thinking back on it, it made sense why even a slight graze had always taken extremely large portions of his health. Every enemy he faced was a bare minimum of level 25 apparently. "Essentially all I did was let my companion hit me with our strongest attack over and over until I unlocked a few skills that would increase my survivability." He meant to explain further but Gildarts grunted, signaling whatever he had to say was clearly more important. "You said you could locate no others of your kind. How then, do you have a companion?" He questioned. Vincent scratched his head trying to think of how best to put into words what exactly his companion was. Actually now that he thought about it, the man honestly had no idea what the plant-like creature represented. "Umm well.. he''s not a human like I am.. he''s actually from a skill or a trial rather.. it''s a little complicated." Gildarts for his part nodded, seemingly appeased with the information given and requiring no further explanation. "Anyways the skills are Enhanced toughness. Hardened skin. And Reinforced bones. They all have extremely similar calorific flows.. uhh the flows of their energy. Because they all served about the same function for different stats." Enhanced toughness. (Rare) your muscles, fueled by the energies of the nexus and repeatedly torn asunder through intense hard work have now mutated to become more dense and flexible! Due to the ''rare'' rarity gain a moderate bonus to the effectiveness of the strength stat per skill level. (Passive skill) Hardened skin. (Uncommon) your skin, fueled by the energies of the nexus and repeatedly torn asunder through intense hard work has now mutated to become thicker and more conductive of natural energies! Due to the ''uncommon'' rarity gain a small bonus to the effectiveness of the endurance stat per skill level. (Passive skill) Reinforced bones. (Uncommon) your bones, fueled by the energies of the nexus and repeatedly ground to dust through intense hard work, have now mutated to become stronger yet lighter. Due to the ''uncommon'' rarity gain a small bonus to the effectiveness of the agility stat per skill level. (Passive skill) A brief break had to be taken so that a certain green skinned hulk of a creature could relieve himself. As he made his way back over with lumbering steps Vincent shook his head and continued... End of chapter 12 1/2 More stats... A brief break had to be taken so that a certain green skinned hulk of a creature could relieve himself. As he made his way back over with lumbering steps Vincent shook his head and continued¡­ "Those three abilities in particular wreaked havoc on my body, mind and Soul. But eventually they acclimated and I began to change, getting stronger¡­" Gildarts leaned on closely, curiosity written on his face as Vincent continued unabated. "The next ability I achieved was somewhat similar to the prior three in terms of shape but with distinct differences in functionality." Rejuvenation (rare) Your heart is the sun at the center of the universe that is your soul. Yours shines particularly bright within the Nexus. Due to the ''rare'' rarity, gain a small bonus to all incoming and outgoing sources of healing per skill level. +25% vitality. Grants the perk: second wind. (Passive skill) He couldn''t help but realize that at the current moment, even without his percentage buffs, his Vitality was his highest stat, being well over one hundred. Not only that but it had actually nearly breached 200. It could even be amplified multiple times over by meditation, food, and other such means. He couldn''t help but wonder if that was the stat that allowed him to go weeks without food¡­ It didn''t seem incredibly potent in terms of healing alone. Even being nearly as high as all of his other stats combined, he only healed for around 4 HP a second. It must have served another function altogether.. As each stat increased you typically didn''t notice the gain immediately unless you received a massive boost all at once. That felt like an indescribable euphoria but it didn''t last long. More importantly was that over time as your stats accumulated you began to feel emotions more intensely, and your physical sensations were all heightened. It felt incredible. Vitality in particular left one feeling extremely energetic, and able to continue working after only brief moments of rest and his was beginning to reach phenomenal levels. Vincent even began to see changes in his physical body as his stats and skills evolved. He couldn''t be sure but he also had a theory that the higher one''s stats were, the faster skills leveled. Whenever a skill received a boost from attributes it typically contributed to the leveling speed as well, he figured. "Next I discovered berserker rage. It essentially-" He was cut off midway through. "I know what it does. It''s one of my primary skills!" Gildarts boasted. ''Of course it is, you big dummy..'' Vincent internally thought. He wondered how many skills Gildarts passed in total, or how many was average for a person. Berserker''s rage (rare) raises the user''s attack and defense at the cost of intelligence. Due to the ''Rare'' rarity lose slightly less intelligence per skill level. (Active skill) (requires 10 intelligence) Vincent thought it was a particularly interesting skill at the time because not only was it a 25% multiplier on his overall attack and defense, it was also the first skill he had ever seen that consumed stats rather than mana or stamina. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, so anyways.. more recently I unlocked telekinesis but honestly I can lift more on my own with pure strength. I typically only use it to reach things I typically can''t or for small tasks when I have my hands full. Not going to lie, sometimes I''m just lazy and don''t feel like getting up to do stuff." Telekinesis (rare) Allows the user to move objects with the strength of their minds alone. Due to the ''Rare'' rarity strain of the use decreases and strength of the skill increases a small amount per skill level. Intelligence grants a moderate boost to this skill. (Active skill) "Before, when I was working the forge during smithing or when I was making certain dishes I would primarily have to use my telekinesis or even worse, my bare hands to separate and mix stuff. So I studied and worked my ass off to discover some abilities to help me with those processes. Thankfully after my smithing, cooking and alchemy all reached a little over 40 my hard work paid off, no doubt due to extreme synchronization in my skills." Extract (rare) Allows the user to separate elements in a heterogeneous mixture. Primarily used in the smithing, cooking and alchemy. Due to the ''Rare'' rarity gain a marginal increase in the accuracy and scope per skill level (Active skill) Refine (rare) Allows the user to reshape any solid, liquid or gas into a more stable form. The material can not exceed the physical strength of the user. Refining a substance removes impurities and strengthens it''s elemental bonds. Primarily used in smithing, cooking and alchemy. Due to the ''Rare'' rarity gain a marginal increase in improvements made to a substance per skill level (Active skill) Combine (rare) Allows the user to force ionic and covalent bonds based on their knowledge of the chemical composition of two or more substances. Primarily used in the smithing, cooking and alchemy. Due to the ''Rare'' rarity gain a marginal increase in the strength and scope of forced bonds per skill level (Active skill) As he finished his explanation for his three utility skills Vincent hesitated. Gildarts, noticing his pause prompted, "what is it?" Vincent shook his head. "Well nothing really, it''s just that''s about it. This last skill.. I actually only just unlocked it when I met you. Which I assume is the reason why I can understand you and vice versa." Advanced communications (epic) grants the user the perk: Omnilingual translation. Gildarts nodded. "Indeed. It is a skill most acquire upon conversing with another intelligent species possessing any sort of cultural language." He casually explained. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Vincent frowned. "That''s twice now you''ve said.. intelligence species possessing communications. Like you and I right? So does that mean there are intelligent species that don''t possess communication but are still aware? Still have complex thoughts and emotions? They have a God damned consciousness?" This time it was the Orcs'' turn to frown. "I''m not sure why you''re getting upset or what kind of place you come from.. but here in the Nexus.. every living creature possesses complex thought." Vincent''s stomach sank as his worst fears were confirmed. In the old world, humanity would often justify taking the lives of less intelligent species because they believed animals as a whole didn''t comprehend what death was nor why it occurred. Honestly, it seemed like a really shitty way to justify things, even then. But that''s just how it was. Now, here in the Nexus, if you take another life for XP or sport or any situation really, you were irrefutably harming another sentient soul for personal gain. One that understood the consequences of death. Creature''s that spoke amd held beliefs and traditions. They truly loved their mates and offspring. Just like people. What sort of system.. forced you to kill other higher level life forms to grow stronger..? He supposed those who could communicate could likely coexist without much fanfare but the monster''s? The creatures that he had no doubt were designed by the system as cattle for leveling? They had no choice but to follow their nature. "I see this troubles you." Gildarts interrupted the man''s train of thought. Vincent merely nodded numbly. "Of course it would.. you are so pathetic. How could it not?" This time Vincent couldn''t resist giving in to the white hot rage that ripped through him. "What do you know, you bastard!?" He bellowed. "That''s the exact same kind of mentality my people had in the old world! Humans believed that if a species wasn''t their own it''s life held less value and meaning. Pathetic! Do you enjoy taking the lives of others? And for what? A few stats!?" Vincent didn''t know what had happened in the next instant. Gildarts disappeared from his vision and suddenly pain exploded in his abdomen. His abilities didn''t even have time to register the action. Gildarts had buried a fist in his gut, doubling him over. "You forget to whom you speak, boy. I do not enjoy killing no.. but I shall not be weak and pathetic like you. I am the almighty Gildarts! To refuse to kill is to accept death. The moment the Nexus took you into its folds, you were subjected to its suffocating, absolute authority. There is only one rule in this world. Obey that which the Nexus has ordained. You must kill or you will be killed." He finished boldly, raising to his full, towering height above the wheezing Vincent. The much shorter man looked up defiantly. "I just don''t think I can do that." Gildarts sighed and shrugged. "Then you shall die. Pity. What a waste." The two of them agreed to part ways for a few days after that. Vincent hadn''t had a chance to go over his perks with the lumbering giant but at this point neither of them were in the mood for any more words. Vincent looked at his stats. He had thought before meeting gildarts he was doing good. In terms of sheer numbers his abilities and stats looked great on paper. In fact they looked ridiculous to him. But when it came to his position in the hierarchy of power it was clear he had barely scratched the surface of the proverbial ocean. Level: 1 XP 0/1000 (0%) Class: N/A Health: 8600/8600 Mana: 4900/4900 SoA (unique) lvl 17 Attk: 93 (+25% BR)(+25% LW) GE (unique) lvl 10 Defense: 72 All Defense equipment: 112 (+25% BR)(+25% LW) Stats: Strength: 69 (+10%) Endurance: 86 (+10 Elixir) (+10%) Vitality: 165 (+37%) Intelligence: 59 (-10 BR) (+10%) Perception: 54 (+10%) Agility: 54 (+10%) Skills: Sixth sense (rare) lvl 45 Ecology (epic) lvl 30 Complete tranquility (epic) lvl 30 Smithing (common) lvl 53 Farming (common) lvl 52 Sneak (uncommon) lvl 50 Improved dash (epic) lvl 47 Cooking (common) lvl 49 Alchemy (uncommon) lvl 50 Acid resistance (uncommon) lvl 49 Fire resistance (uncommon);lvl 49 Ice resistance (uncommon) lvl 45 Sword and shield (common) lvl 49 Unyielding guard (epic) lvl 35 Unwavering strike (epic) lvl 35 Planta/Plante (rare) lvl 42 Courage (rare) lvl 35 Fireball (uncommon) lvl 49 Ice bolt (uncommon) lvl 49 Geographic inclination. (Uncommon) lvl 40 Dodge. (Common) lvl 49 Enhanced toughness. (Rare) lvl 37 Hardened skin. (Uncommon) lvl 40 Reinforced bones. (Uncommon) lvl 45 rejuvenation. (Rare) lvl 37 Extract (Rare) lvl 23 Refine (Rare) lvl 21 Combine (Rare) lvl 22 Advanced communications. (Epic) Lvl 1. Berserker rage. (Rare) lvl 45 telekinesis. (Rare) lvl 40 Unparalleled physical fitness (legendary) lvl 24 Bleeding heart (legendary) lvl 20 Perks: Will to survive II +2% vitality Smithing +3 strength and agility Limit breaker + 20 endurance +5 strength Camouflage. Harder to detect +5 Agility. Connoisseur. Cooking, crafting, alchemy knowledge. +5 Intelligence and Perception. Ecologist. Ecology. +25 perception. Fortitude II Grants the user a permanent + 10 in strength and agility marquis of science. Grants +10 intelligence Transmutation grants knowledge of the atomic structure of all things +5 intelligence Gourmet chef. boost from food. +10 Vitality Honor. to live by the way of the sword and shield is to live by one''s honor. Whenever facing an enemy one on one, gain a 25% increase in attack and defense. Receive greatly reduced damage from sneak attacks. +10 strength +5 agility Sanguine toxicity. Lifebringer plus toxic affinity. Toxic blood. Heals allies. Used as a catalyst in most crafts. +20 vitality +10 endurance Second wind. Restores the user''s health and stamina once per battle. Lone wolf. Gain +10% to all stats when not in a party or fighting with allies. +5 to all stats A wailing significance demands to be felt. With the phrase ''feel my pain. Bleeding heart!'' User shares half of all damage received with the target. +100 vitality. +25 endurance Unparalleled physical fitness. Grants 1 point to strength, endurance and agility per level. Grants 2 points per level to vitality. Trial(s) available: Expert smithy+ (lvl 50 smithing) Somatic expression (Complete tranquility lvl 25) Acute dynamic movement (lvl 25 Improved dash) Atomic scrutiny (lvl 25 Ecology) Explosive growth (lvl 25 Planta/plante) ????? Gladiator (lvl 25 Berserker rage) Biologic metamorphosis ( lvl 25 Enhanced toughness) Introduction to the Astral plane (lvl 25 Telekinesis) Unparalleled physical fitness lvl 24 The flaming lord of despair appears! (Lvl 50 Fire resistance) Vincent whistled. So much had changed in the year and some odd months he''d been here. he had changed. Honestly a large part of his stats came from his legendary skills but even without those he had grown tremendously. He looked at his perk, lone wolf. combined with honor it seemed he would be a truly ridiculous solo fighter. Or at least he would be, if he ever found other people around his level to associate with, that is. The other perk that he had unlocked was Sanguine toxicity. That had been a blessing from a guardian angel. He would never forget how surprised he had been when two of his perks had combined to form a stronger one¡­ Congratulations! Synchronization detected!.. recalculating.. Congratulations! Your perks, Lifebringer and Toxic affinity have fused to become¡­ Sanguine toxicity! He did a lot of research on combining skills and perks after that. From what he understood it was entirely possible for essentially any skill or perk to be combined with another if their calorific flow was compatible. He couldn''t help but wonder if it were possible to create skill sets, and was there a benefit to doing so if it were? Shaking his head he began his trek back to the cave. Another thing that really bothered him was the trial with question marks. It was completely grayed out and he couldn''t select it even if he wanted to. He wasn''t even sure which skill had unlocked the trial. Gildarts had left him on his own so he hoped he could avoid running into any predators that felt like crushing him for mere sport today. He was exhausted. He felt as if he were some walking plot device that had just been used to describe a whole year''s worth of skills because some lazy writer chose to use a time skip instead of actually establishing a decent storyline to get us to this point¡­ Life truly was strange. End of chapter 12 2/2. The Fang of Flame II Imagine if you woke up one day and all of your problems had simply disappeared. Vanished into thin air. All of your financial struggles, solved. All of your career hurdles, blown away. All your academic fears.. erased. Now imagine your life''s work was gone as well. Everything you had ever accomplished, now irrelevant. Every plan you ever made, now undone. Everything that mattered before.. Everything you knew.. Everyone.. Gone. Vincent hated this stupid system. It had taken Everything from him. Well.. Everything he had left anyways. When he lost his parents it hurt. It felt unfair and wrong. It felt like there was a piece missing. But all of that pain somehow felt natural. Maybe it was meant to be. Maybe the hands of fate have woven a web that could not be altered. For better or for worse, everything seemed to work out the way it was supposed to. But here in this new world.. in the system. Everything felt wrong. Every death. Every birth. A perpetual cycle of forced life and death. If Vincent didn''t know any better he would say some malevolent entity, perhaps even the system itself, had stitched together an infinite number of planets and species in an unnaturally harsh and aggressive world in order to actuate an artificial war. The question was.. for what purpose? What did it gain by allowing various creatures of different origin to grow stronger through constant warfare and death? From what he had understood from Gildarts, the Orcs were the dominant force (though some rare creatures were more powerful, they were far less numerous) in the country which they called Garkan. Garkan was allegedly the most powerful Orc that ever lived. Legend has it he actually founded the very country on which they walked. They say that in a much darker period of history, the Orcs were at constant war with other Nexus occupants. Wars erupted amongst the many humanoids that made the petty squabbles of today seem peaceful in comparison. Garkan, no longer able to stand watching the death of his people at the hands of the system, used his infinite strength to reach deep into the ground. He heaved, and there occurred an incomprehensible, grinding, crunch. The country that would later be named after the Legendary Orc was ripped away from the rest of the world and set adrift on the endless sea. The landmass drifted for an unknown number of years. Eventually there was a shuddering impact and the country came to a halt. It had collided with the very mountain containing what would one day be Vincent''s Mythical Cavern, as fate would have it. While drifting the country had been primarily in the shape of a C, though one of astronomical proportions. The jungle comprised the middle of the country with open lands on each side. The mountain lodged itself directly in the middle of the C forming more of an O shape. Over time the natural forces of the elements fused the two colossal landmasses permanently together. He thought about it for a long time. If Vincent had to guess.. Originally there were only the Orcs in this country, hence why they were so dominant and powerful. They had an evolutionary advantage by virtue of having a head start in their development. Monsters must have begun to spawn and breed rapidly sometime many years after the country had collided with the mountain. Something ancient slumbered within the mountain causing the environment to be invigorated with untamed energy. The Nectar.. Vincent launched himself from tree to impossibly thick tree in the jungle. His movements were uncanny, like a wild animal''s. He would swing himself from a low branch, launching himself toward another tree. Using the tree''s system enhanced bark as a makeshift springboard, his Reinforced bones and Unparalleled physical fitness allowed him to propel himself inhumanly far. A new skill he had recently achieved; Aerodynamics (rare) Allows the user a small semblance of control over the forces of resistance (typically air) that counteract movement. Due to the ''Rare'' rarity gain a small bonus per skill level in degree of control over air currents and other restrictive flows. combined with his telekinesis meant he had an unnatural degree of control over his direction of travel as well as his loss of inertia between each movement. Though agility accounted for most of an individual''s speed, the strength stat also boosted one''s mobility due to the explosive force of their system enhanced muscles. Vincent''s strength of 59 and his agility of 54 were further amplified by his growing number of skills. It was only because of this precise combination of unusually efficient movements, abnormally high stats and his versatile skills that he was able to keep up with the currently expeditious movement of his new Orc friend. It had been a few weeks now since the two had met and not much had occurred since then. Vincent decided to take a break on his skill grinding while he gathered information about the wider world around him. He also took this time to revisit his bases. Repeatedly using a skill simply to use it wouldn''t provide any skill XP. It was, however, a great way for a user to establish a connection to and familiarize themselves with their skill. Each skill had a unique feeling and energy flow. Each one targeted a different portion of the body and served its own functions. Some even required emotion and passion to wield effectively. Another added benefit of establishing connections with your skills was that it lessened much of the strain one felt when using it. For instance, Vincent had become so familiar with Ecology at this point that the skill no longer strained his senses or left him with a throbbing headache when he couldn''t understand some complex new pattern. The skill had become a natural part of him, like his arm or his mind. None could appreciate the intimate connection to one''s skills quite like Vincent. To him, each skill sang. Each skill was a part of the larger collective existence that made him, him. He saw how each ability interacted with and affected one another within him. He trusted his skills to keep him alive. Or.. in the current situation.. keep him from being left behind by the massive tank that was Gildarts. Currently the duo were in the midst of a hunt. The creature in question was reportedly around level 50. Vincent had no frame of reference for overall creature strength but from the way Gildarts spoke.. It was one of if not the strongest inarticulate beasts in the jungle. It was also made apparent through their conversations that Vincent was the only one who could see the color of a creature''s name so he had absolutely no clue what to do with that information. Gildarts''s name still appeared to him as a series of question marks so he couldn''t exactly use the man as a reference. According to the Orc, level 100 was typically the cap for both skills and lifeforms but lvl alone didn''t necessarily determine overall power. The allocation of stats and the types of skills a beast used often determined the outcome for battles. On that same token some builds worked better against some opponents than others. Vincent had a distinct feeling he was missing a piece of the puzzle and that there was more to it than that but for now that was what he had to go on. When the duo finally arrived at what Vincent could only assume was their destination he did a double take. Everything around them in a three hundred foot radius was scorched and charred. He couldn''t see their quarry yet, but a sinking feeling made itself known in his gut. Why did it feel like he''d been led into a trao set by fate itself?.. There was a large hill with various holes dug throughout it like a series of tunnels or catacombs. The air was stuffy and dry. Ashes and embers drifted dangerously all around them. The few trees the area possessed were leaning and roasted, nearly all of them more ash than wood. Curls of smoke rose relentlessly to the sky. It smelled like death. To Vincent''s ecological senses it was as if the very ground beneath them pulsed with a crimson red hue. Beside the focus-minded man the colossal Gildarts stepped forward and slammed his club down violently and without warning. The impact caused Vincent to yelp in fright and jump back a foot. "Gah!... What the hell?!" He asked indignantly. "Bahahaha!" The Orc laughed heartily, holding his stomach. "You should have seen your face. Relax. It was merely bait. Watch. It comes." He finished looking forward with a grin of anticipation. Vincent frowned at the man but said nothing as he turned his attention towards the blazing hillside. There was a shift in the wind. Gildarts was right. Something was coming. In the middle of the large hill a massive energy stirred. He watched as a lone creature crawled through the earth before lumbering out of the largest tunnel entrance and stalking slowly over to the precipice of the hill. Vincent''s heartbeat quickened. He felt himself sliding instinctively into a defensive stance. Beside him Gildarts finished his pre-battle ritual and stepped forward. His steps were heavy and confident. He hefted his mighty club up on his right shoulder and stopped a few feet in front of Vincent. The black haired man focused a wary eye on both his self declared mentor and their target. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. He couldn''t help but wonder.. Did the beast before them remember him? Did it remember that time it had thought him easy prey and hence allowed itself to be led into an improvised trap in the form of the jungles freaking dragon? Did it hold a grudge and would it perhaps ignore Gildarts entirely in order to end Vincent in one swift, brutal, retaliatory strike? Vincent took in a long shaky breath. He really wished he had brought an extra pair of pants. Fifty feet away and roughly twenty feet up, the Fang of flame raised its head and roared. Yeah.. definitely should have brought those pants. The beast leapt through the air landing with a harrowing crash. A plume of ash was blown through the air. It wasn''t particularly large, at least not compared to some other creatures in the jungle, but it was clearly dense as the impact of its landing caused a spider web of cracks across the ground. Vincent dearly wished he could use his courage ability on Gildarts. For whatever reason, though he suspected it was because they were different species, the two could not form a party together. As it was Vincent currently had courage cast from his companion onto himself and bleeding heart cast on Gildarts, so he effectively had another 50% of his health pool in reserve. Fortunately since the pair couldn''t form a party, Lone wolf and honor would also be active for the duration of this fight. When combined with courage and Berserker''s rage his attack, speed and defense were increased by nearly 75 percent. Even still with all his boosts.. he wasn''t sure how helpful he would be in this fight. The mighty Fang regarded Gildarts cautiously before it fixed Vincent with a savage glare promising unending torture and pain. It was apparent that the creature did indeed remember his previous encounter with the blue eyed fellow and based on the look he was giving the man he was sure beyond a shadow of any doubt at this point that the beast held a grudge. Gildarts raised a curious brow. "A friend of yours perhaps?" He asked, looking at the cowering Vincent quizzically. "It would seem he knows you from somewhere. Perhaps that is why you were so confident your strategy would work." Vincent for his part just shook his head and summoned his sword and shield. "Yeah look I really don''t want to talk about it. You''re sure you can take this thing out?" He asked. The whole plan was a bit sketchy. Especially the using him as bait part. Apparently Gildarts had fought this thing in the past to a stand still. The flaming wolf couldn''t breach Gildarts'' considerable defenses enough to land a decisive blow and Gildarts was unable to hit the swift, nimble beast. The Fang was a solid level 50 and Gildarts was approximately halfway through the forties. Typically the system was designed in such a way that it would usually take a team of at least 5 individuals to take down a creature of the same level as them. Rarity and attributes depending of course. But it seemed Gildarts was truly talented. Even among a species that is well known for their strength and combat ability, few stood toe to toe with Gildarts. The large Orc snorted in amusement. "I merely need to land one blow, and I shall fell this slippery beast." He exclaimed. Vincent shook his head and sighed. "So be it.. just.. try to be quick." He said as he began to walk forward at a slow and steady pace. Gildarts chuckled. "That is my middle name!"... it definitely was not, Vincent decided. Vincent''s Sixth sense screamed as he approached. He wanted nothing more than to run away.. but he couldn''t run forever. Eventually he had to stand and fight. He eyed the beast cautiously as he closed the distance between them. The Fang, for its part, waitied cautiously, seemingly content to let its two prey create some distance between one another. It was clear from its darting eyes this beast was extremely intelligent, even if it couldn''t communicate. Vincent was just about to make his move when he paused. He couldn''t help the intrusive thought that came next.. If this was the strongest non-civilized beast in the jungle.. The Earth man''s eyes went wide and he gasped. "That damn dragon could have spoken to me!" Vincent instantly regretted letting himself get distracted on the field of battle. His sixth sense exploded. He wouldn''t have time to dash away from the incoming swipe from the massive thing. The moment it noticed he lowered his guard it didn''t hesitate to strike. The monster before him was a true, experienced, Apex predator. "Unyielding guard!" Vincent called, drawing up his shield just in time to take the strike. He was faintly aware he had gained another skill level or two. He leaned back as best he could to avoid some of the impact. All of his defensive skills and stats were working in tandem to boost his durability well beyond the limits of all but the strongest materials found in the world, before the system came to earth. It was far from a direct hit. Even so, despite all these factors working in his favor¡­ The attack blew the man completely off his feet. He ragdolled through the air for God knows how long before landing harshly in a heap of a pile. He had landed near a giant archway cut into the rock around them. Above him the arch began to crumble and he rolled out of the way of the tumbling debris. Gildarts crossed his arms and shook his head. "Pathetic! If you can''t even survive a single swipe from the beast how do you expect to hold its attention while I slay it with my mighty club?" He bellowed. Vincent rose shakily to his feet. He huffed several times, waiting for the mind numbing pain to recede. It felt like he had been crushed by a train. A large gash was cut into his shoulder and blood dripped from his mouth. "Yeah, yeah.. lucky shot. I wasn''t ready." He huffed. He tried his best to make light of the situation but the fact was he had just lost a tenth of his mana and nearly a fifth of his HP. Health: 7500/8600.. 7504¡­ 7508¡­ He couldn''t take many more hits like that. And god forbid he take an attack directly. He quickly downed half a health potion to top himself off. The warm rush he felt left him with a frown, even as his shoulder wound knitted itself together. Why hadn''t he thought to stockpile more health potions? He barely had 7 and a half as it was. His instincts screamed at him as the beast sought to follow up its attack with a finisher. It''s entire body folded up in a flaming ball that began to spin rapidly like a wheel. It bounced into the air before blasting itself forward in a trail of fire. Vincent''s eyes widened and he used his dash ability to launch himself to the side. As he landed in a slightly crouched position he turned just in time to see the beast impact the arch-way he had previously been standing under. The flaming missile blew a massive hole into the large rocky structure. He definitely didn''t think he could have survived that. He still had roughly 5000 mana so he could use dash quite a few times if need be. The problem was.. how did he get the creature to stand still long enough for Gildarts to charge up his special attack? Gildarts informed him he would need at least a minute and he had to launch it nearly as soon as it finished charging so the timing had to be perfect. It also took a massive amount of mana and stamina so it wasn''t a technique he could use carelessly. The Fang shook his head as the beast dislodged itself from the hill and growled, stalking toward its much smaller prey. It spared a brief glance to the massive Orc that had thus far seemed content to sit the fight out.. The creature knew instinctively that the Orc was the true threat but if he wasn''t attempting to fight then it could focus it''s attention on the task at hand. After labeling Gildarts a non threat for now the creature turned its head back to Vincent, shaking its mane to dislodge some loose rubble from it. It was Vincent''s turn to take advantage of the creature''s carelessness. As it shook its head it hadn''t noticed the 5 ice bolts its opponent had fired in rapid succession. The first impacted its left eye as it turned back towards him, causing it to rear up and scream in agony. The 4 ice bolts after that all managed to impact the creature''s gut with resounding thuds but it wasn''t nearly enough. The young man had wondered if ice would do more damage against a fire based enemy and was extremely disappointed to find that while fire worked wonders on ice based opponents, the reverse wasn''t necessarily true. At least not at the level of combat that Vincent was currently capable of. The creature landed on all fours again and fixed its target with a murderous one eyed glare. Its other eye was twitching, still stinging from the unfortunate point of impact. He hadn''t meant to hit the damn thing in the eye.. he hoped it didn''t take it personally. The Fang snorted before rearing back on it''s hind legs and launching a fireball from its snout. Vincent yelped and did a back handspring to avoid the intense ball of heat. He was sure with his fire resistance sitting at a solid level 49 he could probably have survived the blast but it would have hurt like the dickens. The creature was clearly making a point by saying ''ha let me show you how it''s done!'' Skidding to a halt he raised one arm toward the beast. He closed his eyes in intense concentration and yelled, "Plante!" There was a persistent rumbling and suddenly several large, thorny roots sprang up from the ground, wrapping themselves tightly around the legs of the beast. An acidic substance dripped from the tip of each thorn, a clear sign of Vincent''s sanguine toxicity being mixed with his plant based skill. Vincent found that with enough practice it was easy for him to mix just about any combination of skills whether they were primarily active or passive. Of course the compatibility of the skills'' energy played a large part in how effective the end result would be. Sanguine toxicity in particular allowed him to coat nearly every attack he had in his toxic affinity simply by focusing on the energies as the attack formed. It was even more effective if he used his actual blood to coat a physical substance. He could have done the same with his fire and ice, because they too granted him affinities towards the respective elements but he figured the ice would just melt and the fire might actually heal the damned thing. Not wanting to give the beast any room to build momentum once more, Vincent made what, looking back on it, was probably the dumbest decision he''d ever had at that point in his life. He charged the beast. As he approached the creature growled, launching itself forward. Vincent''s pathetic roots were shredded like paper as the beast lunged. The scratches left on its body fostered and bubbled a bit but the miniscule amounts of poison wouldn''t slow it down in the least. His natural reactions couldn''t keep up with the monster''s system enhanced stats, but he had no intention of meeting the thing head on. It seemed as if an impact between the two was inevitable. The distance was closing rapidly, the Fang clearly moving with much more grace and momentum than the inexperienced Vincent. Just as the Fang began to bring its claw down in what would undoubtedly be the last attack Vincent ever saw, the man disappeared. The beast impacted the ground where he had just been, throwing up a cloud of smoke. It swiped its paw left, then right growling angrily and stomping around as it attempted to clear the dust from it''s view and make sense of what the hell had just happened. It had just about finished off the annoying little bastard when he had just vanished¡­ BOOOM! End of chapter 13. Against all odds An object moving at incalculable speeds impacted the head of the Fang, driving it into the ground in a massive explosion that made any other up to this point seem akin to toddlers throwing tantrums. Vincent, in what had been the scariest most uncertain moment of his life had used his Improved Dash in quick succession to launch himself high into the air. As he reached the height of his jump and the system enhanced gravity began to take him once more, he used aerodynamics and telekinesis to not only place himself at the optimal angle, but to multiply his terminal velocity. Upon reaching what he figured to be about his max speed he took things a step further by propelling himself toward the ground with one last Improved Dash and activating an Unwavering strike. Vincent knew he had no hope of properly controlling himself at such speeds even with his abilities and stats. He settled for simply praying he survived the impact, and that the Fang would be damaged enough for his ally to finish the rest. Fortunately for him.. he had survived, but barely. The dust was still clearing as Vincent stumbled away from the impact crater. His armor had been torn to shreds, blood caked the right side of his face and head. His left eye was swollen shut. His remaining good eye shone a deep cerulean blue that contrasted sharply with the blood surrounding it. He checked his stats and nearly choked. Two thirds of his mana had been expanded but that wasn''t a huge deal. The real issue was his hit points.. second wind had even activated during the impact meaning the totality of the damage was nearly two full health bars with the depletion of the second health bar presumably resulting in his permanent death. Second wind! All health and stamina restored! Warning! Extensive damage.. calculating.. Health: 435/8600(11,180).... 440/8600(11,180)... 445/8600(11,180).. If not for his second wind as well as all the boosts from his skills and perks he definitely would have died in that idiotic kamikaze attack. He limped back over to the side of his ally who was fixing him with a scrutinizing glance. He felt like he could kneel over and die at any moment. "What??" He practically growled out. Gildarts merely shook his head. "Nothing. That was.. impressive. I did not expect such a mighty attack from one so.. underdeveloped." He choked out looking sheepish. Which.. was kind of weird given the man''s ridiculous proportions. Vincent, stunned and holding his damaged right arm couldn''t help but crack a smile at the giant''s attempt at a real compliment. He fixed the settling dust cloud with a glare. Somehow he felt like this wouldn''t be nearly enough. "Shouldn''t you be readying your attack? That took everything I had. I''m practically a sitting duck at this point." He reminded hid ally urgently, looking up at the Orc. "Oh! Right! Forgive me. I shall begin charging the attack now.." He said but was cut off as a concussive blast of force rocked the ground with enough impact to cause Vincent to stumble. Their attention was drawn to the Fang that had just blasted itself out of the massive creator caused by Vincent''s overwhelming attack. It looked like absolute shit. Half of its Skull looked to be caved in with blood gushing out in huge spurts. A couple of its legs were twisted and clearly broke. Large patches of fur were shredded and bleeding. It was a wonder the thing was still standing honestly. But though its wounds were deep, it had only lost a little more than third of its health.. It wailed in anger and pain before spitting several large fireballs at the two men. Vincent''s eyes widened and he placed his good arm in front of him in a feeble defense. He wasn''t sure where his shield was.. it would be automatically recalled to his inventory after some time but he was out of that. In one fluid motion Gildarts interposed himself between Vincent and the blasts, knowing the wounded man wouldn''t be able to avoid them in his damaged state. He roared and swung his large club. An explosion of sheer physical force from the swing alone shielded the pair, blocking the Fang from view for a few seconds. Once the shockwaves dispersed Gildarts looked none the worse for wear but¡­ the Fang was gone. Vincent couldn''t stop his eyebrow from twitching rapidly. "All of that.. and that stupid son of a bitch got away!? Gah!!!" He yelled in frustration. He would have stomped his foot but he was in too much pain for such rough and rugged movements. Gildarts began chuckling beside him until the much smaller man fixed him with a glare causing him to clear his throat and suddenly find something very interesting on his club to pick at. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Let''s go before that piece of shit comes back to finish me off." At this Gildarts burst into laughter he could no longer contain within himself as the two began to exit the clearing. "There is no shame in this hunt today, haha! Even though we did not catch the beast, you, a much weaker opponent than our mighty foe, managed to win this fight on your own. You may not have killed the beast but you made it tuck its tail and run. A hunt fit for elites flees before you. I bloody declare none save Garkan himself could ever claim such a feat at your level." As if on cue the system pulsed. Congratulations! The unique feat: victory against insurmountable odds has been achieved! New perk rewarded: Against all odds. Against all odds.Your determination and skill has allowed you to best an opponent far beyond your capabilities. The system recognizes your accomplishments and rewards those who work hard to achieve the impossible. Skills level up +25% faster. Gain +50% experience. All stats increased by +10 Vincent grunted and continued limping. A perk that increases how fast you level up and how quickly you gain skill levels? That seemed a bit ridiculous. Then again look what it took to get here, he was pretty bad ass in that fight if he did say so himself. Could Anyone else have pulled that off? Probably not. Thankfully, for his sake, Gildarts was walking at an extremely slow pace given the circumstances. He couldn''t have kept up with even a brisk walk at this point. He supposed he could pop a potion but he didn''t have many left and honestly Gildarts would likely protect him from any further harm.. Hopefully. Gildarts''s attention appeared to remain focused on the path ahead, scanning for any stray threats. Though to be honest the Orc was confident there were none in their immediate vicinity that would dare attack one so mighty as himself. Truthfully, within his dense green Skull, the man was playing over what he had seen in his mind. The more he replayed the situation over in his head, the more impressed he became. He glanced at the limping man beside him who had somehow managed to best an abnormally strong level 50 beast. It shouldn''t have been possible.. When he began to level and amassed level specific class skills he would become a true monster. Class skills were typically in a whole other league than regular ones and even if you waited reached level 100 before electing a class all levels were applied retroactively so there would be a noticeable difference. After a few minutes of grainy silence Vincent''s curiosity got the better of him and he couldn''t help but ask, "so.. why exactly did you need to capture or kill that thing, anyways?" Gildarts regarded the shorter man sharply and for a second he had thought he had crossed a sensitive subject like a journey of vengeance or something. But then the Orcs expression relaxed and he grunted. "Why else but for bragging rights? I, the mighty Gildarts shall be the next king of the Orcs but.. first I must acquire renown. And win the heart of the king''s daughter." Vincent stopped dead in his tracks and stared the giant directly in the eyes. "You seriously almost just got me killed for a piece of ass?" A dense and heavy pressure filled the air. Vincent gulped realizing he may have overstepped with that one. Gildarts seemed to glow with purple energy. His form seemed to become larger and more menacing. The world fell away and Vincent saw nothing but the hulking ogre in front of him and the purple aura he exuded. Was this some sort of skill? The energy of this aura was denser and more intense than anything he had ever seen before. It barely extended past Gildarts body but Vincent was sure that within that area.. all things bent to the Orcs will. "I do not pretend to know why you compare the princess of my people to the backside of a beast.. Perhaps that is a compliment to your people. But for us it is a grave insult. Be careful what you say boy. You''re in our world now." Vincent shuddered, nodding quickly. Apparently whatever relationship Gildarts had with this woman was true and genuine. He wouldn''t make that mistake again. "Anyways.." Gildarts began, as the pressure let up and he relaxed. "I.. may have been a bit hasty before when I said I was the.. strongest Orc.." He said sheepishly. "Truthfully the king is the strongest by far. And the princess''s suitor is a nobleman from a very talented Orc family. He is the second most powerful Orc¡­" Vincent''s eyes widened and he listened intently as the Orc continued. This was the most they had ever said to one another. Usually they bickered or discussed the system and almost always in short sentences. Due to the extended traveling time both seemed to be trying to pass the time with idle talk and surprisingly it was the ''manly'' Gildarts doing the lion''s share of opening up. "I owe you an apology for what I did. Truly you are an infant in the eyes of the system and.. even to Orcs.. forcing infants to do battle is.. frowned upon." Vincent sweatdropped but said nothing. "I was born a nomad as most of my people are. Nomads are peasants who have no real bloodline or claim to any lands. Some in my current village are not even pureblood Orc. But I was special among my people. Stronger. My parents knew it from birth. They raised me to be strong and my mother told me to be proud of who I am and where I come from. One day I will challenge the king for the right to rule. Any may rule if they prove to be the strongest. It''s just.. the royals have been so far ahead of the nomads for so long.." Gildarts finished, sighing and looking at the ground. When it was clear the giant was in deep thought and had no intention of continuing Vincent whistled. "Phew.. I had no idea man. But I mean.. that''s absolutely amazing honestly I respect the hell out of that. Your mom''s a blessing from.. uh.. Garkan?.. And I''m confident you''ll achieve your goal." Gildarts seemed to perk up a bit at the man''s attempted kind words. "Bahaha! That she is!" He examined clapping Vincent hard on the back causing him to yelp and groan in pain. He stumbled barely regaining his composure. He was still heavily damaged from the battle. Even with his considerable regeneration it took a little over half an hour to fully recover. He wondered how long it would take him to recover if his endurance matched his vitality¡­ God, progress would be slow. Thank the heavens for system exploits. Rolling his shoulders he decided to ask the question that had been bothering him. "So.. obviously the king is probably level 100. How do you stand in comparison to him? What about with that purple aura thingy you used." Gildarts raised an eyebrow. "Truly? It would be akin to you fighting me now." He answered flatly. Vincent had to do a double take. He assumed the king was probably roughly twice Gildarts strength given their respective levels. It seemed there really was more to overall strength than just levels. But how did Gildarts expect to close that sort of gap? He supposed that was for him to figure out. "As for the second part of your question.. you are too fresh to the system to understand Auras. Even if you can just barely perceive them. But know this.. my Aura gives me the strength to move mountains. The kings aura however.. is enough to destroy half the country. He is the second strongest Orc to ever live next to Garkan. " Vincent was flabbergasted. His entire goal the last year and some odd months had pretty much just been to get strong enough to survive. He couldn''t even comprehend the magnitude of the events transpiring around the safety of his sanctuary. He really was an insignificant pawn in a much larger game. No.. scratch that. He wasn''t even a piece yet. He was merely a speck of dust on the board. What in the hell had he gotten himself into? End of chapter 14. System interference Vincent sat cross-legged in front of his gardens. His forehead was drenched in sweat, matting his hair to his skin. His fist were clenched, forehead wrinkled in effort. He grunted and twitched. He seemed to shudder when.. "Aaaagh FUCK!" He roared, collapsing in a heap. His new perk, against all odds, may have made skills level faster but it didn''t make new ones easier to develop or any less destructive to the body. Apparently evolving a skill was roughly the equivalent of receiving a new skill as far as strain and effort go but it was much simpler in terms of complexity due to already having a skill with a specific shape to work with. Vincent was beginning to think he had gone too far in evolving this particular skill¡­ It felt like his entire body was going to explode. Unfortunately it wasn''t a quick pain. He had been enduring intense agony for roughly six days with no rest. Every time he thought he was done for his companion did its job and blasted him with rejuvenating blood. Not only was his blood extremely useful as a catalyst in smithing, alchemy and.. weirdly.. cooking.. but it also served as an emergency first aid all thanks to his sanguine toxicity. At the cost of a few HP, approximately 100 points, he could heal someone for 500. Not a bad ratio at all really. It didn''t deal near as much damage as a toxin. Nevertheless because of the healing ratio and several other factors such as his rejuvenation perk, his companion could heal him several times over despite having only half of his over 8000 health pool. At this stage it wouldn''t have been a good idea to let the skill snap back into its original shape because the backlash would be.. unpleasant. So despite the dire circumstances they pushed onward. Both of them were well beyond their limits and beginning to reach stress inducing levels of low health when it happened. In an explosion of energy the skill had finally evolved. Congratulations! Warning.. error.. Congratulations! Your skill: Complete tranquility (Epic) has successfully evolved into Complete tranquility (Legendary)! Skill: complete tranquility (Legendary) Extremely rare, evolved variation of the skill: Complete tranquility (epic) While using complete tranquility all regenerations are tripled. Intelligence is doubled. Solutions to problems come more easily. You begin to glimpse a deeper understanding of the system and your place within the Nexus. Due to the ''Legendary'' rarity all effects of the skill receive a moderate boost per skill level. Receives a large boost from intelligence. Grants the perk Somatic expression. (Active ability) Somatic expression. You express your thoughts and emotions in unique ways within the Nexus. Few other''s souls burn with such passion. You understand that one must train their mind in tandem with their body and hence have achieved a synchronization that takes most lifetimes to master. The flow of your energy becomes much more efficient. All skills and stats benefit from one another a moderate amount. Intelligence gains the regenerative effects of your vitality stat and vice versa. Vincent cackled. This was exactly what he needed. For his health and mana energies to essentially intertwine and amplify each other. It had been a difficult, grueling process.. But it had all the expected benefits and then some. His blue and red energies mixed and then separated over and over in a spiral pattern with the green of his stamina outlining them. It kind of looked like a DNA helix.. With each rotation they grew ever so slightly denser and more complex.. He would have celebrated but something felt.. off. He felt a terrible pressure and sickness. He thought maybe he was just feeling unwell from his health being so low for so long but after downing a few small potions he knew that wasn''t it. Another good indicator something was terribly wrong was when his companion fell to its knees and began convulsing. "Well shit.. that doesn''t look good. Hey little buddy. What''s wrong?" He called. He took a step forward before doubling over in an agony unlike any other he had felt. Warning¡­ soulspace evolving... Excess Nectar detected! Please consult your nearest Tavern Own.. Error.. system interference detected. Warning.. please die. Vincent''s eyes widened. He had time to mutter, "what in the fuck.." Before searing white pain ripped through his body and mind. But it felt deeper than that. It was hard to describe. Especially since all of his senses were eradicated by the pain. Essentially it felt like his very existence was being unraveled because.. well.. it was. He screamed in unadulterated agony. He was sure that if someone offered him a form of release at the price of everything from his body to his soul he would pay it. At some point he had apparently crawled over to his companion and grabbed its writhing hand. The two of them clutched one another tightly as spasms of pain wracked their bodies. Vincent''s subconscious tried to make sense of it all. The pain was so intense he couldn''t even black out or go into shock. His mind was on the verge of collapsing permanently. He was faintly aware on some contradictorily unaware level that some type of energy was currently filling him and to a lesser extent his companion. It was a disgusting, thick, goopy black substance in a cloud of gray gelatin. It was his new skill but it seemed to take residence in some deeper part of him, beyond what he could understand. He had never seen anything like it but it really didn''t matter. He couldn''t take this anymore. And then just a few agonizing minutes after it had come it disappeared. "Gah!" The two lay panting and gasping. Blood had poured from every orifice of Vincent''s body and in a strange plant-like way that involved cytoplasm, the same had happened to his companion. He decided at that moment never to try and forcefully evolve a skill again. It was clear the system wasn''t a fan. From now on he would just evolve them the natural way.. probably. After several minutes he sat up and checked his system window, frowning as he did so. His health and mana were completely full. As if the whole ordeal had never even happened. That was good he supposed, however he noticed something that left him increasingly worried. Under his list of trials the very first one, Somatic expression was grayed out. How had he not noticed that the name of the trial was the very same perk he had just unlocked? Was he the interference that the system referred to? Was it because he diverged so heavily from his intended evolutionary path? Or because he had forcefully taken the reward without completing the trial.. He wasn''t sure but as the system pulsed with a new message he narrowed his eyes, thinking of the implications of what he now read. Congratulations! Skill: System interference achieved! System interference (???) Lvl.?? This skill is an abomination brought unto the Nexus by a Heretic with unrivaled potential. Tread carefully as many will seek to end your existence on your path to the truth. What had he done? A heretic? Was he now an enemy to the entirety of the entity known as the system? Was it aware of what he had done and would now send monsters with unparalleled power to destroy him? His heartbeat quickened with anxiety. In any case he truly did not like the energy he saw in the shape of his new skill. Normally skills were vibrant, warm and beautiful. They flowed peacefully and with purpose. They interacted and amplified each other within himself.. But this new energy was black and grey. It seemed heavy and dead. It was chaotic and destabilizing. He couldn''t combine its flow with any other type of energy; they strongly rejected one another, like magnets at opposite ends. One thing that had occurred to him though was that before obtaining this.. system interference.. every new skill and skill level was beginning to have a worrisome effect.. He began to feel overstuffed so to speak. Gildarts''s theory was that beings without a class were not meant to house so many skills, but he was not knowledgeable in the mystic arts according to.. himself. A Soul and the subsequent Soulspace in which it existed were rather malleable and with no real shape or structure to support it before obtaining a class. Vincent''s was likely stretched beyond it''s limits before due to the sheer number of random skills eith ever increasingrarities. Maybe this new skill helped him with that in some unforeseen way¡­ If all of this didn''t make him nervous enough, the fact that it had no level or rarity itself struck a strange cord within him. Hell as far as he could tell the system hadn''t explained what exactly it did at all. Or maybe that was the whole point.. he scratched his head. How do you use a skill that the system didn''t even recognize as having existed at all? He shook his head, which he decided, he was way in-over. He wasn''t going to tell Gildarts about this. For all that he trusted the man, who seemed as honest and dumb as they come, he knew things weren''t always as they seemed. He was still a resident of the Nexus. For all Vincent knew, there were some higher authorities the man answered to that spoke directly with the system or some shit. He really didn''t want to become anybody''s guinea pig. He began trying to activate and mix his new skills in various ways when he had an epiphany. System interference didn''t produce visual effects like he was used to because the energy ''flows'' were chaotic and incomprehensible acting more like a gaseous cloud than the usually steady streams he was used to. Beyond that it wasn''t a new energy being created as he usually witnessed with skills. Instead the energies of System Interference acted upon the energies that already existed in the Nexus itself. It slowly sucked energy out of the environment around him. Like an Anti-energy¡­ He looked again at the grayed out trial labeled Somatic expression. He concentrated. It was faint but even the blue window had its own flow of complex energy. He focused on the trial and activated his new skill. Using every ounce of knowledge he had, and letting his instincts guide him, he began to impose his will on the system more easily than he ever had before. At its core, the system shaped reality itself so in theory if one could learn to alter the flows of the system they could shape reality¡­ heh.. maybe he was on the path of becoming some kind of God.. After a few more intense seconds of concentration the gross energy seeped forth from his hands and into the grayed out trial causing it to crack before shattering like glass. The remnant energy floated in front of him for a few moments before it was absorbed into the grey mess that was system Interference which then returned to his body. What all of this did, he had no clue. In terms of numbers there were no differences in his stats and the energy of the window became indistinguishable once it mixed with his own. Until he had a better handle on all of this he decided not to use this ability too much. If he wanted to he could probably destroy the very shape of his skills or even others''. The result of doing so however¡­ was anybody''s guess. He also theorized that the same way he could use that grey, pulsating energy to destroy the energy from his skills, so too could he unravel system based constructs but the system would probably be pretty upset about that. He spent the next few hours tinkering with the system but being sure not to alter anything too much.. Scheduled meeting spot The following day Vincent and Gildarts met roughly four miles from the entrance to the jungle. The two agreed never to meet close to one another''s homes and always took turns picking random areas of the jungle with a few sections off limits so neither would be privy to the others exact location. It was unfortunate they lived in such a world where these type of precautions were necessary but they both agreed they were far from comfortable with one another yet and left it at that. Nobody yet knew of the two''s adventurers together but they were becoming more and more frequent. Whereas at first they only met every week or even every other week they often met three times a week now. While they may not have fully trusted one another, neither could deny the benefits of hunting with the other. Vincent got to grind skills against an opponents on a whole different tier than his own. Meanwhile Gildarts also benefited greatly in his own way. In order to be effective in any way against quicker more agile opponents, he studied Vincent''s movements and began to accumulate more efficient actions into his own skill set. Essentially Vincent''s raw power rose and Gildarts''s technique improved. Gildarts scratched his rear absent-mindedly. "So.. why are we here again?" He asked, seemingly rather bored. Vincent for his part was currently finishing up with an intense meditation. The reason for doing so was simple. He had a working theory that two skills of similar level and function would be much easier to fuse than two skills with entirely different properties. It just so happened that he had the perfect candidates to test this theory in the form of Fireball and Ice Bolt which were each sitting just on the cusp of lvl 50. He was sure that immediately upon leveling the two he would be able to create a more powerful combination technique if he fused their energies together while they evolved. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Umm well.. essentially I just need you to sit there and be a target dummy.. Try and block my attacks and-" Gildarts cut him off midway through. "HA! I shall not block, I shall merely withstand your attacks! Both as a show of strength for myself and to show you how outclassed you truly are." Vincent waited several seconds for the tick mark on his head to fade while he dreamed of unleashing a flurry of unwavering strikes on the fellow before him. "Ok¡­ withstand my attacks until I can level them up. It shouldn''t take long. I''m on the edge." He explained. "Normally I would want an enemy that''s going to fight back because being in danger tends to heighten my emotions leading to a rapid increase in skill levels, however these aren''t exactly those kinds of skills." He said getting into a stance and focusing his breath. He held his hands out in front of him, palms facing Gildarts and slightly bent his knees, feet parallel to his shoulders. "For this.. I need clarity, focus¡­ And raw damage output." He narrowed his eyes in concentration. A moment later he pulled back his arms before thrusting both hands toward the waiting Gildarts. A fireball roughly the size of a basketball and a speeding ball of ice of half the size but twice the density shot from his outstretched appendages. Gildsrts narrowed his eyes before flexing his muscles and setting his feet in the ground. He let both techniques collide with his steel chest, laughing at the complete lack of effect. Vincent wasn''t finished there however, and he took a deep breath before firing two more, one of each. He fired again, then again, then again. The frequency of his repeated attacks began to increase until he was rapidly firing off with no pause between attacks.. *Huff* Whoosh *huff* whoosh *huff* After nearly thirty seconds of firing off the blasts, a strange resonance began to occur. There were sparks of electricity beginning to arc between each attack with growing frequency and intensity. The attacks seemed to grow closer and closer together. Gildarts narrowed his eyes further and considered whether or not he would actually need to raise his arms in defense. ''If the kid''s attack keep growing in intensity at this pace.. truly his potential is monstrous..'' He thought. Vincent''s two attacks were now mere centimeters apart each time they were fired. The cohesion of the two skills combined with their opposing elements caused them to spiral wildly getting ever so closer and closer to one another until finally¡­ Congratulations! Your skill: Fireball has increased to 50! Your skill Ice bolt has increased to 50! Synergy detected!.. error.. recalculating Synchronizing¡­ Congratulations! Your skills Fireball and Icebolt have fused to become the skill: Comet (Epic) Skill level has been set to 10! Comet (Epic) An icy projectile enclosed in flame. The union of these two unstable, contradicting energies could only have been accomplished by one possessing amazing skill and dedication. Due to the ''Epic'' rarity the speed and strength of this attack gain a considerable boost per skill level. Receives a small bonus from intelligence. (Acfive skill) (consumes 100 mana) As the two attacks successfully merged he charged up and fired off one more, using both hands. He honestly just wanted to see the results. He wasn''t disappointed. It may have only been level ten now but the density of the Ice bolt combined with the velocity and energy of the Fireball meant it was roughly twice as powerful as both of the attacks combined before. Clearly the total was greater than the sum of its parts here. "Yahoo!" He yelled pumping his fist in the air in joy. He was interrupted from his raving as Gildarts approached and said, "yes, yes even I must admit that was quite impressive. Your attacks were pathetic before but once they had combined they were only slightly pathetic. But as I said I didn''t even need to raise my guard!" He beamed proudly, with both smoking and frosty portions littering his armor. Leave it to Gil to suck the wind out of the sails of a new skill creation.. Vincent leveled a glare at the towering giant and with exasperation began again, "Alright. I think I need to focus more on my combat abilities. I only really have a few offensive and defensive sword and shield skills and they often take huge amounts of mana or stamina. I want you to fight me." Gildarts stared stone faced for several seconds. Vincent thought for sure he was about to laugh at him and rave on about how he wasn''t even worthy of the right to challenge one so mighty as himself... Which is exactly what he did. After several moments of audacious laughter Gildarts finally regained enough composure to speak. "Ahh that was a good one. Imagine someone as puny as you fighting me." He barked, wiping away a tear. Vincent pinched the bridge of his nose. "I didn''t mean it to be a real fight. I mean like training." Gildarts snorted. "You are a fool. Every fight is a real fight. When you challenge an Orc, no matter the circumstances it is customary you give it your all. To do anything less is an insult to us. And so shall we do the same to you." Vincent slowly nodded, "Ok, if it''s your culture I guess that''s fair. I can respect that. But that leaves the question of what exactly to do for training. Everything from one side of the country to the other still tears me to pieces." Gildarts appeared to be deep in thought. After several minutes of intense silence the Orc finally spoke. "I know of a place.. there exists an Orc there who does not live by our ways. He is an outcast. Most do not associate with him because of what his ilk did while he was still a member of the royal family." Vincent''s curiosity peaked and the questions flowed before he could stop them, "Was what he did really so bad?.. No one in any of the tribes would take him? Even the nomads?" Gildarts shook his head. "He did what any honorable man would do. He chose to defy the king to protect his only son. But even so.. Orc must obey Orc law. It is only because his intentions were so noble and his accomplishments so great that the Orc King lets him live now. The king owes him a great debt.. and chooses to pay a great deal of respect as well." Vincent shook his head. It didn''t make any sense to him but he supposed he didn''t know the full story and in any case it wasn''t his place to judge them for their ways. He was far from a saint. And his people¡­ "Alright so how do we find this guy?" Gildarts for his part seemed almost hesitant to answer. "I will take you to him. We are.. acquaintances. But he will require you to perform a test, the origins of which are for him to discern. I cannot assist you with any task that is given." As Gildarts finished his explanation Vincent crossed his arms. "It''s just as well. I level faster when I put my life on the line rather than taking the easy way out. Anyways.. Here lately it seems like it''s been harder and harder to create new skills. It''s as if the more skills I have the less room there is for others. So.. the ones I do have I need to get up to snuff." Vincent wished he knew exactly where his skill levels placed him as far as the hierarchy of power was concerned. Unfortunately, Gildarts adamantly refused to reveal most of his skills or their level. The only thing he would say is that they were ''far beyond your own puny skill levels''. Originally Vincent had thought the level cap for most skills was 100 and while that held true for many, there were just as many with infinite growth potential. As far as Vincent knew there was a level cap for some skills only because they reached the end of their evolutionary path and simply couldn''t become any better but even most skills with a level cap could be improved indefinitely in one way or another, whether that was by learning how to better incorporate the skills into your fighting style or by virtue of becoming more experienced with them. "Very well. Come." Gildarts beckoned, bounding away at a speed that cheetahs could only dream of achieving. Vincent wasted no time following suit. As they traveled Vincent became keenly aware that Gildarts was pulling ahead. slowly, but without a doubt he was putting distance between the two. He didn''t know if the gargantuan was simply testing him or if he was being a purposeful pain in the ass but he was positive he knew what he was doing. "Hey chief! How''s about slowing down a little?!" He called, receiving a split second backward glance in response. Then, the giant began to move even faster. "Oh come on why are you doing this.. Alright then let''s go! Improved dash!" He yelled out, just as Gildarts was beginning to reach the outer range of his sight (mostly due to all the damn trees.) Vincent vanished, reappearing less than a cars length away but then rapidly began losing ground to the behemoth once more. With each massive stomp the giant rocketed forward at ever increasing speeds, leaving a massive slipstream of wind and foliage in his wake. It was no matter¡­ Vincent had plenty of mana to spare. Anytime the green man began to pull ahead he would close the distance with a dash. ''What could this deranged man be thinking?'' Vincent couldn''t help but wonder. As he ran he couldn''t help but notice a small boost in his momentum each time he dashed. He typically never used this skill this many times in a row so he supposed he never really noticed before. Each time he dashed the subsequent attempt would have.. well.. he really couldn''t explain it. It seemed that if he timed the activation of his skill just right it would add a small increase to his overall speed. Like some left over inertia from his previous jumps was amplifying his kinetic energy. Congratulations! Skill: Absolute timing (rare) achieved! Absolute timing (rare) By precisely timing your actions and skills, the inertia of each subsequent action you take feeds into the next. Due to the ''Rare'' rarity gain a small increase to kinetic force with each action in a sequence until the user comes to a complete rest or disperses momentum. (Passive skill) ''Well I''ll be damned..'' He thought. It wasn''t just in his head. He really had been speeding up. And his theory about his momentum from previous jumps wasn''t far off. The system was just too easy to abuse sometimes. Suddenly he realized that in his celebration he lost track of the green giant he had been chasing. He dashed forward one last time and.. his stomach dropped as he looked down and noticed the ground beneath him ran out thirty feet ago. The entire jungle seemed to stop in an unnaturally straight line of trees and a few meters of jutting cliffside. There was roughly ten feet of precipice and then a sheer drop off ending in a large open plain before giving way to a forest that seemed much less dense and ominous than the jungle. It seemed like the kind of woods a family might privately own and use for camping. He was about a hundred feet up from the ground by his estimation. He placed a hand on his chin as he remained momentarily suspended in the air. He probably could have simply dashed his way back to the precipice of the cliff and he almost did, save for the fact that he caught a glimpse of Gildarts disappearing into the tree line far below him. The madman had jumped off the cliff and kept running expecting Vincent to follow suit. Vincent shook his head and crossed his arms, frowning as he began to fall. Taking his time, the man carefully considered his options. He was just about to dash away to a safer height when he felt it.. as he accelerated toward the grassy plains below.. he felt.. wait.. "Am I about to get a flying skill!?!" He yelled in child-like excitement. Not a chance. Congratulations! Skill: Tuck n roll (Uncommon) achieved! Tuck n roll (Uncommon) Allows the user to contort themselves in a way that greatly reduces impacts from falls. Due to the ''uncommon'' rarity gain a miniscule bonus to fall damage reduction per skill level. Honestly that was just a damn dirty trick because that meant in order to level this one.. he was going to have to let gravity have its way with him. He knew he would survive but he also knew the impact was going to be jarring to say the least. He braced himself, watching as the level of his new skill slowly ticked upward during his near thirty second fall. He seriously was beginning to wonder what was wrong with himself. He landed with a gargantuan crash throwing up grass and clouds of dirt everywhere. By some divine miracle he managed to land on an enormous patch of overgrown grass that cushioned the blow somewhat. It wasn''t much but his insane luck coupled with his ridiculously large list of skills caused him to lose only about 25 percent of his metaphorical initial HP bar, overall. He was sure if he had landed on a rock and cracked his head he''d be in pretty rough shape. As it was his astronomical luck had paid off.. in more ways than one. Congratulations! Skill: Lucky break (Rare) achieved! You always seem to be in the right place at the right time! Unique skill that does not level. Your actions steer fate in your direction ever so slightly. You are more likely to experience favorable outcomes in all scenarios! ''That was.. convenient. "Why is the system being so generous with it''s skills?.." He mused out loud. A contemplative expression wormed its way into his features. "I don''t feel like these were even real skills before I got them.. am I somehow creating new skills to suit my needs without even forcing my energy to mutate?" He decided that he really didn''t have time for this line of thought right now as he had lost track of Gildarts yet again due to his negligence. "I need to focus.." He growled. This was the first time he had ever been outside the jungle.. he felt like he was free.. He dashed twice, breaking through a shady tree line and getting him out of the blistering sun that had badgered him since he unintentionally ejected himself from the jungle. ''Damn.. where''d that big green idiot go..'' He wondered. There were some beats here and there but they were relatively complacent and much weaker than the jungle inhabitants on average. Therefore it wasn''t terribly hard to feel a faint trace of dense energy in the air that was obviously uncommon for this area. If he could just sense which way it led¡­ Congratulations! Skill: Advanced tracking of the lone wolf (Uncommon) achieved! Advanced tracking of the lone wolf (Uncommon) Allows the user to track a target by both their physical footprint and their energy flow. Due to the ''Uncommon'' rarity, use gains an insignificant bonus to tracking ability per skill level. Agility and Intelligence provide a miniscule bonus to this skill. ''Did I.. win the lottery? No wait I don''t play.. but something is going on here with all these skills." He said absently. Be that as it may he got extremely lucky with that last one.. which may have been a result of the one before that or his unique composition. It was a conundrum. Either way his new abilities allowed him to track down the Orc he couldn''t find before in a few short minutes. Congratulations! Skill: Advanced tracking of the lone wolf (Uncommon) has increased to level 3! The Orc in question was standing cross armed before a small lake with a cave on the other side. Vincent, huffing and pulling brambles from his hair fixed him with a glare. "Hey what the hell was that all about?" The Orc snorted. "I did not ask you to follow me. In fact I tried to lose you and I thought I did. That is what happened. Do you concur?" He asked. Vincent raised an eyebrow but at this point he was getting used to the otherworldly man acting strange. He nodded in affirmation. "Say it." The Orc insisted. Vincent frowned much more heavily this time, slightly taken aback by the urgency in his comrade''s tone." "Yeah.. that is exactly what happened. Now you explain to me why." He countered. This time it was Gildarts''s turn to nod in agreement. "Forgive me for my dubious behavior.. you see as I said before you are too weak to associate with Orc kind¡­" Vincent''s eyes widened as the cogs of his mind spun and he began to put the pieces together. "You couldn''t be seen with me so you had to make it seem like you tried to lose me and I followed you, unbeknownst to you, and on my own accord." Seemingly satisfied with one another''s stance on the subject the two began to make their way toward the mouth of the cave with Vincent taking a quick look at his stats, skills and perks. Strength: 70 Endurance: 99 Vitality: 175 Intelligence: 50 Perception: 57 Agility: 60 Skills: Dodge. (Common) lvl 55 Smithing (Common) lvl 55 Farming (Common) lvl 56 Cooking (Common) lvl 55 Sword and shield (Common) lvl 57 Sneak (Uncommon) lvl 58 Alchemy (Uncommon) lvl 52 Acid resistance (Uncommon) lvl 55 Fire resistance (Uncommon);lvl 55 Ice resistance (Uncommon) lvl 55 Hardened skin. (Uncommon) lvl 50 Reinforced bones. (Uncommon) lvl 50 Geographic inclination. (Uncommon) lvl 45 Tuck n roll (Uncommon) lvl 7 Advanced tracking of the lone wolf (Uncommon) lvl 3 Planta/Plante (Rare) lvl 52 Courage (Rare) lvl 44 Enhanced toughness. (Rare) lvl 45 rejuvenation. (Rare) lvl 41 Extract (Rare) lvl 40 Refine (Rare) lvl 40 Combine (Rare) lvl 40 Berserker rage. (Rare) lvl 55 Telekinesis. (Rare) lvl 47 Aerodynamics (rare) lvl 27 Absolute timing (Rare) lvl 4 Sixth sense (Rare) lvl 51 Lucky break (Rare) lvl Max Ecology (Epic) lvl 49 Unyielding guard (Epic) lvl 39 Unwavering strike (Epic) lvl 39 Advanced communications. (Epic) Lvl Max. Improved dash (Epic) lvl 49 Comet (Epic) lvl 10 Complete tranquility (Legendary) lvl 37 Unparalleled physical fitness (Legendary) lvl 30 Bleeding heart (Legendary) lvl 30 Perks: Will to survive II +2% vitality Smithing +3 strength and agility Limit breaker + 20 endurance +5 strength Camouflage. Harder to detect +5 Agility. Connoisseur. Cooking, crafting, alchemy knowledge. +5 Intelligence and Perception. Ecologist. Ecology. +25 perception. Fortitude II Grants the user a permanent + 10 in strength and agility marquis of science. Grants +10 intelligence Transmutation grants knowledge of the atomic structure of all things +5 intelligence Gourmet chef. boost from food. +10 Vitality Honor. to live by the way of the sword and shield is to live by one''s honor. Whenever facing an enemy one on one, gain a 25% increase in attack and defense. Receive greatly reduced damage from sneak attacks. +10 strength +5 agility Sanguine toxicity. Lifebringer plus toxic affinity. Toxic blood. Heals allies. Used as a catalyst in most crafts. +20 vitality +10 endurance Second wind. Restores the user''s health and stamina once per battle. Lone wolf. Gain +10% to all stats when not in a party or fighting with allies. +5 to all stats A wailing significance demands to be felt. With the phrase ''feel my pain. Bleeding heart!'' User shares half of all damage received with the target. +100 vitality. +25 endurance Unparalleled physical fitness. Grants 1 point to strength, endurance and agility per level. Grants 2 points per level to vitality. Against all odds.Your determination and skill has allowed you to best an opponent far beyond your capabilities. The system recognizes your accomplishments and rewards those who work hard to achieve the impossible. Skills level up +25% faster. Gain +50% experience. All stats increased by +10 Somatic expression. You express your thoughts and emotions in unique ways within the Nexus. Few other''s souls burn with such passion. You understand that one must train their mind in tandem with their body and hence have achieved a synchronization that takes most lifetimes to master. The flow of your energy becomes much more efficient. All skills and stats benefit from one another a moderate amount. Intelligence gains the regenerative effects of your vitality stat and vice versa. System interference (???) Lvl.??... Overall he felt like he was doing a really good job of keeping his stats and skills well-balanced, besides maybe his Vitality.. Looking at system interference, the ability still gave him an uneasy feeling. Both because of the nature of the skill and the complete lack of information provided by the system but for better or worse.. his strength had been slowly increasing ever since he''d gotten it. Seemingly without meaning to, he''d begun absorbing ambient energy from the system and manually tweaking his skills and even the system window to better suit his needs. He even managed to increase a few of his stats here and there. His Hardened skin, Reinforced bones, Enhanced toughness and Unparalleled physical fitness were literally warping his physical body to make him denser and more sturdy overall. He was pretty sure he''d even grown ''bigger'' and gained an inch of height.. Decidedly satisfied with his progress Vincent''s face twisted into a confident smirk as he followed Gildarts quickly into the dark cave. Chapter 15 end Zar-Rhah; Master of the mystic arts. "Ahhh, Gildarts!? You''ve brought a.. what exactly am i staring at? I barely sense any Aura from it at all." As Vincent and his burley acquaintance made their way into the dark cavern a figure called out from his place near an unlit forge in the back of the area. This particular cave was easily ten times the size of Vincent''s own. It was more like a blacksmiths quarry built into the side of the mountain. There were tools and constructs Vincent didn''t recognize as well as many he did. The lighting was inadequate to say the least, with extremely strange torches spread out seemingly at random. They had wooden bases like the typical torch from an elder scrolls game but where one would expect a flame at the top was instead an extremely bright ball of green light with strange symbols orbiting the light that reminded Vincent strikingly of the symbols in his cave. Vincent couldn''t make out the features of the creature slowly gliding towards them but it was large. Vincent wasn''t quite sure what he had expected. Some type of horribly disfigured monster or something. As it approached however, it became clear that the thing was definitely humanoid. Most of it''s features were indistinguishable due to the grey cloak covering most of the thing''s body, but he was pretty sure it was an Orc by the few rugged features he could see and the sound of his voice. The association with Gildarts was also an indicator. It was clear this being was severely crippled. One of his legs seemed to drag behind him in his slow lumbering limp. As a bit of light fell across the thing Vincent finally caught a glimpse of him at last. He was a hideously scarred Orc that had to have been at least twice the age of Gildarts. Long white hair covered over half of the aged Orc''s face. It''s nose, what was left of it, was scabbed and warty. It''s skin was indeed green like Gildarts''s yet it was grayed and less vibrant. He stopped just out of arm''s reach of Vincent and Gildarts, drawing up to his full height. The Orc was much larger than Vincent but was still several inches shorter than Gildarts. Vincent was sure if the two came to blow''s Gildarts would crumple the old man with one swing. "It has been a long time. Has something happeneeeeed to the Orcs?" The ancient man asked in concern. He couldn''t quite fathom why one of the most promising warriors of the current generation would waste time paying a visit to a mere outcast during such busy times unless he brought tidings of misfortune. Gildarts shook his head, crossing his tree-trunk arms. "Be at ease. The kingdom thrives. The ascension ceremony is not set to take place for another seven years." The much older Orc, snorted. A fire seemed to have been lit within him "You think I don''t know when the next ascension is? Bah, I Zar-Rhah, know better than anyone.. but the king will not bow so easily. Old though he may be, his strength has not diminished even the slightest." Gildarts nodded in consent. "Indeed. And I would have it no other way. I will defeat the King when he is at the peak of his might. Only then can I truly become the next King of Orcs and lead our people to further prosperity." "Hmm.. still certain you will be the winner eh? You have seen the competition.. his power grows by the day." The man boasted. Gildarts merely nodded. "I''m aware of this. Though.. I''m surprised you are." As the conversation unfolded Vincent listened intently. Gildarts made it clear that Vincent had no business delving into Orc affairs... That didn''t mean he couldn''t listen when those very affairs were conversed about within his presence. The ascension ceremony was obviously some contest or fight, possibly to the death to determine the next king. The ancient Orc Zar-Rhah nodded and shrugged before saying, "I keep tabs on him through the mystic arts." Turning his attention to the much smaller human, he raised a brow. "What is the meaning of hunting with this.. creature.. you know Orc does not suffer the weak. To do so is weakness itself and dishonorable. Do you shame Orc kind with the presence of this.. pet?" He quizzed out from under his cloak. Gildarts chuckled. "I did not bring him here. I was merely passing through the jungle when this.. ''human'' began to follow me. I thought it peculiar that I could not read its stats even though I could sense it was pathetically weak." Vincent frowned at this of course. The Orc continued seemingly not noticing or not caring about his protest. "I decided to let it live since it was such a unique creature. I made to leave but it began to follow me-" He was interrupted by his elder. "Nonsense. You expect me to believe that this.. boy kept up with you? And you didn''t merely walk? He can''t have even reached level 25 yet. His soulspace, enlarged as it may be, hasn''t evolved not once." He quipped. Vincent had a million questions at that moment but wisely remained silent for now. The system had spoken of the Soulspace before but this Zar-Rhah somehow seemed to have extensive knowledge about it and how it relates to levels. He needed to learn more. Gildarts huffed. "Your fancy Warlock terms mean nothing to a warrior like me. Very few masters of the mystic arts remain in Orc kind today.. it is a dying way. But I swear on my honor as an Orc that though I did not run at my fastest.. I put forth true effort into evading him." Zar-Rhah regarded the duo warily. "Right.. a likely story. But I know you are a man of your honor Gil.." He mumbled as he turned to regard Vincent. "Come hither young man." He beckoned with one arm. The man''s arm was unnaturally thin for an Orc''s but still extremely toned and veiny. Vincent stepped a bit closer and the experienced Orc squinted in focus. His one visible eye was a dull amber. "What level are you?.. it is truly strange.. even I cannot comprehend the complex energy around you. And though it reveals nothing of your true nature or power... You have an Aura, insubstantial as it may be, therefore¡­ Yesss you have a soul. You are clearly no monster nor a system construct¡­" The being tapped his chin and examined him as if he were a scientist''s experiment under a microscope. He was honestly beginning to get a little uncomfortable at the acute observations so he answered as best he could to get this weird scrutinization over with. "I''m level one.. I have multiple skills that allow me to alter my energy flow to a degree in order to be more efficient. The system doesn''t seem to be a fan of that kind of stuff though. The soulspace.. the system''s mentioned it as well. It''s what Auras are made of, right?" Zar-Rhah chuckled in amusement. "Quite the curious one aren''t you.. and extraordinarily talented as well it would seem.. Very few beings can claim to have the ability to subvert the system''s authority.. and it hasn''t destroyed you yet.. curious indeed. To answer your question.. That is a very, very basic understanding of the Soulspace but yes.. it produces and houses the very same energy that comprises Auras, and subsequently skills. You may know it as Nectar.." He said, causing Vincent to gasp. The old man continued. "Only through our Aura can we achieve our greatest feats of strength. There are many ways to grow one''s Aura but the quickest by far is to level up. In my studies I have found that when you kill another being of the Nexus.. you absorb a piece of its Soulspace unto your own. In a way you are absorbing the creature''s knowledge and purpose in life. That is the essence of experience." Vincent suddenly felt a little queasy. He knew the way the system functioned, pitting sentient beings against one another and forcing them to fight for survival was vile.. But he had no idea it was so invasive and grotesque. Even in Vincent''s world one had to consume life to live. It was natural in a sense. But¡­ Stealing one another''s very souls? How did that affect one''s own soul and subsequently their personality? It all seemed very perverse. As the cogs in his mind turned, the Clergyman continued, "Like most others with mystical knowledge, I can read the complex flows and structures that comprise the system. I can even determine how to make the best use of the tools it provides.. but I cannot control them. And before you ask, no I don''t know what Nectar looks like. It is an altogether much more complex energy than that which comprises skills and emotions." Vincent frowned. He had a sneaking suspicion when he had originally unlocked system interference and the system tried to essentially delete him; that he somehow ''glitched out'' so to speak. Either because he wasn''t where he was supposed to be or because he was abnormally talented for his level. His ability to read and manipulate the constructs that ran the system allowed him some small degree of resistance to whatever it had planned when it tried to get rid of him. Those two things coupled with what could only be described as PIS from the Author. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. How''s that for a fourth wall-break, audience? Vincent hesitated but eventually he found the courage to ask, "Do you know what any of this means for me? Has anyone else ever subverted the system''s predestined path before?" Zar-Rhah quirked an eyebrow as he pondered the question. "Hmm.. only one that I am aware of. However.. None alive today could claim to have known the being personally. Some question whether he ever even existed at all. He chose to defy the system in order to save his people from a cycle of endless war and bloodshed. And for his benevolent efforts.. our people were banished from the Nexus." As the Orc spoke Vincent''s eyes began to widen as he pieced the puzzle together. The wheels in his mind spun rapidly. He gasped, "Garkan.." at this point even Gildarts, who had previously been drinking heavily and munching away on some kind of commodity, focused his full attention on the conversation currently unfolding. He slowly stopped chewing, food still hanging from his mouth. "Yes.. our greatest champion and the founder of the Orc kingdom as we know it today. He could control the flows of the system as well. Through that control he amassed uncontested power. Some say he saw something at the peak of his might.. a glimpse of the truth that left him a hollow and broken shell of the man he was." He paused to lick his lips. "The system does not normally allow one to create or even tamper with their own fundamental flows but it does provide you with tools to make use of the flows that occur naturally. Typically this is done through what you know as.. skills. Combat abilities passed down through the generations, such as those learned by warriors like Gildarts himself.. Another less used method, and the one I chose to master.. is the art of engravings." Vincent leaned as closely as possible without being rude, he listened intently as the Orc continued. "From what we Orcs know.. engravings are actually the ancient language of the gods." ''I fucking knew it..'' Vincent thought victoriously. "Unfortunately, much of the ancient ways have been lost to our kind. But we sorcerers and masters of the mystic arts dedicate our lives to understanding and discovering new engravings. Each individual rune in a sequence of engravings is a word. Words contain power, and great meaning when they are used correctly. If you know what you are doing.. anything is possible. For example.. if I should choose to encase my blade in a raging inferno, I would essentially etch into the blade what would translate into, ''The blade of light.'' "Alas, not all combinations of words work and some demand a steep price. The combinations are infinite and so too, its uses. Therein lies the true strength of engraving." He explained. Turning to call over his shoulder he addressed the younger Orc, "Tell me Gildarts.. this boy is here to learn from me, is he not?" Gildarts nodded but said nothing. Vincent couldn''t help but voice his concerns. "Umm wait sorry.. what? You''re the one who''s supposed to train me? No offense but.. it doesn''t look like you can even walk well. How are you going to teach me to fight?" A few moments after having voiced his thoughts he realized he probably came off as extremely condescending. He made to apologize when the being in front of him began to cackle. Slowly at first but then with gusto. "It''s been a long time since someone has questioned my abilities in combat. Come. We shall lay your concerns to rest." The old man hobbled out of the cave in a giddy sort of hop. ''He.. certainly couldn''t move like thst before..'' Looking over at a smirking Gildarts, Vincent suddenly got the feeling that he had inadvertently made a grave mistake¡­ The trio stopped a fair distance from the cave, near the edge of the forest. Zar-Rhah wanted to ensure that his humble abode would be undamaged. He seemed to be panting a bit and despite himself, Vincent couldn''t help but wonder again if this man was truly even capable of fighting. "Alright youngster¡­ if you don''t mind, I''d like to give these old legs a rest. You go ahead and come at me however you see fit." The ragged old man declared. Vincent blinked several times clearly not expecting such a bold challenge from the old man. Remembering that, despite his appearance this was still an Orc like Gildarts and one of royal standings, he did not want to insult the man. He obliged by summoning his trademark sword and shield and settling into a stance. Zar-Rhah seemed to perk up a bit and smile. "Ahh! A swordsman. Excellent!¡­ You see first and foremost as a master of the mystic arts, my specialty is engravings and the study of rare magics and knowledge. My favorite hobby however.." the Orc threw his arms to the sides. In his left appeared a massive, grotesque sort of wooden cane. In his right he held a silver claymore that looked like it easily weighed four times as much as Vincent himself. "Is swordsmanship. Bahahahaha!" The Orc cackled, slamming his wooden monstrosity down and generating a powerful Shockwave. Vincent observed the flow of energy around the clergyman as best he could but it was so dense and growing by the second. It looked like a shimmering bubble of force built up around the man in a dome that compressed further and further until it exploded outwards. Of course to the average individual all they would see is a brief intake of air and then a shockwave generating a ring of force. Even if the crippled old Orc couldn''t move fast it seemed he was a bit of a glass cannon. Upon seeing the Shockwave unleashed by the man, Vincent raised his shield, he needn''t worry however, as it wasn''t so much an offensive ability as it was a defensive one. Much of the Shockwave had died before it reached him. The old Warlock was clearly just showing off his talents in an effort to intimidate the human man. Vincent narrowed his eyes. ''Fine then. Since you showed me yours.. Let me show you mine¡­'' His eyes glowered, one turning a deep crimson red and the other blue. Congratulations! Skill: Shockwave (Common) achieved! Shockwave (Common) User slams the ground creating a shockwave in all directions. Due to the ''common'' rarity gain a miniscule boost to size and strength of Shockwave per level. Though it was much smaller in size, there was no doubt that the man had just reproduced an exact replica of the technique Zar-Rhah had just used a moment prior. The Warlock paused and frowned. "Did you just¡­ copy my skill? Just by seeing it once? Ha! Fascinating! Come boy. This shall be fun." Vincent smirked. He had a pounding headache for his troubles but it was absolutely worth it to see the look on the Orc''s face. It would recede soon enough anyways. He grinned and wasted no more time in obliging the request, quickly forming a strategy in hsi mind. There was less than 30 feet between him and Zar-Rhah and his strategy was to try and maintain distance. He raised his right arm. "Plante!" Thick thorny vines burst from the ground and wrapped themselves around the angles of the clergyman. If they bothered him at all he didn''t seem to notice. The point wasn''t to damage him however, so much as it was to distract him while he launched his next attack. He raised both arms and bent his knees slightly, forehead wrinkled with concentration. "Haaagah!" He grunted, shooting a now level 11 Comet directly at the man bound by vines. Vincent amplified the speed of the projectile with a burst of telekinesis. Aerodynamics allowed the attack to fly through the air with no resistances causing it to maintain its terminal velocity. It was roughly the size of a basketball and Vincent was worried he might actually hurt the man. A second later his worries were proven unwarranted as the clergyman, with a sharp grunt, threw his arms out wide. A massive burst of blue energy blasted away the Vines and his Comet. Vincent fired a second one only for the old man ro raise his cane causing his projectile to crash into a transparent glyphic forcefield that appeared just before the Comet struck its target. The old man yawned, seeming bored. "Well.. guess ranged attacks are a no go." Vincent muttered while sweat dropping. Feeling insulted, he brought his sword to bear and charged the man across from him. As soon as Vincent was within arm''s reach of the man he used an Unwavering strike, bringing his sword back before swinging it forward with all his might. It didn''t appear the Orc was even going to attempt to parry the attack, but he slightly angled the base of his massive claymore at the last second so that the two swords collided in a flash of sparks. Vincent''s expression shifted to shock and then horror. He had blocked his strongest attack with absolute minimal effort. How strong was this old man!? The clergyman in question raised his brow. "Oh my.. that''s quite a blow for a pitiful level one creature." In a speed that shouldn''t have been possible he thrust the butt of his sword into Vincent''s shield sending the much smaller man skidding back several feet. He coughed violently and shook his head. This wasn''t looking good¡­ "I can see your skills hard at work manipulating the flow of not only the energy but the very elements around your being. Truly you have extraordinary talent! But you lack discipline and patience. Very well boy it seems I underestimated you. Now it is my turn." He bent his knees, holding both his blade and cane in front of him as he did so. He blasted forward in a burst of speed that shouldn''t have been possible for such a crippled individual. Well.. by definition apparently he wasn''t crippled. He swung both arms, grunting as he landed. Vincent brought up his shield and activated his defensive skills. He even used telekinesis and aerodynamics to create a small field of resistance around him. As it was, the sword and cane combo were impossibly heavy. He was crushed into the ground in an instant, leaving a large crater. "Aghaaack!" He choked as blood flew from his mouth. The Orc bounded back to his original position with one leap. He waited patiently while leaning slightly on his cane. It took several seconds but the black haired man finally crawled from the large hole. He had apparently lost most of his health which meant his companion was probably knocked out again. Vincent had discovered during an¡­ Unfortunate training accident, that as long as he himself was alive his companion would eventually regenerate, even from zero health. Therefore it was prominent for the plant creature to send all of his health to Vincent in cases of dire emergency. However, it would leave the creature comatose and all of his abilities useless meaning Vincent was on his own for now. He quickly downed a few health potions, glad that the Orc seemed intent simply to humiliate him rather than kill him. On the bright side he had gained a few skill levels for getting his shit rocked. "Quite impressive indeed.. though I figured if you couldn''t at least survive that you wouldn''t have been capable of peaking Gildarts''s interest." The Orc raised his blade above his head as he spoke. "Now bear witness. This is the power you truly seek to learn. Sacred rune art: blade of elemental embodiment!" True to its namesake in the next instant the Orc''s massive sword really did seem to embody all five of the natural elements. A series of runes he hadn''t noticed before lit up on each side of the weapon. It burst into flames, which then crackled with lightning. In a strange sort of paradox water began leaping to and from the blade in the same manner the fire itself did. Wind started circulating the energies of the elements rapidly around. Chunks of earth could be seen coating the blade as the storm of energy around him seemed to crescendo. "Survive this boy and then I shall give you your true test. If you can pass that then I will train you in both swordsmanship.. and the ancient art of engraving. In the world of the Orcs.. only the strong survive! Hiyah!" He yelled, swinging his blade down with malice. An ocean of energy and momentum rushed toward Vincent. "No way in hell!.." He shifted into a stance, eyes widening. He had to act fast! Booooom! The attack impacted the spot where Vincent had been standing a mere second ago. He dashed safely away at the last minute but the force of the explosion caused him to tumble as he landed. He didn''t take the attack head on.. but he did survive it.. that counted right? As the dust cleared the old man looked taken aback at the lack of pasted Vincent. He located the man, scrambling to his feet a few dozen meters away and began to laugh. "Ahahaha. Well it''s cowardly but I guess you won our little wager didn''t ya? Ahahaha! You passed my little pre-test. Come back to the cave, we shall eat supper and discuss the terms of your true mission. " Chapter 16 end The shadow step "You want me to hunt the what!?" Vincent exclaimed. Zar-Rhah for his part winced and picked one of his ears. He grumbled, flicking away imaginary earwax. "I want you to hunt the Fang of f-" Vincent cut him off before he could repeat his request, "I know what it is. I''ve met the bastard. Twice. My question is why?" He asked aggressively. At this the man seemed bemused if anything. "Oh so you''ve met the beast and survived the encounter, have you? And.. Not that it''s any of your business¡­ but to answer your question, I need it''s heart for the king." Vincent snorted. "You''re going to try and become king?" He asked in disbelief. Zar-Rhah did not seem amused by this either. "Idiot boy. I am not fighting myself.. I wish to help another. You see.. the Fang''s heart is a powerful catalyst. A new Fang only appears once every 5 years so the heart of the beast is the rarest ingredient in the country. With it.. I can craft a weapon for the only Orc I believe worthy to be king.." The old man said cryptically. "So you''re going to sponsor someone else to get in good with the king huh? Not bad. How many can participate in this ''ascension'' at once?" The young man asked. Zar-Rhah merely shrugged. "As many as are willing to die.. but most know their place. Most know.. they stand no chance." It could have been Vincent''s imagination but he was sure the old man glanced briefly at gildarts while saying that last part.. "So it''s a fight to the death then?" Vincent asked. Zar-Rhah shook his head in denial. "Not at its core no, but.. when mighty Orc''s fight their hardest.. casualties are inevitable." Vincent nodded in understanding so the Orc continued. "So do you accept the test or not?" Vincent for his part didn''t really feel like he had much of a choice in the matter. Learning from a master swordsman would be invaluable. As an added bonus it was one who could teach him a whole other branch from which to grow more powerful.. This was exactly what he needed to finally become more than just potential dinner for the various creatures of the jungle. "I accept." The blue eyed man said curtly. Gildarts and Zar-Rhah waited for the boy to leave and be well away from the cave before Zar-Rhah spoke. "You know what you ask of me when you besiege me to take him on as a student." The aged Orc glared. Gildarts nodded slowly. "I know. I am sorry. But.. I believe he could be the one.." He said quietly while continuing to stare at the spot where Vincent had exited from. Zar-Rhah''s eyes widened but he said nothing as he too stared off in the direction the human had departed. The two orcs eventually made their way out of the cave whereupon they saw Vincent lazily catching fish with his telekinesis. ''This boy.. is going to be the laziest fucking brat I have ever trained.'' Zar-Rhah sighed internally. Still.. The lazy ones often possessed the most ingenuity and were incredibly efficient in their methods, due to wanting to get things done as quickly and easily as possible. After planning their next few days in advance Gildart and Vincent bid their farewells. The two made quite an odd looking pair, the towering Gildarts lumbering along and the unruly looking human trotting beside him. Surprisingly it was Gildarts who broke the silence first. "I cannot help you with this hunt." He said simply, switching his weapon to the other side. Vincent nodded. "I get it this is something I must do on my own blah, blah, blah." But Gildarts shook his head. "No. You misunderstand. I too will be hunting the Fang.. I need its heart for my own purpose, you may recall.. And I suspect many others will be too. So from now until the end of this hunt we shall not be allies, but rivals. I refuse to see you as an equal so I will not fight you or intentionally obstruct your efforts but know this.. I do not intend to let you take the Fang before I." Vincent laughed out loud, excited at the prospective challenge presented by the Orc beside him. He grinned up at the green skinned man. "Alright then big guy, you''re on! I''m not even sure how many months of training it''s going to take before I''m strong enough to even survive an encounter with that thing but I suspect you still need to train your agility up to snuff too so I''ve got time." Gildarts sighed. "I.. should not be telling you this.. but I like you. You remind me of myself from my younger days. You are human but your heart is Orc. I hope you survive and grow stronger so that you may stand among our people." Gildarts had stopped and turned to Vincent as he spoke. Then he began to walk in the opposite direction of where he knew the blue eyed man was going to go. Vincent watched him with a small twinge of pride and joy at the Orc''s acknowledged comradery with the man. "I shall require approximately one year and six months to reach level 50.. after that.. I will kill the Fang. May the best man win. And when I do we''ll celebrate with drink!" The Orc laughed over his back. After he had gone Vincent chuckled. He stood stock still for several moments simply taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the wooded area around him. It was different from the jungle. The jungle was vibrant and beautiful in many areas but also dark, heavy and deadly in just as many others. creatures lurked in all corners of the wilderness there. Here in the jade forest he now found himself, it was quiet and peaceful. It was dark but not overly so. More like a pleasant shade. He sighed. He knew he would need to train harshly for the next dozen months or so if he wished to stand any chance of completing the daunting task that was demanded of him. His best bet would be to go back to the jungle where the most powerful of beasts lurked.. but first.. it was time to test a theory of his. He had been using his dash like a mad man every chance he got, focusing on the fundamentals of the technique. Each time he used it, it was like for a mere split second the world faded and warped into a long black/purple tunnel connecting two points. Within that tunnel, time didn''t move. It was like another realm, or a wormhole or something. Vincent was always pulled involuntarily toward his intended destination. He couldn''t slow down or speed up how long he was in the other realm for. He just surrendered every time. But each time he couldn''t help but notice.. within that realm, energy flowed in reverse. In doing so, it seemed to counterbalance the system constructs somehow creating a sort of incorporeal tunnel. To Vincent''s careful eye it was a stark reminder of his System Interference''s Anti-energy properties. After months and months of studying and using the technique¡­ Congratulations! Your skill: improved Dash (Epic) has increased to 50! New trial available! Warning! Multiple previous trials available! It would be wise to use your trials to grow stronger! Trials and potential rewards may be lost if you wait too long! He chose to ignore most of the ever growing list. The fact that the longer he ignored his trials the more and more insistent the system became only further cemented in his mind that he was absolutely doing the right thing. Honestly the system could tell him not to jump off a bridge and he would find one to jump right off of out of sheer spite. He combed through his list and focused specifically on his trials for improved Dash. It was one ability he had a specific plan for. He needed it to grow and evolve and in order not to acquire too much infamousy too early he decided to do it the system''s predetermined way. The last thing he needed was bounty hunters coming after his ass for being labeled as an interference to the system. Trial(s) available: Acute dynamic movement lvl 25 Multi-Dash lvl 50 He thought about doing the easier trial first. His finger hovered over the letters but he hesitated before reconsidering. The whole point in this little experiment was to see what, if anything, would happen if he skipped trials altogether.. Would he lose the benefits, gain more, or would it just allow him to do the trials out of order for the same rewards? If he were being honest with himself he was exceedingly nervous. He really hoped the system didn''t freak out and try to delete him again for diverging even this much. That had been more painful than anything he had ever felt in his life. He had never really been scared of a lot of things. Heights and clowns maybe. Living with crippling anxiety and depression in the old world was weird that way. It numbed you to a lot of things. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. It was like your brain was constantly overloaded by uncontrollable thoughts and emotions and often for absolutely no reason. With conditions like mental illness the intrusive thoughts and feelings happened often enough that whenever something tragic or painful happened in reality, you took it in stride like it was just another shitty day. Because really that''s all it was. And physical pain? Heh, he was no stranger to that either. At its core, pain told you that you were still alive. It kept you cautious. It''s not like anyone particularly enjoyed being in pain (unless they are mentally unstable) but individuals could learn to harness it so that it could give you an edge in staying alive and avoiding danger. A therapist would call his theory delusional dissociation. Vincent called it evolution. In spite of his line of thinking, the kind of pain he felt in his mind, body and soul when the system decided to eradicate him put true fear into him. He never wanted to feel that again. He knew he couldn''t handle it. Couldn''t numb it or ignore it. With a shudder he raised his shaky hand, trembling from anxiety as he pressed ''Multi-Dash.'' Trial initiated! Synchronization detected! Recalculating.. Error.. due to unusual circumstances and unexpected values unknown changes to the trial have occured Acute dynamic movement + Multi-Dash..+ Sneakskillvalue# Congratulations! New trial created! Commencing.. Trial of the one who moves in the shadows... Vincent raised an eyebrow at the unusual flow of information but a second later he felt the familiar sensation of the world falling away. The space around him slowly bled into a purple, almost maroon hue with black spider webs spreading all throughout. He waited several seconds for the world to come back into view when it began to dawn on him this may be the world. He was pretty sure physical sensation was returning to his body.. he was floating, suspended in the void. He waved his arms and legs which seemed to respond fine but he couldn''t tell what way was up and what was down, everything looked the same. It was all very disorienting. Suddenly what he thought may have been above him, a dark purple figure condensed. This figure was several shades darker than the environment around him and closer to a lilac or amethyst in color. Thick, stringy shadows seemed to drift off his studded leather armor. At least that''s what it looked like. It was hard to tell when everything was different shades of purple. The figure pulled out two green daggers that contrasted sharply with the figure holding them. It''s eyes flashed red and in the next second it seemed to teleport from his view. He yelped and summoned his shield just in time to block an attack in the shape of an X. The figure seemed to float backwards at insane speeds, as if he flew. The shadow around him thickened as he moved concealing his movements and his energy flow became impossible to track in the surrounding environment. Vincent realized the creature wasn''t teleporting exactly but with its weird movements and the visual obstacles created by its skill it may well have been. It would disappear and reappear at random taking swipe after deadly swipe at Vincent. The phantom seemed to get closer and closer with every strike. He tried to single himself and take a swipe at the phantom but it easily gilded around his attack and struck him in the back "gah!" He yelled, blood spurting, suspended through the weightless air. As the phantom came back around for a follow up strike, he swung around and tried to do a sort of shield bash. Unfortunately he couldn''t muster any real force and it did little more than deflect the attacker who shadow stepped away to begin his assault anew. This wasn''t working.. he had to do something. And of course naturally the damn system wouldn''t let him use his own dash. He used telekinesis to angle himself as best as possible to counter his opponents blows, but it was hard while deflecting unending dagger strikes. This opponent wasn''t weak to boot. He almost wondered if trials didn''t scale stats somewhat. He couldn''t manipulate the energy of this place but he could still manipulate his own energy. Each time he was impacted it raised his momentum slightly. His absolute timing and aerodynamics were hard at work. With each impact he noticed what was akin to a swirl pattern deepening within the energy. He let it build and build until the energy within him became difficult to control and resembled a vortex. The next time he was struck, he snapped his arm up in a counter, using the butt of his sword to smack the creature in the forehead, sending it careening away. All of the built up momentum from the attacks his shield had sustained was transferred to his arm in an instant. He couldn''t see the result but he only hoped it bought him a few seconds to breathe. He didn''t expect for the system to ding a second later and reward him so heavily for his efforts¡­ Pilfered kinetic force (Epic) achieved! Pilfered kinetic force (Epic) Allows the user to absorb and store some of the kinetic force of an opponent''s attack. Also partially reduces damage received. This skill is most effective with a sword and shield. Due to the ''Epic'' rarity gain a large boost in kinetic force stolen per level. Agility gives a moderate boost to this skill. Impact reduction (Epic) achieved! Impact reduction (Epic) grants greatly increased poise allowing the user to withstand heavier blows without flinching. Due to the Epic rarity gain a large boost to poise per skill level. Strength and endurance grant a considerable boost to this skill. "Oh yeah. Your ass is mine." He grinned. The being looked like it had a chunk of its head caved in but if it was in any sort of pain it did a damn good job of hiding it. It shifted its stance and charged again, resuming the last course of attacks. It hit his shield with two quick strikes.. dashed away.. came from the opposite side.. two quick strikes.. ''Is this stupid thing just going to keep attacking me and running away..?'' Vincent tried to repeat the process again, charging energy much quicker this time, but the damn creature was nimble and even though he had been blocking nearly all of the attacks, the damage was accumulating. Getting frustrated Vincent roared and swung his sword ina. Sideways arc at the creature. It twisted out of the way of his counter with what Vincent had to admit was downright impressive reflexes. Apparently it had learned from their previous exchange. A trial enemy that could learn might be difficult. He needed to end this. He began blocking once more, storing momentum within his body. He could almost faintly see it as it grew, a ball of chaotic energy within him, this time much more contained. Using the foundations of Aerodynamics and Telekinesis he began to merge the energy flows of the two skills with the ball of growing momentum within him. The two energies of wind and mental prowess swirled around the ball in a tight circular pattern. A sharp tearing pain began to claw its way through him from the inside but he couldn''t focus on that right now as he was still blocking attacks and trying not to lose control of the rapidly accelerating storm of energies. In a metaphysical way he could feel his grip slipping. It was like slowly losing control of a heavy object only this object might rip him apart from the inside out. He was pretty sure he was completely screwed when.. Congratulations! Maelstrom Whirlwind (Rare) achieved! Maelstrom whirlwind (Rare) Extremely rare variation of two or more skills. User manipulates the force of the elements primarily air, to create a whirlpool of kinetic force that has both offensive and defensive capabilities. Skill works in unison with the amount of Kinetic energy the user has gathered. Due to the ''Rare'' rarity gain a small boost in how quickly you accumulate energy per level. Using his plethora of skills he rapidly built up both hsi potential and stored kinetic energy. He used Telekinesis, Aerodynamics, Pilfered kinetic force and Maelstrom whirlwind in unison to move around and launch himself forward. Before he had no way to do anything but wait for the enemy to come to him in this metaphysical plane of existence, leaving him no way to exert any real manner of force. He wondered how exactly anyone who didn''t possess his ridiculous ability to evolve and adapt could even complete this challenge but then again mixing the difficulty of two trials together was probably meant to be a damning idea from the start. The creature reared back its blades and dashed at several times at him, gaining speed with each dash. At this point Vincent was more or less flying as he activated his unyielding strike and the two meant with a thunderous crash¡­ Congratulations! Skill: Shadow Step (Epic) achieved! Shadow step (Epic) An evolved form of Improved Dash! Only obtainable by someone who has mastered the art of stealth, and the element of darkness to achieve maximum survivability! Become one with the shadows to disappear and reappear in a wide vicinity. Due to the ''Epic'' rarity gain a large bonus to Range per level. Gain a moderate reduction in mana consumption per level. (Active skill) (consumes 500 mana) As the world came back into view Vincent breathed in deeply. That was.. a pain in the ass but it was fruitful. This proved that putting off trials until there were later stages available would result in a much harder test with much better rewards.. hell apparently even different techniques all together could potentially be minced in if they were high enough level. His sneak skill had just hit level 50 the day before and properties of it had been mixed in with this level 50+ trial somehow. This trial had been particularly difficult for him. He hated being in situations where he couldn''t control his body movements. It was a down right phobia. Tight spaces or if his air flow is cut off for example really drove his anxiety through the roof. He had two massive gashes across his chest, and several across his arms and legs. He wasn''t worried, he pulled out some food and drink and was good as new within minutes. Roughly fifty feet ahead of him was the large cliff side on top of which lay the jungle. Vincent used the shadow step several times in quick succession. It somehow felt much smoother than his improved Dash. He felt as if was gliding through the matter that occupied the space around him with little to no resistance at all. Visually it was largely unchanged but he definitely felt like he remained in the tunnel like ''void'' a few moments longer than before. His skill spit him out at the tree line that composed the rear end of the jungle. He noticed when shadows were around his ability seemed to activate and deactivate just a hair quicker. True to its namesake it would seem¡­ He began his long trek back to the cave, testing out his new abilities as he went. The journey back was far faster than the journey away as he tested his new abilities. He couldn''t believe how much faster he had become with just the few new additions he''d acquired. He was easily able to manipulate three times the amount of energy he could before both in density and quantity, propelling himself through the air at speeds nearing two hundred feet per second. If he were relying on his own inadequate perception he was positive he would have a horrendous case of tunnel vision. There''s no way he''d be able to comprehend nor control his forward momentum. As it was his lucky break, absolute timing, advanced tracking and sixth sense all worked in unison to keep him from becoming a pancake. He would need to address that issue.. and soon. In record breaking time he was able to make it back to his sanctuary, breaking through the threshold of the jungle with an army of birds chasing him. He had made sure to make as much noise as possible when traversing their territories specifically in order to test his new limits. He had made it back without a single scratch. Needless to say he was satisfied. As he entered the safety of his cavern he sighed, rubbing his head. He needed a nap. He began to take off his equipment letting it drop unimpeded as he shuffled through the cave. As he rounded the large stone pillar he saw his companion happily waiting for him. Upon seeing him the thing began to jump for joy pumping it''s arms to and fro. It fixed him with a lopsided grin and then a determined glare. It slid into a stance as it motioned for a sword and shield. Vincent couldn''t help but chuckle despite his exhaustion. "Oh yeah? You wanna test out our new abilities too huh buddy?" He sighed once more as he seemed to be doing a lot these days. He transferred his sword and shield to his companion pulling out a much weaker back up pair of his own. He slid into a stance mirroring his companion and grinned himself. "Alright. But i''m tired so lets not waste any time. Here I come!" With that he shadow stepped forward. Chapter 17 end. The makings of a warrior swish.. bubble.. swish.. bubble.. bubble.. "...This really sucks.." Vincent mused out loud to himself. Currently he was standing, bare arms and chest in front of his forge. He was stirring molten metal with a massive ladle of some kind. "Normally I would just have the stupid plant do stuff like this.." He flinched as a massive pool of magma popped, causing some of the molten liquid to land on his skin instantly boiling away his flesh. His chest and arms had become large, and perfectly symmetrical. They looked like they were chiseled from marble, his size and definition practically unobtainable by human standards. The man clenched his jaw and shut his eyes as his chest, abs and arms smoked and began healing. The now exposed muscle was slowly being covered over by a layer of fresh, pink skin. He waited for the miserable searing sensation to dull before continuing to stir. It didn''t take long for his skin to meld itself back together. It was a disgusting and painful process but things like this passively boosted his skill levels far more than doing things the ''easy'' way. Absolute timing pinged within his head. ''Ahh.. there we go'' He poured the boiling, liquid metal into a mold roughly in the shape of a large ingot. He deftly manipulated the air around him to gently cool the boiling substance just enough to maintain its shape, but keeping it still warm enough to be mallable. He pulled the metal out with his bare hands. *Sizzleeeee* He winced as the skin on his fingers was Burnt to a crisp. He shaped the metal with his raw physical strength and multiple skills like extract, refine and telekinesis. Even as he looked up briefly and saw the notification pop up he continued working. Congratulations! Fire resistance has increased to 50! New trial(s) available! Trial: The flaming lord of despair appears! (Fire resistance lvl 50) "Yeah I''m definitely not fighting no flaming lord of madness or whatever the fuck that just said." He decided as he finished crafting his seventh metal ingot. He wasn''t really sure what type of metal this would be considered. The system merely read: metal ingot lvl 55; a material used primarily in crafting. Strange that he was level 60 and he could barely produce level 55 materials. And oftentimes his finished product, such as a full set of armor, was barely in the 40''s. He shook his head. After hammering away, extracting and refining the final impurities he heated the metal one last time to give it a smooth, Shiny surface. Once done he sold it for what he could only assume was decent money for the hour it took to make the damn things. He made about 10k per ingot and the material cost was only 1000 to produce. Honestly most of it was Gaia''s blood, his own blood, and monster parts. The only thing he really purchased was the raw ore because frankly, he hated trying to locate and mine the material himself. He made a 9000 dollar profit on each ingot and that was enough. If he took the time to craft an entire set of armor he could make ten to fifteen times that amount but that took an entire day''s worth of work. He had roughly twelve million gold at this point. If money functioned in a similar way to the old world he supposed he had a small fortune and could be considered rich. He could buy any non leveled item in the entirety of the system shop. But that was the problem. Those were all non-leveled items. Basic materials such as ores, containers and tools. Any sets of armor or weapons he saw were always level 99 and cost well into the billions if not trillions. Even if he sat here all day and night with his plant companion pumping out the highest quality goods he could make, it would take years to amass those kinds of funds. His current armor was practically useless. All of his attack and defense came from his sword and shield which he got from a trial. Though.. maybe that''s how it was supposed to be? He was sure some rich spoiled bitch out there could afford the best of the best but most probably had to work themselves to the bone if they wanted true power. It was just as well. Vincent decided he''d rather have an indestructible body than indestructible armor. He looked at his list of skills, specifically his four highest ones; Smithing (common) lvl 60 Farming (common) lvl 59 Cooking (common) lvl 56 Alchemy (uncommon) lvl 57 He knew that naturally as levels rose, skills would gain XP more slowly but¡­ He wasn''t prepared for just how massive the sharp incline in required XP would be every 25 levels.These were four of his most fundamental skills that he''d had almost the entire time he''d been here. By his calculations that had to have been approaching 2 years. Day in and day out the companion worked on these skills in particular yet even still they were only just now approaching the sixties. And that was with a passive, steady flow of continuous incoming XP. How many others had a passive way to train their abilities, even while they slept? He shuddered, imagining how long it would have taken him to grind up all of his skills without the myriad of broken abilities he received from his plot armor. He made his way over to his stream and began meditation. A frown crossed his features. His intelligence had a combined total of damn near two hundred with his complete tranquility''s ridiculous ability. Even still, his current predicament was a puzzle he just couldn''t solve. He still had a while to train for his fight against the Fang and last time he had even managed to make it bleed and retreat. As far as Vincent was concerned, if the damn beast could bleed.. it could be killed. That being said, the task before him was daunting and honestly a bit hopeless. In the time he had been in the system his stats had grown from literally 22 to almost 500 and his highest stat by far was arguably the most useless. If he had more time.. roughly another three years to get each of his stats to 250, then he could probably defeat the Fang. He simply didn''t have that long. He frowned, considering the fact that he was being extremely selfish... Gildarts was fighting for the honor of becoming king of his people to lead them to prosperity. The old swordsman Orc he had met in the other cave was supporting another in hopes of restoring his tarnished honor, he was sure¡­ That just left Vincent who really only fought for himself.. truthfully he didn''t care much about the affairs or the outcome of the ascension or whatever. He just wanted the right to be trained by the powerful Orc so that he in turn could become powerful. Obviously he could blast through as many trials as possible, and maybe create a bunch of stupidly ineffective skills just for the stats but he somehow felt like it just wouldn''t be enough. Plus a lot of potency would be lost due to the intentions and lack of hard work in such actions. Besides, he was working towards building something very specific within himself and throwing in random components and skills at this stage would not make for a solid foundation. His mind was running a million miles an hour. The effect on intelligence was pretty much what one would expect. You didn''t just automatically know things you didn''t know before but your thoughts become sharper and quicker. Answers and memories came on instinct. By combining that with his exotic skills Vincent began to piece together the puzzle of what would be the next steps the man took in his evolution. His eyes snapped opened and he made his way out of the cave. "What I need right now is to fight. Maybe the weakest possible creatures I can find.." Only by pushing himself to the limits and struggling to survive for the next year could he possibly hope to somehow grow enough to hunt down the Fang. Then again.. Gildarts said other factions may come after the creature too. He may not even have to do the brunt of the work. As long as he got the killing blow.. he would get the reward¡­ Shaking his head the dark haired man snorted. "That''s really not.. my style." He sighed. He walked through the path he''d made through the grass stopping just before the entrance of the jungle. The sun was warm on his back, but no longer overly bearing due to his heat resistance. He turned so half his body was in the sun and the other was smothered by the shade of the jungle. He held up his hands studying them, one bathed in shadow the other in sunlight. It was strange.. feeling the heat on one side and the coolness on the other. To his special eyes, the flows of energy were slightly more ecstatic in the light and more mellow in the shade but the difference was so subtle he could barely even sense it. He began gathering energy in both his palms and watching carefully as his flows interacted with the light and shadow dancing across his palms. His eyes began to glow, unusual comprehension observing how his energy dominated the environment''s. He figured if he wanted.. the man could probably mimic the patterns of energy and use his own in similar manners. But mimicking two different styles of energy at once was difficult and for a moment Vincent thought it may have been impossible with his current mental prowess but after a few more seconds¡­ Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Congratulations! Skill: Shadow manipulation (Rare) achieved! Congratulations! Skill: Radiant Light (Rare) achieved! Shadow manipulation (Rare) Allows the user to control the flows of the very shadows themselves granting many offensive and defensive capabilities. Due to the ''Rare'' rarity gain a small increase to Range and degree of control per level. (Passive ability) Radiant light (Rare) Allows the user to emit a bright light from anywhere on their body. The light can be used both offensively and defensively depending on intensity. Due to the ''Rare'' rarity range and intensity gain a small increase per level. (Passive ability) "HA. I''ll play with those later. For now I need to focus on my goal.." He laughed in amusement as he walked into the bowls of the jungle. He did say he didn''t want a bunch of useless new skills, but he loved collecting the elements of the weather and he wouldn''t even consider them a waste. As something of an alchemist he wanted to try and master them all, in time. Not long into his travels, maybe an hour or so, he came upon something he''d never encountered before. In his experiences most of the jungle was bustling with activity and noise; yet the area he had stumbled upon was dead silent. Every 10 feet were strange pulsing yellow mushrooms. He didn''t know why but he had a strong feeling they were the reason for the silence. Possibly because they were the only biological creatures in an otherwise unoccupied space. As he approached them the air seemed to hum, and his hair stood on end. It was soon made clear they were sentient when they turned to face him and he saw.. A face. They had small narrowed eyes that were comically close together, their sockets stretched into a frown. "Har-uum!" One said taking two small steps before pulsing with a bright yellow. Vincent was almost positive if he touched one of those things he was going to get electrocuted to the point of peeing himself. He tried identifying one of their stats but only received a name for his troubles. Well that and fortunately enough, an indication of their level. They were level 25. He sighed. That was as weak as it got around here. And they seemed slow as all hell to boot. They had barely made two more steps toward him during his musings. Some areas had small clusters of them but mostly they were a few car lengths apart from one another so they shouldn''t be hard to pick off, he figured. Vincent was a stone''s throw away from the first mushroom when it''s frowned deepend and it grunted. The thing squatted and contorted slightly. "Hyouuuuu!" It hummed, and before he could react a bolt of lightning hit him square in the chest, blasting him backwards. "Hwahh!" He gasped crashing into a tree. He slid down onto his butt panting and trying not to pass out. ''Note to self.. sixth sense isn''t as fast as lightning.. yet.'' Congratulations! Skill: Electric resistance (Uncommon) achieved! He didn''t have time to read the rest as another bolt shot for him. Based on the fact that he had lost nearly 4000 health from the first one, he definitely didn''t want to take a second blast like that. Shadow stepping backwards, the man from earth launched a comet at the would-be assailant. The ball of fire and ice didn''t do much as far as he could tell but it kept the thing from launching anymore bolts while he took cover. From behind a tree he huffed, peeking at his stats. With all his buffs and bonuses his health totaled nearly 12000, but he hated seeing it drop below half so he was trying to avoid that. He had no idea those damn things would be this strong! He quickly downed a health potion before hopping back out once more. Summoning his sword and shield the level one human thought of simply blocking the next lighting bolt but unfortunately it didn''t quite work that way. It blocked a bit of the damage but only about half. His arm was thrown sideways and his shield sent flying from his grasp before another bolt forced him to hastily parry with sword in hand. He deflected a portion of the blast but was still sent tumbling backwards. Congratulations! Skill: Parry (sword) (Common) achieved! Parry (sword) (Common) Allows the user to deflect attacks if timed correctly. Due to the ''Common'' rarity, the amount of damage deflected increases by a miniscule amount per skill level. Strength grants a small bonus to this skill. (Active skill) Scrambling to his feet Vincent clicked his tongue. Interesting but not quite what he was going for with all of this.. he realized he needed more long distance attacks. He also needed something that was good against lightning.. another element perhaps.. *trickle trickle trickle* There! a small stream about 15 yards to his left. He rolled to the side as the next bolt of lightning came at him, shadow stepping and appearing beside the stream behind the monsters. He bent down beside it trying his hardest to focus but also keeping an eye turned towards his would-be attackers as he plunged his hand into the water. The creatures slowly, and awkwardly spun around to face him. "Come on.. come on damn it.. if I can just.. understand the flows.. haha!... AHHH fuck!" He yelled, being struck by not one but two bolts while his hand was submerged. He stood shakily to his feet before slowly turning to face the beats. Smoke was slowly coiling off him. He glared, "You.. motherfuckers!" His azure eyes flashed, one turning red as he raised one arm. There was a pulse and all of the mushrooms before him froze. His sixth sense, being just an improved version of predatory instincts, still had the ability to freeze an opponent if his will was strong enough. He didn''t fully register what was going on. He was pissed. But a second later he formed the ability he needed.. raising his other arm.. Congratulations! Skill: Water torrent (Rare) achieved! Water torrent (Rare) Using nearby sources of water, the user creates a highly pressurized jet stream to damage enemies! Due to the ''Rare'' rarity gain a small bonus to range and power of stream per skill level. (Active skill) (consumes 200 mana) He shot a blast of water at the closest mushroom. Unfortunately it did little more than douse the creature and knock it over. As the creature rolled on its side and flailed its feet the wind left Vincent''s sails. The rest of the mushroom creatures began to break free of his telekinetic grip. "Well.. that won''t do." Drinking a potion, Vincent yelped and rolled to the side as another lightening bolt flew past. He shadow stepped to get in close to one of the creatures, raising his left arm and blasting it with another stream of water. Once the creature was off balance, leaning dangerously on one leg Vincent began to charge an unwavering strike with his right hand. As the creature finally steadied itself and made to turn and face Vincent it was met by a ten second charged punch to the face. The creature squealed and was blasted backwards several feet but sustained very little damage. He looked down at his smoking fist. He had sustained almost as much damage as the damn mushroom did. That attack was definitely more effective with a sword¡­ Another lightning bolt hit him square in the back causing him to roar in pain and frustration. He rolled to his feet and took in his surroundings. There were at least a dozen of those mushrooms closing in and so far all the man could do was piss them off. It was getting difficult to dodge the multitude of lightning bolts flying at him. Even after managing to down two health potions during the whole commotion, his Hp was teetering around half life. He hadn''t used the second wind yet but he really didn''t want to if it could be avoided.. growling in frustration, mostly at how weak he still felt, the man cursed. If Vincent couldn''t even kill one of those damn things how could he expect to beat the Fang? He did get some useful new skills though.. Decidingly, the man was trying his best to collect each of the elements so that when he began learning engraving he could replicate that ridiculously powerful attack he had seen Zar-Rhah use. If he had something like that¡­ he chuckled. Baby steps. He would return and grind out the mushrooms later. Honestly finding them had been a happy accident. They were much weaker than any other enemy he''d encountered this far, and would probably serve as great practice for fighting multiple, quick enemies at once. Unfortunately, they seemed like magical beings and he needed to face a physical based enemy. To that end, Vincent really needed to raise his defense if he hoped to survive another run in with the Fang. He shuddered, remembering how it had practically one shot him in their previous encounter. He shadow stepped several times to get away and continued on his journey for about another hour or so. It kind of bummed him out that other than that one time, he had never really found any kind of items or chest around the jungle. That''s not to say that he had explored it in its entirety by any means. In fact the man had probably explored roughly a tenth of the jungle all together in his two years and that was being generous. Not to mention some areas were just altogether inaccessible with the amount of high level monsters that roamed around. Most weren''t overly aggressive unless you posed a challenge but he really wasn''t trying to figure out which ones were. He was walking at a leisurely pace, sneak fully active of course when he noticed an extremely slow moving.. rock? Upon closer inspection it appeared to be some type of cross between a bird having a beak and claws but also like a tortoise creature, with a bulky gray rock-like shell and reptilian skin. It slowly drug itself along the jungle ground. He tried to identify the thing.. Name: mountain-back turtle Lvl: 25 Stats: unknown Jesus, that figured. Given its level though the system should have called it a hill back if anything. His sword had returned by now so he summoned it. He made sure to push sneak to full blast, crouching and charging an unyielding strike as he slowly crept up behind the creature. While charging the ability he felt himself approaching his limit. He discovered, with this particular skill, the longer you charged the attack the more energy built up within the body and the higher your stats had to be to withstand the pressure. If you charged it too long or tried to push too far past your limits, the bones and muscles in your arm would shatter when you used the strike. Could be extremely useful for a sure fire one shot, but this was not one of those situations. So when the attack had charged for roughly ten seconds he unleashed it. A jaw rattling, concussive force rocked the wooded area. Congratulations! Sneak attack damage times 3! He had known sneak attack damage was a thing based on the system''s explanations of the sneak ability but he''d never really had a chance to take advantage of it before. If you wanted to, you could ask the system how best to use your abilities. Sometimes it would give you a general, vague idea and other times it would give you a freakishly descriptive one. Vincent honestly preferred to figure things out by trial and error for the most part. That being said he wished he would have known that the multiplier on his sneak attacks was already at a whopping three. He would have been using them a lot more often, taking advantage of the extra power. Upon impact with the turtle the thing had been buried in a three foot deep crater. His sword had been blown out of his hand yet again, due to the reverberations from the strike but it was still within sight so he didn''t fret too much. He shook his wrist, twisting it a few times earning a satisfying crunch. If he had charged that attack much longer he would have blown his hand off. As the dust cleared he couldn''t help but gasp. "You''re shitting me.. not a scratch on it." Truly the turtle seemed to barely even notice the attack as it turned slowly around from its crater and fixed Vincent with a glare. He took a step back in shock and a second later the turtle spun at a speed that most tornadoes could only ever dream of achieving. He quickly raised his shield, activating an unyielding guard. Luckily it was just in time because the turtle bludgeoned his shield instantly, denting it and throwing Vincent straight up into the air. "Shiiiit!!" He spun mid air and angled himself as he reached the Apex of his ascent. He was getting the hell out of here. He used the shadow step several times in rapid succession¡­ A few minutes later the man was bent over panting heavily, one arm on his knee the other using a tree for support. "What the hell.." *huff* *huff* "What is up with everything in this God forsaken jungle sending me flying with their casual strikes. Am I seriously that pathetic?.." He mused. it seemed so.. This is how the majority of the rest of his day would go. He would find a creature that he wasn''t quite familiar with, get his ass handed to him and run away. But each time he was getting just a little bit better.. The faster enemies forced him to get better at managing his speed related abilities while the magic beasts often increased his resistances and tactical thinking. Pure strength related enemies helped him focus on not only refining his combat skills but teaching him about leverage and timing... Each encounter provided him with valuable experience that all equated to a warrior who was slowly becoming greater than the sum of his parts. Even though his attributes weren''t rising over much his combat instincts were, and that could prove deadly here within the Nexus. His new, lower level skills benefited the most. At any given time whether he was traveling or fighting something he was cycling between using each and every one of his 43 skills, minus the ones he relied on his plant to grind such as courage and farming. As he was traveling he kept his shadow manipulation wound tightly around his left arm and his radiant light pulsed from his right. He was starting to look a bit freakish, perhaps even inhuman. With each of his arms glowing in contrast, a whirlwind of energy was rapidly billowing out around him. Many of his abilities gave no indication they were active unless one could understand the flows of the System, but there were quite a few others that did. With each step he used Shockwave, both to grind it out and honestly because he looked bad ass bounding through the jungle surrounded by his volatile skills like this. He had very little presence due to his sneak so to most of the creatures in the jungle, it seemed as if some invisible wizard was firing off random ass spells or something. The denizens of the shaded tropics shook their heads and turned back around. Just another day in the jungle. End of chapter 18 The Ancient Slumbering Tortoise Night had fallen some time ago. Vincent was beaten, bloody and exhausted. He trekked cautiously back to his sanctuary, limping and dragging himself along, waiting for his vitality to do its job. There were so many sounds of chirping, roaring, scuffing, ect that it was deafening. A never ending chorus of the system''s deadly war. To most, it was horrifying. There was a reason why people were scared of the dark.. that''s when you were most vulnerable. Vincent however, could not have been more relieved. Most predators relied heavily on their smell.. and their sight. With his sixth sense and Geographic inclination the man could navigate the jungle at night just as well as day. Here he had the advantage. Sure some creatures had evolved for night but for the most part he knew where they lurked and he avoided those areas. He was walking cautiously, thinking about how wonderful a nap sounded when he sensed something he''d never felt before. A presence weaker than his own. He began to move more deliberately toward where he felt the presence. It was wounded.. barely moving at all. This was my chance to finally get some experience¡­ He was less than thirty feet away when he paused. Dead ahead was a tree much more massive than the average. Whatever the thing was, it was laid out on the other side. He began to carefully make his way around, hugging the tree as he did so. He steadied his heartbeat despite his nervousness. Even if this creature felt weak.. wounded, cornered animals were often the most ferocious. As he finished making his way around the tree he instantly dropped his guard despite himself. Gasping he let his sneak drop and his arms drop to their sides. He took a few steps forward. "What..?" He mumbled. On the ground before him, oozing green blood was a small silver wolf, about the size of a pre-system wolf pup he reckoned. He scanned it. "Huh.. that''s.. how am I supposed to feel about that? That''s pathetic. Wretched system.." He spat in disgust. Name: lunar wolf pup (Mythic) Lvl: 10 Stats: Strength: 50 Endurance: 20 Vitality: 10 Intelligence: 20 Perception: 50 Agility: 75 Based on what he could see the only creature he would ever find below level ten would be¡­ "A child..?" The system wanted him to kill children to level up.. He supposed at its core that wasn''t necessarily true. Logically he knew somewhere in the world there had to be other creatures like humans who were new to the system and thus were more or less low levels. But here in the country of Garkan, no such creature existed. He wanted to vomit. There was no way.. he could ever.. even if it was just an animal. Even if it''s intelligence wasn''t vastly improved by the system which it definitely was, based on how the thing''s eyes carefully followed his own.. he couldn''t take this life just for the sake of power. He refused. Fighting the Fang was different. Not only was it a full grown beast that has lived Years of a full life, but it was a predator like himself. A warrior. They fought on equal footing with respect and dignity. It was strange but he somehow sensed that the Fang felt the same way about this that he did. Only in the final battle can two souls truly know one another. And only through honor and respect can death have meaning But this.. this was a wounded pup on death''s door. There was no honor in this. He couldn''t help but notice the name.. it was red.. and it said ''Mythical'' which the system now revealed was the rarity after legendary. It seemed to unlock a rarity you had to encounter and comprehend something of that level. ''So red means Mythical.. A Mythical and only level 10.. how is this possible?'' Whatever was going on it all made sense. The system had glitched him into some late game area of the earth, perhaps some challenge or DLC raid island. Hell he was willing to bet across the endless sea was the rest of the world. The biggest question remained; what went wrong. Was it his location when he was last on the old earth? Or was it some sort of divine punishment for how he had behaved? He didn''t know and it didn''t matter. He just wanted to yell and punch things but that wouldn''t solve anything. He looked at his own health which had restored quite a bit of itself; Health: 3600/9600 He could definitely spare the health¡­ he summoned his sword and created a gash across his arm quickly spraying blood across the wounded wolf. He made sure to clearly focus the intent of his will the entire time. No mistakes could be made here. He began to fear he had made one such mistake when the small pup began to sizzle and squirm, but then it''s wounds began to close. The healing effects of his blood were quite powerful, it would seem. In an instant the creature was up and running in circles, yipping for joy. It ran up to Vincent wagging it''s tail and smiling (dogs 1000% do smile he didn''t care what anyone said) and Vincent dropped to his knees to greet it. it stood on its hind legs, front paws placed on Vincent''s chest as if to hold him in place allowing the pup to begin savagely licking him to death. Vincent burst into genuine laughter, feeling a himor and joy the likes of which he hadn''t experienced in a long, long time. God he missed having a dog.. and this thing, whether it would grow up to be a savage monster that would rip his throat out or not, well for right now it was behaving like a loving pet and he was taking full advantage. He noticed after healing it the small wolf pup now had a scar in the shape of a crescent moon. Funny that it was named lunar wolf pup and he had given it a scar in the shape of a moon when healing the massive gashes in its side. He wondered what exactly had happened to it and he was surprised no predators had taken advantage of the wounded and weak creature. Maybe they didn''t think it was worth their time.. that was often the case for most creatures besides the birds. Most predators desired a challenge and the thrill of the hunt. Or to be left alone. He briefly considered taking this exquisite creature with him. He would certainly love to have it as a pet and moreover, love and joy were two emotions he so desperately missed these days.. he never knew how badly it could hurt to be so alone. He had often felt isolated and miserable before because of his mental illnesses but this seclusion he''d been subject to for over a year now had cut him deep. Humans.. even the most anti social of them, desired contact. He sighed... He couldn''t do it. Even if the thing didn''t grow up to eat his face off, it''s parents might. There was also the fact that.. frankly he couldn''t protect himself let alone a pup. Taking it in would severely hinder his training. It sounded bad but.. from here on out the pup would have to make it on its own or find its way home. It tried following him and he had to fight back the tears that were stinging his eyes. That was one good puppo.. he figured. He may never see such a good boy again. He trekked back home with his head down the rest of the night. When Vincent arrived back at the cave he found himself instinctively tracing the engravings on the pillar in the center of the room once more. He still couldn''t get any details out of them. He wished to all manner of gods he could.. Maybe they would provide some answers. But wishing didn''t get one very far with the system. He was just getting ready to go find a bed when the system dinged. He grinned. So the system thought the cute little puppy deserved to be saved too huh? Congratulations! Feat: guardian angel achieved! New perk: Empathy acquired! Empathy. You understand the value of all life in the Nexus, not just your own. You lack any misguided preconceived notions of what makes one life ''more valuable'' than another. All life Is created equal. Neither age nor wealth nor power can measure the weight of a soul. +25 vitality. +25% vitality. ''Heh.. maybe the system will help me progress without leveling. If it keeps giving me stats like that. Damn.. that''s the second +25% to my vitality. Ridiculous.'' Vincent mused internally. He unstrapped all the weighted armor he wore (weighted to improve his unparalleled physical fitness of course) and produced a comfy bed. Naps were arguably the best part of the entire day. The next morning Vincent could be found meditating near the stream. if he could just develop a defensive skill that stacked well enough with his vitality which was already well on its way to being monstrous.. he had the unyielding guard but that required a shield and consumed large amounts of stamina if he was hit hard. He needed an ability he could activate at any time. He wondered.. if he was willing to give up one stat to improve another could he achieve a more powerful result? The basis of his thinking was how berserker''s rage consumed ten intelligence and redirected the energies of the attributes to further imbue attack and defense. If he could do the same thing but perhaps sacrifice a great amount of speed for defense.. he was already getting faster than he could reasonably control anyways. He was mulling over his battles from the time he had first arrived to just last night. He remembered how the Fang couldn''t penetrate the thick scales of the dragon, at least not deep enough to hurt it. It was fast but all that speed was useless to its sheer strength. And then there was the turtle yesterday that had tanked the equivalent of three of his most powerful attacks and it didn''t even notice. The mountain back turtle. He focused, feeling the hard, unmoving rock beneath him. He thought about mountains and how, even when struck by unyielding winds and insurmountable tidal waves they remain sturdy and firm. It took millions upon millions of years of constant assault before a mountain would surrender. He had to be the same. He would have to give up nearly all of his speed. Rooted to the ground like an ancient tree that has spent countless lifetimes developing its roots, curling throughout the crust of the earth to get a tighter grip. It could not be removed. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. He was the trees. He was the mountains. He was the dragon.. he was the Ancient Slumbering Tortoise. Congratulations! Skill: Ancient Slumbering Tortoise (legendary) achieved! Ancient Slumbering tortoise (Legendary) multiplies the total defense of the user by 50! However, sets agility to 1 This is a unique ability created by one who''s heart is as firm and unmoving as the earth itself. Sets agility 1 point higher every level while ability is active. (Active ability) (consumes 1000 mana) Vincent held the ability for several seconds and couldn''t help the hearty laugh that clawed its way from his throat. It seemed Ancient slumbering turtle and complete tranquility could be activated at the same time, meaning his defense and regenerations as well as his intelligence would all be massively multiplied. Somehow, he had created an absolute monster of a combination between his defense and vitality. Now if he could just increase his strength enough to go toe to toe with the Fang¡­ yeah fat chance. His agility was set to 1 which.. in case you were wondering.. allowed him to take one slow lumbering step at a time. He felt as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders which was accurate. His defense though.. with his regular armor and no shield his defense was a measly 40, but with his new ability it was multiplied to 2000! The way he understood it, defense was a percentage multiplier on his strength stat.. meaning his strength of about 70 (without buffs) was effectively multiplied to 1400. How many creatures were there with a strength of over 1400? How strong was the Fang? He knew damage couldn''t be reduced below 99% but if he was fighting something that was powerful enough to one shot him 100 times over his dumb ass deserved to die. But survivability was only one part of the problem. If all he could do was survive it would never be enough to win. He would have to hit the Fang hard enough to kill it or at least mortally wound it and for that he needed an attack roughly three times stronger than the ridiculous Deus Ex Machina he had used before. He supposed with his steadily increasing arsenal of skills he could eventually build up enough momentum to move at manageable speeds even with only 1 agility but if he did anything more than turn around or swing an arm, Complete tranquility would be nullified. The best thing he could think to do would be to build up as much kinetic force as possible and then end it all in one strike, perhaps even dropping his defensive skill at the end for an extra burst of speed. Hopefully a combination of a defensive skill that powerful and his astronomical vitality while in his complete tranquility state would allow him to tank enough hits from the Fang to increase his attack output by at least 10 times. How many hits would that be? Without knowing exactly how much health he would lose and kinetic momentum he would gain per hit he couldn''t be sure. For now.. he needed to train. He still had a few abilities to get up to snuff and his companion could help him get a relative idea of how best to use this new skills in combat. He would see exactly how difficult it would be to fight with only 1 agility. He thought about having his companion activate the ability while he did the wailing but uhh.. kind of seemed like a dick move. He summoned his sword and shield trading them in for a weaker version and giving the stronger pair to his companion. With his companions defense rating of 120 and his being only 50 the battle would be much more fruitful. He settled into a stance feeling the crushing weight of the world slide over him. He grunted feeling extremely uncomfortable. He really hoped this skill got easier to use with levels¡­ His companion charged an unwavering strike and shadow stepped at him to gain massive momentum. ''Clever bastard..'' He mumbled. He considered raising his shield but didnt even have time. With an armor rating of 2500 what was the point anyways? His sword of Anguish, thrust forward by his copy, crashed against his chest with a dull, ringing CLANG! And he couldn''t help but grin. He had lost 30 points of health. He didn''t even feel it. It was nearly two hours later when the two of them decided to call it quits. Vincent was running low on potions and he needed fresh materials. The crystals were incredibly easy to find when you knew where to look, the dead monsters however¡­ those were hit and miss. And the material found in the jungle was a quality laughably higher than any purchased from the system shops. On that note however, he did have something in reserve he had been saving for a special occasion.. He walked over to his forge and also constructed his companion to prepare a cauldron. From his inventory he pulled out the dead body of the giant stegosaurus looking creature that he had found clear back in chapter nine several months ago. His abilities had grown much sharper since the day he had found the beast and he was rather adept with his Ecology these days. His eyes glowed, one blue and one red as he observed the beast''s decaying body. It''s scales were thick and it''s muscles dense, but the true value was the toxic sack hidden within its chest.. A potent, unstable purple energy buzzed within. He focused, pulling out his sword and activating several skills; Telekinesis. (Rare) lvl 49, Aerodynamics (Rare) lvl 35, Sword and shield (Common) 60, Extract (Rare) lvl 40, Refine (Rare) lvl 40 He swung his sword so quickly it appeared as a blur for several seconds. When he was done he flicked the blade to the side to dislodge it of gore and re-sheathed it in one quick, fluid motion. The monster, now split into 1000 shapes created with surgical precision, was carefully distributed piece by piece into separate piles which Vincent and his companion quickly used for any variety of things. He kept most of the meat for food, while using the skin, tough muscle and bone as a makeshift armor. It was obsidian and scaly and it seemed to match his sword pretty well also.. He gave it a quick inspection and whistled at the stats. Carapace of the Carsidion''s Familiar (Epic) Lvl 50! CCP (Epic) lvl 50 Defense: 250 GE (Unique) lvl 22 Defense: 139 All Defense equipment: 369 Moving on he used the blood, squishy bits and most importantly, the poison sac, to craft a potion. To this he also added his own blood and Gaia''s blood which.. wasn''t technically a blood but still. He pulled out some mushrooms and other poisonous plants he''d found. He even threw inside some poisonous food like berries and such because.. why not use overkill? Congratulations! Massive amounts of XP rewarded! A new potion has been discovered.. calculating effects.. Alchemy (Uncommon) Has increased to level 60! Heretic''s Atrocious Venom (Unique) lvl 60! Vincent frowned heavily at the given name of the pulsing, light purple substance. "Seriously..? You''re so petty sometimes. Just because my methods are unorthodox¡­" the man sweat dropped. The venom was contained in a small glass vial roughly ten fluid ounces in size. It had a green cork with a black toxic skull symbol etched into the sides. He really had no way of knowing how potent the stuff would be until he used it but for now.. a swirl opened up beside him and he placed his arm, vial in hand, inside. When he withdrew the appendage the vial was gone. He threw together a quick meal and strapped on his new and inproved weighted armor. He smacked his face with both hands several times to get the blood flowing. He drew his arms close to his torso and clenched his fists as if to do a squat punch. He breathed in deeply. "Alright. Let''s go!" He bounded off into the heavy evening air with a sense of purpose and determination. He would gather enough materials to train for several days on end.. after that he would begin to challenge the weaker creatures of the jungle once more and see what difference, if any the new stats made. Hopefully within a year he could come up with a way to defeat the Fang. It didn''t take him long to find some decent material. He came upon some freshly killed.. rabbit looking things. If rabbits were roughly the size of cars and had razor sharp teeth a foot long. He shuddered to think what could have killed not one but several of the beasts. Roughly an hour later he came upon a group of dead boars that were damn near twice the size of the rabbits. After harvesting them as well he narrowed his eyes and focused. Something in this jungle was extremely aggressive today. It wasn''t even killing for survival, merely for support. That didn''t bode well.. and he couldn''t be caught off guard, even at this stage in his growth. Pushing each of his senses to the max he tried to sense a spike in killer intent higher than the usual intense amounts throughout the jungle. Sensing complex emotions was much more difficult than flows of energy but they had similar properties. After slowly scanning everything around him in a ten meter radius he sighed. He just couldn''t ''see'' far enough.. the details got more inaccurate the further from his body he got as well. He was moving cautiously throughout the jungle following signs of death when he could and scanning frequently when he couldn''t. He was beginning to think he was going to continue following this wild goose all the way into the next day when he came upon a slew of lizard looking things. As he began to harvest them he couldn''t help but feel like the whole situation was peculiar. It was almost as if they had been purposely arranged in a line.. he placed one in his inventory roughly every twenty feet from the other.. As he placed the last one in his inventory and dusted off his hands he took a step forward and froze. Less than ten feet ahead of him was a gigantic rock that was blocked off on both sides by thick thorns and tree trunks. To his left and right there were dense bushes packed too tightly together to judge whether or not it was safe to travel through them. And directly behind him¡­ were at least a dozen massive wolves, each the size of a Harley Davidson bike. They had pearly white fur that Vincent was sure must have glistened with a beautiful blue hue in the moonlight. As it were, however.. most of them had half of their coats matted with blood and flesh. They growled and stalked toward him slowly. The wolf in the front was clearly the Alpha as it was twice the size of the rest and the other purposely stayed just behind it in a submissive march. They glanced at it every now and then to make sure their leader wasn''t sending any kind of physical signals. They had allowed him to pick up the bodies they''d cleverly used to lure him into this vulnerable position before ambushing him. They were obviously extremely clever¡­ and that posed a problem. Vincent cursed himself for being so stupid. He would have backed up but where would he go? He summoned his sword and shield and instantly activated the Ancient Slumbering Tortoise to boost his defenses. Looked like he was going to get to test his new ability in a real combat situation much sooner than he expected.. He raised his shield and the leader of the pack stepped forth and barked. It raised its head in a quick command and the wolf on its left lunged. Vincent smirked as the wolf''s bite barely even scratched his shield and he batted the creature away with a back hand. It yelped but he was sure he hadn''t hurt the thing any more than it had him. He laughed out loud. He had only lost five health and he had even gained a new skill for his half-assed efforts.. Congratulations! Skill: Shield bash (Common) achieved! Shield bash (Common) User delivers a forceful thrust to an opponent while using a shield in either one or both hands. Cost a small amount of stamina to use. Due to the ''Common'' rarity gain a miniscule bonus to force of the bash and reduction to stamina consumption per level. (Shield skill) (Active skill) He didn''t even have time to bring his shield back around to bear when the wolf on the right of the alpha lunged next. He parried it as best he could with his sword and took ten damage for his troubles. "Tisk.. give me a break you cheaters. Ganging up on me like this.." He had no doubt in his mind this was the group responsible for the string of deaths he''d witnessed on the way to this little trap. He brought his shield and sword back around and settled into a stance but with his 1 agility he couldn''t keep up when the alpha itself struck next. It reared its head and slipped right past his defenses clamping down on his shoulder. He sucked in a breath and thrust as hard as he could with his blade over and over. He knew he pierced the things stomach a few inches but that was just as much from the sheer momentum of the wolf as the new skill he''d just unlocked. Congratulations! Skill: Piercing thrust (Uncommon) achieved! Piercing thrust (Uncommon) User thrusts his weapon forward with all his might. Works best with a sword in tight spaces. Consumes a small amount of stamina per thrust. Due to the ''Uncommon'' rarity gain an insubstantial bonus to speed and damage of thrust per level. (Active skill) The wolf jumped back several feet, tearing a small chunk of flesh from the man''s shoulder. He barely lost 500 health points so he wasn''t too worried about it. But something else made him freeze. The wolf''s blood.. it was green. He scanned the snarling beast. He has surely seen green blood on such a beast before.. The only thing he got was a name but that was all he needed.. Lunar wolf Alpha. His eyes widened. The wolf pup.. these things must have been its pack. Maybe that''s why they were tearing the jungle apart.. they were looking for the pup. Or whatever had hurt it. Sadness began to overtake them. He placed his sword back into his inventory and frowned. He couldn''t kill them.. well.. A because he didn''t have the heart and B.. He kind of doubted he could based on how small the cuts on the wolf had been and how fast it healed. The Alpha charged again. Vincent held out his arm not holding the shield. "Wait!" He shouted pleadingly. The wolf stumbled, looking up at the dark haired man confused. It sniffed the sir a few times. Vincent continued, "Listen we.. don''t have to fight. I won''t kill you. I can help you find your baby. Do you understand me?" The wolf for its part furrowed its brow and cocked it''s head. It definitely understood the gist of what he was saying, thanks to system enhanced intelligence. The question was whether or not the thing chose to trust him. He got his answer a second later when the wolf snarled and lunged again. This time it took a bite out of his leg. its fangs didn''t penetrate quite to the bone, but it was still incredibly painful. Not only that but all the other wolves began to join in on the attack as well. The small one''s didn''t do much. Even when they cut into his bare skin and left a gash it healed rather quickly, only doing 100 damage at the most. With his Ancient Slumbering tortoise and Complete tranquility active, his massive vitality was working at effectively over 1000. He was regenerating a little over 20 HP a second. Most of the pack was insignificant to him. Even still.. The damage from the alpha was piling up. He was taking anywhere from 300-500 a hit and he was already down to 8000 hp with his buffs included. Not only that but each of the large wolf''s bites felt like being stabbed with several kitchen knives. If you''ve never had the privilege of experiencing such a thing, then boy did Vincent feel sorry for you, suckers. The battle had only gone on for a minute thus far and it wasn''t looking good. His skill levels were rising a bit but not fast enough to make a difference. All of the important ones took seemingly forever to level up. He was beginning to get a bit woozy. Of it wasn''t for his newly crafted armor he was sure he''d have been eating through his second wind already. This wasn''t sustainable. His complete tranquility skill slipped several times forcing him to pay the activation fee again in mana. He was definitely sure he must be hallucinating when he heard a small ''yip'' ''yip'' ''yip'' from far away. But then the attacks stopped.. He slowly opened his eyes, which was quite difficult with all the blood gushing down his face. His health dipped below 4000 and that was downright uncomfortable. He blinked rapidly and wiped his eyes. His vision slowly came into focus revealing a pup. Specifically¡­ Lunar wolf pup Lvl 11 In the day and a half since he had seen it last it had grown a full level but sure enough it was the same pup he had saved. Apparently it was having some wolf version of an argument with its dad because it was yipping loudly and the alpha was growling in response. Gosh if he had talked to his parents that way¡­ Vincent shuddered. After a few awkward moments the two of them seemed to settle their differences and the young wolf pup bounded happily up to Vincent and began licking his wounds. Cautiously he let his Slumbering tortoise drop but left Complete tranquility active for the regenerative effects. He looked up at the alpha who was sitting in all fours, eyeing its cub warily. It looked up as it noticed Vincent''s attention upon it. "So.. does this mean I live then..?" Vincent asked with a hopeful shrug and a raised brow. The Alpha seemed to smirk before nodding. Vincent sighed in relief. He sat down and gently began scratching the small pup which was yipping happily. It''s fur was softer than any silk. He sighed contentedly. Looks like he had made some friends, finally. And some powerful ones at that. Congratulations! Feat: Animalium Amantis achieved! Perk: Animal lover awarded! Animal lover. Your relationship with nature''s offspring is greatly improved! All other forms of life of similar or lesser level share a deep mutual respect for you. Less aggressive creatures may instantly befriend you and most others can be tamed over time. ''More Latin..? huh. Must have picked that up from Zar-Rhah." He smiled, thinking how funny life was. Just a moment ago he had been minutes from certain death and now he was forming a bond with the prince of his would be killers. Life was full of shit moments. It doesn''t matter who or what you are. It was hard at times. Downright unfair. But times like these.. the good.. the unexpected.. this is what made it worth living. End of chapter 19 Trinity chapter 20: The Alpha rises... "More weight." -Giles Corey- -Arthur Miller, the crucible. Diplomacy with creatures of the Nexus was obscenely difficult when they lacked even a basic communication skill. The Lunar wolves were more intelligent than most species and they could learn at an unprecedented pace. Even still.. there was a lot about verbal language they just couldn''t comprehend. So when Vincent had asked the Alpha wolf to spar with him but to take it a little easy on him, the Alpha definitely understood the sparring part.. it grinned a wolfish grin showing all its sharp teeth.. it apparently didn''t, however, understand the take it easy part. All throughout the night Vincent''s yells of profanity and Anguish could be heard. "No you dumb mutt! My shield is not a frisbee. Wait no no no don''t those aren''t your kind of... BAAAAAALLS!" All the while the rest of the pack snickered and the Lunar wolf pup yipped happily, running side to side in mockery of its cowardly human friend. It had only been a couple of months but traveling with the pack was proving extremely useful. Not only had he gained many skill levels but he had also been able to harvest the bodies of any creatures killed by the pack that they didn''t consume. He took the liberty of healing any of their wounded during battle and provided long ranged support. Oh and he got a new perk as the icing on the cake; Perk: Pack subordinate. you have been Accepted into the pack. For now you bow to the Alpha. Through hard work your rank shall rise. Only together can the pack remain strong. Any time the user is in a party, skill levels rise slightly faster. Honestly that seemed a bit broken to him but then again he had been having troubles leveling lately anyways. His plethora of skills demanded too much attention. His first encounter with the Alpha when he had been sure the beast was going to end his life, just proved that even with the awesome powers of his new legendary skill he wouldn''t be able to defeat the Fang. Even with all of his mobility skills it took too long to build up momentum for a solid strike. He would have to drop the Ancient slumbering tortoise and that would probably spell instant death against the Fang. When he had fought the thing before it had honestly been mostly focused on Gildarts. The creature recognized how insignificant Vincent was in comparison and used only a fraction of its true abilities to kill him while keeping its guard up incase of a surprise attack from his ally. Because the Fang had underestimated Vincent so much, it left itself wide open to an extremely powerful albit, unusual attack. It would not make the same mistake in their next encounter. Somehow he felt like the next fight would be the last one way or another. He studied his pack closely. The Alpha was playing with the prince who had grown a few inches, and the rest each did their own thing. It was strange.. each of these creatures had their own personality.. yet when they hunt it was so much like what he had seen from the Fang. Hell many even shot ice bolts in the same manner the Fang did fire. Vincent couldn''t help but wonder if the Fang had a personality as well.. he was sure it did. But did it have goals and ambitions? A family perhaps? He sighed, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders and this time it had nothing to do with his skill. If he became powerful enough.. would all of the killing end? Could he create a world of peace the way Garkan had tried to do? He saw how well that turned out. Even here away from the heart of the Nexus.. power was all that mattered. The weak were slaughtered. He understood that there would always be beings that sought to fight and gain strength and that was fine. But why make death the answer? The system easily could have made things grow stronger through training alone. Instead it chose to have your soul devour others'' to level up. He didn''t want that for earth.. for his people, if they still existed. He didn''t want that for any sentient species. The wolves had adapted to this way of life.. It was in their nature to fight and eat to survive. Their hunts were always honorable, never cruel. He understood that. It was to survive. But he knew that wasn''t true for all creatures. There were some that were pitiful and defenseless... He blinked several times as if surprised. Was the old world really any different? The strong ate the weak just in a more metaphorical way back then. He shook his head, laughing as he caught himself mid thought. This line of thinking really wasn''t very productive overall. For now he needed to focus on his task at hand. For the next year at least he would take advantage of this opportunity. He would learn the pack inside and out. How they lived, how they hunted, how they thought. It would give him invaluable experience, more than any amount of grinding. He would liken their behaviors to those of the Fang''s and know how to better hunt the beast. In the two remaining months he would have left following his year of training and studying, he would plan when and how to attack the Fang. It would be on his terms this time when he was ready, unlike the last time where the Fang had home turf and he was woefully unprepared. Vincent may not be as powerful as the creature but this time.. he would have prep time. Looking at his stats, it was getting difficult to keep track of all the new additions to his abilities¡­ Strength: 85 Endurance: 105 Vitality: 217 Intelligence: 65 Perception: 69 Agility: 75 Skills: Dodge (Common) lvl 65 Smithing (Common) lvl 62 Farming (Common) lvl 63 Cooking (Common) lvl 60 Sword and shield (Common) lvl 63 Shockwave (Common) lvl 31 Parry (sword) (Common) 29 Shield bash (Common) 27 Sneak (Uncommon) lvl 65 Alchemy (Uncommon) lvl 61 Electric resistance (Uncommon) 40 Acid resistance (Uncommon) lvl 60 Fire resistance (Uncommon);lvl 60 Ice resistance (Uncommon) lvl 60 Hardened skin. (Uncommon) lvl 55 Reinforced bones. (Uncommon) lvl 55 Geographic inclination. (Uncommon) lvl 53 Tuck n roll (Uncommon) lvl 44 Advanced tracking of the lone wolf (Uncommon) lvl 35 Piercing thrust (Uncommon) 17 Planta/Plante (Rare) lvl 57 Courage (Rare) lvl 52 Enhanced toughness. (Rare) lvl 55 rejuvenation. (Rare) lvl 51 Extract (Rare) lvl 49 Refine (Rare) lvl 49 Combine (Rare) lvl 49 Berserker rage. (Rare) lvl 59 Telekinesis. (Rare) lvl 56 Aerodynamics (Rare) lvl 48 Absolute timing (Rare) lvl 49 Sixth sense (Rare) lvl 59 Lucky break (Rare) lvl Max Maelstrom whirlwind (Rare) 35 Shadow manipulation (Rare) 29 Radiant Light (Rare) 29 Water torrent (Rare) 40 Ecology (Epic) lvl 59 Unyielding guard (Epic) lvl 49 Unwavering strike (Epic) lvl 49 Advanced communications. (Epic) Lvl Max. Shadow step (Epic) lvl 53 Comet (Epic) lvl 30 Pilfered kinetic force (Epic) 24 Impact reduction (Epic) 24 Complete tranquility (Legendary) lvl 42 Unparalleled physical fitness (Legendary) lvl 40 Bleeding heart (Legendary) lvl 30 Ancient Slumbering Tortoise (Legendary) lvl 15 Perks: Will to survive II +2% vitality Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Smithing +3 strength and agility Limit breaker + 20 endurance +5 strength Camouflage. Harder to detect +5 Agility. Connoisseur. Cooking, crafting, alchemy knowledge. +5 Intelligence and Perception. Ecologist. Ecology. +25 perception. Fortitude II Grants the user a permanent + 10 in strength and agility Marquis of science. Grants +10 intelligence Transmutation grants knowledge of the atomic structure of all things +5 intelligence Gourmet chef. boost from food. +10 Vitality Honor. Whenever facing an enemy one on one, gain a 25% increase in attack and defense. Receive greatly reduced damage from sneak attacks. +10 strength +5 agility Sanguine toxicity. Lifebringer plus toxic affinity. Toxic blood. Heals allies. Used as a catalyst in most crafts. +20 vitality +10 endurance Second wind. Restores the user''s health and stamina once per battle. Lone wolf. Gain +10% to all stats when not in a party or fighting with allies. +5 to all stats Bleeding heart. A wailing significance demands to be felt. User shares half of all damage received with the target. +100 vitality. +25 endurance Unparalleled physical fitness. Grants 1 point to strength, endurance and agility per level. Grants 2 points per level to vitality. Against all odds. Skills level up +25% faster. Gain +50% experience. All stats increased by +10 Somatic expression. You express your thoughts and emotions in unique ways within the Nexus.All skills and stats benefit from one another a moderate amount. Intelligence gains the regenerative effects of your vitality stat and vice versa. Pack subordinate. Any time the user is in a party, skill levels rise slightly faster. Empathy. Understanding the value of all life. +25 vitality. +25% vitality. Animal lover. Less aggressive creatures may instantly befriend you and most others can be tamed over time. System interference (???) Lvl.??... He was interrupted in his musings by a small tugging on his left gauntlet. His little wolf buddy wanted him to play and he supposed he couldn''t help but oblige. The young Prince yipped and hollered as it pounced upon the man. It scratched and ripped what the little pup probably thought were huge gouges in Vincent''s armor. Vincent smirked, pinching and teasing the pup, as he was clearly still far superior in terms of skills than the underdeveloped creature. The Alpha watched them in silence. The stars shone brightly above. Tonight they played. Tomorrow was their greatest hunt yet. The next morning the pack was sipping from a small stream of Gaia''s blood. Vincent helped himself to a bottle of a much higher quality version of the liquid, but the pack leader didn''t need to know that. The alpha reared its head and barked out commands. Vincent never fully understood exactly what it was saying but he was getting familiar with which position the beast expected him to take within the pack when they hunted. The pup remained back in their secret lair (which Vincent had never actually seen) due to how dangerous this particular hunt would be. They ran at break neck speeds. The few monsters foolish enough to try and impede their path were dealt with quickly by the side guards or if necessary the Alpha himself. They weren''t the highest on the food chain but when the pack stayed together they were formidable, and they avoided the most dangerous areas anyways. Each of their senses were amazing, as keen as Vincent''s himself. He used his Plante to trip multiple enemies that may have had an open shot at the Alpha, and quickly healed any attacks that got through to any other members. It didn''t take them long to come upon their intended destination. Roughly one hundred feet away from their stopping point was a truly ugly monster. Though the thing had it''s back turned to them it was clear the creature had thick, muscular legs that had rough wrinkled skin kind of like an elephant, only red. It''s torso was a giant square of black mangy fur and grotesque muscles. It''s arms were long and tightly bound with muscle and vein. The things hands were gnarled and wrinkled, each finger possessing a razor sharp claw on the end. It''s mouth and eyes were both stitched into its torso and Vincent couldn''t help but wonder how exactly that worked in terms of physiology. The creature was eating some kind of deer-like thing, chomping loudly, blood and gore splattering with each bite. It spotted the pack of beasts stalking towards it and grinned. It slowly turned to face them.. as it did so it tossed aside the maimed and disgusting carcass it had been chewing on and clenched its fist. The ground was littered with dead bodies and bones at varying stages of the decaying process. Many of the bones were crushed, splintered and broken. It was obvious this beast was powerful. The hulking monster snarled. The Alpha raised its head and howled. Vincent fired a Comet from each hand, blasting the monster in each eye. It roared and rocked on its thick meaty heels. The subordinates of the alpha flanked the monster, several lunging at once. Three sank their sharp fangs into the thing''s legs while four more targeted its arms. The Alpha''s roar increased all of the pack''s strength and speed by 25 percent which fortunately counted Vincent now. It was weird.. even though he was in a pack for some reason the system didn''t seem to count it as a ''party'' as evidenced by certain skills not working as they should. He was once again beginning to think he could only form parties with his own race. Either way it was fortunate in that he got his lone wolf bonus even if he didn''t get his bonus from honor. Vincent walked up to the front of the pack and raised his arm. The rest watched curiously as this was clearly a new attack they''d never seen him use before. His brow furrowed in concentration and his blue eyes shimmered. "Feel my pain.. Bleeding heart!" A flash of crimson covered Vincent from view before doing the same to the creature. The Alpha stood tensely for several seconds before sweat dropping believing Vincent''s attacks to have been flashy, with no actual use. Vincent began sprinting to gather momentum while the wolf pack slowly chipped away at the massive creature. Unfortunately they quickly began to lose the upper hand as the creature gained enough wit to mount a proper counter attack. With each swing of it''s arms the monster took out a member and Vincent shadow stepped over to catch and heal it. It was difficult to focus on gathering the kinetic energy within him whilst simultaneously keeping his adoptive family in top shape, but this too would help him grow. Three wolves lunged at the beast but it spun like a top and incapacitated all three. Vincent shadow stepped to heal them but the creature was counting on this and launched itself forward in order to clothesline him in a ridiculous display of speed. He barely managed to bring up his shield and activate an unyielding guard before being struck, and subsequently blown several feet away. He backflipped mid air before landing in a crouched position gasping in pain and bewilderment. All of his bones were shattered in an instant and then reconstructed by a second wind a moment later. The creature roared in agony and rocked back on its heels, the effects of his legendary skill finally making itself known. Not only did the creature take damage, leaving it temporarily debilitated, but he had managed to gather a massive amount of energy from pilfered kinetic force. The Alpha''s eyes widened, finally seeing the effects of Vincent''s flashy move from earlier. Quickly formulating a plan it reared its head and howled before the entire pack joined it in an all out assault. Vincent popped a potion before he continued healing the wounded and focused on gathering more energy. A visible tornado of wind and electricity slowly roared to life around him. 1 foot in diameter¡­ a foot in a half¡­ Two feet. With the amount he had already, he could produce an attack worthy of a 300 strength rating. He was also sure it wouldn''t be enough, unfortunately. The Alpha itself probably had a strength of a little over 300 and it was barely damaging the creature. Vincent couldn''t afford to take another direct hit from the thing. Even taking only half the damage from the beast, Vincent had lost an entire life bar and he wouldn''t get another second wind. He could use his legendary defensive skill but that would make it incredibly difficult to gather more kinetic energy.. He was broken from his musings when he heard a gut wrenching "yelp yelp yeeeelp" the creature had grabbed one of the pack by the legs and made quick work grinding them to dust. Vincent watched in horror as the creature raised its other arm with intent to crush the wolf''s head which was biting and bucking wildly in all directions. Vincent would never forget those terrified eyes, so desperate to escape. To live. Before he even knew what had happened he growled, shadow stepping towards the beast and launching a few comets as he did so. The creature raised the arm it was previously about to hit the wolf with and blocked the attacks with ease. It tossed the wounded wolf aside and leveled its fury at the rapidly approaching blue-eyed man. This man was it''s true target anyways. Running full speed, he brought up his shield and lept at the creature. Mid air, he activated his Ancient slumbering tortoise and shield bash, folding his body tightly behind his shield as he did so. It all amounted to little more than a distraction as Vincent was once again slapped away but he had managed to save the wolf that was surely moments from a painful death. He landed roughly on his back and performed a backwards somersault to his feet. He readjusted his grip on his shield and shook the cobwebs from his head. With the addition of his legendary defensive skill and a little preparation he barely lost 2000 health but he quickly downed a medium sized potion anyways just to play it safe. The monster flinched, taking well over 2000 damage itself. Even though it took an equal half of the full force of the attack, it didn''t have Vincent''s ridiculous defensive skills. It fixed Vincent with a glare, recognizing that for whatever reason the majority of its accumulated damage came from this man. Blood dripped from the corner of the thing''s upturned maw. It roared at Vincent and charged much faster than any creature that size had a right to. His eyes widened and he quickly shadow stepped past the creature causing it to continue forward until it plowed through a large tree. The creature, now confused, snarled while adjusting its path and charging again. The wolf packed licked their wounds and watched with keen eyes for any openings to attack the monster. The Alpha sat at the front watching the fight unfold with worry. Even though he wasn''t technically one of them the Alpha considered Vincent a member of the pack and therefore, he (Vincent) was just as much his responsibility as the rest of them. Not only that but for the moment the human was the only thing valiantly standing between the monster and the rest of his pack. Vincent once more waited for the thing to get close before shadow stepping away to the side. This time however, the creature was ready. It lashed one of its arms out wrapping around a tree and sort of slingshotting itself towards the direction it knew Vincent would appear As the world came back into view Vincent''s instincts screamed and he spun around, eyes widening in terror. The creature had managed to predict his trajectory perfectly and had corrected its path accordingly. He knew he wouldn''t have time to dodge so activating his Ancient slumbering tortoise, he set his feet in the ground and flexed with all his might. He pictured himself as a wall. As a mountain. As the turtle. The first impact was bone crushing, the creature''s entire inertia transferred to Vincent and amplified several times over by some unseen skill. He was blasted into the ground, barely maintaining his grip on his shield. He cried out in pain but he couldn''t give up yet. He used several Piercing thrusts while holding his shield up above him defensively. The creature roared and began stomping on him, burying him further into the ground and causing blood to fly from his mouth. Congratulations! Your skill(s)... "Aaahhhg!" He screamed in agony, his bones grinding into his soft tissue as he was crushed again and again by the leg of the creature that must have weighed several tons. The mindless beast was clearly being damaged too as large shockwaves rocked the front of the creature with each stomp. Its skin was beginning to bloody and warp, with huge impressions in its body but it continued stomping. He was beginning to lose consciousness when something large, hot and red blasted the front of the creature causing it to rock on its heels. Semi consciously Vincent shadow stepped away landing in a heap beside the Alpha who had commanded the entire pack to combine their fire into one massive fireball attack. Vincent shook uncontrollably on his knees. He was bloody and crushed, limbs bent at weird angles. Blood, tears and vomit dripped off his face. He took a shaky shuddering breath. He had almost died.. Even with his ancient slumbering tortoise his defense was completely crumpled. He wasn''t sure how close it had been but his health was below 1 percent for the first time in a long time. He knew this for a fact when he saw the system notification ping before his very eyes. Congratulations! Feat: survive against impossible odds achieved! Perk: will to survive achieved! Will to survive: you have stared death in the face and defied its cold, dark grip. Your will to preserve no matter the situation is¡­ Will to survive II has increased to will to survive III! Perk: Will to survive III grants a permanent +5% to vitality. Vincent quickly downed 3 X-large health potions and two magic ones, leaving nothing to chance. There weren''t many left so the man had to be careful. The next clash could be the last.. He looked at the Alpha who watched him patiently. After nodding that he was OK and giving a signal akin to ''Let''s get this son of a bitch'' the Alpha grinned and howled. All of the wolves charged at once launching fire balls, or ice bolts and zig zagging as they tried to confuse the panting, angry creature that was their target. The thing was impossibly strong and durable. Far more so than even the Fang. But it had made a terrible mistake. It had severely damaged itself in its assault on Vincent and not only that but he had gathered an absurd amount of Kinetic energy over the course of the battle. The last assault more than doubled what he already had. He was sure if he could land a solid hit with this level of kinetic energy he could win. But he had to hurry. His skills were leveling as fast as they could to keep up with this massive influx of energy and damage but he was losing his grip. Excess energy was being lost rapidly to the environment as a miniature storm raged all around him. Vincent began to gather all of the momentum he''d amassed in a tight knit ball. The whirlwind of energy worming its way up his body and spiraling itself around his arm and then into his hand, merging with his blade. It began to shine brighter as he charged his unyielding strike to its absolute max. The creature met the combined assault from the pack with a roar and began thrashing the entirety of their ranks. It saw Vincent charging his ultimate attack in the back and it shuddered, feeling fear for the first time in its entire existence. The thing didn''t know why but somehow that tiny insignificant little man kept hurting him really bad! It growled and roared once more, holding nothing back as it charged. Vincent stumbled, hesitating, as fear briefly overtook him. He was sure if that monster and his attack met head on he would be dead. The monster probably would be too but what was the point? Without his legendary defensive skill he was going to be pasted and he certainly couldn''t use The Ancient Slumbering while attacking with this much momentum. He wouldn''t be able to concentrate. Vincent shook his head and bit his lip. He couldn''t falter now¡­ The pack was relying on him. He yelled and launched himself forward with a shadow step, devouring half the distance between them. As he landed he continued sprinting at max speed, leaping as he came close enough to launch his attack. The creature reared back its arm twisting its torso as it did so to gather more momentum. It threw a punch that blasted through the sound barrier heading right for Vincent''s wide eyes. He was sure his head was gone.. But he refused to back down. Screaming his defiance, he swung his sword with all of his might and built up energy. Their attacks were five feet apart. Four feet¡­ three.. A blur met the arm of the creature mid-swing, halting it just enough so that Vincent''s attack could smash against the creature''s torso first. There was a massive explosion and the entire upper half of the creature was blown away due to the momentum. Visible ripples of force could be seen pervading the air behind the smoking beast. Vincent stumbled a little and watched in awe as the smoking arms and legs of the beast hung lifeless for several seconds before falling over with a dull thud. Congratulations! You have defeated the ''Lurking Terror of the jungle'' (Mythical) lvl 100! Monster''s level is too high, no XP will be rewarded. Congratulations! Feat: victory against insurmountable odds has been achieved! Perk rewarded: Against all odds. Against all odds.Your determination and skill has allowed you to best an opponent far beyond your capabilities. The system recognizes your accomplishments and rewards those who work hard. Congratulations! Against all odds has increased to Against all odds II! Perk: Against all odds II. Skills level up +50% faster. Gain +100% experience. All stats increase by +20! He frowned heavily upon reading that the system wouldn''t let him gain any XP for the kill even though he had done most of the work and achieved the killing blow. He sighed. "Guess the system doesn''t want people grinding up their trashy newb buddies with level 100 mobs.." His disappointment was short lived however and he began to jump for joy as he watched arguably his best perk evolve. He turned to the pack to rope them into his festivities but his blood ran cold as he did so. The color drained from his face. Something was wrong.. The rest of the pack had their backs turned on him. They had gathered around a small white and red object, unmoving before them. His heart sank.. The blur that had impacted the creature and allowed Vincent to achieve the killing blow had been the Alpha. He shakily walked over toward the majestic creature that now had a third of its body blown away. Vincent immediately dropped to his knees scrambling. He made to heal the creature but the Alpha cut him off with a growl. He looked at it, his eyes wide in shock and confusion. That confusion and shock was only amplified twice over when the creature then spoke in a gruff, wheezy voice. "Hu.. Human. Do not waste your time saving this old man''s life." It lowered its head and sighed, breathing deep shaky breaths. The rest of the pack sat on their hind legs and whined lightly but remained otherwise silent as the Alpha spoke its final words. Vincent shook his head refusing to submit. The Alpha was the only wolf that could speak in tongues and it only did so when something major was about to change dramatically. "What.. what are you talking about!? This is nothing I can heal you!.. I care about you. I''m so sorry for my foolishness.. this was all my fault.." tears began to stream down his face. "If I had been more cautious.. more powerful.. you wouldn''t have had to.." He choked but was cut off once more. In a great deal of effort the Wolf sucked in deeply and raised itself onto its chest with its two front paws. Vincent dared not look at the back of the animal as that''s where most of the damage was found. The wolf''s cerulean eyes looked deep into Vincent''s own and it growled again. "That.. that heart. I can tell how much you care for the pack.. and that is why you are one of us. That is why I do not mind sacrificing my life for yours. Besides.. my time has come. I have been alive for decades and I am tired." Vincent yelled in frustration. "That''s not good enough! You''re our leader, how can you be so selfish?! If only I had known.. if.. the pack needs you.. you can''t go.. I need you.." He choked, thinking about all the hunts they had together the last few months. All the times the Alpha had made sure to include Vincent whenever the pack was engaged in a particular mood or social activity. It had teased him when he did something silly and sternly corrected him when he was wrong and made him feel as if he was one of their own. He realized with a bitter chuckle the Alpha had certainly known what it was doing during all of their ''spars.'' It occured to the man just how incredibly lonely he had been before the Alpha took him in. Tears streaked down Vincent''s cheeks and the pack leader raised one paw, slowly patting the man''s head. The wolves were the first real family he''d had since being integrated into the system around 2 years ago. He couldn''t bear to lose his family again. "No.. not anymore dear boy. They have you now.." Vincent shook his head confused but the dying Alpha continued. "I.. couldn''t save my child from the creature''s fearsome grip. But you.. you did. You rushed in and sacrificed your own well being to force the creature off your brother. You saved their lives.. you won this battle today." It looked down in shame and regret. "I felt so helpless and weak.. but I have been watching you for some time now.." it growled looking up at the boy, a small amount of life returning to its eyes once more as it continued. "I saw the pride of the wolf tribe in you.. and when you saved my son that day I knew.. you would grow strong and lead us home. You will protect them.. help them grow." The wolf sighed once more, it''s breathing became shallow, and labored with each breath growing shakier. It drew Vincent into a makeshift hug. "You¡­ are the Alpha now. Take care of them.. my son.." Congratulations! Perk: Wolf pack subordinate has evolved into Wolf pack Alpha. All skill levels will now rise moderately faster while leading your pack. Congratulations! Your skill: Advanced tracking of the lone wolf (Uncommon) lvl 30 has evolved to become, Reconnaissance of the Alpha Wolf (Rare) Skill levels will be maintained! Your perk: Lone wolf has evolved to become; Apex predator Gain +25% to all stats when not in a party or fighting with allies. +25 to all stats New feat: Uncontested leader achieved! Perk granted: Anointed prince, the Monarch fledgling. Impossible scenario achieved!.. Anointed prince, the Monarch fledgling. The system recognizes you as the chosen heir to one or more kingdoms. Your ascension to the throne has begun.. Rewards unknown¡­ Vincent held his adoptive father tightly as its spirit left its body. Because.. that''s what he truly had been. A father. He shuddered as deep, uncontrollable sobs racked his body. The others trudged up beside him and bowed their heads to their appointed leader. He stood shakily and raised the dead body of his fallen friend. Vincent was the father now. He looked to the sky and wailed in Anguish. Rain began to fall heavily all around him. Snarling, the wolves raised their heads and howled.. their sorrow mirroring that of their new Alpha''s. End of chapter 20 End of Act I... Trinity chapter 21; preparations, part 1 It had been three years since the day his life had been irrevocably changed. Hell, it seemed almost funny that back then, his biggest concern had been figuring out which bus stop to get off at in that ridiculous city. He remembered the old days.. the buildings that reached high enough to scrape the sky. But more often than not they seemed more akin to a dream than reality. Funny how even the sharpest pictures blurred with time. Here there were no buildings, aside from the humble abodes of the Orc folk. And as far as that was concerned only the King''s ''palace'' was any grander than a shopping mall by the old world standards. And for most other humanoid species like spriggins, werewolves, goblins and the like, they typically lived in whatever the planet provided such as caves in the case of the goblins or large trees for the spriggins. There was the mountain. The expansive jungle beside it. The mostly-flat woodlands beyond the jungle, which is where most of the Orcs resided. And finally the endless sea encompassing it all. No people... Not his people anyway. He was the only human in all of Garkan. This was the world he had come to know. To Vincent, the country seemed like the type of place that used to be an island akin to Pompeii only the system had massive blown up its scale so it was larger than the average country. This random, nonsensical place had become his home. If one were to ask whether or not the long haired man harbored any wish to return to his friends and family from the days before the system, he would merely laugh.. ''What''s the point? Am I even the same person I once was?.. Would they even recognize me?'' At least here in this new world he now found himself the man had something he''d never tasted before.. true power. The system had allowed his body to become a walking catastrophe. Vincent was certain if he''d wanted to he could have crushed the old world''s army''s with his newfound abilities. Within the Nexus he could go almost anywhere he wanted. Beyond that he also had a family here that depended on him. Make no mistake he loved the family he had before but without his parents and with no children of his own.. the people in his life were great to have around but that''s all they were. They didn''t need him. Not like his pack did. A large, blue wolf bounded up to the man who was standing underneath a pine tree that rested upon a massive Cliffside. The picnic-like area overlooked a majestic valley teeming with life. A massive river flowed far off in the distance and the sun lit up the sky like fire. The whole thing looked like a scene from a prehistoric movie or something. The man''s arms were crossed behind his back and he seemed to be watching the sun as it slowly set. He wore black, scaly armor with red trimming and had long messy black hair down his back. His eyes were a piercing blue that seemed far too vibrant to be natural. The man looked down at the wolf who sat on its rear and patiently awaited acknowledgement from its leader. He bent down and gently rubbed the creature''s head and it lightly growled, a clear sign of affection from the beast to the man. "What is it, my pup? Have you found him?" The Lunar wolf cocked it''s head sideways for a brief second before barking in affirmative. With his enhanced perception Vincent watched the edges of the wolf''s moonlight blue fur sway gently in the wind. Though it was clear this wolf still wasn''t quite full grown it had matured nicely since he had rescued it a year and a half ago. The shape of the crescent moon scar was still plainly visible on its side. The man chuckled, "Well then.. let''s not keep your brothers waiting.. shall we?" He gestured forward with one arm. The two bounded off back down the hill from which the wolf came and into the rapidly darkening jungle. In a small clearing roughly three hundred yards away, a colossus of a man was stomping his way over to a stream bisecting the area. He had multiple minor cuts and bruises on his green skin, the source of which was clearly the piles of dead birds scattered throughout the clearing. "Fucking Hellspawn¡­ Weak." Bending down to drink from the small stream the behemoth paused. He looked up and slightly to his left. Peering through the darkness of the forest he sensed, more than the man saw, a pack of at least 5 wolves eyeing him. They spread out and made to cut off any sort of exit he might attempt. He chuckled and took his sweet time drinking the savory liquid that was recognized by the system as Gaia''s blood. This particular stream was only level 37 quality but it would be more than enough to do the trick. He stood and stretched groaning happily as his vital energies were restored and the various cuts and bruises on his body began to heal. He turned and grinned, a foxy malevolent grin. His ''Bloodlust'' began to fill the air. It was the legendary ability he had gotten recently for reaching level 50. Skill: Bloodlust (Legendary) A unique skill created by the fabled Gildarts; Messiah of the promised end. Your journey, less than halfway completed, has been filled with difficulties and struggle. All odds are stacked agsinst you.. Yet you heed the call of your destiny with an unwavering determination. Though you know your path leads to a tragic end, you shall see your duties fulfilled. Due to the ''Legendary'' rarity gain a massive boost in strength, agilty and defense per level when fighting more than one opponent. Your Aura doubles in density and effect. Your regenerations are tripled for the duration of the battle. All attributes grant a moderate boost to this skill (Active skill) (Consumes all mana) The wolves which were scattered throughout the tree line of the clearing hesitated. They sensed that in this particular situation Gildarts was the predator and they were prey. But their job was not to fight him. Merely keep track of the man.. Gildarts summoned his club and shield which had apparently evolved. His club was a mixture of gold and obsidian, with red spikes protruding from the ball at the end. His shield was just as massive and heavy as ever only now it was pure purple in color and had the face of some sort of devil on it. It''s eyes glowed crimson. He hoisted his club across his shoulder and chuckled, "Now which of you foolish souls wishes to be my first victim? I''ll Kill you swiftly-" He asked with wicked intent. "I''m afraid I can''t allow that." A new voice cut through the air. "My family was only doing as commanded and I shall let no harm befall them while I still draw breath. Please don''t take this personally.. my old friend." As the stranger finished speaking he seemed to materialize from the shadows themselves, a grinning Vincent coming into view. His hair was wild and unkempt down his back, his blue eyes shining like stars. Gildarts''s eyes widened before schooling his features. There was silemce for several seconds and then the Orc began to chuckle which turned into a full blown laugh. "Why if it isn''t the pathetic Vincent! Bahahaha. Not quite so pathetic anymore it would seem." He mused, eyeing Vincent curiously before continuing. "You lead a large Pack of strong woodland beasts and even standing before you.. I barely sense your presence. I knew your journey would be difficult but for you to have attained this much power given your.. handicaps.. you must have truly felt pain. I am sorry." Vincent shook his head and waved the larger man''s worries away. "No you''re right. I was pathetic before. I''m still not quite where I want to be but.. I''ve had no choice but to grow strong to survive here. If I would have followed you I would never have come this far. I''ll catch you up on all the details later.. but for now, know this. Our rivalry still stands. I will have the heart of the Fang." He finished, eyeing the large man with determination. As he did so he couldn''t help but notice the incredibly dense flows around his green friend. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. And though he didn''t voice his thoughts outloud Vincent couldn''t help but muse to himself ''I say I''ll win and.. I may have gotten stronger but God damn Gil.. your energy is on a whole other level now.. it seems the evolution acquired at level 50 is truly fearsome.'' Gildarts seemed to swell with glee. "How marvelous! It seems you have found your fire at last! And if such a pathetic thing as this jungle would have killed you anyways then you would never be mighty! Hahaha! I graciously accept your challenge. May the best man win." Vincent''s smile widened as it was his turn to swell with pride and excitement. He noticed the complete lack of self declared victory or overbearing insults. It seemed that Gildarts was truly beginning to take him seriously and that spoke more of his growth than any showboating of abilities ever would. Vincent continued with an uneasy smile, "listen.. I''ve been looking for you for a while Gil.. my pack has been tracking a specific group of depraved for the last six months and.. this particular group.. they don''t just devour when they''re hungry. They eat non-stop, all of the time. It''s like there''s something wrong with them. Ive never seen anything like it." Gildarts scratched his chin in thought. "Hmm.. that is peculiar. Devouring another soul while the host is still alive is a very uncomfortable and hence process. The physical and mental discomfort is so grewt that most depraved only eat once or twice a month.. Often less. How troublesome." He deduced. "Any clue what level they are?" Gildarts inquired. Vincent nodded. "I still can''t read the name or levels of most creatures with the given system tools but.. by studying the density and output of their energy I have a pretty good idea of how strong they are. Someone like you could crush them.. but.." He said in deep thought. He shifted his weight and continued. "But they typically attack in their full group of ten and if even one of them manages to paralyze you.. that''s how they do it you know? The system gives almost every single one of those cock suckers a ridiculously powerful paralysis ability." He explained. "The bastards damn near got me a few times. They typically go for weaker prey but if they net something big they get drunk on power and attack anything in their path. I''ve had to save a few members of my pack and each time it was a close call. I''ve never managed to kill one amd I''ve never seen the lrader. He stays hidden. They amplify one another''s power in close proximity and as a whole they heal even faster than I do. They probably average at least level 25." The depraved weren''t particularly powerful in Vincent''s experience but their abilities and their regenerations were off the charts. They could drain a level 100 monster in an hour flat with their absorption, if they were strong enough to get one, that is. Thankfully They weren''t¡­ Yet. Another fortunate aspect was depraved only gained a small percentage of their victims'' stats and the process, even when it wasn''t done to a still living being, was excruciating. Thereby very few creatures became depraved. It was typically only the infinitesimally weak or the irreparably broken souls that devoured others for power. At late stages they usually couldn''t communicate, driven insane by their cannibalistic ways. "Anyways.. just be safe out there ok?" Gildarts nodded and smirked at his friend. "And you as well Vincent. I am glad you seem to have found a reason to fight. You are truly becoming mighty." Vincent''s features mirrored the large green man''s. He shrugged. "I didn''t have much of a choice. I''m the Alpha now." The two shook hands and bid one another farewell, Vincent being the first to depart. A massive tribe of nearly 20 wolves followed in the shadows after him. Gildarts raised an eyebrow and shook his head. It was a rare sght to see so many wild beasts under one man''s command. When it came to animals that traveled in packs within the jungle, there was no limit to how large a particular group could be, so long as the leader could maintain dominance and provide for it''s people. For Vincent and his ridiculous array of versatile skills that was no problem. Any time another pack challenged his own he was the first to fight and almost always took in new members upon displaying his powers to the other packs. Within the system, monsters could give birth of course but typically they lived simple lives of fighting, killing and being killed in turn. Most of their population spawned naturally via system fuckery as he had come to discover. After conquering another pack or tribe they would often partake in friendly skirmishes to communicate and socialize. Vincent never bought into the turf wars that most of the jungle''s inhabitants participated in. It was a senseless life and death to him. In fact he never killed any of his defeated opponents unless they were detrimental to the life of his pack. When they arrived back at the entrance to the jungle, or exit rather in this case, Vincent instructed his wolves to go through first which they swiftly did. On the other side they quickly ran over to what amounted tot heir homes¡­ Several meters further down the mountain from the mouth of his cave he had built what could only be described as a complex cluster of artificial dens interwoven together like a honry comb. The entirety of the structure took up quite a large bit of space, from the mountainside to the edge of the jungle. All of the grass had been cleared out as far as the eye could see (getting it not to grow back had been difficult¡­) and the structures stretched about 50 feet both left and right in either direction. His workspaces were even further down from the dens, almost out of even his view from the jungle entrance. The dens primarily looked like a multitude of half circles made of some type of metal and stone which were hollowed out and intricately carved. Each den was nearly the size of a pre-system school bus. The wolves could freely move between each of them due to a series of long thin tunnels between the dens. Vincent watched as several 9f the younger wolves began to wrestle. He shook his head and laughed before making his way back to his cave where the man began to meditate. First, he needed to stalk up on potions.. then he needed to improve his equipment as much as possible at the forge. Next came a specific trial which should inprove his equipment even further. And finally¡­ the hunt for the Fang. He summoned his cauldron and started a blazing fire to bring his ingredients to a raging boil. First he poured in Gaia''s blood then he placed both equal parts red and blue crystals. Following that he placed in a plethora of carefully selected monster bones and various skin types. Monster muscle for consistency and.. his own toxic blood for potency. The whole while he focused carefully on the energy comprising the substance. He used his Telekinesis, Absolute timing, Aerodynamics, Sixth sense, Ecology and lucky break to perfectly mix the flows to achieve maximum efficiency. Honestly he wondered how the hell anyone ever did crafting or alchemy without the Ecology and sixth sense skills.. if he had been going based off when he thought the substance was ready on alchemy alone vs when the energies of the product indicated it actually was finished, he certainly would have lost a great deal of potency. This particular potion would be special. He focused his considerable will and intent as he watched the flows of energy within the potion. They were mixed near perfectly minus just a teeny tiny, almost unnoticeable separation between a few of the colors. But Vincent noticed it¡­ and that just wouldn''t do. His head throbbed as he exerted his Will upon the world but that just meant he was on the right path. He pushed harder, stirred faster, forcing the various energies to mix with a grinding unwillingness until finally he sighed.. Vincent eased up his mental grip a little. Perhaps what he needed was patience and finesse rather than force.. He pushed again, this time more steadily and gently rather than as hard as he could all at once. Layering his system interference over the concoction he continued gently massaging the flows and then, just like that, the two energies of all the ingredients began to merge. Congratulations! New potion: Crimson essence. The liquid form of the philosopher''s stone, it is the life long ambition of every master Alchemist to create even a drop of the precious life substance but you have mastered the art. Crimson essence: fully restores all vital energies! 10 uses remaining. He sighed and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm. "Yup. That''ll do." Feat achieved! Feat: Grandmaster Alchemist. You have mastered the art of alchemy in a way few others have. Although your skill level and knowledge have much room for growth, your efficiency is beyond comparison. Perk Grandmaster alchemist awarded! Perk living off the land awarded Perk: Grandmaster alchemist. Obtain maximum potential of mixed concoctions with bare minimum effort. It is second nature to get the most of all things in life. Perk: Living off the land +100% all resources harvested from all sources. "And the icing on the cake to boot." He chuckled. He decided he would spend the next hour creating another batch so he''d have twenty potions total. This in turn would give him two hundred full heals. Evem spread amongst his pack that should last a while. Next he would need to get his gear up to snuff and then, a nice big feast. His pack was more than capable of staying stocked up on materials, even if he splurged tonight. Soon, the hunt for the Fang would begin. After storing his new batch of potions and selling most of the older, Inferior ones, he made his way outside to make use of his massive handmade forge. Night had fallen by now and the moon was high overhead. He breathed in deeply, enjoying the refreshing night air. Once at the forge he spent several hours tinkering with various elements and monster parts. Most of his time was spent tampering his armor, weapons and shield. Deciding he had made all the progress his current limits would allow, he stepped away and cracked his back earning a satisfying crunch up the length of his spine. He was almost ready. Before he would begin the hunt there was one more thing to do... Vincent made his way back to his cave and over to the stream that he typically meditated beside. His companion waved dunbly at him from across the rather overgrown garden and he shook his head, smirking in response. Closing his eyes, Vincent entered Complete Tranquility and brought up his trials. He whistled. The list had grown absolutely ridiculous in the time since he had decided to stop doing them altogether, but this would be a cheat day as he had something specific in mind tonight¡­ He skimmed through them until he found one in particular. Trial(s) available: Spirit infusion+++ (smithing level 75) He had never done a trial with a plus mark beside it unless it was a fusion between two trials. From what he knew a singular trial with a plus beside it could both be because it was exceedingly difficult due to one''s feats and accomplishments or because they were evolved trials from a previously uncompleted one. For example, his smithing had gone from advanced smithy+ (lvl 50) and now since he had neglected to do smith+ it had evolved to spirit infusion+++ (lvl 75). It seemed the more power a person amassed the more challenging the system made things, in order to spur even further growth. And it did not like when you did things out of order. Vincent had a feeling that when an individual evolved, their feats, accomplishments and abilities would provide invaluable bonuses to that as well. He wished he could put his trial off until lvl 100 and see what it evolved into then but unfortunately he didn''t have that kind of time. He needed an edge in the coming fight. Without further adieu he instigated the trial and shuddered at the weightless feeling of traveling between worlds. End of chapter 21 Preparations, part 2 When the world around him came back into existence, Vincent wasn''t exactly sure what he had been expecting to see. This¡­ certainly wasn''t it. Raising an eyebrow, his mind quickly made use of the information his senses were receiving. The human from earth stood inside of a mountain and not just any but more specifically, Mount Everest. Although he knew the detail of his location for certain, the how part was a little lost on him. Within what appeared to be the center of the mountain was a roaring forge which actively spewed angry flames and spit lava. The structure easily boasted a surface area several times larger than the metal working station he used at home. It had the shape of a massive eagle, spreading its wings and roaring into the open ceiling of the mountain. It was made of a golden metal of some type and lava poured from its beak. Each of its eyes was some type of invaluable blue gem. Below the eagle, hammering away at some sort of crude metal was a terribly misshapen.. giant? That was the only way he could think to describe the lopsided figure before him. It was humanoid but nearly a hundred feet tall. Even Gildarts would have been comically small beside the sitting beast, barely coming up to its ankles by Vincent''s estimates. He approached the massive man who turned his ugly caved-in head and regarded Vincent curiously. "Strange.. I have not had company here since my father cast me from the mountain. I was born.. too ugly for his ilk you see. They always projected the image of the perfect family.." The giant trailed off before he shook his head and continued. "...hmmm you''re a human. Why have you come?" The grotesque towering giant questioned, rubbing his chin with one hand. Vincent approached the giant cautiously. Based on the size and ferocity of the shockwaves that were being generated when the being''s hammer impacted the crude metal, he figured his strength had to be in the thousands. His curiosity outweighed his caution and he couldn''t help but ask, "You know about humans? Do you also know about the earth and the system?" The giant nodded slowly. It scratched its head and sniffled. "Yes.. to all of those things. You are not the first human from earth to visit me at my forge of the gods." Vincent frowned in thought. If that were true than maybe.. "Do you know if I am still on earth?" The giant merely shrugged. "I do not know. I know only where your species comes from, not where you currently reside. The nexus constantly changes. Dungeons and trials.. do not. We are but fixed points in time-" Vincent waved his hand, cutting the giant off. "Yeah, yeah I''ve heard this all before." He huffed, crossing his arms. With a thoughtful expression he rubbed his chin before looking back up at the massive creature and asking, "Can you tell me if other humans still exist?" The giant studied Vincent for several moments before sighing deeply. The wind of the giant''s breath rustled Vincent''s hair and he couldn''t help but wish that he had brought some breath mints or something. The giant eyed him with a small glimmer of impatience. He smacked his lips together several times. "So many questions. They always have questions. You must find your own path.. you are still young. Tell me human.. why have you come?" Vincent frowned but said nothing for several seconds as he contemplated the question. Why had he come? He supposed he really wanted to improve his equipment as much as possible before this daunting task he was about to undergo but.. there was more to it than that.. he could have done any number of trials to improve his raw stats but this one.. it was as if it had been calling to him lately. His instincts practically screamed that this was the path he must walk if he wanted to become truly strong. "I.. have come to learn spirit infusion." He answered firmly. The giant froze for several seconds before an awkward, mutated frown covered his face. "Spirit infusion.. you know not what you ask. To infuse one''s spirit in their weapons and armor.. is a dangerous process." The giant warned. Vincent shrugged. "Dangerous is my middle name. Not sure if it matters but my sword and shield are already ''soul bound'' or whatever." He said making air quotes. The giant shook its large misshapen head. "You misunderstand you ignorant child. A soul bound object is attuned to the unique affinity of your soul, your Aura. To infuse one''s soul with an object or person is another matter entirely." ''I see.. my items are soul bound thats why they always come back but they''re their own entities. my companion however.. I remember reading once that it had been infused with a piece of my very soul.. that''s why our connection is so much stronger and also why it survives as long as I''m alive.'' Vincent mused silently to himself. He looked up at the giant once more. "Alright. I''m ready. What do I need to do?" He asked the colossal man. The giant nodded slowly. "Very well.." He said. "Stand before me." As Vincent did what the giant instructed, a massive glowing sigil appeared beneath his feet. The giant cupped both hands a few meters over Vincent''s head and closed his eyes. He focused his breathing as deep concentration took him. "Good luck." Before Vincent could ask what he meant there was a loud ''plop!'' And suddenly he was back in his cave only.. he wasn''t exactly. Some of his wolf pack was there which was impossible because they never entered the cave before not even when he commanded. It seemed whatever mysterious energies kept the rest of the world out kept them out as well. None of his usual equipment seemed present nor his gardens were there, although his companion was. This particular cave also seemed to be almost twice as large as the one he was used to and the small trickle of Gaia''s blood was more like a miniature waterfall from the central pillar of the cavern. The symbols that he had studied for nearly three years had somehow changed and were glowing faintly. The strange pulsing substance that usually clung to the ceiling was dispersed about the entirety of the cave, so it was extremely thin and almost impossible to see. If it weren''t for all Vincent''s skills he was sure he would have missed it. Just as he was beginning to wonder what exactly he was supposed to do here, he noticed his sword sticking out of a large rock near what should have been the mouth of the cave. Here in this fantasy imitation of his world there was no exit, just a smooth wall. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. "The sword in the stone huh?.. You''re shitting me." He said straight faced. He swiftly walked up and reached out to grasp the sword. His intention was to just grab the damn thing and pull it out with one fluid motion. It was his sword after all, how could he not be worthy? Unfortunately that was absolutely not had what happened. As soon as he grasped the hilt of the blade he felt a surge of pain eerily similar to the one he felt when the system tried to delete him. He immediately let go, falling to his knees and gasping. Some kind of mental image had begun to invade his mind but he couldn''t hold the sword long enough to figure out what it was. The mental and physical pain that accompanied grabbing the hilt was enough to drive any sentient creature mad. He wiped his brow and heaved himself back to his feet. "Thaaaat fucking sucked." He muttered, shaking his head. Was this what made a three time evolved trial so difficult? It forced you through unbearable amounts of pain so you can never complete it? He breathed in deep and tried again but the result was about the same as the last. "Damn it, this is bullshit!" He cursed, kicking the rock. Now he had a bruised ego, a throbbing soul, and a sore toe on top of it all.. he decided to sit down and focus. He tried to call over his companion but it remained creepily unmoving. Just staring at him while he attempted the challenge. It was the same with his pack. None of them were real. He didn''t feel any connections. They looked like lifeless dolls. Yet, their energies were exactly identical. Perhaps they were supposed to be his motivation¡­ He shuddered. This system was down right terrifying sometimes with what it could do. The man tried using the strange devouring energies of his system interference on his allies but to no avail. He even tried warping and absorbing the sword in the stone with it. However, his energy was completely eradicated by a vibrant golden light the moment his skill touched the sword. He stumbled and gasped. Whatever substances and energy comprised this place were the real deal. He had no control over anything here. He reconsidered his approach. He hadn''t made a new skill in a really long time.. maybe it was long past due to try to discover something new. He should have enough room in his Soulspace with how strong he''d gotten and besides this one would be something small and specific. He needed it for a rather broad purpose and his abilities with reading and manipulating energy had grown tremendously. "It shouldn''t be too difficult¡­" Rising once again to his full height he breathed rapidly in and out to prepare himself. He raised both hands, flexing them as they hovered above the hilt. He stared at it, continuing to breathe in an exaggerated manner and flexing his hands. "Come on you sissy come on.. ugh this shit really hurts!" Shutting his eyes tightly he lunged forward and grabbed the sword with both hands. Instantly white hot pain shot from his head straight through his body to his toes and back up again in an endless cycle. It was like a lightning bolt of agony that only continued to intensify by the second. He was beginning to glimpse the startings of the mental image again but he couldn''t focus on that, the pain was unbearable even for his masochistic ass. He needed to concentrate his will and impose his intent.. the desperation of the situation was the only reason it worked, of that he had no doubt¡­ but nevertheless.. Congratulations! Skill: Pain tolerance (Epic) achieved! Pain tolerance (Epic) Increases mental fortitude, and decreases the mental strain associated with pain. Allows the user to more easily operate while overwhelmed by pain. Due to the ''Epic'' rarity gain a moderate boost per skill level to total pain threshold before succumbing to overwhelming pain. Endurance grants a small boost to this skill. Congratulations! Skill: Pain tolerance (Epic) has increased by 1.. He gasped letting go of the sword once more. The creation of the skill was all but flawless. The shape of the emerald green energy formed what looked like a living spear in a way as it coursed through his body and disappeared somewhere deeper. It carried an emotion similar to envy.. It lusted for the power that the pain caused it. It would be a valuable skill later¡­ Unfortunately for now, the sword in the stone itself barely moved a centimeter. This was going to take a while¡­ He tried again and again.. Each time ending with Vincent lying in a pool of sweat. It slowly became apparent that the mental image that was grinding its way into his head was him, powerless once more. Everything he ever known and ever loved was burning before him and he could do nothing to stop it¡­ Congratulations! Skill: Pain tolerance (Epic) has increased by 1.. Congratulations! Skill: Pain tolerance (Epic) has increased by 1.. Congratulations! Skill: Pain tolerance (Epic) has increased by 1.. Congratulations! Skill: Pain tolerance (Epic) has increased by 1.. The father''s Anguish severs all who would seek to hurt you... Nearly four hours later, an exhausted Vincent held his blade triumphantly in his right hand, pointing it to the cave ceiling in victory. He wiped the sweat away from his head and bit his lip. He has pulled the sword out but there was no indication otherwise that he had completed the challenge. That was until the system dinged in his mind and there was a second loud ''pop.'' Before him was his familiar gold and red shield, in the shape of a sort of diamond. It lay across a large anvil beside which was a blazing hammer. He bent down and picked up the hammer expecting the same pain as the sword but instead there was only a burning sensation. It was largely uncomfortable but clearly it was just regular pain from a super heated hammer which his fire resistance did a great deal to alleviate. He got the sense that he was supposed to use the red hot hammer to shape or temper the shield as you would after the quenching process but.. his shield was already shaped and tempered so what was the point? He was reminded starkly of the Unbendable trial from which his sword and shield originated. Not really seeing any other option Vincent raised the hammer high above his head and hit the shield square in the center. As soon as he did he cried out in agony. There was no heat like he expected but.. It felt as if his head had exploded and this time a new, perfectly crystal clear image invaded his head. With it came a powerful emotion.. Congratulations! Skill: Pain tolerance (Epic) has increased by 1.. One of Vincent''s primary weaknesses throughout his life was the need to feel validation from the ones he loved most. When his anxiety or depression had been at their worst he really just needed someone to be there for him most days¡­ To tell him he mattered. It would come as no surprise that as a kid he would often awake from terrible nightmares in which the ones he cared most about blatantly turned their backs on him or even outright mocked him and his feelings. They would laugh in his face or purposely make the situation worse. Large crowds of strangers in the form of dark silhouettes could be seen pointing and laughing, ostracising him from society. Of course none of this had ever really happened. Most of his family was very loving and supportive of him in the old world. It was just a persistent phobia so invasive it couldn''t be ignored. And now.. for the first time since he had become strong, he was feeling that terrible loneliness again. Feeling as if everyone was against him. No one cared about his pain.. He could trust himself. He could rely on himself for protection. He understood now. He hammered the shield again, grunting but continuing on despite the never-ending onslaught of painful images and emotions. He saw his parents, talking about how they would rather die than have to take care of such a burden.. then they laughed as they purposely wrecked their car. He saw his exs. He had dated a couple of women in his life but only one was ever a serious relationship and it had ended with his heart being ripped from his chest. Now they were pointing and laughing as the realization dawned on him that he would forever be betrayed and alone. He saw his best friend Jake.. rich and successful, doing far better in life than he ever could with Vincent holding him back. All of his time and effort was constantly spent checking on Vincent and tiptoeing around his feelings.. How could Jake ever find time to start a family of his own, to see his dreams come true?.. He hammered the shield once more, this time shouting in anger as well as pain. Even as far as he had come, what had he truly accomplished? He was still weak. He still couldn''t save everyone. He shouted again and again, hitting the shield with all of his might. He screamed his woes and pounded his frustrations away. The man hammered the painful, made up memories into his soul so he would never forget, pouring his very existence and all of his efforts into the second part of this hellish trial.. Sure he could have probably taken his time or half assed it and no one would know.. But he would know. And the system would know. Being used as a punching bag or doing things in slow increments wasn''t nearly as effective as giving something your all and struggling against impossible odds. With each strike his emotional turmoil grew until at last he exploded and unleashed an unwavering strike on the shield. There was a resounding BANG! Words flashed across the blue window.. The Mother''s Embrace shall shield you from all pain¡­ He sighed in relief as the anvil cracked and the shield was finally dislodged. Vincent picked it up with Telekinesis and strapped it to his back. He felt the equipment pulsing and humming warmly against his back. Vincent wiped the tears from his eyes and sniffled before glaring. "What''s next, you son of a bitch?" End of chapter 22 A fated reunion: ordained destiny Vincent Stood before the massive forge of the giant once more. His arms were crossed and he was clearly not happy with this trial so far. "So.. now what?" He asked harshly, looking up with impatience at the giant. The mountain of a man within the mountain scratched its bare gut and grumbled. "Climb into my forge son of man. Worry not for the flames cannot hurt you. It is what comes next that tests your true might." Doing as instructed Vincent took a step forward and shadow stepped up the massive rim of the forge and into the fires beneath the eagle. The giant''s ''anvil'' was some kind of massive circle made of gold. It was clear the thing was littered in intricate engravings but they couldn''t be studied in any great detail due to the fact that they were obscured by an intense golden energy that behaved like fire. The entire top of the circle was lit like an Olympic torch. Once submerged, Vincent was pleasantly surprised to find that not only were the flames of the giant''s forge not hot, they were refreshingly cool. Like a soothing wind only more dense. It was difficult to explain. A golden energy swirled around him and he breathed in deeply. He couldn''t help but notice how pure and dense the energy radiating from this structure, the giant''s forge, felt. If the energy of his system interference ability seemed putrid and disgusting this energy seemed contrarily bright and full of life. It was clear that the energy was intended to encourage growth and healing but Vincent was greedy and he wanted more than what little scraps the system offered.. He focused, absorbing and seizing as much of the golden energies as he could while the giant prepared for whatever he was about to do. He pushed himself, following the strings of energy down deep into the center of the forge where they were densest and strongest. The lines of energy all clustered together at the base like the root system of a massive ancient tree¡­ Congratulations! Skill: Yggdrasil; Ancient world tree (Legendary) achieved! Skill: Yggdrasil; Ancient world tree (Legendary) Your soul resonates with the life force of the Ancient world tree Yggdrasil. The world tree supports all life in the universe with its connections. Your intimate connection with the energies of the Nexus allows you to passively absorb the ambient flows around you. The speed and control of which you cultivate energy grows with skill level. This skill is a unique skill that grows based on the soul of the user. All stats provide a moderate boost to this skill. (Passive ability) Instantly it was as if his regenerations doubled. Because.. well they essentially had. He felt it in a metaphysical sense as the avatar of Yggdrasil stretched behind him, strengthening him and filling him with energy. It started out no larger than a bush. It had emerald green leaves hoisted up by thousands of branches that all consolidated into its thick trunk. It was a faded brownish gold, and it looked both gnarled and wrinkled like old skin. It''s roots began to slowly dig their way deeper and deeper into the forge. ''The giant''s forge was the original tree..'' Vincent realized. Congratulations! Yggdrasil; Ancient world tree (Legendary) has increased by 1¡­ Congratulations! Yggdrasil; Ancient world tree (Legendary) has increased by 1¡­ Congratulations! Yggdrasil; Ancient world tree (Legendary) has increased to 7! "Heh. And of course, can''t forget that you can grow your skills this way too.. by fundamentally understanding how they work." Vincent chuckled. As the roots grew so too did the metaphysical tree he had summoned. A golden aura so thin it was imperceivable began to form around Vincent. His regenerations and physical strength continued to rise as he focused and felt the energies both in the air around him and within the ground being slowly pulled inside of him. His health and mana began to rise even further than their max before his very eyes. His muscles seemed to grow more dense and tougher. ''You''re kidding me¡­'' Vincent tapped his chin as he watched the energy being pulled deep within beyond even his sight until it merged with some inherent part of him. Perhaps his soul. Curiously enough this particular skill didn''t seem to harm him or cause any sort of strain at all, despite the fact that it was Legendary which was almost unsettling. He almost always felt some kind of strain from new skills whether it was physical, mental or both. Yet all he felt from this skill was warmth and power. It was possible he had just become much more powerful than he''d realized, or else this skill was somehow different in a manner similar to his system interference¡­ Before he could investigate any further, the giant interrupted his musings. "Ah how interesting. It seems the flows of the Yggdrasil have begun to bend to your will¡­ I''ve not seen such a thing since the half-blood Her.. bah never mind. It was nearly 3500 years ago. I forget the names of man from so long ago." The giant yawned in an extremely exaggerated manner before continuing. "Now.. this next challenge will not be as easy as the first two.." Vincent couldn''t help but face-fault anime style. Those previous two challenges were supposed to be easy? What the hell was he about to go through? A moment later a black and red armor slid over his body. The color scheme was relatively the same as his old, Carsidion''s Familier armor but the red now came in various patterns and designs rather than just a little trim here and there. They looked suspiciously like engravings¡­ He had a brand new set of bracers, fingerless gloves, boots, grieves, and a chest plate with shoulder pads. As soon as they fitted themselves snuggly to him he was instantly slammed on his back. He was initially confused before he realized each piece of the armor must have weighed at least a ton! "Hey, not a fan here, what exactly am I supposed to do?" He asked, begenning to feel agitated. He absolutely hated not being able to move. Luckily he didn''t have to wait long to get his answer. The giant appeared above him over the edge of the and spoke once more. "The next part for you is simple. Try to relax." Vincent would have asked what the hell he meant when all at once it felt as if his blood had turned to acid. He roared in pain, barely even twitching due to the restrictive weight of the armor. It wasn''t a deep tearing pain in the soul like the first challenge was, nor was it as mentally devastating as the second but.. it physically sucked. Then there was a sensation like his soul was being struck directly through his body.. it hurt, surely. But more than that it just felt wrong. Like his existence was being chipped away at. Or tempered.. As the feeling of wrongness intensified he managed to check his stats and focus enough to deduce he was losing no health.. in fact it was rising due to his new legendary skill. There was a wet, tearing sound and Vincent cried out once more before 50 something different balls of energy were ripped from his body. It probably wouldn''t be immediately obvious to most, but to Vincent, who was intimately familiar with each of the shapes and colors he was seeing, he knew instinctively they were his skills. As they all began to glow it was clear they were all still active and effecting him even. Some were much larger and denser than others, obviously his higher level and or rarity skills. It was strange that even though they were separated from his body he could feel them. He even got a skill level from one of his skills. He was beginning to wonder what the point in all of this was. As if the giant had read his mind it continued explaining the trial. "Your skills reside within your soulspace which is a manifestation of who and what you are. Each of them has a piece of your soul and requires certain physical and or emotional conditions to activate. The basis of this trial is simple. You are going to instill those very same principles of your Soulspace into your equipment." It sipped from a canteen of what Vincent assumed was probably alcohol because.. he seemed the type. "Once this process is complete your armor will forever contain a piece of your soul, growing and evolving alongside you. It will also have the added benefit of slightly increasing the efficiency of your energy flows and skills. Be warned, your soulspace is abnormally large. This will be painful and tedious." "Will I die?" Vincent asked bluntly. The giant shook his head. "But there are worse fates than death. The pain could cripple you for life.." Vincent merely snorted, causing the giant to frown. "I appreciate your concern but if my health won''t hit zero.. I''ll endure any pain to grow stronger." As the giant raised his mighty hammer and dropped it swiftly on Vincent''s frame the man went rigid, nearly blacking out. Instantly he rethought his prior disposition. The first two trials seemed to strengthen his Soul and mind and it seemed this challenge would strengthen his body and sharpen his skills. It felt as if the weight of the world had impacted him. First once then twice then three times.. he nearly lost consciousness but the giant paused and waited. Vincent, huffing and puffing checked his stats and choked on spit. His health had been chopped down to half. "You said I couldn''t die!" He yelled accusingly. The giant laughed and whacked him again. "Wrong! Ahaha." I said you wouldn''t die. Not that you couldn''t, that is only because I shall let you heal enough to stay alive." He grinned. Vincent gulped as he felt his massive vitality healing him at a rate of over 30 per second. He would not get much in the way of a reprieve from the situation. A couple of minutes later the hammering resumed. This time it was five swings. Congratulations! Pain tolerance has increased by¡­ Pain tolerance has increased by¡­ Pain tolerance has increased by¡­ Multiple skills have increased¡­ It was nearly a day later when they were finished. Vincent lay bloody and broken on the anvil but gold energies spiraled around slowly him. As his wounds slowly knit themselves together his eyes snapped open and he rose from the stump of the original Yggdrasil as if he were a puppet. His head snapped forward, his hair covering his face. He straightened with a slow breath, cracking m his back and examining his fingerless gloves as he did so. While the color scheme and shape of his armor hadn''t changed at all, there were other differences that likely only Vincent rruly saw. His armor, along with his improved sword and shield, had a bluish gold Aura exuding from them as he examined the equipment using the system window. Deep in the center of each of them was a small pulsing energy in the shape of a seed. Armor: Trinity''s Legacy. Lvl 1 Sword: Anguish of the Father. Lvl 1 Shield: Mother''s Embrace. Lvl 1 Your Sword is imbued with the spirit of the fallen Father, who''s Anguish would peirce anything to protect their child. His fury shall reduce all to ash. Your Shield is imbued with the spirit of the Holy spirit, the mother, who''s love transcends life and death. Her unyielding embrace will protect you from any harm. Her love breathes life into the universe. Your armor is imbued with the spirit of the Son who''s infinite potential will become the foundation of the unstoppable fortress that is your soul. He is the King in Black, master of Death and rot. Trinity. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The three persona of God and the Grand Cycle. On your path to the truth your abominable existence becomes the foundation for the birth of a strange new God. AoF Lvl 1 Attk: 100 ME Lvl 1 Defense: 100 Trinity Lvl 1 defense: 100 efficiency: 1% Vincent took a step back in disgust. This God damn system.. he felt it.. the sword and shield.. they had souls of their own. And they felt tortured in a way.. It wasn''t really his mother or father but the system had done its fucking best to replicate their emotions for him. The desperate and scared ones stuck out the most to his senses. Because power grew based on emotion and desire here within the Nexus. And what greater emotions were there than a parent''s desire to protect and love their children? If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. For the first time in a long time.. Vincent truly missed his parents. He tried not to let his feelings over take him and focused on the task at hand. The wording the system chose was strange to him. He certainly didn''t feel like any new God. In fact his stats had decreased a lot since the level of his equipment reset. But thr sydtek said weird shit all the time. What really interested him was the one percent efficiency.. Upon further study it seemed they system only considered him as using his total power at 1%. Vincent frowned. When he watched the flows of his various energies within himself he thought they were all uniform and complementing one another but apparently he still had a long way to go before he saw the true results of his skills working in unison. The giant spoke, causing Vincent to jump as he had honestly forgotten the massive creature was there. "It is done.. the results are.. more impressive than any I''ve ever seen before." He admitted in astonishment, confirming that he too possesed abilities that more or less allowed him to see the underlying components of the system. "I don''t know what the sisters of fate have planned for you my boy but.. I am truly sorry." Before Vincent could inquire more about what the giant meant he was teleported back to the sanctuary that was his cave. Not a moment had passed in the outside world as evidence of his companion being in the exact same position as before albeit.. sporting his own version of Vincent''s new armor. It seemed like since the equipment was now a part of his soul his soul companion would get a version of it''s own much like his skills? He shook his head. At least that would be more useful to his companion when he needed to take his own equipment out for a hunt. He studied his companion for a moment, watching the flows of its energies. They actually seemed.. a little faster than Vincent''s own? He frowned. "Hey come here Lupus." He demanded. He had chosen the name in honor of the Alpha that gave his life for Vincent and both the system and plant version of the man seemed to accept this. Lupus bounded happily over to his master and began to dance back and forth as he was attentively studied. Vincent rubbed his chin with his hand and placed the other on his elbow. For the most part. Vincent had always been stronger by sheer virtue of being more experienced and adept at using his powers better in battle than his companion. But in terms of efficiency as measured by the system it was made more apparent than ever just how far ahead his companion was getting than Vincent himself. He was probably at 2% efficiency and bordering on the edge of three. This effectively meant that using the exact same skill at the same level, Lupus would have an attack three times faster and stronger than Vincent''s. At least in theory. When it came right down to it his companion hadn''t used many of their offensive skills nearly as much as Vincent had. The curiosities didnt stop there. His companion was able to use something that they had come to know as Nectar. At it''s core it was a substance that one would typically receive for killing a creature weaker than or relative to one''s own strength. Nectar was the foundation of nearly all things in the system, the fuel source which powered the Nexus and allowed reality to be manipulated on a molecular level. In most cases this energy was essentially only used for leveling but his companion somehow processed it naturally over time, without killing other creatures. That was what the systek meant when it said he would groe on bis own, Vincent figured. Because of this, Lupus had grown a fair bit stronger these last three years. By his very rough estimations even though his companion''s level hadn''t technically gone up, it''s Soulspace was around the size and density Vincent might expect to achieve from leveling five times. Vincent supposed 5 levels of XP a year wasn''t bad but it certainly felt unfair.. He wasn''t sure if his companion just leveled up over time because the system assisted him or if it because it originated from a skill that could grow on its own, but either way at this point its stats were nearly equal to Vincent''s own which was frightening. Vincent could absorb Nectar to a degree as well and it certainly seemed to make him stronger but it didn''t do anything for his experience like it did for his companion. It was more like taking an energy drink for a short term boost in raw power. It seemed with all the time his plant friend had to meditate and study it had become even more efficient with its control over the flows of the Nexus than Vincent himself. "Huh.. you little bastard. I''m kind of jealous. I''ll have to watch out, you''ll be kicking my ass in spars before too long. With my skill I''m Still slightly ahead but only just.." He shrugged. It really was too bad he couldn''t take his companion out of this damn cave but at least he would have a powerful sparring partner to kill time if he ever had to run the hell away from something. All that mattered right now was.. he needed a nap. He sealed away all his equipment and armor and stumbled over to his bed. As tired as Vincent was, sleep should have come naturally, the man figured, but.. he couldn''t have been more wrong. He laid awake staring at the pulsing energy accumulated on the ceiling of the cave for countless minutes. He still couldn''t identify the stuff, whatever it was. But that didn''t matter. He was close. It felt familiar. He hungered so badly to use his new legendary skill Yggdrasil to reach out and absorb a pinch of the power but he held it at bay for now.. soon. Finally after what felt like an eternity he drifted off to a fitful sleep. It was several hours later before he awoke. He sat up and groaned groggily, rubbing his eyes. As his vision came into focus he yawned. He hoped he wasn''t too late for the hunt.. he was supposed to begin in the dead of night but it was approaching morning at this point. Other factions would make an attempt at the Fang soon, Vincent and his pack had lost their major advantage. But that was OK. The results of the last trial were more than he could have ever hoped for. He now had the equivalent of three souls gathering power for him plus another half if you counted the companion. He had no clue what the Fang creature''s stats were but he''d wager his two highest, strength and agility, were a little over a thousand. He would need all the extra edge he could get. That didn''t even take into consideration however high the beast''s skill levels were. Vincent''s own abilities paled in comparison. He would have to play it smart and get extremely lucky honestly. He took a good long look at his stats as he got dressed and ready for the day. Strength: 150 Endurance: 175 Vitality: 300 Intelligence: 110 Perception: 115 Agility: 120 Skills: Dodge (Common) lvl 85 Smithing (Common) lvl 90 Farming (Common) lvl 90 Cooking (Common) lvl 90 Sword and shield (Common) lvl 80 Shockwave (Common) lvl 80 Parry (sword) (Common) 75 Shield bash (Common) 75 Sneak (Uncommon) lvl 87 Alchemy (Uncommon) lvl 85 Electric resistance (Uncommon) 70 Acid resistance (Uncommon) lvl 70 Fire resistance (Uncommon);lvl 70 Ice resistance (Uncommon) lvl 70 Hardened skin. (Uncommon) lvl 85 Reinforced bones. (Uncommon) lvl 85 Geographic inclination. (Uncommon) lvl 68 Tuck n roll (Uncommon) lvl 76 Advanced tracking of the lone wolf (Uncommon) lvl 85 Piercing thrust (Uncommon) 82 Planta/Plante (Rare) lvl 75 Courage (Rare) lvl 74 Enhanced toughness. (Rare) lvl 65 rejuvenation. (Rare) lvl 74 Extract (Rare) lvl 70 Refine (Rare) lvl 70 Combine (Rare) lvl 70 Berserker rage. (Rare) lvl 70 Telekinesis. (Rare) lvl 65 Aerodynamics (Rare) lvl 63 Absolute timing (Rare) lvl 64 Sixth sense (Rare) lvl 69 Lucky break (Rare) lvl Max Maelstrom whirlwind (Rare) 55 Shadow manipulation (Rare) 60 Radiant Light (Rare) 60 Water torrent (Rare) 60 Electric Bolt (Rare) 45 Pain tolerance (Epic) 20 Ecology (Epic) lvl 69 Unyielding guard (Epic) lvl 52 Unwavering strike (Epic) lvl 52 Advanced communications. (Epic) Lvl Max. Shadow step (Epic) lvl 60 Comet (Epic) lvl 60 Pilfered kinetic force (Epic) 59 Impact reduction (Epic) 59 Complete tranquility (Legendary) lvl 55 Unparalleled physical fitness (Legendary) lvl 52 Bleeding heart (Legendary) lvl 49 Ancient Slumbering Tortoise (Legendary) lvl 45 Mercy of the revered patreon (legendary) lvl 15 Yggdrasil; Ancient world tree (Legendary) lvl 8 System interference (???)¡­ He looked between his status window and his open palms with uncertainty. On the surface he looked more or less the same. He was several inches taller than before the system and the man was built like a brick shit house but he still looked human.. On the surface. Vincent, however, saw the true nature of things. He saw how his cells mutated and reshaped his body. His blood vessels were abnormally thick and his organs operated well past human levels. His bones, muscles and joints had all undergone countless changes that would have been imperceivable to most. But Vincent saw what was underneath, the underneath. He saw the changes.. Shaking his head, the man and his companion got busy creating a massive feast for the entirety of the pack. It took nearly another hour but the benefits were amazing. All regenerations for the entire pack tripled for 24 hours, an extra 1000 health for all pack subordinates and an extra 10,000 health for the Alpha. Which was currently Vincent of course. The prince, his second in command and the previous Alpha''s son, received a boost of 5000. He stepped out onto the plains between the jungle and the cave. His eyes swept left and right taking in his growing pack which was gathering in preparation of what they were sure would be their most challenging hunt ever. Vincent chuckled. "I''m sorry my friends. But you''re staying here this time." All at once the energy in the air changed. The pack had confusion and aggravation etched into their features. Many of the younger wolves cocked their heads sideways and whined. There was a lot of fussing but eventually after imposing his will long enough the pack buckled and heeded the command of their Alpha. They were confused, he knew.. They had all spent so much time preparing and working hard together. But.. this was something he must do alone. It began long before the days of the pack. It was a personal journey. Beyond that.. he wouldn''t be able to heal the kind of damage the Fang could inflict. The wolves'' true strength was in their swiftness. They could dodge most foes whose strength was a serious threat to them. But the Fang was different. It possesed not only an overwhelming strength like the terror of the jungle but also a level speed that was superior to any of his pack members and definitely greater than his own. His initial plan had been to sneak attack the Fang while it slept with a combination of the entire pack. But now that the timing was so far off he decided to do the only thing he could reasonably think of. He was going to cast bleeding heart on the beast and then heal repeatedly while using defensive skills letting the beast slowly kill itself. What could possibly go wrong? He bid a final farewell to his sorrowful pack. Vincent stopped at the edge of the jungle and bent down on one knee to scratch the ears of the proud prince beside him. The prince''s chosen name was Dawn, meaning the first appearance of light. He was the next in line and future successor of the pack. He looked into the beast''s eyes and he knew that the two shared an understanding. They had a stronger bond than the rest and the prince, though still growing, was the strongest and smartest of the pack. "Take care of them while I''m gone.. And if anything happens..-" He was cut off by a guttural growl from the prince. "GRRR.." Vincent seemed only mildly taken aback before he laughed and hugged the wolf who''s tail began wagging furiously. "I know, I know.. I''ll be fine. But just in case.. I want you to know I''m proud. And your father would be as well. You''ll make a fine Alpha some day." Somewhere deep in the jungle. It didn''t take him long to reach his destination.. a burnt and charred stretch of rock that was more ash than dirt at this point. The strange orangish-red hue radiating off the ground showed especially bright to Vincent''s eyes in the dimly lit dusk. It was still early and the sun had yet to fully rise.. Deeper into the pits of the earth.. the Fang began to stir. He saw its dense crimson energy clawing its way through the gigantic hill that the beast had carved its lair into. He was taken aback at how remarkably similar it was to the beast''s original nesting area. Or maybe the creature did that itself. Shaking his head the man summoned his new armor, it seemed to explode from his skin, looking as if it were his blood itself before it took shape and wrapped around his body fortifying his defenses. "Nice." He grinned, liking how the new armor was literally a part of him. It was still mostly black but there was more red around the torso and joints. It was a bit bulkier than before both in thickness and shape but still fit relatively well to his frame. It was clear it would provide adequate protection while encouraging Vincent''s ability to maintain full range of movement. The fingerless gloves and his shoulder pads had crimson protrusions that looked like small bloody bones. His knee and elbow joints were covered in a thick bone plating with an insignia of his shield and sword. His boots were a smooth metallic black that ended in a sharp point. His sword and shield were somewhat different from his armor and were still summoned forth from his inventory space but that was OK. It still looked cool to him. He grasped his shield by the black straps on the back and his sword by the hilt, flexing his hands several times, enjoying their comforting Weight. His sword was no longer a curved blade, now being straight and about a foot longer and a few inches thicker. It looked like a cross between a broadsword and a longsword. It was obsidian still with a bright crimson line running through the middle on either side. The shield was still the same diamond shape while retaining its gold and red pattern. "Alright then. Let''s dance." He cracked his neck and blinked rapidly, swallowing hard. Why did he suddenly feel like he was totally screwed? He settled into a battle stance as he saw the Fang appear over the precipice of the hill. It''s crimson eyes locked onto his own and he felt the beast''s killing intent cut into him like a katana through paper. It pierced straight through to his very soul. The pressure he felt from the monster was overwhelming. He definitely had its full attention this time around.. there could be no mistakes. Vincent began activating all of his skills one at a time, even the useless ones like Tuck N Roll and acid resistance, stacking them on to one another and empowering them further thak his skills and stats should allow. It was something he had been working on nearly every day for a year now. His body had been struggling to handle the full extent of his wide array of skills but since obtaining his armor it felt incomparably easier than before. Like flipping on a switch for each ability. He figured the more often he used all of his skills at once the higher his efficiency would rise. Individually, most of the strain he''d felt from his more powerful abilities was all but non-existent. However the cumulative effects of his combined abilities now numbering over 50 quickly became intense. It was akin to electricity running rampant through his body. But.. compared to other pains he''d been through these last few months, this was nothing. His pain tolerance skill did a lot to help in that regard. Someone had told him once, before the system, that a person''s pain tolerance was them subconsciously comparing the pain they felt in the moment to the worst pain they''d felt in their entire life. It seemed the system followed the same principles in that once your pain tolerance had been raised to a certain level by mind warping pain, the smaller stuff barely made you sweat. Even though it still sucked and you clearly still felt it, it didn''t cause you to lose focus. Hia left eye began to darken, a shadowy blackness covering the socket. Meanwhile the iris turned a crimson red and his pupil became a black slit. At the same time his right eye socket began to emit a divine golden light that shone brighter and brighter with every passing second. The irises and and the whites became a piercing ocean blue while his pupil in this eye also became a black slit. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth in concentration. A funnel of wind and energy formed at his feet. Within the funnel was water from his torrent. While practicing with his pack and after a few more encounters with the mushrooms, Vincent acquired ''Electric bolt'' which he now added to the funneling whirlwind as well. Fire and ice from his Comet and a periodic pulse of force from skills like Shockwave and Telekinesis joined the fray next. Earthquake, another skill he had gotten from training with his pack, added the earth element to the concoction. Turns out wolves, Lunar wolves in particular, were remarkably capable with elements. Each tribe had a specialty or affinity and since Vincent''s had conquered so many others, his pack had a multitude of elemental masters.. His skin had an almost imperceivable bluish-gold outline. Each of his skills had its own small effect, which all together formed a thin blue line of energy roughly an inch around his body that he called his ''Aura imitation''. It wasn''t a true Aura like what Gildarts and Zar-Rhah possessed but.. it was his. He opened his eyes once more and fixed the Fang with a glare. The beast eyed him cautiously. ''As he damn well should.'' Vincent thought with a smirk. He pointed his blade at the beast who slowly began to crouch down and growl. "Feel my pain.. Bleeding heart!" He shouted, a pulse of maroon light emanated from both the Fang and Vincent. The Fang panicked for a moment when it lit up in a brilliant red light. It frantically looked back and forth and even up in preparation for an attack. Clearly it would not allow a repeat of last time. Deciding the attack to be a fluke the Fang directed its full attention to Vincent once more. It grinned a wolfish grin and Vincent stared back stone faced. "Don''t act like you weren''t just wetting down your leg a second ago, scaredy cat." He taunted raising his sword and shield. The large flaming beast cocked it''s head sideways for a second before snarling angrily and lunging at the smirking Vincent. Congratulations! Destiny has intertwined your fates. You challenge the Fang of Flame and the beast answers your call.. Your power swells in response to the significance of the moment! All stats increased by 25%! All skills level up 50% faster,.. gain 50% more experience points for a limited time.. End of chapter 23 The Fang of Flame III The beast was fast.. far faster than he remembered it being. If Vincent had to guess, he would say it had definitely grown beyond level fifty since he had last encountered the creature. After closing half the distance between them, the Fang curled into a ball and its momentum nearly tripled. Vincent clicked his tongue and sucked in a breath. It''s strongest attack right off the bat. Heh. Wasn''t he so lucky? Bracing himself with his shield raised, and with all of his numerous abilities activated at once, he took the full brunt of the attack. His Aura wavered and flickered but he grit his teeth amd pushed through the pain. He had to know where he stood. There was a jaw rattling shockwave of force followed by a mixture of debris and ash being blown into the air in all directions. The Fang unfurled mid air and skidded to a halt on all fours. It turned to face the dust cloud that was covering his would-be victim. It was confident Vincent had been completely crushed, but kept its guard up just in case the man had miraculously survived. However, when the dust cleared the Fang cocked it''s head in shock. Vincent was standing perfectly still, more or less as he was before, with barely a scratch on him. Not only that but the Fang suddenly felt a stinging sensation on its side, looking down to see a small gash as if it had been clawed.. Vincent turned around, slowly inspecting himself as he did so. He looked up and laughed lightly at the Fang. He had only lost 300 health in that little exchange. Unfortunately with all of his skills active at once it had cost him a fifth of his mana pool. He decided to drop his unyielding guard and shadow step as they were by far his most mana consuming skills. Even without the additional 5 times multiplier to his base defense from unyielding guard, he was left with a defense rating over 10,000, which wasn''t that far off from their combined total of 15 thousand-ish anyways. Truthfully Vincent was a bit disappointed he couldn''t combine the two multipliers of five and fifty but he could see how that would have been a bit ridiculous. The shadow step was something he was a little more upset about losing. It became something of a hax ability when coupled with his Sixth sense. In most cases his Sixth sense would be able to determine if a blow was fatal or not, and automatically teleport him to safety if needed. The shadow affinity also helped him somehow avoid some of the damage even when he didn''t teleport, warping his physical self around harm. As it stood, his other abilities would have to be enough. He should be proud of himself because Vincent doubted there was any level one creature in all of existence with a defensive rating of 10 thousand percent or higher stacked on top of their strength stat. His Ancient slumbering tortoise was truly unlike any ability he had ever seen before. Even its energy flows were extremely off putting, seeming to layer themselves over and over and having very little movement at all. It was less like a typical ''flow'' and more like a frozen ''wall'' of energy. It was heavy and ungiving in every way. His opponent, clearly having no qualms with having to put a little effort into its kill, bristled and began to emanate a quaint red glow. It then began to dash side to side, approaching Vincent at an angle. The creature rapidly zig-zagged as it closed the distance between them. With each bound and pivot, it launched a fireball at Vincent which he deftly parried with his sword. The flames crashed against the obsidian blade and were subsequently smothered. It was clear by their potency that each attack was meant to be little more than a half assed distraction at best. The Fang blitzed past Vincent, who had just enough time to raise his shield. This reflexive action proved extremely intuitive as the crimson blur clipped the man''s left side in it''s passing. It was a glancing blow but it certainly would have been devastating if Vincent had not raised his guard. As it stood the impact forced his arm upward and to the side. It ripped away another 200 health but he couldn''t dwell too much on it as his instincts earned him of danger. The impossibly agile Fang wasted no time bounding off a large rock and targeting Vincent''s now defenseless back. Off balance and exposed, he shadow stepped without even meaning to. As a consequence to this, he unfortunately lost all the momentum he had gathered thus far in the battle. It was necessary however, he definitely needed to avoid an attack hitting him without the added defense from his shield or he would take serious damage. He''d probably survive but the Fang had shown time and time again that it had no qualms with capitalizing on a momentary misstep or a perceived weakness. The Fang was both angry and confused when its prey disappeared and it smashed head first into the solid burnt rocks that comprised the ground. Scrambling quickly to its feet it located its target and launched a few more fireballs in the man''s distraction. They did little more than block Vincent''s view as the Fang curled into a ball once more and charged the man. Having already predicted this exact course of action the moment he saw the fire balls he raised his shield, first blocking the fireballs and then the thundering impact of the Fang. He grit his teeth as the strength of the beast forced him to take a step back. The impact felt like it had bruised his lungs and ribs, just like every other attack he''d received. Honestly, Vincent was amazed his arms hadn''t been broken yet. Congratulations! Dodge (Common) has increased to lvl 86! Sword and shield (Common) has increased to lvl 81! Parry (sword) (Common) has increased to lvl 76! Shield bash (Common) has increased to level 76! He''d lost a little over 700 health that time but that was no concern really. He still had a combined total of over 20,000 HP with all of his bonuses and skills. The fact that it was trying harder and harder meant the Fang was getting desperate. Clearly not wanting to lose any of its momentum the large fiery creature reared its head and pounced, swiping left and right repeatedly as Vincent struggled to maintain his grip on his shield. Each claw swipe was like a sledgehammer against his shield arm. ''Jesus christ..'' He cursed internally. ''Does this thing have infinite stamina!?..'' From around the edge of his shield he was using Piercing thrust after piercing thrust to try and get the heavy beast off of him. Thick vines ripped up and scratched at the beast''s underside, causing small scratches that bubbled due to his toxic infinity. His shadow manipulation and Sanguine toxicity coated the tips of his thorns for extra penetration and lasting damage that would take time to heal. Using the intense heat of the sun to his advantage the man''s skill; Radiant light, reflected off of his shield to blind the beast. His telekinesis, Absolute timing and Lucky break ensured all of his attacks hit their mark and allowed him to minimize the damage he received while maximizing the damage he put out. Congratulations! Planta/Plante (Rare) has increased to lvl 76¡­ Maelstrom whirlwind (Rare) has increased to lvl 57¡­ Shadow manipulation (Rare) has increased to lvl 61¡­ Pain tolerance (Epic) has increased to level 25.. Vincent had never put forth so much effort into anything in his life as he did in this moment; controlling all of his abilities and resisting the Fang''s onslaught. Every muscle was aching, even the mental ones, but he felt great and his skill levels rose rapidly under this prolonged besiegement from such a powerful opponent. In spite of all his efforts Vincent was sure his damage was negligible at best but he was having more fun than he''d had in a long time.At the same time Vincent couldn''t help notice the beast seemed to be enjoying itself as well. Just as he was beginning to sweat from a loss of stamina the Fang disengaged and jumped several feet back. Clearly it was infuriated that it''s attacks weren''t killing the pest before it. Furthermore the constant barrage of multiple small but powerful skills mixed with Bleeding heart had begun to take its toll on the beast. Large, infected gashes ran across the Fang''s underbelly and sides. Ice and mud hung off the tips of its crimson coat. But none of the damage was lasting and the beast was healing even faster than Vincent did. Before his very eyes the hazy red energy of the environment seemed to seep up from the ashen ground and expedite the recovery process. ''Cheating bastard..'' He thought as he ironically popped a healing potion. On the surface they seemed relatively even but Vincent frowned as he noticed something peculiar. The Fang had definitely been giving just as good as he got, as it had been doing a considerable amount of damage to the man given his defenses. Bleeding heart had been active this whole time and sure he was only taking half damage as expected, but it didn''t seem as if the Fang was receiving an equivalent amount¡­ Vincent was positive that his defenses, at least, were superior to this creature''s, so the Fang should have been taking way more damage from the reflected portion of its attacks. Observing the flows of energy around the beast while it had been attacking him he could only come to one horrifying conclusion. The Fang''s primary element was fire, and therefore most of the damage the creature received from its own attacks was based. It seemed as if Bleeding Heart also took into consideration the types of damage shared because the Fang was taking severely less damage and the fire affinity even healed him a bit. After receiving a gash, a little flame would swirl arpund the edges of the wound and stitch it closed slightly. For every 100 points of health Vincent lost, the Fang barely lost 50. He chuckled nervously. By his calculations this was not sustainable. If not for healing potions he would have probably lost within the next 5 minutes of the fight. Even realizing this, it would do him no good to deactivate Bleeding Heart now, since there were no other targets to cast it on and he would begin taking double damage. He grit his teeth wishing he would have foreseen this problem. ''Stupid!'' He cursed internally. ''What a rookie mistake. I knew better..'' Narrowing his eyes he pointed his sword and a massive tangle of barbed vines exploded from around the Fang. Each of the thorns was coated in his Sanguine toxicity empowered blood once more. They stabbed and constricted, curling themselves around the Fang. Unfortunately they did little more than annoy the beast. The heat of its flames burnt away most of the attack''s potency before it even reached the wolfish creature. What few cuts he managed to make on the wolf creature bubbled and began to rot but the thing had a ridiculous Vitality apparently, because it''s healing seemed to keep the toxic poison from spreading overmuch. At the very best they balanced out. It roared, ripping its head side to side as it forced its way free from the entangling roots and received little for its troubles. As the beast''s anger rose, the heat emanating from its body also steadily rose. It fixed Vincent with a glare and roared, launching a much larger fireball than in its previous assaults. Vincent frowned as the flames from the attack quickly began to consume the air around him. He didn''t want to lose the momentum he had gathered thus far so he grit his teeth and raised his sword and shield. His shield pulsed blue and from its center it began unleashing a spiraling torrent of water to combat the fireball. The attack shrank a bit but not as much as he would have liked before it smashed into him, forcing him to stagger. The beast saw an opportunity and launched three more fireballs each the size of the last. With a roar and a stomp Vincent pushed his Earthquake and shockwave abilities to the max, erecting a wall of jagged stone before him. The stone quickly became superheated to the point of turning red and beginning to boil but it held. Vincent sighed in fatigue before his Sixth sense screamed at him to raise his shield. He did so just as the Fang exploded through the wall, once more curled in a ball and moving at insane speeds. It managed to angle itself in a way such that it struck Vincent, pinballed itself off of a rock behind him and then struck him again in his unguarded back before he knew it. "Gah!" Vincent gasped, being thrown forward with the momentum. Blood and spit flew from his mouth as he tumbled to a stop in a pile of limbs and gear. He got up groggily and checked his status. That last attack had hit him with only the defenses of his armor and skills for protection and he had suffered for it, accumulating nearly 2000 damage in that one attack. How fucking high was the Fang''s strength stat? Congratula-.. ''Shut up.'' Biting his cheek while he healed, Vincent sent a message through their soul connection and felt a ping in response. He had gotten really good at communicating with his companion through their soul bond in the couple of years they''d been together. The two of them had worked together to create a skill that would allow the user to heal someone from a distance for this exact occasion. Typically Vincent or his companion would have to lock onto an energy signature for such a thing to work, but due to their intimate connection with another they could heal each other from across infinite distances¡­ You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Mercy of the revered patreon (Legendary) An abnormal healing ability unheard of within the Nexus. Allows the user to directly heal the Soulspace of any living life form provided he or she can perceive the energy signature of the intended target. Due to the ''Legendary'' rarity gain a massive boost in range and health exchange efficiency per level. (Active skill) (consumes health in a base rate of 1:2 ratio) Even though his companion only had half his health, this new skill in conjunction with Rejuvenation was enough to give Vincent a full bar. Not only that but¡­ Back in the cave, his companion wiped its brow. It had been steadily healing Vincent throughout the duration of the fight while maintaining complete tranquility. With mild difficulty the plant creature used Plante to lift one of the several potions left for it by its master and carefully drank its contents while maintaining its focus. Instantly feeling better it perked up and began to focus once more on its task. Aside from healing its master the creature was currently cycling through each and every one of their massive list of skills much like Vincent himself. Since most of Vincent''s careful planning rarely ever really worked out, he had to come up with some last minute insurance policies before he fought the overwhelmingly powerful Fang. The natures of their goals over the course of this battle were entirely different. Vincent was trying to increase the overall efficiency of his power and adapt mid battle enough so that he could overwhelm the Fang. Saving that he would at least try to store enough power for a final kamikaze move. Lupus on the other hand was trying to take advantage of the system''s generous boons which were granted during the battle. The plant man''s intentions were to create a very specific skill that would give his master a slight edge not only in this fight but in his development and power overall. Thankfully the boost from this fated encounter affected Lupus as well, even though he wasn''t technically fighting. It was probably due to them sharing a piece of one another''s souls, he figured. Vincent''s body was nigh indestructible already so this particular ability was meant to be a power up for their minds.. Back with Vincent the system dinged with a notification. A shit eating grin plastered itself across his face. "That little bastard.. he made me a new skill. He''s never done that before, Hahaha!" Congratulations! Skill: Diverging perception (Epic) achieved! Diverging perception (Epic) Allows the user to divide his attention among multiple tasks while more easily maintaining maximum efficiency. Due to the ''Epic'' rarity, each skill level will reduce the strain of splitting the user''s perception by a moderate amount. Grants the perk: Higher level intellect I (Passive skill) Perk: Higher level intellect I. You are now considered a first level intellect. You have taken your first steps on your journey to the truth. Good luck. +25 perception. +25 intelligence. Congratulations! Your skill Diverging perception (Epic) has increased by.. Congratulations! Your skill Diverging perception (Epic) has increased by.. Instantly the constant lightning bolt of agony that had taken root within him since activating all of his skills began to recede. Not only that but he couldn''t help but notice his efficiency had risen by 1% Honestly he was flabbergasted. Lupus was a Goddamn genius! It occurred to him that the plant-like being was an altogether peculiar individual. Whereas most of the time the primary benefits of a skill cane from.. well.. the skill itself. This particular skill arguably came with a much more powerful perk. On paper it looked as if the skill was what had allowed him to better use his skills but truthfully it was still at infant levels and provided little benefit overall. His higher level intellect however.. gave him an immediate boost to his mental capacity as well as something else that he couldn''t quite put his finger on. Whenever the system mentioned the ''truth'' something clicked within Vincent''s mind. Something that he still didn''t fully comprehend. It was as if his mind was being suppressed before and now it was slowly becoming unfettered by the system. Like he had forgotten an important math equation and now that he remembered it, everything was falling into place. He breathed a breath of relief as his companion''s energy continued flowing into him through their connection. His health now full and his mana not too far behind, he decided it was time for a change of pace. Now he would take the fight to the enemy. He dropped his Ancient slumbering tortoise and grinned before running directly at the creature. The giant flaming wolf for its part merely analyzed the man as he closed the distance between the two of them. The Fang certainly wasn''t going to complain if it''s meal wanted to bring itself closer to his clutches. Besides, compared to its own speed, Vincent wasn''t all that impressive. However the true intention of his attack lay underneath his speed and the rather underwhelming Aura generated by all of his skills. Truthfully Vincent had gathered quite a bit of kinetic force within his maelstrom whirlwind at this point, which he could have probably used to boost his raw power. But he knew it still wouldn''t be enough¡­ Continuing to let all of his abilities gather momentum for him, the wild haired man lunged at the Fang who was cocky enough to give him time to both begin charging his unwavering strike and to activate his Ancient slumbering tortoise. The Fang struck out with a lazy claw swipe that Vincent easily deflected with his shield. Vincent''s sudden boost in inertia and weight was clearly beyond anything the wolf had ever encountered before. The beast wasn''t prepared for its claw swipe to be so easily deflected, even if it was half-assed. While the wild eyed creature was off balance Vincent dropped the slumbering ancient tortoise once more and followed up with a heavy shield bash that connected to the Fang''s head and dazed the creature. Vincent perfectly timed his movements in a way such that, while the Fang was damaged and unable to defend itself, he was just reaching the limit of his ability to charge his unwavering strike. Sucking in a breath, he pulled back his sword arm and swung his blade with all of his might. The creature roared as Vincent''s attack struck true with the force of a speeding train. The impact visibly flowed through the wolf''s body, carrying him a meter away and carving a trench into the dirt. As the dust began to settle the Fang stood shakily on all fours. Most of the heat around its body had dissipated and blood dripped freely from his snout but it was far from fatally damaged. Not wanting to give the creature time to recover, Vincent fired a few comets at it. Even though the creature negated the fire damage, he was willing to bet the ice was unpleasant, and the physical force from the attack itself was probably enough to hurt like a bitch when the comets hit the Fang directly in its eyes. Of course that was only a distraction.. The man grit his teeth as his focus was split yet again, causing a sharp stab of pain behind his eyes. Even with his new diverging perception he was pushing himself far beyond his mental limits at this point. A purple interdimensional gateway swirled to life beside the straining Vincent. From out of the portal floated a small glass vial which was filled with a vibrant, violet liquid. It was uniform and potent in appearance. The beast was still reeling from Vincent''s strike and shaking it''s snout side to side in an attempt to refocus its blurry vision after being hit so hard in the head. This in turn meant he never even noticed when Vincent grunted and flung the glass vial at the beast with his telekinesis¡­ The glass vial exploded across the Fang''s head and torso. "Gwuaaaaah!" The effect of the Heretic''s Atrocious Venom was immediate as the creature began to roar and buck wildly. It stomped and clawed, causing cracks and tremors all across the clearing as steam rose off of the beast in clouds. Acting fast, Vincent swiftly unsummoned his sword and shield and held his arms out in front of his palms together as if he was about to fire an energy blast. In reality that wasn''t too far off from his plan really¡­ He had lost some of the kinetic force he''d gathered with that last, charged, unwavering strike but not enough to deter his plan. He still had close to half the maximum energy he could currently wield. In the space before his outstretched palms he began to gather ice, plants, lightning, water, earth, shadow, light, wind, and acid.. he thought about the air he controlled and how he could manipulate it with aerodynamics and his maelstrom whirlwind. Naturally he incorporated that wind element into the concoction of course, but there was more to it than that.. the more momentum and energy he gathered the more it seemed as if there was a heaviness he didn''t really notice before, as he had never pushed his abilities so far. There was something that was making it simultaneously more difficult yet also easier to keep it all together as his kinetic momentum ticked upwards. He began to grunt loudly and closed his eyes in concentrated effort. His brow furrowed and he started sweating profusely. He knew he had to hurry because the Fang would recover enough to attack soon. The Heretic''s Atrocious Venom had melted away large portions of the beast''s fur and had even begun to corrode its flesh and external organs. At this point it was beginning to look like a massive, grotesque zombie-dog. Vincent used the wind around him to circulate the nine elements in front of him, faster and faster until they began to form a tight, effulgent ball. It was difficult to manage all the energy at once, especially as he slowly added all of the momentum he had gathered within his maelstrom whirlwind to the mix. Suddenly he was grateful he hadn''t been at max capacity with his gathered energy prior to beginning this attack or he may have lost control already.. The lightning energies clashed harshly with the water which reacted strongly to the earth so forth and so on.. The only thing he didn''t use was fire as the Fang seemed to heal from that and he didn''t want to risk losing any potency here. Furthermore, straining to hold the abilities already manifested before him, he was sure if he added the excitement of fire then the ever growing attack would explode in his face. All of his skills worked in unison to gather more energy together. It was as if his body was a powerful engine and his skills were the various intakes that would fuel it''s combustion. His heart pounded in his ears. His anger, excitement, fear and determination all blended together in an indiscernible sea of emotion that fueled his powerful desires, giving shape to reality in the form of a powerful combination of abilities. Yggdrasil rose behind him and its roots dug deep, sucking energy from the Nexus around them to strengthen Vincent''s constitution. It was only because of that extra bit of strength that his body wasn''t torn to shreds by his own power as he pushed himself further and further beyond his limit. This was what it meant to use the system to its fullest. To inherently understand and take advantage of the relationship between emotion, skills and the flows of energy the system gave people access to. To Vincent the system was little more than a complicated tool that he would stop at nothing to subjugate. With it.. he would become powerful enough that nothing ever hurt him again.. he was so tired of hurting.. He glared at the growing mass of volatile power humming in the air in front of him. Even if the foundations of all of these separate energies before him weren''t inherently compatible.. Even if they fought against him to retain their individuality.. They were a part of him like everything else he created or consumed. He may not have been able to control the rest of the world but from his own existence he demanded obedience. He yelled as his emotions reached a climax and the energy in his palms began to slip from his grasp. ''Not yet.. just a few more seconds..'' The man gasped internally. He felt like he was on the cusp of creating a powerful new ability if he could just maintain his grip. The foundation was there; he was just missing one final piece. As the ball of various elements began to rotate faster and faster, it was as if it got both harder and contradictorily easier to keep the energies compressed.. it grew heavy with centripetal force that threatened to wretch the energies from his grasp at any second. Vincent''s mis-matched eyes widened before slamming shut with effort. It wasn''t the weight that made it difficult to control¡­ It was the amount of unstable and conflicting energy within. The particles of supercharged matter revolted against one another refusing to conform. The colliding energies repelled one another like opposite ends of a magnet causing them to slam into other elements even harder so forth and so on until the sphere was spinning wo fast it began to look like one uniform color. Originally he thought that the growing weight and pressure of the attack was a byproduct of the effort of keeping the growing energies contained but.. he was starting to think that the heaviness he felt was actually the foundation of what allowed him to maintain any semblance of control. It was like keeping water in a bucket with centripetal force by swinging it in circles.. He began to notice something about the energy in the air that he hadn''t at first. As the speed and weight of his unorthodox attack grew, a new type of energy outlined the gathered ball of elements. It was small, transparent and dark so he barely even perceived it and yet.. Now that he knew what to look for he discovered that it covered everything in a small fine layer as if it had always been a part of it all. Outlining the dark energy was a gooey, translucent silver. He couldn''t help himself as he idly wondered if this sort of attack would be this heavy back home where the gravity wasn''t quite so dense¡­ Suddenly something clicked. Vincent''s eyes snapped open and he laughed as the ball of energy exploded with force, nearly tripling in size. It almost looked like a miniature black hole.. One would expect that the energy would become far more difficult to control due to the sudden influx of potency and weight.. But in fact the exact opposite was true. The strange ball of energy had become much easier to manipulate. That heavy weight brought it all together and gave it stability. Congratulations! Skill: Gravity manipulation (Epic) achieved! Gravity manipulation (Epic) Allows the user to manipulate the Vector of Gravitational energies within the Nexus. Due to the ''epic'' rarity, scope and strength of the manipulation gains a large boost per skill level. (Passive ability) Congratulations!.. error¡­ Recalculating.. synchronization detected¡­ Congratulations! New skills and a perk have been created due to the abnormal synergy of two or more of your skills! Skill: Magnetism (Uncommon) achieved! Magnetism (Uncommon) Allows the user to manipulate the magnetic fields around them as well as any and all types of metal, even those that do not typically possess a tendency to align with magnetic fields. Due to the ''Uncommon'' rarity gain a small degree of control and range per skill level. (Passive skill) Skill: Wrathful Flame (Legendary) A combination of three or more elemental energies focused into an amalgamation of black fire. Potency and mana cost of attack grows with each added element. Due to the ''Legendary'' rarity user gains a massive bonus to reciprocity of all energy types per skill level. (Active skill) (consumes 2000 mana) Congratulations! New perk: elemental mastery achieved! Elemental mastery. Gives the user varying degrees of control over the flows of different types of elemental energies they have already mastered. User can mix any combination of energies without fear of rejection stemming from incompatibility. Due to the incredible synchronization of your energies, gain a +25 to all stats. He grinned as the heavens above clearly favored him heavily on this day. It wasn''t a moment too soon as the Fang had long since gathered its wits and had furled into a ball. As it blasted toward Vincent he summoned his sword and shield once more. The now pitch black ball of pulsing energy was spiked on the top in a manner that resembled flames. It floated perfectly still before him and for a moment the man couldn''t help but to stare in awe. He honestly couldn''t believe the degree of control he had over the explosively powerful combination of 10 elements before him. He was sure he could add more elements and power to it if he had more time like fire and the magnetism maybe, but unfortunately the Fang had given him all the extra time he would get. The dark, potent energies of the wrathful flame began swirling rapidly into the length of his blade. He charged an unwavering strike for a brief second before unleashing everything he had gathered over the course of the battle in a single black arc of energy that impacted the cannonball-esque Fang mid air. The two opposing forces clashed against each other with unimaginable intensity. Continuous shockwaves rocked the area and a steady gust of wind was being expelled from the epicenter of the two attacks. Vincent shielded himself with.. well his shield and glared through the piercing winds, trying to focus on keeping his attack from dispersing against the force of the Fang''s own. The Fang slowed to a near stop, his rotations all but ceasing. Unfortunately, Vincent''s attack ran out of momentum first and the creature barreled through the blade of erratic energy. Luckily for Vincent, after having lost so much momentum, it was child''s play for the human to shadow step away from the area before the Fang could land its attack, so he avoided taking any damage. All in all the whole thing amounted to a stalemate with extra steps. The beast unfurled and skidded to a halt and Vincent let his shield and sword arms hang loosely at his sides. The two panting combatants faced one another with a glare. Both were exhausted but refused to yield, as smoke drifted lazily off the Fang and a cool, electric blue energy coated Vincent. The Venom he splashed on the beast had lost most of it''s potency at this point but it had served its purpose.. Nearly a third of the beast had been melted.. Naturally the beast had prioritized healing it''s blazing red eyes so they were still intact. But most of the rest of it''s face, chest and forelegs had been liquefied to the point that Vincent could see exposed muscles and bone. Vincent grimaced hoping the creature couldn''t sense the dread rising in his chest. His new attack was potent, and the fact that he could combine it with his unwavering strike or other such attacks would prove invaluable when he had mastered it. However.. It took way too long to charge and he had lost nearly all of his mana and momentum in that one attack. Currently his mana totalled over ten thousand with all of his bonuses and stats combined. The Wrathful flame itself, with ten elements added on had guzzled over half of the precious blue energy. At the moment he was sitting comfortably with at least 100 uses of crimson essence left between him and Lupus so he wasn''t worried about dying or running out of energy. Unless of course the Fang had some kind of ultimate attack he didn''t know about. Damn thing probably did. Even still, having to take a potion every two or three skills was draining in other ways entirely. Burning through the totality of his mana even once was extremely taxing on the body and mind. Even if the numerical values were restored, there was a lingering, unexplainable weakness that persisted.. Like that drained feeling one would get several hours after running a marathon or working out for an entire day. Vincent chuckled tiredly. Despite the hopeless situation he couldn''t help but feel amused at the irony of it all. He truly had grown powerful.. but the dilemma he now faced was similar to the one his Orcish friend, Gildarts had nearly 2 years prior. The Fang couldn''t pierce his defenses enough to outpace his healing and Vincent didn''t possess an attack powerful enough to deal fatal damage to the creature.. beyond that it''s fire was at least a third of the damage Vincent received from each attack. (which was a testament to the Fangs power as his fire resistance now sat at a cozy level 73, having grown three levels from this fight alone.) That same damage in turn healed the Fang, not by much but enough to be a noticeable pain in the ass. This fight could end up stretching on indefinitely and then another faction would certainly come to take advantage of perhaps not just the Fang''s exhaustion, but Vincent''s weakened state as well. He really couldn''t afford that. He racked his brain for a solution to the problem. If he had more time he could probably create a skill powerful enough to actually injure the beast, or maybe even grow proficient enough with his elemental mastery to kill it with that new skill.. but he didn''t have time. And there was no way to create more. Unless.. there was? He scanned the blue window for the hundredth time. His eyes ballooned outward in stark realization. He laughed hysterically and couldn''t help but smack his own forehead. How could he have been so stupid? Whether the system had meant to or not it had left one of his trials available to him while the rest were grayed out. Was it because the Fang was a sort of ''special scenario'' similar to the terror of the jungle? Or was it because his primary element was fire? He didn''t have time to think much more about it as the Fang gathered a large plume of flame in its muzzle. Trial(s) available: The Flaming Lord of Despair Appears! He initiated the trial just in time to see the Fang release a massive stream of white hot fire in his face before disappearing. End of chapter 24. The Flaming Lord of Despair Congratulations! Your skill fire resistance has increased to level 74! The air in this hellish place he now found himself was dry and hot. In many ways it reminded him of his first day in the system, before his body had grown and adapted. Flames burned three feet high as far as Vincent could see. What little bit of exposed ground there was that wasn''t engulfed in flame, was charcoal black. The heat was incredibly intense but certainly not as potent as the stream of fire the Fang had tried to melt his face off with. Of that he was sure. Quickly drinking a potion Vincent burped and wiped his mouth of leftover fluid. He had brewed this particular batch in a way so that the red substance tasted like strawberries. Thank God the system still had those¡­ He looked around, scanning the environment. If he had to guess this suffocating wasteland of flame probably stretched on infinitely in all directions. The sky was red and dark in a mirror image of the burning, desolate ground. Roughly fifty feet to his left a growing ball of rapidly increasing heat energy formed. It burned a bright yellow, almost white against the backdrop of the otherwise red and orange environment. Vincent turned to face the phenomenon with a growing sense of concern. ''Have I traded one unbeatable entity for another?.. Am I doomed to die here today no matter what because of my arrogance and hubris? If that is the case... Then so be it.'' He raised his sword and shield as the enemy before him took shape. It was a crimson red knight with an appropriately flaming broadsword. The knight was massive in stature, standing at, at least 7 feet tall. It had a long black and red cape flowing behind it. It reminded him starkly of the black knight he had fought before. Of course this individual''s stats and skills were seemingly in a league all it''s own based on how dense its Aura was. Vincent was sure that if he were to fight that same ebony warrior from before he would probably win rather handedly. He was a little less confident about facing his current opponent ¡­ Upon examining the enemy before him Vincent was predictably dissatisfied with the information he could gather. Name: Flaming lord of despair (Unknown)! Lvl: 75 Stats: unknown. The enemy before him leveled its massive blade at Vincent in a challenging gesture. Grinning, the much shorter man responded in kind by shadow stepping within arms length of the flaming knight. He drew back his arm, instantly charging an unwavering strike and launching it at the flaming being before the thing could react. He couldn''t help but notice the heat around the lord of flame had increased enough to passively take about 10 health per second from Vincent even with his ridiculous vitality and fire resistance. Ironically, despite the heat, his blood ran cold when the being raised it''s broadsword and fully withstood Vincent''s attack with minimal effort.. He gasped out loud. "How.?" He whispered, jumping away in several rapid hops. Of course it wasn''t the casualness with which the knight blocked his strike that bothered him so¡­ What truly unnerved the man from Earth was how familiar the energy of that blocking skill his opponent had used, felt. It was a skill he was intimately familiar with¡­ The unyielding guard. The knight slowly settled into a stance, squaring its shoulders and once more leveling its blade at the blue eyed man. The Lord crouched before shooting himself forward. Jets of flames blasted from its boots, sword pointing with intent toward Vincent''s chest. Vincent activated the ancient slumbering tortoise and raised his shield. He grunted and stumbled as he was blasted back by the attack of the knight, the force of the impact denting his shield. His blood ran cold when the knight made contact with him, but it wasn''t because the blow did any real damage¡­ It was the fact that he had just been struck with an unwavering strike. He shook lightly as he scrambled to form another guard. Did this bastard somehow have copies of all of his abilities? Did that include his legendary ones? He certainly hoped not. The damn thing''s stats were likely at least twice as high as his own, based on the force behind the attack he''d just been hit with. And that was with his skills mostly active. "I unlocked this trial at level 50 of my fire resistance.. If I had done the trial when it initially became available would it have been a lot easier, I wonder? Or would his stats have already been this high making it much more difficult than it is now? Or maybe its based on my current stats so its always an equal pain in my ass.." He imagined facing this foe as he was over a year ago when the trial originally appeared. He couldn''t suppress the shudder that ran up his spine. "No chance in hell I wouldn''t have been slaughtered. These trials are a fucking trap." The man said with a pale face. During all of this the red knight had been eyeing Vincent like a piece of meat and at first glance it looked as if he was about to charge toward the man in order to tear into him as if he really were one. Vincent shadow stepped away to try and bait his enemy and sure enough, the thing followed him. Not only did it shadow step in a mirror image of himself but it left a blazing trail in its wake showing it had an improved version of the skill in question. Vincent huffed in discontent. ''It''s using my abilities even better than I!?'' He roared incredulously within his mind. "I think the hell not!" He stomped his foot and shadow stepped again, only this time when he did he used his elemental mastery to leave a trail of black energy akin to fire in his wake. The strange fire-like substance was the resulting combination of every element he could possibly use currently, and subsequently drained nearly all of his mana. The results were nor disappointing. In a fifty foot line that was at least 3 feet wide, his black flames consumed everything, even the naturally occuring fire itself. However, unlike the Knight''s skill, the ominous, obsidian energy left behind by Vincent didn''t spread very far from the source and it didn''t persist very long before dispersing. "Hmm.. Something I''ll have to work on in the future if I want it to be of any practical use.. Still looks cool though." Congratulations! Skill: Blazing trail of Wrath (Epic) Achieved! Blazing trail of Wrath (Epic) A unique version of ''Trail of flames (Rare)'' Created by a true elemental prodigy! Allows the user to leave behind a column of Wrathful Flame whenever they move in any direction for any unspecified distance. Continuously drains mana while being deployed. Due to the ''Epic'' rarity gain a considerable increase to how long the effect of the skill lingers as well as the intensity of the trail created (Active ability) (consumes 1000 mana per sec) Congratulations Skill: Thermal manipulation (Uncommon) Achieved! Thermal manipulation (Uncommon) Allows the user to control the temperature of their body as well as the relative condition of their immediate surroundings. Due to the ''Uncommon'' rarity gain a small increase in range and extent of control per level. Vincent chuckled. ''Each of those abilities seems kind of useless right now¡­ But maybe it would be a good way to train my fire resistance at a later date or something.'' He decided. As Vincent grew more proficient he was sure in the future he would be able to change the size, shape and behaviors of the flame. Especially when the system chose to acknowledge and reward his efforts with a recognized skill. At the moment however, the last thing he wanted to do was make the place even hotter. Now if he could somehow lower the temperature, that would be great. But.. try as he might, the energies in this environment wouldn''t allow for the creation of a cold based ability and they wouldn''t heed his will when he bid them to lower themselves naturally. Unfortunately, at this point the Flaming Lord had apparently grown tired of the game of cat and mouse. The bulky entity began launching jets of concentrated fire at Vincent. Using various enhanced movements as well as his shadow step, Vincent began to grow faster and faster, gathering momentum as he nimbly dodged his enemy. Upon realizing that his target was too swift to be defeated in this manner, the knight stomped its foot, launching a wall of fire in all directions. Vincent yelped and raised his shield, activating his Ancient slumbering tortoise once more. The wall of fire smashed into his shield, cooking his hand and forcing him to drop the shield. He felt the soul of his equipment.. it was in pain.. both because of the raging fire and because of its unwillingness to leave Vincent alone in the grasp of the flames around him. He knew it wasn''t real but he couldn''t help but feel terrible for the Soul that was apparently modeled after that of his own mother. A deep longing clawed it''s way up from inside him. He felt the thing''s pain through their connection. Felt it''s desire to protect and nurture life. His life. He felt as his sword vibrated intensely. It''s righteous fury burned through their shared connection. The blade would punish any who sought to harm them.. Vincent''s own soul hummed in tandem with his armor and sword. Potential energy built up within his chest and he felt as his equipment, his companion and himself all pushed towards a singular, all consuming desire. They wanted to make this creature and the Fang pay for daring to resist his will.. He raised his head and roared. Congratulations! Error.. recalculating.. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Unique skill created! Skill: Network of Souls (Unique) created! Network of souls (Unique) A unique skill created by the bonds shared between the souls of you and your closest companions. Synergy between connections grows with skill level and personal relationships. As your Soulspace grows, new connections can be forged. As your Soulspace grows various new bonuses will be unlocked! (Passive skill) Vincent shook his head and winced. The effect was immediate. He could feel all of the connections he had forged since being abducted by the system. He felt his companion, Lupus, frozen in time back in the cave. It was muffled but it was clearly still the strongest bond he held by far.. The next one he noticed was the one currently throbbing in his right hand, his sword, Anguish of the Father. The blade was angry, willing to cut through any misfortune that befell its master. He could also feel the desperation of the shield to return to his side much more clearly than before. It wanted more than anything in the world to wrap itself around him and protect him from any harm. The system was fucked up and it wasn''t even close in capturing the actual personality of his parents. He realized that now. He shouldn''t think of the souls like that but more like.. extensions of himself. The blade that was his metaphysical father was just as much him. So too was he the shield, and his armor. They were extensions of his very soul. More specifically his anger, love and determination. If he were a father he would be the blade. If he were a mother he would be the shield. If he were a son he would be the armor. He was none.. yet he was all three. "Trinity¡­" Congratulations! Efficiency has increased to 3%! He flicked his wrist and his shield appeared in his left hand, just in time to block the massive swing of the foe before him. He smirked even as he was blown back several feet by the charged up unwavering strike. His joy at gaining a few great abilities was quickly diminished as he realized he still had no practical way to defeat the over powering foe. Even worse was that after this battle came the fight with the Fang. And he was getting tired.. Firing off a few comets, he meant to distract the Flaming lord while he began to gather energy for another blade of black energy made of his wrathful flame. The result was better than he could have hoped as the knight, seeming to expect a direct and immediate follow up attack from the comets, deflected them with a Parry before he sat unmoving in an unyielding guard position. Vincent continued to smirk at the flaming red knight until the creature realized its mistake and began to charge forward faster than ever to take its opponent out once and for all. "If you were a real opponent with any semblance of intelligence this never would have worked.." Vincent observed. "As it stands.. I had just enough time!" Combining his unwavering strike with his wrathful flame and stored momentum which had reached its limits, Vincent met the Knight''s charge with one of his own. The two shadow-stepped towards one another to boost their inertia. Their swords clashed in a massive whirlwind of flame and raw force. Vincent was blown backwards skidding through the fire on his back for nearly 10 yards. When he finally managed to shakily stand to his feet and dislodge the cobwebs from his head, he checked his status. He had cut it close.. he hadn''t been using his Ancient slumbering tortoise there at the end so he lost nearly 10,000 health in that exchange. Altogether he had less than 5,000 health left and he felt it. The man quickly drank a potion and scanned for his opponent. The knight for its part slowly rose to its feet as well. It''s crimson helmet had been blown off and it''s head was engulfed in an impenetrable flame. It''s actual features were impossible to distinguish. Vincent sighed heavily. "What the hell do I have to do to put you down!? Say please?" Congratulations! Your skill fire resistance (Uncommon) has increased to level 75! Congratulations! Your skill fire resistance uncommon had evolved into Cinder of flame (Rare)! Skill level will be maintained! Cinder of flame (Rare) Allows the user uncontested control over the elemental energy of heat. Due to the ''Rare'' rarity, scope and degree of control gain a small boost per skill level. (Passive ability) Due to synchronization between your Cinder of flame and your Thermal manipulation, your heat based skill levels will rise slightly faster and burn slightly hotter! Congratulations! Efficiency +1% Vincent''s eyes became saucers. Synergy between skills would cause his efficiency to rise as well? And his efficiency also determined how fast his skill levels rose. He wondered whether or not that stacked with his pack leader perk or not. Did his current 5 percent efficiency take all of his bonuses and skills into consideration? He had a strong feeling it did. The increase to his stats were all well and dandy but the true shock was that after achieving Cinder of flame, the flame covering the head of his opponent vanished. As it did so he stared dumbfounded at what lay beneath. Slowly he began to chuckle which turned into a cackle and finally a full blown guffaw. Congratulations! New feat achieved! Face one''s inner self in the circle of eternal fire! New perk: The Flaming Lord of Despair Appears achieved! The Flaming Lord of Despair Appears. A title formerly belonging only to the mythical Fang of Flame, another has risen up. Grants the user +1000% resistance to heat based energies. Grants the user the ability to conjure flames in any environment. Allows the user''s flames to burn other flame based beings. User''s fire based attacks and skills are significantly stronger than usual. The knight underneath the helmet had shoulder length black hair. His right eye was a crystal blue that shined with an unnatural luminosity while the left pulsed with a deep, bloody crimson. Vincent felt as if he were looking into a strange alternate mirror. This whole time¡­ "I am the flaming lord of despair.." Vincent came back into the real world just in time for a stream of fire to smash into his face. If he were being perfectly honest.. It felt like a warm ray of sunshine on a beautiful summer''s day. He flexed and leaned backwards to Crack his spine. The surge of energy he felt from the recent influx of skills and stats was a euphoria unlike any other. With this, all of his stats at their baseline had breached one hundred. In fact with all of the bonuses he had achieved each and every stat was well over that mark. Vincent felt a qualitative change in his body and power over all. He didn''t really look all that different from his pre-system self besides the fact that he was about 5''9 now and had muscles that looked like they were chilzed out of marble. He honestly looked alot like his favorite anime character, or at least his physique was similar. He figured the only reason his body wasn''t freakishly mutating and bulging was because of his precise control over his flows of energy. He had dictated the outcome of nearly every power increase and skill he''d ever received, leading to extremely balanced stats. How many people at level 1 had stats that were as high as his yet also as well balanced? Besides that ridiculous vitality... That one got away from him. The Fang for his part seemed extremely confused. One second the creature before him had seemed terrified of its imminent approaching death and the next.. it had just smirked and taken the full effect of the mighty Fang''s flame like it was a cool breeze. There was a shift in the being''s entire demeanor and the wind in the air changed tunes. The Fang cocked its head sideways before growling lightly. To make sure it wasn''t a fluke it reared back and launched three fireballs at the man. Vincent raised his arms in response and concentrated. With a burst of light the balls crumpled and dispersed before they even reached him. The wolf looked extremely shocked at this point. Vincent for his part took in a deep breath and began to focus his energies. "That won''t work on me now.. and I don''t have to cancel my bleeding heart because of your blasted fire affinity. So I guess from here on out it''s just hitting one another until one of us drops." The Fang roared, clearly having reached the limits of its patience. It curled into a ball and charged at Vincent. He raised his arms in defense and the beast barreled into him causing him to skid back several meters. Somehow, he withstood the full force of the Fang''s attack and only received 9000 damage for his efforts. He cried out involuntarily due to the pain but chuckled despite himself. It seemed like a lot of damage at first glance, being close to half of his total life. However, seeing as how he hadn''t activated his massive plethora of skills in earnest yet, he was quite satisfied with the result. Clearly he had gotten quite a bit more powerful just since this hunt began.. The force of the attack itself had broken his arm and collar bone for sure, but he was quick to pop a potion to get himself back up to snuff before the Fang had even finished landing behind him. His arm snapped back into place near instantly and he frowned. Not from the pain, but rather from the smell in the air. He never noticed how putrid the smell of burning flesh was before the days of the system. Anymore it constantly seemed to fill his senses, permeating the air everywhere he went. By his quick calculations, he had effectively gathered 100 strength worth of pilfered kinetic force from that single attack. It wouldn''t be long now and Vincent would hit the beast with an attack so powerful it wouldn''t be able to run away like last time. He activated the slumbering Ancient tortoise while he began to manipulate the various elements around him. He had plenty of uses left of his potions to restore his mana while he gathered his strength for one final attack. He pointed the tip of his blade at the Fang and began to walk toward the beast in a slow taunt. He would have loved to run but unfortunately even with its current skill level of 60, his Ancient slumbering tortoise reduced his agility to only a fraction of what it should have been. He had to be careful, remaining focused rather than letting his excitement and anticipation get to him. The Fang, having realized its heat based attacks were now useless, snarled before it furled into a ball to launch its strongest attack once again. The attack slammed against Vincent with the force of a freight train but with his amazing defensive abilities active he barely lost 500 health. Taking such little damage meant he received a lot less kinetic force than before as well. A stroke of bad luck to be sure, but that was OK. Every little bit helped. As long as he didn''t get distracted he could gather most of the rest of the needed force on his own with skills such as Absolute timing or lucky break. Even if he couldn''t run or make the most out of it, his new elemental prowess in conjunction with the current environment did wonders for his ability to gather energy without having to physically do much. It was just as well because if he moved any faster than a very light jog, he would lose his Complete Tranquility''s wondrous effects. By now the sun had risen over the jungle lining the barren battlefield and Vincent was sure he would have to fight someone else for the right to keep his spoils by the time this battle concluded but that was alright.. as long as he wasn''t unlucky enough to get stuck against a level 100 monster he was confident in his abilities to run away at least. He had been doing that forever now, it seemed. Just as he had these thoughts the Fang began to twitch and convulse wildly. Vincent had steadily been watching the creature''s anger grow and he knew it would lose its top eventually but he didn''t expect the thing to start having seizures. Maybe he''d get lucky and it would just die? Of course no such thing could ever happen in Vincent''s story. After a minute or so the creature finally stopped bucking and leveled a ferocious snarl at Vincent. The creature''s eyes turned a deep crimson red, contrasting sharply with the wolf''s exposed skull and jaw. He couldn''t help the eerie shudder as he noticed how the thing''s two glowing eyes were the only organic matter left in or on its head which was otherwise all bone. It''s fur began to glow, emitting a heat that Vincent could feel even with his amazing new perk. Honestly this thing should have been called the lord of lava or something. It was a true monster. On instinct Vincent activated all of his skills at once and braced himself with his shield. It was still barely enough as the Fang unleashed a crackling beam of crimson energy from its maw directly at the man. The beam slammed into him at incomprehensible speeds. He was being pushed back rapidly, gritting his teeth and grunting in effort and frustration. The heat was more intense than any he had ever felt even from behind his wall of defenses. He was quickly losing health but he couldn''t let up his guard even for a second or he was toast. He felt his companion frantically trying to heal him but it was not enough. Just as the edges of his sight were beginning to grow dim, the domineering force acting against him ceased to exist. He breathed a rapid sigh of relief and downed a potion, thanking the gods above his alchemy had come so far. His shield was quivering from the pain of that last attack even after healing. Trying something a little outside the box he directed some of his vital energies into his shield and sure enough his energies caused a rapid recovery in the sentient item. So far his sword seemed to have no limit to the durability it possessed which you would think would be the other way around.. He didn''t have any time to question it further as the creature prepared to send another beam of raw destruction his way. Raising his blade he furrowed his brow in determination. The beast had messed up by not holding its attack a couple of seconds longer the first time around and finishing him off. Because by now Vincent had gathered an insane amount of energy and force within him, far more than hie current limit would comfortably allow. The flows of energy both within and without his body were like dense storms, visible even to those who lacked an ability to read energies. Around him there was a massive, raging whirlwind of kinetic force. His wrathful flames rotated in an X shape at incalculable speeds around his body. Wisps of raw blue energy span around the entirety of his body beginning to spin like a shuriken faster and faster. All at once the various energies began to gather into his blade and he was absolutely sure he was going to lose it all in a massive point blank detonation. He began to sweat when somehow, inexplicably, he felt his companion deftly exerting its will to hold the attack together long enough for Vincent to readjust his grip on the technique. It hadn''t lasted very long but it was all he needed to shape the energy into a perfect, sharp blade, which he charged into a ten second unwavering strike. His arm snapped forward, clearly breaking in the process. The black energy shot forth not a moment too soon as it collided with the Fang''s potent beam of energy. There was an explosion of force that blew him clean off his feet and shattered his bones in several areas. It didn''t really matter though¡­ His task had been accomplished. He shadow stepped backwards as far as his mana would carry him and raised his shield to try and guard himself against the explosion as the two titanic energies collided, destroying the area around them with the force of an atomic bomb. End of chapter 25 This is just the beginning Congratulations! Feat: Against all odds III achieved! Against all odds III. Skills level up +75% faster. Gain +150% experience. All stats increased by +30 Congratulations! Feat: Will to survive V achieved! Will to survive V +10% vitality. Everything was black and his ears were ringing. His body was wracked with pain. He deftly felt a warm energy slowly flowing into him, pushing away an icy darkness. He couldn''t comprehend if it was a result of his own skills or if his companion was doing the work. He tried to open his eyes but his body wouldn''t respond. He groaned, or at least he thought he did. He was sure he would have been panicking if his brain could just process simple thoughts. As it was he merely got bits and pieces of the voice of his conscious. The rest was the dull ringing pain.. After laying there for what felt like forever, clarity finally began returning to his mind. He sat up and slowly peeled open his eyes. The sun was blotted out by a cloud of dust and ash. That was probably for the best because his head was pounding. He was on the outer edge of a crater that was at least ten meters deep and three times as wide. The Fang, mangled and maimed, was lying in the center. A dull fire was slowly petering out in its mouth. Smoke rose from the fresh carcass of the beast and its eyes pulsed with a slowly fading red glow. Miraculously, it seemed the beast was still alive¡­ But nothing would save it now, it was dying. Most of its back half was gone but somehow the upper torso and head were entirely intact. There was a large man standing beside the beast but Vincent was too wounded, his vision too blurry, to properly make out any features. He could definitely tell the guy was tall. The giant bent down and shoved his considerably large arm directly into the chest of the beast, ripping out what appeared to be a crimson sphere about the size of a car battery. Congratulations! You have defeated the ''Fang of Flame'' (Mythical) lvl 61! Monster''s level is too high, no XP will be rewarded. Congratulations! Sneak (Uncommon) has evolved into Stealth (Rare) ! The following benefits have been procured¡­ 50% harder to detect while standing still. 100% harder to detect while crouching. Triple sneak damage. +25 agility! All skill levels will be maintained! A fire had been lit in the center of your soul¡­ effects unknown. His eyes widened. Vincent was surprised by the fact that he got the victory even though a third party technically killed the Fang.. perhaps it was because of how hard he struggled. Plus he did do literally everything, after all. He tried to focus on the sphere in the man''s hands. A blazing red energy pulsed from the object and Vincent knew even without being able to see the thing clearly that it was the heart of the Fang. The man slowly began to stalk toward Vincent, carrying the heart in one hand and the Fang''s carcass in the other. Vincent was sure the man was going to finish him off and take his heart as a trophy as well, but try as he might he could do little more than crawl. After fumbling pitifully for a bit he sighed. Giving up he sat with his feet pointed forward, head down and hair matting his bloodied face. He slowly looked up as the hefty individual approached. His eyes were barely half open but from here he could sense the individual''s energy well enough. A lopsided grin appeared across his exhausted face. "Gildarts.." He huffed out. He was sure now that it had been his own abilities drawing in energy to his body as it was apparent his companion had been knocked unconscious. Effectively that meant he had lost his entire life, gained a second wind, lost that, and used his companions life to stay alive. "You know that''s mine right..?" He joked weakly with a cough. His smile slowly turned into a frown as he sensed more than saw the disdain adorning his green friend''s features. There was a pregnant silence for a while before the Mohawk clad Orc spoke. "I am sorry. This victory is yours.. truly.. but I am taking the heart of the Fang. If it''s any consolation I''ll leave you this¡­ You are truly mighty Vincent.." As he spoke he tossed the carcass of the Fang beside the now scowling human. The man deftly sealed it into his inventory and glared. "Yeah.. you told me you wouldn''t let me take the heart. Not very.. honorable of you." He sighed bitterly with a wince of pain. He could tell by the tension in the air, the Orc was equally as dissatisfied about the situation as he was. He had trained for so long to reach level fifty and defeat the Fang.. only for a much weaker outsider to come in and take the hunt for himself. "I am truly sorry, but for this.. I must cast aside even my honor. I must become the king of my people. I am the only one who can save them." He explained sincerely. Vincent huffed and spat. His finer motor functions were beginning to return to him and he groaned. He resisted the urge to vomit as he leaned forward and pushed off his knee forcing himself into a standing position. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Save them from what? A shittier king or something?" He demanded. This time the Orc''s face turned stony. He was afraid he''d receive only grim silence in response until the Orc finally said.. "From themselves." Vincent couldn''t help the feeling of dread that rose in his stomach as he processed that information. He wasn''t even sure why. Maybe he didn''t mean it the way Vincent was interpreting it but.. it really sounded like he was saying he was either going to commit mass genocide on his people or rule them with an iron fist. Both of those thoughts caused Vincent to heavily frown. Bile filled his mouth and this time he did vomit. After wiping his mouth and catching his breath he tried to think about it logically. Given that his origins were that of a nomad, sort of the peasants to the nobles, it was possible Gildarts harbored a serious grudge against the current royal families as well. To be entirely honest Vincent was too afraid to ask the Orc to elaborate much further, lest he learn a dark truth. Some things were better left unsaid. Besides right now he honestly just felt bitter and tired. As his savior, turned rival, began to walk away the towering behemoth beckoned over his shoulder. "Come.We shall go to Zar-Rhah." Vincent frowned once more, which he seemed to be doing a lot these days. He had nearly forgotten that this task was one that was originally imposed upon him by another¡­ Since then it had become personal and he more or less adopted the mission as his own.. It had been sort of a personal vendetta to defeat the creature that had nearly killed him in their every passing since he had first arrived here in Garkahn. Would the swordsman still train him after taking so long to complete the mission? Nevermind the fact that he technically failed, as another acquired the heart. Even if it was an ally.. It didn''t change the fact that the grayed old Orc required the heart for his own purposes. The man from Earth tisked, clicking his tongue in annoyance. He supposed he was about to find out. With all of his energy fully restored courtesy of a crimson essence potion the journey took less than half an hour. The duo could have arrived much quicker but neither of them were in a hurry. Vincent was currently dealing with a boat load of existential turmoil and Gildarts was facing his own internal dilemma on account of his dishonorable victory. Vincent used this opportune mix of free time with what amounted to a body guard and his erratic emotions to study his flows of energy. He remembered his companion and how his flows seemed faster compared to Vincent''s own. Focusing on each individual skill''s structure he tried to force them to move faster and faster but each time he did so it would begin to desynchronize with the other skills he possessed, thus becoming less effective overall. Not only that but as soon as he stopped focusing on one skill in favor of the other, the former began to return to its original shape and speed. The only way he could possibly think of making this work would be to activate every single skill at once, force them each beyond their limit, and then somehow maintain that focus constantly in battle. A feat which.. Vincent was far from being capable of doing with his current abilities. He supposed intelligence and possibly agility would be the most beneficial stats to increase in that regard. The actual effects of stats were hard to deduce, especially since Vincent''s were so synergistic they basically all of them enhanced his abilities in some way shape or form. Hell at this point even a point in Endurance had a noticeable effect on his mage-like skills such as Comet. His skills were impressive, and he used most of them constantly on a daily basis. Even if two people had the exact same skill level and stats there was an unseen layer of non-system based experience and efficiency that came into play that could only be obtained through sheer hard work and repetition. Even though swinging a sword one hundred thousand times wouldn''t necessarily increase your skill level according to the system, you would grow much more intimate and familiar with your skill, strengthening it overall. Sometimes experience and a firm understanding of the basics were the key factors when deciding the outcome of a battle¡­ Upon arriving at the cave of the old swordsman the pair found the man hammering away at a wicked curved blade. He stopped hammering and turned his one visible eye to them as they entered. "Hmm.. aren''t the pair of you a strange sight indeed.. I was beginning to wonder if I''d ever see the two of you again." He hummed. He looked between Vincent and Gildarts for several long seconds before his vision came to rest upon the heart of the Fang within the hands of Gildarts and not his much smaller companion. His gaze settled into a frown before he snorted. "Bah." He spat bitterly. "Even after a year and some odd months the task I set before you was too difficult. I knew your potential would be wasted here in this country where you cannot even level up. You are not worth my time." The master of the mystic arts dismissed. Vincent felt as if he''d been slapped. Honestly he had expected as much from the grizzled old master. Why would someone with so much skill and power waste their time building upon someone else''s foundation? Especially when the investment seemed to promise so little return considering the earth man''s handicap. Even still.. It hurt to hear it said out loud. Gildarts walked up to the much older Orc and in a gesture that shocked both of the other two individuals in the cave, the mighty Gildarts took a knee. This was especially surprising to the old man as only he truly had any sort of kinship with Gildarts and hence could appreciate the full severity of this action. "Wait.. please allow me to be placed into your debt so that the human may receive your training." The warrior pleaded. The old war Master gasped. "But why..?" He asked. Gildarts rose to his feet and said with truth in his eyes, "Because truly the boy defeated the Fang on his own. I merely confiscated the spoils in the aftermath. I must become king." The quizzical look remaining on his face, Zar-Rhah now focused his gaze on Vincent behind the mountain of a man named Gildarts. "Truly..? The level 1 actually defeated a creature over level fifty by himself? Fascinating.. and impressive. I expected him to take advantage of a formally engaged affair.. but I must say to fight the beast head on and win, that I never expected. I am surprised by you. Such growth is unprecedented for someone who cannot evolve.." He finished quietly, turning to face Gildarts once more. "And you¡­ Such a dishonorable action in the name of becoming king.. we both know you have more than enough potential to eclipse the other candidates without controlling the Fang''s flames. Are you certain you''re not doing this so that they do not go after the boy?" He inquired. At this Vincent was confused. ''They..?'' He wondered. Was it possible Gildarts had actually stolen the heart with the intention of somehow protecting Vincent from others who may seek to use it? If so Gildarts''s honor was tarnished for his sake alone, and that made him feel a bit guilty for so hastily judging his friend before. "Hmm. My reasons are my own." The warrior dismissed with a wave. Vincent stepped forward, so that he could speak directly with the swordsman. "Listen.. I''m not gonna pretend like I know much about the way of the Orcs or whatever but I do know this.. there''s something out there that threatens us all, regardless of affiliation or origin." He said seriously, narrowing his eyes and looking back and forth between the two massive men. He naturally felt a bit intimidated by their stature in comparison to his own.. Still he tried his best to project confidence. He had always been on the shorter side anyways, it never bothered him. "I have to grow powerful enough to stop them or I can never protect the precious few bonds I''ve struggled to forge in my time here. I refuse to be weak and helpless ever again. Like it or not we''ve all got a stake in what''s to come." The old swordsman seemed annoyed by the brashness of the human being before him. As Zar-Rhah studied the human and his energies he noticed how much he truly had changed over the last year. His genetic makeup had undergone a transformation on a cellular level, beginning to forge him a body capable of handling his rapidly increasing abilities. "Very well.. It has been over fifteen years since I''ve trained another being that yet lives, and never in all my life has it been an outsider but.. this one time I shall make an exception. Do not disappoint me, boy." He demanded. Vincent for his part couldn''t help but smirk in triumph. As it was Vincent was beginning to reach a plateau in his growth as far as his efficiency was concerned. He could still create new skills if he put enough effort into it but oftentimes they were arbitrary and added very little benefit to his power overall. Maybe studying underneath Zar-Rhah he would at last he would learn what it truly meant to be a master of the sword and shield; a state of being that he was leagues away from despite his fairly high skill level. He was sure that mastering his primary offensive and defensive abilities in the way the Black knight had, would cause his power to grow and evolve in an explosive way it hadn''t yet. So far all of his boosts had been meager and countless hours of grinding apart. It was only because there were so damn many bonuses adding up together that his stats were as formidable as they were. If he had a more powerful base skill that was further amplified by his efficiency and plethora of skills¡­ But first he needed more experience and knowledge to make the most use of his rapidly accumulating power. With guidance he could expand upon that firm foundation he''d slowly built over the last three years. Beyond that there was also engraving, a whole new branch from which he could grow and gather more strength. He felt that learning from this master was the key to reaching the next tier of power. His eyes lit up in hunger and anticipation. He craved more power in a way he really hadn''t ever experienced before. In prior instances he really just wanted to grow more powerful so he wouldn''t be crushed by the most insignificant creatures of the Nexus. But now that he''d had a taste of what it was like to stand at the top things had changed. Vincent was becoming drunk on the power that the system could provide. He wanted more. He wanted to test his limits and shatter them. He wanted to be the strongest.. The feelings the human man experienced while facing down the Fang of Flame was surpassed only by the emotions he''d known when he somehow won. He''d earned his right to exist. For once, endless possibilities stretched out within arm''s reach before him. This confirmed that if Vincent tried hard enough, he could accomplish anything... The man had never felt more alive. Looking down at his left hand, he clenched his fist in determination. "This is just the beginning.." Training begins; A C- student By the time Vincent left Zar-Rhah''s cave it was dusk and the sky was painted in a beautiful, orange twilight. "That damn jerk." He muttered to himself. "Needs a week to prepare my ass. He just wants to procrastinate on training me!" The dark haired man protested. Shaking his head he began to make his trek back to his own cave. "Oh well.. I suppose it''s not like there''s any shortage of things for me to do.. Definitely still pissed off about Gildarts too. The rewards for my toils were inadequate to say the least, especially considering how many times I almost died." He said with a roll of his eyes while bounding through the trees. He crouched as he ran in order to ascertain the effectiveness of his improved sneak abilities. It was almost comical to see him moving through the jungle. Due to his agility being well over 100 Vincent was faster than most creatures around this area, even while crouched. He appeared to the naked eye of most creatures as a dark blur. Like a ninja, one might be inclined to say. Overall he was pleased with the results. None but the most powerful and perceptive monsters would find Vincent if he put forth true effort into hiding his presence. Even if they did manage to find him, catching him would be equally as challenging. In terms of battle capabilities Vincent could easily go toe to toe with the strongest level 50''s, as evident by his fight with the Fang. Of course, an elite level 75 would probably still force him into retreat without too much quarrel. Vincent was roughly halfway home when his companion sent him a mental plea to gather some more supplies before heading home. Their potions were getting dangerously low and the pack was also getting hungry. ''Certainly don''t want to pay store prices¡­'' Chuckling he dropped to the ground below and began to travel at a more civilized pace. It didn''t take him long to find large patches of blue and red crystals as well as multitudes of plants he could make use of. The crystals in particular were easy to find. They could typically be found in areas that had high concentrations of energy, either because of high level monsters or the natural environment in some more intense areas. To someone like Vincent, those massive concentrations of energy may as well have been signal fires. While gathering materials the blue eyed man was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn''t even notice them¡­ The desecrated bodies that lined the jungle floor. Vincent''s guard was up in an instant and his Aura flared to life. "Stupid and reckless.." The man berated himself. Sweeping his gaze slowly from the left to the right, he looked with more than just his eyes as he surveyed the remnants of a massacre. "They''ve struck again¡­ Fucking wretched beasts¡­" Death was a part of life that was something he had been forced to accept long ago. But when the depraved killed there was no rhyme or reason to it. They simply devoured everything in sight. They were monsters that thrived on spreading fear and pain. It made them stronger¡­ Most of the victims'' bodies were shriveled and decayed.. A pile of lvl 40 crimson lotuses had been turned to a dull gray husk. True to their namesake they had the appearance of red flowers. Unlike most creatures in the Nexus they were docile and harmless unless provoked. They spent their days nurturing the growth of the jungle and recycling death and decay. Essentially they had the ability to absorb dead or rotting substances and regurgitate it as powerful fertilizer for all manners of life. The Hellspawn themselves avoided harming the playful and kind sentient flowers, proving that even in the system there was some light.. There were other creatures around too. A titanium plated boar of some type, several large insects, ect. Many of these creatures weren''t devoured and instead were mercilessly slaughtered and discarded. Most of the bodies were bloated from leftover gas and chemicals within the body. They were in the early stages of decomposition, and their blood had long since dried. All of this indicated they had been dead a few days now. Vincent used his considerable abilities and mental prowess to replay the situation in his mind. It was clear to him that most of these creatures were lower level natives of the jungle that had come to the aid of the Crimson Lotuses. They had tried feebly to save some of that rare light in this world from the depraved¡­ He gathered some of the more preserved bodies for sustenance and materials. At least their deaths wouldn''t be in vain. They would make him and his pack stronger so he could avenge them. "All of these creatures.. All of these different, violent species that would have torn each other apart any other day.. Came together to try and save the lotuses." Vincent''s words were soft and loaded with the confliction that he felt. For the first time in a long time.. He was reminded of humans again. The mythical cave in the mountain.. It didn''t take Vincent long to arrive home. However, immediately upon exiting the jungle the man could sense something was off. He figured a large part of it had to be his new unique ability; Network of Souls. It was as if there was an intense sorrow resonating from within him but at the same time he could tell the source came from the others nearby.. If he focused hard enough he could almost see the connections between the souls of his pack and himself. Within those connections, energy and emotion flowed. "What is going on..?" He wondered out loud. The pack was gathered in the center of the dens where a large open ''pit'' could be found. This was typically where spars occurred and the young were taught how to fight. Vincent made his way over to the young prince, his second in command. His pack gave him a wide birth as he passed and none would meet his gaze. "Dawn.. what''s going on?" Vincet asked with a frown once he''d gotten within earshot of the majestic blue wolf. The prince bristled before turning swiftly around to face his master. Based on his facial expressions and energy flows he was clearly dealing with a great deal of stress and anguish. The wolf''s fur swayed side to side as it set its feet and sucked in a deep breath. It reared back its head and howled at the sky. The air vibrated with force and power and a stream of blue fire shot from the prince''s open maw as it roared. Vincent couldn''t help it as a part of his subconscious instinctually analyzed every aspect of his close friend''s skill. It had to have been at least Legendary tier. The basic shape of the energy wasn''t unlike the fireball skill; sporadic and rotating rapidly. But there was something different about this skill than the fireball. Something that made it mutate and evolve. Dawn had always been exceptionally great at the Fireball (Rare) skill and knew that he would get an improved version with time but this was a cataclysmic transformation. Vincent knew by his intuition and Sixth sense that it was more than just some random input or reward from the system. Dawn had done something that Vincent thought only he and his companion could do¡­ He created this skill. The attack contained traces of Vincent''s energy as a foundation, probably as a fuel source. The wolf''s emotions gave it shape and his desire and will made it happen, his perception of his needs caused a sort of self actualization. Any other time this type of epiphany would be a cause for immediate celebration. Especially as the system window flashed across his vision. Congratulations! Ecology skill has grown stronger! Sixth sense skill has grown stronger! System interference has grown stronger! New skill: Flamecloak (Epic) created! Flamecloak (Epic) A fiery embrace that burns brighter and hotter with the user''s emotions. The flames of the user''s will burn with emotion so intense it consumes all forms of harm. Due to the ''Epic'' rarity potency and degree of control gain a bountiful bonus per level. (Active skill) (consumes 2500 mana) Despite his involuntary copy catting and his subconscious breakthrough on the fundamentals of skill creation, his mind was focused only on the meaning behind the intense emotion from his friend. A few wayward tears escaped from his eyes. The depraved had gotten another tribe and none made it out alive. Zar-Rhah''s home in the woods over a week later¡­ Vincent sat cross-legged in his meditative Complete tranquility. Before him was a large pond on the other side of which was the mouth of a cave. His back was to the woods, but directly behind the man his teacher stood, hands resting stop his wooden cane. "Focus now boy.. you must create a bond with your sword and shield. You have to believe that your sword can pierce any obstacle, and your shield can protect you from any harm. It is not enough to think this is true, you must know it." He lectured. "What I know is that it''s hard for me to focus when you won''t shut the fuck up." Vincent grumbled. Zar-Rhah snorted in response. "This is your problem. You''re too rash. Too emotional. You must be focused and disciplined. Each action must be made with purpose and intent! Not half assed hopes and needy, entitled wants." "Agaaaah!!" Vincent yelled, opneing his eyes and standing up. "I''ve been at this for three days! This is a waste of my time. I could be doing real training. You''re telling me not to use my emotions or rely on my instincts when that''s literally where all of my power comes from. Have you ever thought maybe I''m just different from you? Maybe you''re the one teaching me wrong." He insisted angrily. Zar-Rhah fixed him with a stern frown. "This is exactly my point. And you''re damn right you''re nothing like me. You''re arrogant and impatient, a C- student at best amd thats being generous! When you swing your blade you swing a piece of metal. You probably do not even know your weapon''s desires. Do you even hear it when it speaks?" Vincent''s face was sour as he contemplated all of this. Somehow he got the feeling that the master was being literal when he asked these questions. The blade obviously had emotions so why hadn''t he considered the fact that it could have ambition and a voice? Hell the blade was practically alive, it had its own soul and a piece of his.. his shield and armor were as well. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. He was also sure that the master swordsman who had been studying all of his life was probably a little bit more experienced in these matters than himself. Even though his logical self knew all of this.. he still couldn''t shake his uneasy feelings bubbling inside of him. Everything that had shaped him the last three years he was now being told was wrong. Every struggle and lesson he''d had ingrained into his brain in order to survive was somehow holding back his true potential. He would have to tear himself down and rebuild from the bottom. "Even if you are right.. my emotions and instincts power every single one of my skills. Even you told me once that every skill requires emotion to activate. Now you''re telling me not to feel anything when I fight?" He huffed in frustration and confusion. The aged Orc merely closed his eyes and sighed. "Wrong again.." He took in a deep breath and focused on Vincent with his steely gaze. "You are correct that the power of your skills comes from your emotions and will.. but YOU must be the master of those emotions. You must be the one in control of them, never let them control you. If you fight in anger or sadness or even joy you fight sloppy! You hesitate, you choreograph yourself! To remain calm and focused while harnessing the inferno of the soul within oneself.. that is how you become truly powerful. Watch.." He spoke, drawing his ridiculous claymore that looked more like a broadsword and walking forward to the edge of the water. He took in a deep breath and let go of his cane gripping his sword with both hands. Somehow, magically the cane remained upright on its own. "Rend the sky for me... Caelum Rendere!" With a casual upswing of his blade a force of golden energy in the shape of an arched blade blasted forth. The energy crackled madly and rapidly expanded as it left his blade. Vincent watched paralyzed with awe as the beam of energy streaked throughthe air, first a mile then two.. the energy easily grew to over one hundred feet long and half as wide before it impacted a far off mountain completely demolishing the top. The aged Orc sighed deeply before stowing his blade and retaking his cane. He panted slightly and leaned ever so imperceivably on the gnarled branch of a thing. "Heh.. back in the days of my youth that entire mountain would have been leveled and I''d have barely broken a sweat!" Vincent fell to his knees in denial. "I dont believe it.." he mumbled. Zar-Rhah snorted and turned away. "That is why you fail." The old Orc whispered. Vincent lowered his head even further, until it touched the hot stone. "Please teach me, master." Zar-Rhah shook his head and sighed. "I have tried." He hobbled away towards the mouth of the cave. Vincent remained kneeling, eyes closed tightly. Beneath the surface his emotions boiled. How could he remain calm.. when the world was so damn unfair?.. A few weeks later¡­ Master and student were sparring ''lightly'' in the very same spot where the master had demonstrated the depths of his true capabilities. Zar-Rhah placed an engraving on a dummy set of armor Vincent had created that would allow him to increase its weight using his gravity manipulation ability. That coupled with the natural ball of gravitational resistance he constantly placed around himself made even a slight spar a considerable workout. Vincent''s Diverging perception was pushed to its absolute limit as he tried to focus not only on surviving the onslaught of his decidedly mentally unstable master''s blows, but also on pushing the flows of his energy to the absolute limit one at a time. He made his skills expand and flow faster while trying out different combinations and shapes. Sometimes he focused on the energy comprising his skills and other times he tried tinkering with his Health, Mana and Stamina, which was an altogether different process. He used his system interference and the way it acted as a magnet to propel, dissect and combine his energy much faster than he was able to naturally on his own. He obsessed over the lesson Zar-Rhah had tried to demonstrate in showing how one could use their emotions to fuel their power while also remaining focused and intent. Adding to that he tried to remember how the skills of his pack experienced abnormalities during emotional turmoil. He discovered that everything he had learned about tue foundations of emotions and instincts hadn''t necessarily been wrong.. he just needed to reconsider how he applied their effects. He needed to allow his instincts to find the path but he had to be the one to walk it. He had to have more control. Zar-Rhah had been absolutely right when he had said that a strike made in blind fury, no matter how much extra bluster was behind it, would never be as sharp or effective as an attack made with unwavering intent. The true secret to being the best was learning how to find a balance and harness both of those forces at once. Using your emotions and flawlessly switching between them, without letting them cloud your judgment and experience. Once he understood how to maintain composure under pressure those very same instincts he''d honed so carefully over the last three years would actually help incorporate his new behaviors into his muscles'' memories. This would cause much more effective gains overall. He thought it was quite funny how so many of his skills provided small passive benefits such as leveling faster or more easily controlling his powers. Or in the case of his Diverging perception; allowing him to focus on improving in a multitude of areas at once. With all of his stats and abilities his powers were beginning to become self propagating, slowly improving the entirety of his being over all. He may not be able to evolve through levels.. but he would more than compensate for that through sheer skill and ability. The grizzled old master took a step back to breath and Vincent took full advantage knowing that hesitation here would lead to his only chance to make some headway being missed. He gathered all the energy he''d cultivated thus far and created a dozen balls of different colored energy and elements. This was the current limit to the amount of elements he had control over. Using a new move he''d learned he released the unstable spheres in 12 rapid sword strikes. Congratulations! Your skill; Flurry of strikes (sword technique) (Epic) has increased to 17! Flurry of strikes (Epic) User unleashes a number of quick blows each containing a percentage of the user''s overall strength. Due to the ''Epic'' rarity, gain a moderate bonus to the strength of each blow and the maximum number of blows per level. (Active ability) (consumes 500 mana) This particular attack wouldn''t do a lot of damage on its own, even with all of the kinetic force he had managed to gather, but when combined with another new legendary ability he had developed.. Skill: Critical strike (Legendary) A unique skill developed by one who is intimately familiar with the energies of the Nexus. Allows all of the users attacks to automatically hit his targets weak spots. If no weak spots or openings exist, the user creates one. (Passive skill) (Lvl. Max) Each of his twelve blows caused the mighty Orc to put at least a semblance of effort into blocking to avoid taking any damage. Vincent didn''t intend to stop there... However, he was running low on Mana. By his careful estimation Vincent had just enough to charge an Unwavering strike coat it in his potent wrathful flame ability which he wasted no time doing. Unfortunately before he could use it, his master swept his legs with his cane. Vincent was able to shadow step away just in the nick of time before hitting the ground, but he lost his momentum and the ability to strike his intended target. Vincent gasped and puffed reaching the limits of his stamina. His vision swam and his head was pounding. His incredible regenerations would rapidly restore his vigor and vital energies but not fast enough to matter in the midst of battle. Plus it was harder to use his more powerful regenerative abilities while focusing on fighting and leveling. His Complete tranquility required intense concentration and his Yggdrasil skill required him to be sitting still to receive its full effect. He wasn''t quite sure how exactly he''d go on until Zar-Rhah raised his hand and said "That''s enough for now. Clearly you''re at the ends of your rope and I.. am beginning to feel the effects of age on my aching bones. We shall take a break." Vincent sighed in relief. Unable to speak, he settled for nodding in response while continuing to breathe heavily. The man with one blue eye and one red closed them and focused as he activated Yggdrasil; The Ancient World Tree and slipped into his Complete Tranquility. Instantly his regenerations increased from their base rate of about 8 to over 50. He sighed in relief and content as warm golden energy flooded his body. His health pool was over 20 thousand and would take about ten minutes or so to fully regenerate even with his capabilities. He felt absolutely dreadful for everyone else who probably had to sleep an entire day before they reached tip top shape again. That or rely entirely on potions and mages who could heal. Speaking of which.. For whatever reason his master insisted he not be allowed to use potions during the duration of their training. Maybe he figured forcing Vincent to use his skills instead would level him faster.. Personally Vincent was inclined to believe the bastard was just a bored, sadistic, lonely old man. The duo made their way into the cave where they enjoyed a meal prepared by Vincent himself. Zar-Rhah had absolutely no qualms with taking full advantage of Vincent''s wide variety of more.. practical abilities. He''d even gone so far as to have Vincent construct an elaborate self-sustaining garden and fishing mechanism to provide him with food materials while the human was away. As the two finished their meal in silence and Vincent absentmindedly began cleaning with his telekinesis ability, he couldn''t stop himself from asking, "Zar-Rhah?" The Orc grunted in acknowledgement. "I couldn''t help but wonder.. Why did it choose the name ''Skyrender''? And why is it in the old tongues?" The system window appeared to each individual differently and more or less shaped your growth based on your personality. To that end every single being in the Nexus had its own unique concept of languages. Almost all of them had a ''modern'' tongue which to Vincent the system translated to English, and then they had an ''ancient'' language which for Vincent appeared to be Latin. Engravings were typically a combination of ancient language and modern contexts. He had noticed when his master swung his blade an engravings translating into Skyrender lit up on each side. That was also the name he''d shouted as he performed the move. The grizzled old Orc merely shrugged. "Swords are simple beings. They simply exist. They simply are. There is only the function, there is no why. He chose Skyrender because that is what he does. That is his nature." Vincent nodded slowly, pulling out and examining his own blade as he did so. "So what''s it like? Do you hear a voice in your head or some shit?" He asked, half interested. Honestly he didn''t even think his blade was like other blades since it was created from his very soul and not the system itself. Zar-Rhah chuckled. "No, I do not hear Caelum rendere''s voice in my head. It''s more like.. a feeling.. so strong that I can interpret the will and intent of the blade as if it was speaking. If it were given shape I know what voice it would have, what it would look like, how it would act." He finished explaining. Vincent stared deadpanned. "So really you mean to tell me you''ve never actually heard your Sword speak with your ears your souls are just resonating? Why didn''t you just say that from the get go? That would have made my trouble so much easier to understand." He sighed, throwing up his hands in frustration. Zar-Rhah merely chuckled. "It is better for you to learn things on your own than to have all of the answers handed to you. Plus if you couldn''t even understand that much then you wouldn''t have been worthy of my teaching anyways." He said indignantly with a shrug. Vincent rolled his eyes thinking ''yeah whatever basically you''re just lazy and you like to be a dick. Reminds me of my dad.'' The two probably would have broken into a bickering match save for Gildarts showing up with a grim perplexity. Zar-Rhah hobbled over to the slightly larger man. "What is it boy?" It never escaped Vincent''s notice how much mutual respect for one another the two Orc''s seemed to share despite both of their outcast backgrounds. Actually now that he thought about it, perhaps it was because of their similar dispositions. "The timeline has moved up." The larger Orc said, looking over at Vincent as he continued. "You must have his training finished within the next four years because after that the three of us.. must go our separate ways until the conclusion of the ascension." Vincent''s eyes widened in surprise. He had originally figured he probably wouldn''t be included overmuch in whatever this ascension affair was due to the fact that it was ''Orc business.'' Yet for some reason beyond his comprehension, Gildarts was urging Zar-Rhah to finish his training before the ascension began. Why else if not for his eventual participation? Would that even be something he would want? He had joked one time about becoming the king of the jungle when he had first been integrated by the system. Alot had happened since then. He had become strong. But he would never in a hundred years have dreamed of becoming king of the entire country he now called home. Sure he had defeated the Fang, a creature a little over level 50 in just three years, but Gildarts was confident in his own capability of that feat before the Orc had ever even reached close to level fifty. Now that he had achieved that level¡­ Vincent shiddered, feeling uncertain of how much stronger a being as talented as Gildarts became after an evolution. Based on how dense the man''s Aura had become he was sure he was at least three times as strong as he was before. That didn''t even take into consideration how his skills had most certainly grown as well. Zar-Rhah stood and ambled over clapping Vincent on the back. "Well then.. I was going to wait to introduce you to this until you had come further along in your training but perhaps.. it''s time you learn the art of engravings." Vincent for his part beamed at the thought, though he questioned if he were truly ready. From what he understood engravings required a complete mastery of one''s emotions and he was only just beginning to grasp the concept. Would four years even be enough? It was going to have to be, he figured. Vincent and his teacher invited their mutual friend to stay for dinner but he declined, explaining it would take most of the remainder of his days hunting the strongest creatures the country had to offer in order for even him to reach level 100 in such an inconsequential amount of time. It took most beings decades to reach level 100. It took so long and so much effort in fact, that depending on starting level and lifespan, many never even reached it at all. After taking a seat, conversating and sharpening their blades Vincent decided to inquire about something that was bothering him. "My sword and shield don''t level up any more. Neither has my armor since becoming part of me. They''ll absorb experience and gather energies but they just won''t level. Are they capped with me?" He asked the much older and wiser man. Zar-Rhah rubbed his chin. "Hmm.. I should think probably so. Have you tried strengthening them at a forge?" Vincent blinked rapidly at the question. "Obviously." He huffed with a deadpan expression. Zar-Rhah just shrugged, "How did you level your equipment before?" Vincent scratched the back of his head and laughed, "Well they kind of just evolved on their own when they''d gathered enough experience." He explained. Zar-Rhah raised an eyebrow, his interest fully peaked this time. "Well that is strange indeed.. perhaps.. Your.. weapon and shield contain a piece of your soul? But also have one of their own..? How is this possible?" He asked finally studying Vincent''s equipment with intense scrutiny for the first time. After several minutes Vincent began to get uncomfortable with the close contact. Thankfully that was about when Zar-Rhah pulled back and said, "Yes I see now. It would seem that somehow your equipment was once a part of you and now they have evolved into their own beings with your soul as their foundation. How peculiar. You bring more and more questions by the day. I begin to wonder just what the hell are you?" He asked somewhat accusingly. Vincent merely smirked. "I''m the guy that''s going to break free of the system''s hold. I''ll never let snything control me again. I was weak and powerless. I still am. But I won''t always be so. Also none of that really even answered my question." Zar-Rhah chuckled. "Indeed yours is a bold claim brat. Frankly.. I don''t know. Probably no one but the system does. The very same system you seke to challenge. None save Garkan himself have ever been so ambitious. And it cost him everything. Are you willing to sacrifice everything that you are for the sake of power?" Vincent merely shrugged. "I''ve been at the bottom of the barrel with nothing left to lose and what I''ve learned is that what doesn''t kill me.. can only make me stronger. But I''ll never forsake my virtues or honor if thats ehat you mean. I refuse to kill the weak and defenseless." He finished clenching his fist with determination. Zar-Rhah threw an arm up and waved him away in dismissal. "Very well. Pursue your dreams until they are crushed. I''ll do my best to assist you but frankly.. You''ve got an infinitely long way to go." He chuckled, causing a tick mark to appear on Vincent''s forehead. With that directive in mind the two would spend the next few days going over the basics of engravings. End of chapter 27 The calm before the... Meteor!? Congratulations! Your skill: Intermediate engraving (Epic) has increased to level 17 Engravings were a pain in the ass Vincent had decided. "Crap.." he muttered, tossing aside a warped, junk piece of metal that had once been a small sword. If an engraving was too powerful, or applied in an incompatible manner it ran the risk of completely destroying the canvas on which it was constructed. It had been just over four months since he had begun learning the art and he could barely form a single stabilized symbol. It was easily the most difficult concept he''d ever tried to understand. He spent at least half of his days studying the art and being instructed by Zar-Rhah yet even still he had made very little progress. Engravings, once they were mastered, had an infinitely versatile number of uses. They could be applied to equipment or drawn on the environment around you to any number of combinations and effects. It was because of that infinite potential that the art was nearly impossible to master. Not only did one have to master their emotions but they also had to constantly control the amount of energies flowing through their Engravings. Each one took a unique amount and shape of energy to function and not all symbols worked well together. All it took was one small miscalculation and an entire script could be ruined. Scripts, were mlre or less considered the next stage of an engraving ritual following singular runes. It''s basically the result of multiple engravings applied to the same surface. Though the most effective Engravings were always those which were carefully constructed over time, a master was able to create lesser engraving on the fly to varying degrees of success. Some could even be made in mid air to replicate skills such as fireball or forcefield. Of course it stood to reason that engravings that were permanently and physically drawn out on a solid object were typically much more potent than those that were constructed using temporary energies or composed of disintegrating substances. Vincent was exceedingly fortunate to have a master of the art to teach him because he was sure it would have taken him years to translate even the most simple of sentences let alone decipher their functions and applications based on energy flows. As it was he could currently produce one simple word at a time and their power was.. well let''s put it this way; He had managed to learn ''harden'' one of the easiest engravings ever made, and when applied to a junk weapon he forged it raised his attack from 70 to 72.. not exactly the kind of progress he was hoping for after almost half a year of busting his ass off. He felt so inadequate. Zar-Rhah vehemently swore that Vincent was advancing at an astonishing rate. Originally he had unlocked the skill Basic engraving (Common) which he learned from Zar-Rhah but then he rapidly improved it to the point of evolving the skill within a month. Zar-Rhah seemed endlessly fascinated by Vincent''s aptitude with skills. Still the man from Earth wasn''t satisfied and he pushed himself to the brink and beyond day after day. Whenever Vincent wasn''t studying or meditating he was torturing his body, mind and soul, forcing them beyond the absolute limits on the battlefield. And make no mistake that Zar-Rhah, though he held back, had absolutely no qualms with ''accidentally'' killing Vincent if he couldn''t handle being brought to the point of exhaustion day in and day out. While they were sparring, Zar-Rhah would often drill battle tactics and random knowledge into Vincent''s head which he would expect Vincent to then relay perfectly at any given time. Should he fail at any of his directives, the intensity of his training sessions would increase for an indefinite period of time. Zar-Rhah even had him reading books and studying the art of fighting multiple opponents which seemed useless to Vincent seeing as how some of his most potent bonuses came from one on one fights but Zar-Rhah refused to train him unless he completed all of his lessons in the order in which they were presented to him. Currently Vincent was at the tail end of a particularly boring study session in which he would apply various symbols to a junk sword he crafted on the fly, in order to try and improve its base attributes. He was beginning to understand which kind of materials and objects responded better to which engravings as opposed to others. Their elemental makeup and the energy flows of an object, as well as the function of the rune created, all played major roles in compatibility. ''Sharpness'' for example, was an excellent engraving to use on swords made of uniform metal and other such blades while contrarily ''range'' would be absolutely useless. That is to say, it was probably possible to extend the range of one''s swipe with engravings, but Vincent soon realized it was far more complicated than applying that single word to a sword. Not for lack of trying of course. Sighing, he stood up and brushed off his knees. He would need to make a trip back to the cave soon. Vincent tried to check in with the pack at least one day out of the week. For the most part they seemed to function fine without him but he hated being away from the family he loved and was responsible for, for so long. He knew it was necessary to grow stronger... Zar-Rhah made his way over to Vincent and signaled that it was time for physical testing. They began to make their way to their usual sparring spot across the lake. As they walked slowly to their destination Zar-Rhah regarded the man deep in thought beside him. "We''re going to try something.. unconventional today." He said shortly. Vincent merely nodded, having learned the hard way that it was better not to argue when his master had made up his mind about the day''s training regime. The only thing he knew for sure was to expect the unexpected. As the two finally arrived at their intended area Zar-Rhah began weaving his hands to and fro while softly chanting an ancient language. His eyes were closed, brow furrowed in concentration. As he finished his chanting he threw his arms out exclaiming what translated roughly to ''bind'' in the ancient tongues. A spider web of golden runes exploded forth from the man and wrapped themselves around Vincent''s arms and legs. "Hey what the hell!? What gives old man?" He exclaimed, wondering how the hell he was supposed to fight like this or even defend himself at all? "I''m not into this weird, kinky, bondage shit!" Zar-Rhah frowned and huffed. "Have some respect, you dimwitted brat!" The old man said, smacking Vincent over the head with his gnarled cane. While Vincent glared and wished he could rub his head, Zar-Rhah continued. "The goal here, I''ll have you know, is to see how capable you are at adapting to conditions that generally make it unfavorable or downright impossible for oneself to succeed." As he finished explaining Vincent looked himself up and down. "Yeah that sums up my situation pretty damn well but I''m not sure I like where this is going. What''s this got to do with engraving and swordsmanship anyways?" He cried indignantly. Zar-Rhah chuckled, clearly enjoying the plight of his young pupil. "I''ll admit it doesn''t help you over much in the way of engravings but as far as swordsmanship goes.." He looked at the human with serious eyes. "learning to adapt is essential. At a later date you shall even learn to fight blind folded." Vincent rolled his own piercing blue eyes and scoffed. ''Of course.'' The man thought in exasperation. ''Because the Jewish training trope has to be in every cheesy movie ever.'' The Orc held his stick as if it were his claymore and shouted, "Now defend yourself! Have at Thee!" He shouted as he began swiping at Vincent with reckless abandon. As he was hit time and time again with dull, resounding thuds, Vincent yelped and began jumping side to side while trying his best to activate any number of skills that might place obstacles or distance between the two of them. He used Plante to grab Zar-Rhah''s feet while using Earthquake to disrupt his footing. He used telekinesis and gravity manipulation to try to push the brute backward. Orcs were particularly vulnerable to poison so Vincent made sure to coat his plante in as much of the stuff as possible. There were a plethora of other skills in effect as well but all the same it amounted to nothing. Without his arms and legs, Zar-Rhah easily trampled Vincent''s defenses and continued whacking the human with his freakish looking cane. Vincent began to feel his agitation get the better of him and had to bite back curses as he was repeatedly smacked across the exposed face, torso and head. *wack* *wack* *wack* *wack* He began to lose his temper, one eye flashing red the other a shining piercing icey blue¡­ Try as he might, he couldn''t move his arms or legs more than a few inches in any direction. And beyond that, whatever enchantment bound him there conveniently blocked his shadow step as well. His eyes began to burn as he grunted in frustration. He really hated being stuck and powerless¡­ "Knock.." Vincent began.. *whack* *whack* "it.." He snarled, closing his eyes tightly.. *whack* *whack* "OFF!" He roared, pulsing azure beams firing from his eyes as he did so. Congratulations! Skill: Optical incandescence (Epic) achieved! Optical incandescence (Epic) User gathers a massive amount of energy behind their ocular lenses before firing a concentrated blast of heat at any target in sight. Due to the ''Epic'' rarity gain a moderate boost to range and intensity of the beam per skill level. Intelligence Grants a moderate boost to this skill (Active skill) (consumes 1000 mana) Not expecting such an attack in the least Zar-Rhah took the full intensity of the basketball sized beam right in the shoulder "gah!" He gasped being blasted off his feet, and losing control of the bindings around Vincent. Some types of runes, called ''active'' or ''animated'' engravings, required constant focus and energy or they would disappear. These were typically the easiest ones to use on the fly but at the obvious cost of being temporary and far less potent than regular symbols. Words had meaning and power. There was a great significance behind the intention of someone who was engraving. Vincent cracked his neck and flexed before scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I am.. soooo sorry.. I didn''t mean to lose my cool like that." The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Zar-Rhah for his part merely chuckled as he returned to his feet, cane levitating back into his grasp. "No need for apologies that was beyond anything we could have possibly hoped for! Hahaha! Your ability to create new skills dependent on necessity never ceases to amaze me." He said honestly, with a beaming smile. Wisps of smoke curled off of his smoldering shoulder. He looked down with a chuckle. "Quite a potent beam too.. But it is merely a flesh wound." He dismissed the man''s concerns with a wave. The two sparred for a while longer this time with Vincent having full mobility, before they went their separate ways. The primary reason for his departure was an unexplainable feeling the man from earth had that he really needed to get back to his system-native family for some reason. It was a constant grating feeling that gnawed at the back of his mind and it kept growing stronger. ''Odd.'' As he traveled through the forest at speeds that not even the fastest automobiles could achieve, there was a strange wind in the air. Of course there was always a gust of wind bullying its way through the jungle at all times but somehow it felt different today. Normally the flavor of the wind was curious, or slightly hostile even. But today it was as if the entire jungle itself was quivering in fear. There was a feeling of anticipation and apprehension more intense than any Vincent had ever felt in his new home world. It reminded him of his severe and frequent panic attacks being in large crowds in the old world. But for what reason? There wasn''t even any hellspawn to be seen so monsters weren''t causing the feeling¡­ It all unsettled him deeply. He began to run faster, gathering kinetic energy with each bound. A subtle pressure began to build in his chest, the air resistance getting heavier and heavier even with his aerodynamics skill being stronger than ever. The pressure continued to build seemingly trying to suppress him and his full power, until Vincent roared in annoyance. Gathering a huge amount of energy he leapt forward. When his next step landed... ''BOOM!!!'' He broke the sound barrier. It didn''t take him long to crash through the wall of trees that comprised the edge of the massive jungle land. He tumbled through the canopy, coming to a rough stop fifteen feet into the clearing with a crash. He honestly didn''t even feel the impact. In fact there was more accumulated damage simply from moving at subsonic speeds. Even though a lot of his skills dealt with mitigating friction and resistance while moving, there was still a bone crushing force acting upon the body at such speeds. He flinched at having lost control and damaging the entrance tp the jungle however, as it provided quite a bit of protection to his pack''s home turf. Looking back there was now a giant, Vincent shaped hole in the wall of trees. Shaking his head and hoisting himself up on one knee he looked at his smoking forearms marveling at his power. It was only because of all of his skills and stats that his body could even handle it. His pre-system self would have been crushed the moment he jumped with such levels of force in any direction. It was the acceleration that got you. He stood, brushing himself off and examined his pack which had all gathered in confusion due to the enormous ruckus. Everything seemed fine here.. so why did he have this feeling¡­ Congratulations! A special event is occurring in the country of Garkan; the Unyielding mountain. Events are incredibly rare challenges that often require a coalition between countries, worlds or in incredibly rare circumstances even entire galaxies. Challenges are determined on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the hardest. The current challenge difficulty is set to¡­ ??? Error.. system interference detected. The system is unable to provide any additional information about this event. Vincent blinked rapidly several times when he suddenly had a dreadful, intuitive instinct to look to the sky. As he did so he saw a literal meteor streaking its way toward his home. "Oh you''ve got to be fucking kidding me.." He mumbled taking a step forward, mouth open in stupidfied shock. "How am I supposed to.. what..?!" What the hell was this!? How was this fair? His pack began to notice the looming issue of catastrophe and began to panic. Some began to ready their most powerful spells for a collaborative effort but it appeared useless. In a strange twist Vincent''s companion came out of the cave and bounded over toward him. For once the plant man''s look of joy was absent and a look of horror had made itself at home in its place. The creature settled up next to Vincent who didn''t think anything of it¡­ until he did. He blinked several times in surprise at the plant copy of himself. "Wait! What the fuck? How are you outside of the cave!?" He yelled in disbelief. Lupus looked just as confused as he was and shrugged. Vincent laughed in a very ''this isn''t actually funny'' kind of manner as he realized they didn''t have time to worry about it right now. He figured it must have been because of the collaboration event or whatever. The system was letting all creatures work together to try and stop this.. thing. But why the hell was it targeting his home specifically in lieu of the entire fucking country!? The system mentioned system interference which he did have a strong reason to believe he was the cause of¡­ he coughed into his hand. His system interference had been growing stronger lately¡­ Was this all his fault and this being the system''s attempts to delete him again? Was this something that would just happen at random for the rest of his damn life? He gritted his teeth in frustration. This wasn''t fair.. if it had been the old him, back on Earth, he would have simply given up because of how robbed and cheated he felt by the damn system.. but it wasn''t the old him. His tribe depended on him. They were effectively his children, brothers and sisters. Here he was, cowering before the quickly approaching imminent death yet¡­ He looked up as his tribe and even his companion who at this point were all readying their most powerful attacks, with Dawn barking out orders. His companion''s ultimate attack apparently came in the shape of what looked alot like an energy blast from an anime or something, but with his signature wrathful flame (Lupus''s flmaes were green). However, he didn''t bend his knees to set his feet as one might expect. Instead his companion used Plante to fuse himself into the ground effectively turning him into an unbudging cannon. Not only that but Vincent watched as raw energy began traveling up through the ground and into his companion via Yggdrasil. Vincent shook his head and smiled despite the situation. He honestly loved that little guy. It''s ingenuity never ceased to amuse him. Vincent creased his brow in determination and summoned his sword. How could he be such a coward when they were willing to give it their all? He looked up and narrowed his eyes at the approaching calamity. It almost looked like the meteor was shrinking due to the sheer friction of moving through the ridiculously heavy atmosphere of this planet. But he knew it wouldn''t be enough. Still he was thankful, at this rate the meteor would only be half of its original size by the time it reached them. That of course meant they''d still effectively have to catch a minivan moving at roughly 30 thousand feet per second by his quick and sloppy calculations. He couldn''t quantify that in terms of stats¡­ did anything in the world stand any semblance of a chance in stopping this thing? He doubted it. Nevertheless he began to focus on the tip of his blade. He focused on the flows of energy within him, coursing through his body. Everything that formed who he had become, all of his stats and skills. The red energies of his Health, blue for Mana and greenish yellow for Stamina. There was even a tinge of the golden yellow substance that Zar-Rhah and the system referred to as Nectar, though his master said he wasn''t ready to learn about that yet. He focused all three of the primary energies, physical, mental and spiritual as well as his dozens of skills into the tip of his blade. It was difficult to maintain even with his current efficiency of 5 percent. He forced every ounce of his very being into the blade. The weapon groaned in protest, vibrating and heating up but it held firm. The father knew what was at stake here and it would not falter. Sweat began to accumulate on Vincent''s forehead and he grunted with effort. Everything that he was. Everything he had ever worked for before and after the system.. every emotion he had amplified 1000 times over by the desperation of the situation. He couldn''t lose everything again. It was do or die. His health, mana and stamina began to run low as he poured everything he had into the beam gathering at the tip of the blade. At this point his blade was swirling with a brilliant azure blue energy. Congratulations! Skill: Singularity (Divine) A unique ultimate ability created by a prodigy with unparalleled potential. Combines the very essence of the mind, body and soul to unleash everything the user is capable of at the cost of all vital energies. User may be vulnerable for some time afterwards. Due to the ''Divine'' rarity gain a fractional reduction to vital energy consumption per level. All stats and skills grant a substantial bonus to this skill (Active ability) (consumes all health, mana and stamina) As he achieved his new ability his half lidded eyes snapped open to the size of saucers. He stared in awe at the pulsing blue energy in his blade. ''Such power..'' Was this really all him? All of the energy began to accumulate at the tip of his blade forming a sapphire energy sphere the size of a yoga ball. The ball of energy began rotating rapidly. Even his pack and companion had noticed. While maintaining all of their respective attacks they focused their full attention on him. He could clearly feel their respect and admiration for him throbbing through all of their bonds via his Network of Souls. Their emotions fueled his own causing his attack to grow slightly larger. He grinned, swelling with pride and love for how far they had come in their struggles. All at once it was as if he could feel the energy of every single one of his pack members as well as his companion''s flowing through those bonds and into him. Some moved faster than others based on how strong their bond was. "What?" He gasped as his attack began to swell and his energy began to return to him. *Ding!!!* Reach out and take strength from those who need you¡­ Your network of souls grows ever more powerful¡­ Congratulations! Skill: Spirit Fusion (Legendary) achieved! Skill: Spirit fusion (Legendary) Allows the user to draw power from their allies and companions through the bonds they share. Strength and intensity of bond increases the synergy between user''s energies. Due to the ''Legendary'' rarity, gain a large bonus in efficiency of energy transference per level. (Passive ability) Vincent couldn''t help the grin that spread across his face. For the first time in a long time he had nothing to do with the creation of a skill. He played a large part in creating the singularity sure but not the spirit fusion. That was a collective effort by his allies to see his desires accomplished. He could tell a lot of his pack members were gaining various new abilities as well, no doubt receiving generous boosts from some of his power amplifying their own. It seemed struggling during these system events was very generously rewarded. With a renewed sense of hope and determination Vincent growled out, "Alrighty boys let''s do this! Haaargrah!" He roared, raising his blade and firing off the deep blue beam known as the Singularity. Imbued with the energy of all the other attacks and energies of his allies it exploded to over fifteen feet in diameter. It arched up and rushed forward at over Mach 5, impacting the large incoming projectile within seconds. There was a resounding crunch, the force of which vibrated the air with such intensity he thought reality would be torn asunder. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He could feel the pressure from the two uncompromising forces colliding even from here. Unfortunately the meteor was rapidly overtaking their newfound ability. Vincent grunted as he began to slide backwards across the grass and gravel, digging a trench with both feet as he went. "Da.. damn it!" He grunted. He didn''t have the tiniest sliver of excess energy to reaffirm his footing or he might have been able to slow the meteor a bit but as it were.. it looked like a knife slicing through the proverbial butter that was their combined defense. As the meteor got within 5 seconds of impact, all of his allies launched miniaturized versions of their ultimate attacks, being small because most of their energy sources had gone to Vincent''s own attack. They amounted to little more than an extra one percent of kinetic force, he figured. Vincent was at the far back of the pack with his companion roughly five to twenty feet in front of him. From his position in life it really looked like the approaching ball of flaming death was the last thing he was ever going to see. Time seemed to crawl. He was inexplicably mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the thing despite the fact that the object was the herald of his certain demise. Congratulations! Unique Feat: He who tamed the stars, achieved! The very heavens tremble before your wrath. They alter their course in hopes to avoid your ire and receive mercy for their penance. Hear him. Heed his call and relent. None may stand before the might of the Starscourge, herald of the rising King. Perk: Starscourge achieved! Perk: Starscourge. A unique perk granted to the Starscourge of the Nexus. Your will more easily dominates others. You more easily resist mind altering effects. The flows of energies that comprise the system bend ever so slightly to your whim. All stats +10. Additional +20 to perception. Additional +10 to intelligence. By a few precious meters the meteor passed over the head of Vincent who turned swiftly around and raised his shield. Looking over the rim he watched the impeccable object crash into the ground fifty feet away. The explosion of force tore a massive breach into the otherwise uniform wall of trees that made up the edge of the jungle further down. When the shockwave hit Vincent it nearly blew him off his feet but he held fast. His companion was rooted to the ground so he made due ok but alot of the pack even with the shelter of their dens, were blown mercilessly throughout the clearing. Many impacted the mountain, ground, trees and even each other with bone crushing force. Very few escaped unscathed. Before the dust had even cleared Vincent and his companion were healing the pack, throwing their blood on some and using the mercy of the revered patreon on others. Thankfully it seemed like there weren''t any permanent casualties but Vincent felt uneasy. Thanks to the spirit fusion he had a little bit of health and mana restored but he went ahead and popped a potion anyways just to play it safe and instantly frowned. There was a lingering weakness due to having used every ounce of his energy at once that a potion just couldn''t fix. It seemed his new ability was incredibly powerful but it came with a heavy price. Even though his stats were full he wouldn''t be able to fight at full strength in this state. By his estimates he would be running at three quarters of a tank for a while, it seemed. Vincent was sure they weren''t the only ones who saw the notification that an event had started. And he was sure it wasn''t over either. Something had hit the ground and other factions would probably come and investigate. Especially now that there was a massive, gaping hole in the edge of the jungle that had no doubt kept many creatures out of the stretch of lands between the mountain and the jungle. This just really just wasn''t shaping up to be his day.. End of chapter 28 The blessing of The Forest Goddess Vincent and Lupus stared dumbly at the gigantic purple meteorite that looked like it was sculpted from frozen purple flames. It was jutted and spikey on the back like a comet. The meteor had to have been at least twenty feet wide and twice as long counting the flame-like tails on the end. The duo shook their heads and chose to ignore the alien object in lieu of fixating on patching the massive gap in the jungle wall that typically separated them from the predators of the country. They pushed their Plante ability to the max but even with an incalculable number of layers, the thorny vines simply couldn''t replicate the thickness of the trees comprising the jungle. Anything stronger than a basic mob could tear it to pieces. They exchanged a look, the meaning clear; ''This is NOT working.'' Vincent sighed before motioning to take a break. At the very least random passersbys couldn''t just look over and see a snack-pack. Haha. Snack-pack. He chuckled, really feeling like he was losing his mind. Lupus walked over to its progenitor and scratched its head. It seemed that whatever had granted his companion freedom of mobility during the event persisted permanently because his companion could come and go as he pleased from that from the sanctuary of the cave now. "Alright.. at this point there''s only one thing I can think of." He opened his blue window and, thinking of it like a web browser, searched for his plant abilities. Trials available: Silva deus+++++ (Planta/plante+UNKOWNvariable Lvl 75) He frowned as he read how far the trial had evolved. Not to mention the glaringly obvious abnormality in it. Five plus signs was the current highest out of any he had ever seen, and he had a strong feeling it may have been the cap. He may have very well been about to face a level 100 monster and not just any, but one with outlandish potential and talent. He had seen a level 25 take down a level 75 before.. it depended on the skills of the individual fighter just as much as it did the raw stats and match up. The only exception to the rule seemed to be level 100 monsters. No matter what it seemed only a level 100 monster could stand toe to toe with another, at least when it came to trash mobs. The elites were a bit harder to place into a strict hierarchy. He was sure that Gildarts and Zar-Rhah ranked among the strongest in the whole country, of not the world. However where they stood in comparison to one another, let alone the king, Vincent did not know. One thing was for certain, there seemed to be a qualitative change provided by the final evolution. When something had struggled through the system enough to reach the level cap thr system placed them on a whole other level from others. Vincent was somewhat unique and found that he could easily shrug off the Aura of nearly any creature in the Nexus. This was in part due to his constant brush ups with death and training against much more capable opponents than himself. But also because of his abnormal skills and abilities. Furthermore most beings in the Nexus didn''t have Vincent''s discipline or raw control of the flows of energy that served as the foundation for his build. Most creatures were simply slaves to the Nexus. Intelligent slaves, but slaves nonetheless. Vincent vowed to make the Nexus a slave to himself. Sitting cross-legged before the vast ever expanding jungle, he closed his eyes and breathed in a deep, refreshing breath. For all its faults and hostilities, his home here in Garkan was decidedly the only place he had ever truly belonged. He mattered here. He could make a difference. Vincent initiated the trial within his mind¡­ at first nothing happened. This certainly didn''t feel like other trials.. he didn''t feel weightless at all. In fact it was suddenly becoming very hard to breathe or even move. It was as if a constricting hand had reached out from the very fabric of space and was now deliberately crushing him. Congratulations! Trial: Silva deus+++++ initiated! The very air around you vibrates with intense fear and anticipation. The forest god stirs for the first time in over a millennium. It is an entity that has existed since before the dawn of your world''s time. You feel a crushing pressure as you sense the beast''s scrutinizing gaze begin to analyze your very soul. Your fear urges you to submit and flee in terror but your body has betrayed you. You are helpless as you realize all that is left is the inevitable conclusion. Warning this is a unique trial from which the user cannot withdraw until completion! "No shit.. Now you tell me!" Suddenly all at once tye force was gone. Vincent gasped as he could finally breathe once more. The world he knew slowly faded and was replaced with a vibrant green forest containing millions of life forms of both plant and animal nature. Unlike the deadly, carnivorous plants and animals of the jungle of Garkan, these life forms seemed inherently peaceful and willing to co-exist. "That was unpleasant.." He mumbled rubbing his chest. Not only had the sensation been painful enough to raise his pain tolerance but it had triggered a psychological response as well that he would just as soon forget about. He hated feeling trapped. He began to take in the plethora of beautiful shapes and colors around him and spread out his senses when he immediately stopped. His breath hitched in his throat, heart turning to ice. A deep feeling of regret and dread washed over him. He quickly withdrew his senses and did his best to hide but he knew it was too late. For a brief second his presence brushed up against another. Just as surely as he had noticed the much more ancient and powerful spirit lurking within the jungle, it must certainly have noticed his far weaker and neoteric one. He cursed himself for his stupidity and stood stalk still. He felt it long before he saw it. An emerald mass of brilliant green energy so dense and luminescent that he had to shield his eyes until the light began to die down. He realized almost immediately that the creature wasn''t actually giving off any light at all, and that he was just being blinded by the sheer intensity of the things energies. Still he dared not deactivate his abilities lest the overwhelming pressure he was feeling crush him. He could feel the insurmountable pressure of the being''s will, crushing any remnants of defiance Vincent had without even trying. It was merely observing him and he was helpless before the scrutinizing gaze of the creature. Whatever this thing was.. Even Gildarts''s incredible Aura paled in comparison before this primordial monster. It reminded him briefly of a run in with the entity that had forced the dragon to flee the jungle years ago, but even that creature probably didn''t have this kind of all consuming power. There was.. nothing like it. "This.." his mouth struggled to form the words.. mind reeling st what he sensed before him. He swallowed, tongue lawing in his throat, mouth drier than sand in a desert. "This is what it means to stand before God..?" He wondered in awe and not a small amount of trepidation. As the green energy before him finally receded into a sphere the size and shape of a humanoid, it remained stagnant for several mesmerizing seconds. Suddenly the energy disappeared with a spectacular ''pop!'' What he saw in the place of the green, infinitely dense energy was.. not quite what he had been expecting. Before him was a beautiful jade woman with only her hair and a thin silk sheet covering her. At least he assumed it was silk¡­ The entire being before him including her ''clothing'' and hair were a marvelous emerald green that appeared to be smooth as glass, like crystal. Where his companion was clearly made of plant matter, this being literally looked like something made of smooth, intricately layered emerald gems. Name:??? Class:??? Lvl:??? Stats:??? Vincent stared dumbfounded for several seconds before scratching the back of his head and finally working up the tiniest sliver of courage. He raised his other hand and gave a single short wave. "Umm.. hi." He said with all the wisdom, confidence and people skills of a rock. The creature cocked its head to the right in curiosity at him. This was seriously not what he had been expecting at all. How could this thing.. this.. girl be the one responsible for the bottomless well of power he felt smothering every square inch of this place? It was nearly unbearable. Especially as he felt the attention of the creature caressing his body. He could literally feel which part of him the beings gaze was resting on like a heavy press rolling over every inch of him. He even felt when the thing pierced deeper than the surface to peer into his soul. Its gaze felt like a vice grip that he wouldn''t have been able to escape even if he had a million years to gather energy. It''s gaze was both blazing hot and ice cold.. it unraveled the very nature of his existence in mere seconds.. but to Vincent it felt like a lifetime. The creature straightened its head once more and he was sure this trial was probably an exercise in futility. He hoped he wasn''t supposed to fight that thing because.. there was no Goddamn way. This was one of those ''know when to give up and beg for mercy like a little bitch'' moments or whatever the balck knight had been talking about a few years ago. The girl opened her mouth and for a split second Vincent thought she might actually speak. He raised his eyebrow in surprise "oh! Hi I''m umm.." He was cut off by what came next. He could only describe it as what standing right next to the most massive hurricane in the history of the world. An agonizing screeching and a deafening roar that cut through the hands covering his ears ripped its way through the landscape composing the trial. Vincent felt his entire soul along with everything else in the expansive world vibrating with the force of the roar. Due to the pain and suppressive pressure he was under, the man wasn''t sure exactly what the hell was going on. But as his eyes, ears, nose and mouth all began to bleed he really just wished it would all stop one way or another. The world continued to shake harshly. A slew of skill levels and notifications flashed before his now fluttering eyes. He thought maybe he puked but he wasn''t sure. His consciousness faded to black and the last thing he saw before drifting into blissful slumber was the creature closing her mouth and cocking her head at him curiously once again. When Vincent awoke several hours later with what had to have been the universe''s worst hangover ever, he couldn''t help but notice he was in a clearing that loomed remarkably like the one that he had stumbled upon during his very first ever day in the system. "This is where it happened." A young elegant voice suddenly called. Vincent jumped, yelping in shock, or at least he would have if it hadn''t come out as more than a whimper with all the pain he was in. Turning as quickly as his aching body would allow, he located the source of the voice. Roughly ten feet in front of him, on a gnarled twisting stump, sat the emerald colored forest god. Beside her was a petite blond woman wearing a white dress with pink flowers. Vincent sensed a deep power within her. Though she was short, no taller than he had been before the system, she had the experienced wrinkles of a middle aged woman. Realistically she was probably thousands of years old.. He''d be damned if he was going to say that out loud though. He deduced that the voice he''d heard had come from this girl and certainly not the creature beside her as he wasn''t currently retching out his insides again like he had when he passed out from her addressing him before. As he studied the girl, he noticed with a start that the petite blond was actually the very same emerald goddess before him only in a humanly form. "Wha..?" He asked dumbly, staring back and forth between them. His mind felt like jelly as it slowly chewed over his thoughts. He felt like something was off. Like he was dumb. His mind was literally fuzzy and jumbled. He couldn''t focus or use his full power. The girl giggled in a manner that Vincent had to admit was kind of cute. This was the first human female he had seen in years and honestly even if she wasn''t, she was still fairly attractive by most standards. Thankfully, before he had a chance to embarrass himself further the girl continued. "This was where it first happened, was it not? Where you got your first real taste of the system and what it means to be a denizen of the Nexus?" She finished, waiting patiently for him to put all the pieces of the puzzle together with his severely limited capacity. Though Vincent had no way of knowing it with his current capabilities, when the goddess had spoken to him before it had actually crippled his Soulspace due to the sheer significance and force with which the creature addressed him. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. His current condition was the result of his mind, body and soul slowly being pieced back together by the healing properties of the nature around him and the Forest Goddess. "What happened-..?" He asked. He meant to finish by clarifying ''to me'' but he grit his teeth and shut his eyes as a particularly uncomfortable wave of pain and nausea rendered him illiterate. The girl seemed to understand his question in its entirety as she answered without missing a beat. "Ahh yes.. I''m so sorry about that.. when I spoke to you earlier using the voice of my true form your Soulsapce, which.. putting it bluntly is inconsequential to my own, completely shattered. It was all I could do just to bring you here and try to heal you enough to keep your Soulspace from collapsing permanently. That is a fate worse than death." She explained looking sheepish and perplexed as she did so. She took a brief pause and studied Vincent in thorough detail. He could still feel the force of her presence but thankfully it was much more dulled than before. It was like a gentle yet firm hand caressing his skin. He shivered a bit. Damn hormones. "Thankfully your body seems.. strangely conditioned to more easily absorb the ambient energies of the Nexus around you, and the atmosphere of my Domain is dense with the abundance of natural energies. Even still I am truly sorry. That could have been much worse.." She tapped her finger on her chin in bemusement. She continued without fanfare. "When you first appeared within my domain and began to expand your will I thought you to be some glitch in the system¡­ Imagine my surprise when I saw you and came to the realization that you were a sentient being.." The girl''s stare seemed far away. Like she was looking at him but also far beyond him. "I assumed if you had somehow made it into my realm deliberately then you were an entity of significant stature. Hence I did not even think to contain the entirety of my being when I.. well. One simple word was all I uttered really.. I said, hello." It took roughly am hour before Vincent had finally fully recovered. The forest Goddess continued slowly healing him and asked him to more or less be quiet while she focused. It was all the same to him as he felt like shit, and the system notifications had been bothering him since he regained consciousness. He received a pleasant surprise for all of his troubles as he openedthe blue window. Congratulations! Skill: Tempered atomic structure (Legendary) achieved! Tempered atomic structure (Legendary) Your body, mind and soul have been eradicated and rebuilt even better than before! The hands of a true master have guided your healing and made you stronger. Each near death experience has forced your biological and metaphysical foundations to adapt and evolve in small ways. The cumulative mutation of all of these adaptations combined with the expertise of a master''s assistance have triggered an evolution to your very Soulspace. This is a unique skill that doesn''t level, but grants a small bonus to all stats and the user''s ability to adapt to harmful influences of any kind. Gain the perk: Superior genes! Superior genes! Your genetics have evolved far beyond your species'' intended limits. Some question whether you''re even still a human at all as your inexplicable feats of strength paint you in the light of a terrifying monster. Due to your constant evolution and struggle Gain a permanent +10 to all stats! Congratulations! Error.. warning.. powerful synergy detected.. recalculating.. Congratulations! Your skills and Perks amplify the effects of one another granting exponentially more power as a result! Superior genes perk has received a considerable boost! As he watched sure enough before his very eyes the permanent plus ten to all of his stats had increased to plus 20 with a massive extra 50 bonus to his agility, and an extra 25 to his endurance and intelligence. He raised his eyebrow. Superior genes! Your genetics have evolved far beyond¡­ Gain a permanent +20 to all stats! Gain +50 to your Agility! Gain an additional +25 to Endurance and Intelligence. That was a ridiculous boost compared to the reward before. Would all of his new power ups from here on out receive similar increases as his efficiency rose? He wished that to be the case but he seriously doubted it. The system strongly hinted that the Goddess had somehow played a large part in his gaining such a massive increase in power. He shuddered with excess energy. Vincent was broken from his musings by the girl who smirked knowingly at the man. "Your growth rate truly is impressive for a mortal. You possess vast amounts of potential and talents. Of that I am sure. Oh, my... Where are my manners? Its been over 1000 years since I''ve had a guest. My name.. Is Vita." Vita, which he came to understand more or less meant life in the old tongues, was apparently in the middle of something called ''The deep slumber.'' As it turned out there were many gods and goddesses and they typically all entered the sleep periodically for one reason or another. The Goddess seemed somewhat disgruntled as she put to words something that had been bothering her. "Even as exemplary as you are, you are only a mortal. And if what you say about the date of your arrival is accurate then.. you are one who is merely an infant in the eyes of the Nexus." Frowning, she tapped her chin. "How could you have possibly entered my domain? Even if it were a ''trial'' as you call them, your soul should have simply been transported to what would equate to a mere facsimile of my world.. yet you appeared before me with the entirety of your being in real time." Vincent for his part just shrugged. "I have a funny way of pissing off the system and coaxing it into trying to smite me or send me to my death or whatever. That''s probably what it thought it was doing by sending me here." He dismissed with a wave. At this Vita seemed displeased for the first time since they had met. "You are bold to speak so casually of your rejection of the Nexus''s authority. Even one such as I dare not defy its will.." She finished somberly. Honestly that gave Vincent more pause than anything he''d heard thus far in the entirety of his being within the Nexus. If a being as incomprehensibly powerful as Vita couldn''t even dare stand against the system what hope did Vincent ever truly have? Had he just been fooling himself about his destiny his entire life or at least for the life as he had known it within the system? The way Vita explained it, her powers were so far beyond mortal scope that stat numbers and skill levels didn''t quantify the amount of devastation she could muster and Vincent couldn''t help but take her words at face value. According to her upon reaching the max level of 100 the average individual''s Aura Manifests for the first time. Which really just went to show how truly amazing Gildarts was as he had condensed a considerable Aura even before level 50. Auras were the true measure of the powerful for those at the pinnacle of strength within the Nexus, at least for mortals. There was a process to becoming a God after reaching the level cap, but Vita made it clear that it was quite frankly far and beyond anything for Vincent to worry about. She assumed he would probably die before he ever reached level 100, which caused him to face fault. Auras could also be measured not just by their physical pressure and intensity but by their weight. Auras were essentially comprised of the very same energies that powered one''s Soulsapce, and they were a representation of one''s self. It was this substance that the system referred to as¡­ Nectar. Upon deep contemplation Vincent realized with a start just how often the system had been referencing the soul space and Nectar in the same context. The clues had been there all along. The Nexus essentially told even the newest of players from the very beginning all the key information they needed to know in order to understand the basic foundations of the system, most just probably couldn''t decipher what was being said due to the unfamiliar terminology. Vita explained that upon reaching level 100, the Nectar content weight of the average individual within the Nexus ranged from 1-5 each level being exponentially more powerful than the last. Someone with a Nectar weight of 4 would be extremely hard pressed to defeat someone with a Nectar weight of 5. It was almost 1000 stat points of each stat between a single increase in Nectar weight. Currently Vita''s Nectar weight was a little over a thousand apparently¡­ and she was considered on the lower end of the Nexus totem pole overall. Upon learning all of this, Vincent sat in silence for a multitude of minutes that slowly bled into hours. It wasn''t as if time here mattered anyways. Vincent and Vita made a fire in the clearing where the two of them sat together and conversed for some time. The human man asked some more questions occasionally, but mostly it was casual conversation and getting to onow about one another. It was apparent neither had felt true companionship for a long, long time. Eventually the Goddess stood from her cross-legged position. "It is good to discover some things for yourself so I will not tell you everything but I will tell you at least this much before I send you on your way." She said with a smile. Vincent raised himself to his feet beside her and nodded down at the blonde avatar of the Goddess. "..And one more thing.." She began with a contemplative look. "Nectar and the size of your Soulspace more or less determine the limit to your growth. Your body and skills idly consume Nectar to function and maintain their shape. You can call it a debt." She explained. Seeing as she had the man''s full attention she crossed her arms and continued. "Typically Nectar.. plays a large part in the system process that allows you to level up. When you kill something you absorb a portion of their Soul and subsequently, their Nectar. Leveling up and evolving, taking in the influence of others, it mutates your Soulspace and your very existence. It also naturally raises your debt." She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, as if she didn''t fully trust the man''s intentions. "You seem to gain skills and evolve in a way that is very similar to leveling, only without absorbing Nectar from others." She paused and with a flick of her wrist summoned some type of yellow drink which she happily took her time sipping. With a satisfied sigh and smile she offered Vincentsome but he raised a hand and shook his head. She shrugged. "Suit yourself. Anyways, where was I? Ahh yes.. With each new skill and stat point you will need more Nectar to function. To be quite honest I''m not entirely sure how you''ve made it this far as you are.. While everyone has a different natural capacity to produce Nectar, yours seems abnormally high. I suspect you have a skill that helps with Nectar absorption." She surmised. ''I kinda already fixed that problem.. System interference allows me to alter my Soul and the system to better suit my needs.. Plus in combination with Yggdrasil and a few other skills it more than covers my Nectar debts..'' Vincent thought with guilt while looking sideways and scratching the back of his head. "Err.. right. So what you''re saying is if I don''t start killing other sentient creatures near my level and leveling up.. then what exactly?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Vita shrugged. "Hard to say. If you just keep raising your debt with no real means to acquire large quantities of Nectar you''ll likely become a depraved¡­ On the flip side.. Be careful. It''s possible to have both too much and too little." Vincent''s stress probably showed in his facial features. His mind reeled in shock as he took in the influx of information. As far as the body and skills passively consuming Nectar to function, he more or less knew that much already. His skills with observing the flows of energy within the Nexus had grown to the point that he was beginning to be able to peer into his very Soulspace, as well as the souls of others. He had noticed how his body needed more and more energy each passing year to operate at its maximum efficiency. He figured most people couldn''t just keep acquiring skills and stats indefinitely without leveling up, thereby increasing their Soulspace size and subsequently their Nectar capacity. If an individual stayed at level one but kept gaining and leveling new skills, first their growth would slow significantly and then they would gradually become weaker. Eventually one could expect their Soulspace to collapse entirely.. That also more or less explained why he was getting sick at the end of his first year in the system. Before he had unlocked system interference and begun absorbing Nectar from other sources, his own reserves were becoming inadequate. To have Vita, a literal Goddess of unknown age, fill in all the pieces was more mind-boggling than he could currently handle. And there were still questions he had no answers for. As an example Vita raised a good point. He knew what would happen if you didn''t have enough energy to satiate your Soulspace but what if you had too much power? At one point in time using powerful skills of higher rarity proved too much for his body to handle but anymore it seemed as if any new ability he gained only added to his strength, durability and stabilization. He wasn''t technically a depraved and he did not exhibit any of their behaviors but he may as well have been, the way his abilities worked. Even the system labeled him a heretic. Everything with him seemed backwards and counterintuitive. The more he learned about how the system functioned as a whole, the more questions he was left with. This frustrated the man to no end¡­ "What is your answer then?" The unfathomably powerful being before him asked through her mortal avatar. Vincent jumbled from his thoughts, sighed tiredly. Not seeing much else of a choice he slapped his cheeks with his palms. "Well.. This doesn''t change anything. Obviously I can''t just give up. I''ve got to find my purpose in this life just like any other person or thing. I don''t think I''ll ever come anywhere close the likes of your power.. not in a million years. But I refuse to just roll over and take whatever the hell the system feeds me." He scoffed. Seemingly satisfied with his answer the smiling girl nodded. "Very well then, Vincent of the planet Earth, son of the human race. It is just as I thought. I have sensed your heart and it is pure. Your intentions need neither be noble nor selfish as long as they are true to themselves..." She explained. "...That is the lesson the system demands for any who seek true power. You must have the will to take what you want and the strength to never give up. You have proven to be quite promising. At the very least you shall be very entertaining, if nothing else. Along your journey.. you shall have my guidance.." As she spoke she had slowly drifted closer and closer to him until she stood on her toes to rest a hand on his chest and plant a kiss on his cheek. He gasped in shock as a jolt passed seemingly through the kiss and into his body. The world faded once more and he was slammed back into his body with the force of a lightning bolt but strangely there was no pain.. only power. Congratulations! Unique ability: Blessing of Silva deus (???) User may call upon the blessing of the forest god to achieve impossible feats. During this time, no new skills nor Perks may be obtained. During this time no player nor skill XP aside from those pertaining to the blessing shall be received. For an unspecified amount of time in relation to the amount of power borrowed from the Goddess, users'' regenerations will be reduced. As his eyes snapped open he could feel each of his abilities flare to life. A massive sheen of emerald fire engulfed him and when it cleared a dense green power covered him. The rest of the characteristics for his trademark blue Aura imitation burst to life around him. One of his eyes was a piercing blue and the other a bloody red. The major difference being each eye had green slits at the center rather than his regular black ones. His multitude of abilities was vastly amplified by the power of Silva Deus, each bursting with the energy of a nuclear warhead. He didn''t understand how his body even managed to contain such power. With a hearty chuckle he had the sudden realization that even the multitude of skills that boosted his physical body and allowed him to manipulate energies must have also been amplified. In his current state the efficiency of his abilities, according to his armor, was 1 million percent! It was incredible.. a power unlike any he had ever known coursed through him. As he stretched out his senses he saw everything around him for half a mile. Every ant, every tree, every giant monster. He could peer deeper, beyond the surface. He saw the elements that comprised all things at a subatomic level, and the flows of energy that powered them. He didn''t even know how it was possible to feel this good! He felt Like he could have turned around and crushed the very mountain he lived in with a single blow. He was even half tempted to try it but he grit his teeth and shook his head. He wanted to fight the entire world.. the Fang, the Dragon, Gildarts.. The power was most definitely messing with his head. It was amplifying all of his thoughts and feelings to a level that even with all his training he had no hope to control. He had to focus and complete his task quickly. Before he got carried away. Deftly he noticed that, quite likely because of their soul bond, his armor, sword, shield and companion all had massive boots of their own but he couldn''t focus on that. As he focused his perception to try and understand the entirety of the damaged parts of the Jungle wall, Vincent couldn''t help but suck in a breath. The information was like a massive flood that was hard to describe. He was sure if his capabilities weren''t being ridiculously boosted by an ability that was similar to something right out of a dragon ball z episode, his head would have exploded with the influx of info. As it was, it was truly invigorating to suddenly see, hear, taste, smell and practically touch everything around him simultaneously. It was as if he had been missing a piece of him his entire life and suddenly he was complete and whole. He could do anything. He was part of everything. He was finally able to relax... But he didn''t. Instead he grit his teeth once more and raised his arm, channeling every bit of power and will he could muster in his super amped up state. Using his spirit fusion he borrowed the intent and focus of his companion, his equipment and his pack to further amplify his already considerable abilities. His efficiency was skyrocketing with the coalition of effectively four Goddess empowered souls as well as all of his pack support. His efficiency eventually capped at just over ten million percent as he unleashed his devastating ability. Well.. it could have been devastating anyways. Given the vast control and will power he had over his abilities it was truthfully a smooth and graceful process that was deliberately limited to the intended area of effect. It was as if the trunk of Yggdrasil itself exploded from the ground, spewing thorny, glowing branches left and right to completely envelop the massive hole left by the impact of the meteorite. With a grace and control that only Vincent was capable of, he twisted and layered the branches so that the defensive Wall surrounding his home would be even more sturdy than ever before. With his perception based abilities being boosted to such an extreme it was child''s play to deftly create an elaborate entrance and exit system that would be much more efficient than the small archway they had to use before to come and go from the jungle. The new archway was more or less the same shape but rather than just being a hole it was covered in what consisted primarily of jagged vines that were sentient enough to recognize friend and foe based on their flows of energy and intent. As an extra security measure he added an elaborate structure just to the left of his pack''s dens. On the surface it looked similar to a bar in Hawaii back in the old world, but its function could not have been more different. The thing was circular and with a canopy of living vines on top. Each of the vines looked like a muscular tentacle that measured over twenty feet long and most were layered in thorns that were two feet long. It had a singular entrance that led into a burrow nearly 30 meters underground forming what would essentially amount to a panic room for his wolves should they ever need to retreat from a threat to their home turf. As he finished he let all of his abilities drop, feeling as if he had just ran a thousand miles. Instantly all of his vital energies hit less than 10 percent which was cause for some alarm. Even his mental faculties seemed extremely hampered. A veil of fuzz slid over his vision and thoughts, his ears ringing. It seemed he would be quite vulnerable after using that power. He could literally feel the crushing restrictions purposefully being set in place by the system as the price to pay for using that borrowed power. "Well.. this isn''t so bad." He grunted, brushing off his knees. He looked over toward his companion so as to celebrate their shared victory when he frowned. The reason for this being that his companion was currently on the ground twitching.. last time that had happened.. "Oh son of a bitch..!" Vincent blacked out from pain. End of chapter 29 The price for power, and an ever growing list of questions It took over a week for Vincent to regain his full strength. In that time he felt like he''d been skinny dipping in a pool of acid with the lady death while her icy, skeletal hands attempted to choke the life from him. OK maybe that was a bit dramatic¡­ but you get the point. It went far beyond simply reducing his natural regenerations by however many countless times. It reduced ALL incoming sources of healing, so his health was stuck at an absolute maximum of 100. All the while his Soulspace had been severely strained and he saw cracks in his skills'' energy flows. His muscles had been torn asunder and his bones were ground to dust. Using his body or power in any way was excruciatingly painful. Even his crimson essence was all but useless before this crippling weakness. For the duration of the after effects of the skill, Vincent decided just to take it easy and heal the natural way, because he would be damned if he was just going to waste his time crafting and gardening whilst feeling the way he currently did. It just wasn''t happening. It seemed like the trade off for unleashing Vita''s godly powers was being entirely defenseless for at least a week. Or maybe he had tapped into far more of the Goddess''s energy then he was meant to.. his efficiency at the end before he blacked out had been over ten million percent. His overall power was effectively amplified one hundred thousand times their natural limits. But he was sloppy and inefficient, so the multiplier wasn''t exact. A lot of the energy Vincent wielded had been wasted due to his lack of control and he still had more than enough to get the job done. It was possible that if he knew what he was doing he could have used a much lesser amount and dealt with far less severe consequences as a result. And he had used the power for all of maybe 30 seconds.. In the present day Vincent groaned as he sat up. He was in his bed with fresh bandages covering his lower torso. His strength was finally restored. But still he felt as if he were still teetering on the edge of crippling weakness. He looked down at his hands. ''So not only can my power allegedly not grow at all while I''m in that state¡­'' He thought. ''But I''m completely defenseless for an entire week after?.. What a joke.'' The man clicked his tongue bitterly and shut his eyes. And now to top it all off he felt nauseous and disoriented. Like a coma patient whose muscles had atrophied from months of seeing no use. When was the last time he had even eaten anything? He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. He suspected that, given the multitudes of drawbacks associated with his new ability it wasn''t one that he was going to use very often. It seemed like it was one of those ''only when you absolutely have to save your ass.'' Situations. Eventually after summoning his armor from within him, the comfortability of which was uncanny, Vincent made his way outside and over to the large meteorite. Even now, a week later, remained unmoved since its original landing. Grass had begun to grow in the crater which had mostly ''healed'' itself by now. The system''s way of slowly repairing the landscape like a living human restored skin had always left Vincent feeling fascinated. He had studied for many hours the flows of energies as the planet rearranged and repaired the atoms of whatever was damaged so that it formed an exact replica of the land before the damage was done. The only difference was the new arrangement of atoms were strengthened somehow. It was as if the earth got stronger after every cycle of damage and healing just like players in the system did. That would explain how the planet stayed intact when monstrous beings like Gildarts reached level 100 and fought one another. As a planet''s population rose in power so too would its natural minerals by virtue of the system''s natural destruction and reconstruction process. That also helped explained why the gravity and environment here was so intense. Most of the strongest creatures in this country had been level 100 for a long time¡­ The system really seemed to emphasize evolution. And it monitored the growth of every molecule under its thumb.. he couldn''t help but feel again like it was looking for something particular. Like a scientist running an experiment¡­ Vincent sat down and intertwined his fingers with the grass. He felt the planet hum with life beneath him as he continued his internal discourse. To that end, what was the point for these events? What was the system achieving by influencing its subject''s growth or trying to eradicate them altogether? Was it forcing them to struggle to survive so that they would grow faster? It said it was a challenge vut were some of them more like exterminations? Or was there an ulterior motive like finding a needle in a haystack? He simply didn''t know. Although he did have to question why the system insisted on performing the equivalent of am assassination on him specifically? Or was there something special about this meteorite he hadn''t noticed yet.. a gift in disguise? He was willing to bet that the system just wanted him dead honestly. He chuckled dryly at the thought. So far any time system interference had been referenced, what should have been his intimement death soon followed. He couldn''t help but feel like every time the system was unsuccessful in discovering how best to eradicate him from existence the entity got more aggressive, as if it were actually becoming angry with its inability to snuff out this lower life form with bare minimal efforts. The system interference he kind of understood, he was messing with things he probably wasn''t ready for. But this? Creating a whole event just to smite him really just seemed petty and extra. One thing to know about a guy like Vincent though, was that he had always enjoyed pissing people in power off. It was too easy and they spent way too much energy overreacting, getting all bent out of shape about controlling others. And if pissing off people of a lower cognitive complexity was fun.. then pissing off an all-powerful, all-knowing, God-like metaphysical entity that controlled all of existence? There could be no greater amusement. He cackled as he shook himself from his runaway thoughts. He realized he was still staring at the slowly mending ground, having gotten lost on how beautiful the flows of energy comprising this world truly were. Watching the atoms flowing through the earth was like watching thousands of microscopic fireworks cascading into one another thousands of times per second. There were so many energies.. it was impossible to distinguish between them all. Once in a while he caught glimpses of patterns and shapes that he recognized but more often than not he was lost in the sheer complexity and beauty of it all. This foreign object the system had created was a whole nother matter entirely though. When he studied the meteorite with scrutiny his tongue felt heavy in his throat and his eyes throbbed. He wasn''t quite sure how to comprehend what he was seeing. It was literally as if the flows of energies within the thing were the hardest, most unmoving he had ever seen. It was as if they possessed and indomitable power and will of their own. Within the system, most objects'' behaviors were typically designated by two things; the flow of said object''s energy and the shape composed by its molecular structure. It was comparable to the likes of the scientific states of matter typically observed within a solid, liquid or gas. Objects with high energy contained atoms moving more rapidly. Therefore they tended to be more malleable and adaptive whereas the energies of a harder, more unyielding substance were more akin to the molecular state of solid atoms. The energy patterns he was currently staring at appeared before him as if they were blazing amethyst diamonds. Thousands of the hexagon shaped ''gems'''' wove together into a sturdy, unmoving wall that looked layered like dragon scales. When he tried harder to identify the thing he got a throbbing headache for his troubles. Error.. chemical and elemental composition unknown. Name: unknown. Uses: unknown. Weight 1000 parcels. Vincent frowned. He wasn''t sure how he knew, maybe because of translation based system fuckery but he somehow knew a parcel was 1 ton. So this thing effectively weighed 2 millions pounds. He took in a deep breath flexing his muscles and popping various bones and joints as he prepared to use the totality of his abilities for the first time since he had activated the Goddess''s blessing a week ago. He slowly began to activate each and everyone of his considerable number of skills one by one, minus the obvious ones like singularity and Silva deus. He tried to focus especially on gravity manipulation to reduce the weight and aerodynamics to create as frictionless a surface as possible but even with all of this plus his strength being amplified by spirit fusion, he was still unable to budge the damn rock. His feet dug trenches in the ground as he braced his palms against the flat side of the meteor and pushed as hard as he could. Energy gathered around him as Yggdrasil and other such abilities pushed his power to the max and slightly beyond. Futility the man even charged a few unwavering strikes within his pams while pushing on the object as he released the technique. "1.. 2.. 3.. Push!" Each time his hands merely vibrated against the ridiculously dense object. Grunting with effort he pushed with all his might. On the final heave shockwaves of force were being generated at the points where his hands made contact with the object as he pushed his power past its limits. With a roar of frustration, he relented, deciding that for now it was an exercise in futility. Huffing for breath, he scowled bitterly at the strange meteorite. He was positive that he could move the object using the powers of his blessing but that didn''t seem like a good enough reason to be crippled for a second week in a row, especially not fresh off the heels of the last time. His strength was over three hundred with all his various multitudes of bonuses and skills active at once, so that was multiplied to almost 1000 effective strength with spirit fusion taking from the whole pack plus his companion and equipment. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Even with all of this it just wasn''t enough. He shuddered wondering what kind of monstrous strength a being would need in order to comfortably transfer a million pounds by hand. He was guessing it was upwards of 2000 purely on a baseless speculation. He wasn''t exactly sure how the strength stat translated into the ability to do work. With its strength of slightly over 1000 the Fang was capable of creating an entirely city vaporizing bomb''s worth of energy in his most powerful attack. One thing he had come to notice about stats was that contrary to what one might think, as they accumulated they provided an exponential effect so that each individual point had a much more significant impact overall even at higher levels. If a stat was at 100 and you got 1 point it wouldn''t be like receiving 1/100th more strength but more like 1/75th. The difference wasn''t too huge with each individual number but the cumulative effect as they rose truly mattered. Of course that was for the regular mobs of the Nexus. Vincent''s stats were unreasonably more potent than most, making the bonus he received from each stat even more exponential. Biting his cheek Vincent rubbed his chin for several seconds before sighing and deciding that at least for now the damn meteorite was inconsequential. He looked over at the grotesque, makeshift ''tree'' he had created to patch the hole left in the wake of the meteor. That one monstrous trunk, writhing with vines covered what once took half a dozen trees larger than any found on his old world. Oh yeah plus it was alive. He still couldn''t believe he had managed to create something like that. It swayed lazily back and forth, looking like a jutting, golden tooth in the otherwise uniform wall of the jungle. Of course this ''tooth'' had living branches coming out of the top. The flows of it''s energies were so compact and efficient he didn''t fully understand them with his standard level of perception. For one thing he could tell the tree was incredibly dense, much like the meteorite but they were far from unmoving. The elements comprising it seemed to teem with energy and life. It was probably the second hardest material he''d ever had a chance to sit down and study thus far. Beyond that the branches and vines of the thing were sentient, allowing passage from friendly''s while keeping out hostiles. He wasn''t sure how that part was even possible but he suspected engravings played a hand in it somehow. Between his defenses and how damn heavy the rock was, he was worried about leaving the place unattended for a while. If anything managed to break in and take the thing, they deserved to keep it. He decided his best bet would be for him and his companion to visit his master Zar-Rhah and seek the wizened sage''s advice. Even if the Orc didn''t know anything about the meteor he might have some sort of insight as to why his companion could suddenly move freely whereas he was confined specifically to the cave before. He sent a mental message to his companion translating roughly into, ''we''re going to meet someone very important and very powerful. Be on your best behavior.'' Vincent swore if Lupus knew what was good for him he would completely understand the underlying meaning of ''stay calm, stay silent and stay still!'' Or else he would find another reason for him to never leave the safety of that blasted cave. The plant-like being knew the sentimentality Vincent associated with the cave and he knew it was the only place that would keep him safe as the man would never do anything overly avoidable to damage the place. It had been his home more or less for three and a half years now but to him it seemed much, much longer than that. Probably because of his declining insanity in the earlier years of his existence within the Nexus. As it stood Vincent had no real reason to keep track of time these days, which made it very ironic that his skills now did so passively. That was how he had known roughly how long it had been since the first day he had arrived in this God forsaken place. Time seemed like such a relevant concept here, where most of his time was spent in the wilderness. The journey to his master''s was smooth and easy, a pleasant change of pace from his usual daily mishaps. Even the Hellspawn were unusually inactive today. As Vincent and Lupus landed with a solid thump outside Zar-Rhah''s cave, their momentum dispersed in a thirty foot dust cloud. Truly the fact that his companion could keep up with him seemingly with ease was an unsettling prospect. He was sure the things stats were already eclipsing his own but he hadn''t thought to ask or study his attributes in minute detail before. He was positive he had caught up and even slightly surpassed the plant in efficiency though. Vincent''s old grizzled master came out hooting and hollering about young disrespectful brats or something but when his gaze landed on Vincent or more specifically his companion, his mouth slowly shut. The grayed Orcs eyes widened in surprise. "Wha.. how interesting. So, not only your equipment shares your Aura but this.. what is he? He has a much larger portion of your soul than the others.. and the complexity of his energy rivals your own? Fascinating. I must study him." Zar-Rhah guffawed. A tick mark appeared on Vincent''s forehead. "Yeah, yeah he''s just great.. To answer your question, he''s my soul companion, originating as a soul seed. Well.. that should just about answer all of your questions." He finished with a shrug. The grizzled old Orc closed his eyes and slowly nodded. "Mostly. I''ve had a soul seed before." He explained, gesturing to Caelum Rendere. This in turn caused Vincent''s eyes to widen in surprise but before he could say anything or ask one of the million questions he had, his master continued. "But for you to have evolved it so rapidly and as such a perfect imitation of your own Soul.. strange indeed." Vincent pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah well I think he got messed up because up until recently he wasn''t allowed to leave our little.. well it''s a cave we call home, you can relate to that. There was some sort of system event or something. One minute he''s bound to the area he was born in and then all of a sudden, he''s completely free to travel whenever he wants like you or me. I haven''t noticed any changes in his energy or skills." Zar-Rhah raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Come inside.. I will make some tea and we shall talk where it is more private and safe. A system event has not occured in over 100 years." Vincent''s eyebrows quirked upward in concern but he followed as instructed, his companion skipping gayly along after them. As he stepped into the damp, dark cave, Vincent took a quick glance at his stats for the 1st time in 7 chapters. End of chapter 30 AoF Lvl 1 Attack: 100 ME Lvl 1 Defense: 100 Trinity Lvl 1 defense: 100 efficiency: 5% Strength: 250 Endurance: 250 Vitality: 400 Intelligence: 250 Perception: 240 Agility: 275 Skills: Dodge (Common) lvl 90 Smithing (Common) lvl 93 Farming (Common) lvl 93 Cooking (Common) lvl 93 Sword and shield (Common) lvl 90 Shockwave (Common) lvl 85 Parry (sword) (Common) 85 Shield bash (Common) 85 Alchemy (Uncommon) lvl 90 Electric resistance (Uncommon) 85 Acid resistance (Uncommon) lvl 85 Ice resistance (Uncommon) lvl 85 Hardened skin. (Uncommon) lvl 90 Reinforced bones. (Uncommon) lvl 90 Geographic inclination. (Uncommon) lvl 79 Tuck n roll (Uncommon) lvl 83 Piercing thrust (Uncommon) 86 Magnetism (Uncommon) 50 Thermal manipulation (Uncommon) 40 Planta/Plante (Rare) lvl 82 Courage (Rare) lvl 80 Enhanced toughness. (Rare) lvl 80 rejuvenation. (Rare) lvl 84 Extract (Rare) lvl 75 Refine (Rare) lvl 75 Combine (Rare) lvl 75 Berserker rage. (Rare) lvl 80 Telekinesis. (Rare) lvl 74 Aerodynamics (Rare) lvl 73 Absolute timing (Rare) lvl 79 Reconnaissance of the Alpha Wolf (Rare) 90 Sixth sense (Rare) lvl 85 Lucky break (Rare) lvl Max Maelstrom whirlwind (Rare) 70 Shadow manipulation (Rare) 75 Radiant Light (Rare) 75 Water torrent (Rare) 78 Electric Bolt (Rare) 69 Cinder of flame (Rare) lvl 80 Stealth (Rare) lvl 95 Ecology (Epic) lvl 85 Unyielding guard (Epic) lvl 70 Unwavering strike (Epic) lvl 70 Advanced communications. (Epic) Lvl Max. Shadow step (Epic) lvl 80 Comet (Epic) lvl 70 Pilfered kinetic force (Epic) 70 Impact reduction (Epic) 70 Pain tolerance (Epic) 65 Diverging perception (Epic) 25 Gravity manipulation (Epic) 20 Blazing trail of Wrath (Epic) 15 Flamecloak (Epic) lvl 10 Flurry of strikes (Epic) 15 Optical incandescence (Epic) 5 Intermediate engraving (Epic) lvl 25 Complete tranquility (Legendary) lvl 75 Unparalleled physical fitness (Legendary) lvl 70 Bleeding heart (Legendary) lvl 60 Ancient Slumbering Tortoise (Legendary) lvl 65 Mercy of the revered patreon (legendary) lvl 40 Yggdrasil; Ancient world tree (Legendary) lvl 50 Wrathful Flame (Legendary) lvl 30 Critical strike (Legendary) lvl Max Spirit fusion (Legendary) lvl 3 Tempered atomic structure (Legendary) lvl Max Singularity (Divine) lvl 1 Network of souls (Unique) Blessing of Silva deus (Unique) System interference (???) Lvl.??... Perks: Will to survive VI +12% vitality Smithing +3 strength and agility Limit breaker + 20 endurance +5 strength Camouflage. Harder to detect +5 Agility. Connoisseur. Cooking, crafting, alchemy knowledge. +5 Intelligence and Perception. Ecologist. Ecology. +25 perception. Fortitude II Grants the user a permanent + 10 in strength and agility Marquis of science. Grants +10 intelligence Transmutation grants knowledge of the atomic structure of all things +5 intelligence Gourmet chef. boost from food. +10 Vitality Honor. Whenever facing an enemy one on one, gain a 25% increase in attack and defense. Receive greatly reduced damage from sneak attacks. +10 strength +5 agility Sanguine toxicity. Lifebringer plus toxic affinity. Toxic blood. Heals allies. Used as a catalyst in most crafts. +20 vitality +10 endurance Second wind. Restores the user''s health and stamina once per battle. Apex predator. Gain +25% to all stats when not in a party or fighting with allies. +25 to all stats Bleeding heart. A wailing significance demands to be felt. User shares half of all damage received with the target. +100 vitality. +25 endurance Unparalleled physical fitness. Due to repeated evolutions, grants multiple free stats per level which the user can allocate as they please. Against all odds. III. Skills level up +75% faster. Gain +150% experience. All stats increased by +30 Somatic expression. You express your thoughts and emotions in unique ways within the Nexus.All skills and stats benefit from one another a moderate amount. Intelligence gains the regenerative effects of your vitality stat and vice versa. Empathy. Understanding the value of all life. +25 vitality. +25% vitality. Animal lover. Less aggressive creatures may instantly befriend you and most others can be tamed over time. Wolf pack Alpha. All skill levels will now rise moderately faster while leading your pack. Grandmaster alchemist. Obtain maximum potential of mixed concoctions with bare minimum effort. It is second nature to get the most of all things in life. Living off the land +100% all resources harvested from all sources. Higher level intellect I +25 perception. +25 intelligence. Elemental mastery. +25 to all stats. The Flaming Lord of Despair. +1000% resistance to heat based energies. User''s flame skills are exceptionally strong. User''s flames burns other flames. Starscourge. All stats +20. Additional +20 to perception. Additional +10 to intelligence. Anointed prince, the Monarch fledgling. Effects unknown. A fire has been lit in your soul.. effects unknown. Superior genes! Your genetics have evolved far beyond¡­ Gain a permanent +20 to all stats! Gain +50 to your Agility! Gain an additional +25 to Endurance and Intelligence. Network of souls (Unique) Blessing of Silva deus (Unique) (???) System interference (???) Lvl.??... This road we call life "So if I''m understanding you correctly this creature has a portion of your soul as well as its own soul. Not only that but you somehow developed within you a Network consisting of these bonds with the souls of others, that strengthens and categorizes all of you? Can you see these connections?" Zar-Rhah questioned as he studied Vincent''s companion closely. Vincent nodded slowly. "Kind of. And not at all at first. I could only feel them. But the stronger our bonds become and the higher my skill gets the more detail I can discern. Its like.. golden tubes of flaming energy and electricity stretching between us. Or at least most of them are. Each one is slightly different based on the personality of the recipient. Anyways, a portion of my power flows through them and in return a portion of theirs flows to me. As the energies cycle and mix they become denser and more refined. We all strengthen one another. Hell.." He said pointing over to his companion. "..It''s getting to the point where I can even feel his connections with his equipment. I''m sure he feels the souls of mine as well." He explained. "Your teachings on how to properly observe and study the Soulspace have helped me come a long way, master." He took a moment to drink something from a cup beside him, with his companion cautiously mirroring his master. The plant thing went wild at its first taste of liquor and began chugging the contents of the jug¡­ Vincent shook his head and mumbled something unintelligible before turning back to Zar-Rhah. "Currently, there''s no way for me to know for sure but I''m almost certain all these connections lead directly to my Soulspace and to theirs.." Zar-Rhah scratched his chin, "Peculiar indeed. And you say he couldn''t leave the cave until after the meteorite incident eh?" The mystics arts master asked. Vincent merely nodded in response earning a chuckle from Zar-Rhah. "Well as I said ''events'' are the most extremely rare occurrence in all of the Nexus so not much is known but.. essentially an open invite goes out to all parties within the affected radius of such an event. Typically multitudes of factions will show up to compete for part or all of the rewards depending on the size and nature of the event. This one seemed as if it was meant to be particularly big, which.. I suspect it was." "What was the reward anyways?" He inquired. Vincent scratched his head. "A useless fucking rock." He sighed. Zar-Rhah eyed Vincent suspiciously for a moment. "Hmm. The first event in Garkan in a century. The entirety of the country was referenced.." the old man drawled slowly while frowning and, stroking his grayed chin stubble. "Yet only you and your companions received the notification. Perhaps your system interference commandeered the event in a way such that the invitation was received solely by you and this Network of Souls. The system recognizes your bonds as living beings with their own significance and therefore extends that invitation to them." The old man sighed and caught his breath. Vincent scratched his head. His master usually never talked this much. He must have been particularly lonely today. "I already figured that''s why nobody else knew about the event. The system practically called me out by referencing system interference.. it''s as if it was made specifically for me. That still doesn''t explain why Lupus could suddenly leave the cave. He''s always assisted me indirectly before." The man pressed. Zar-Rhah slowly nodded while drinking his ale. Burping and wiping his lips, he shrugged. "I suspect the original enchantment that gave life to your companion also bound it to the place of its origin. Which.. you''ve explained was the garden found in that mystical cave.. However, receiving the invitation from the system, it may have allowed your companion to choose its own destiny and break free of those predetermined restraints. Like accepting a quest." He looked over at the goofy beast and shook his head. Vincent stared dumbfounded. "How is this possible?.." He asked. "Lupus is basically being recognized as a player in the system now?" "No clue." The Warlock answered with a careless shrug. "It may not be. This is all just speculation. An educated guess at best. No one save the system itself ever really knows for sure how anything in the world works the way it does." He said with a dry chuckle. Then he narrowed his single visible eye and continued. "Be weary.. while it may strengthen you through your connections there''s often a possibility of.. vulnerabilities accumulating with any and every bond forged. Based on how open the pathways and flows of energy brtween you are.. if your companions'' wills were to ever become more domineering than your own, they may very well seize control of the Network of souls." He said seriously. He looked over at Lupus who had stopped ambling around and began focusing intently on the two''s conversation. "Based on the fact that his level can unofficially grow and yours cannot.." Zar-Rhah continued, "It would not be unlikely for him to develop a self-centered ambition of his own someday." Vincent shrugged. "I''m honestly not too worried about that. I can feel his intentions and he, mine. We''re like brothers honestly. I care a lot for the little guy. He was my first real company in this place. Kind of pathetic but still.. plus just as much as he''s a part of me he''s also his own person. I don''t want to control him. I want to watch him grow." He finished with a contented smile. The creature in question seemed positively beaming at the affectionate praise from its master. Zar-Rhah nodded. "Bah. It makes no difference to me. I am not here to try and persuade nor dissuade you from following your chosen path. Merely offer you the knowledge to walk it. Now that your companion is here and since it seems the two of you share skill experience, perhaps we will begin to make some headway in your pathetic ability of engraving." The aged Orc barked out, laughing. Vincent frowned but said nothing as he could hardly argue with the accuracy of the statement regardless of how infuriating that ineptitude made him feel. He allowed the swordmaster to continue his line of verbal thought.l borderlining on abuse. The old master tapped his cane several times. "I''ve been struggling to come up with the most suitable foundation for your runes due to the fact that someone as weak as you can somehow manipulate all of the elements and energies of the nexus naturally on your own. That is often the most practical use for runes for novices like yourself, you see. Filling in the gaps that your skills can not. But for you, one who has full control over all affinities and energy as well as those of your companions.. I think perhaps something a little more broad and unorthodox is in order." The Orc explained mysteriously. He made his way across the cave, gathering various scrolls and tools as he did so. Once he had made it all the way back around, he spread out a multitude of the equipment before the sweat dropping Vincent. "I''m guessing you can''t just do the engravings for me? I have to learn them? And then what, apply them to my armor and body?" Vincent inquired with agitation. He really needed a nap. Zar-Rhah chuckled with a mischievous glint in his eye causing Vincent to swallow nervously. On second thought.. Maybe he really didn''t need to know so soon, what the next part of his training would entail¡­ Unfortunately, the old Orc was already explaining the process before Vincent could protest or ask for a recess. "You''re right about the first part, the runes will be much more compatible and potent if you create them yourselves. You see each and every action we perform builds both positive and negative Karma.. Significance If you will." He continued with a leisurely smile. This of course caught Vincent''s full attention as he had very limited knowledge about significance. Although he knew it existed, and that it more or less coincided with one''s intentions, he didn''t actually know what effects it had or how to actively measure it. In a way it was a measure of one''s emotions and therefore, was unquantifiable. Zar-Rhah snorted, breaking him from his musinga. "Doing things the easy way or having others doing things for you means you won''t get as much from your efforts. It can even cause an irrevocable debt to the system if enough bad karma accumulates. Imagine you finally reach a level cap on your most powerful skill and the system no longer sees fir to help you evolve it. That could be because of your Karma threshold.." He quickly explained. Seeing as how he had Vincent''s full attention he continued unabated. "Struggling and learning to do things on your own or otherwise being honorable and pure in intent, gives meaning to what you do. Meaning builds good Karma which can influence an individual''s luck and even the rate of their growth. There is no way to truly measure Karma but some learn to harness its power and are then able to influence their own fates ever so slightly." Vincent nodded. Taking in everything the man was saying before his curiosity eventually got the better of him. "Karma is built off of intentions and emotion, and every action we perform. So work hard and don''t be a dick. Got it. So what about the second part? Where do the engraving go once I''ve mastered them? And how will Karma play a role in all this?" At this the old man''s wicked smile returned. "You''re going to draw the engravings¡­ Directly on your Soulspace." He drawled. A mischievous glint entered his visible eye. "Normally this would not be possible on such a massive scale, with so many various pieces, but you¡­ I theorize you may be able to keep all of the parts bound tightly within you, using your Network of souls as the chains that bind." He finished, shocking Vincent. "Engrave on my soul and use the souls of my companions as a sort of substructure?" He asked, astonished. "Sounds extremely taxing on my Soulspace and Nectar reserves." Zar-Rhah merely nodded, "Yes. That is why it is dangerous. I dare say no other creature could survive such a radical surgery on the Soul. However, due to your constant struggling and building positive Karma, the system has allowed you to create one of the most robust and powerful essences I have ever seen. You produce unprecedented excess Nectar, partially due to your skills but also because of your soul bonds.." The aged Orc mumbled and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Think of your Soulspace as like.. the core of a tree. Then think of your connections, the ''souls'' within you, as a root which feeds into that tree. That is the true benefit of your Network of souls. You have done well growing your tree on your own.. But your progress has slowed significantly since your early days, here in the system." He said, narrowing his eye. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Alas, trees are not sturdy because of how big and strong they become on their own.. But because of how deep their roots grow. How strong their connections to the rest of the world are." He finished explaining with a smug smile. "Someday you may be the center of the system. The tree that sips from every and all realms." He said with a satisfied sigh. Vincent looked to be in deep thought as he gazed off into the space beside Zar-Rhah. The old Orc threw his head back and cackled madly, catching the blue eyed man''s attention. "Of course! This is all just theoretical! I would never attempt this on myself or anyone else in a million years! Which is the other reason you must be the one to do the engravings. You''re going to be a guinea pig." Zar-Rhah snorted, causing Vincent to pale and simultaneously frown in concern. The grayed Orc chuckled and fixed Vincent with a serious look. "You''ve said you can''t fully see your Soulspace yet, or truly comprehend your Network of souls¡­ We shall have to remedy that." Clicking his tongue, he hobbled rapidly away while gesturing for Vincent And his companion to follow. For the next few hours Vincent and his companion sat in the Complete tranquility state studying under the strict tutelage of his master Zar-Rhah. Aside from learning how to interact with his Soulspace there were two integral runes in the script of engraving which they needed to master. One of them translated roughly into ''adaptation'' in the old tongues and the other one meant something close to ''molecular synthesis.'' Aside from that there were roughly one hundred minor engravings that would bind everything together and boost his efficiency, according to Zar-Rhah. After mastering the engravings he would have to use the connections from his Network to chain them to his soul and keep everything stable. His own soul alone would not be enough for this task, despite how large and sturdy it had gotten. Honestly, Vincent wasn''t too concerned about the Nectar cost or his Soulspace being able to handle the added pressure of nearly 100 skills worth of engravings.. What truly worried him the most was that based on how long it had taken him to learn the most basic of engravings¡­ Even if there were two of them doing the work, a hundred minor engravings and two relatively difficult ones didn''t sound like a good time at all. It sounded downright unfeasible, if not inpossible. Luckily all of the symbols were written out before him so he could reference them as many times as needed until he achieved his desired effect otherwise he probably would have said screw all this. He instructed his companion to try and decipher half of the minor symbols while he took the other half. He figured if he managed to conquer all 100 of the lesser runes then a couple of mid-high tier ones should be a cinch. Unfortunately, he was sure his current engraving skill intermediate engraving (Epic) was freshly level 20 so he had a long way to go for even the possibility of a trial to assist him. Pushing all negative thoughts aside to achieve maximum efficiency, he tore into the information before him with reckless abandon. Vincent pushed his Diverging perception to the absolute limit, his companion doing much the same. The swordmaster had told him there was no deadline for this training, but Vincent knew what was meant underneath the surface.. Zar-Rhah was willing to teach Vincent as much as the man from earth was willing to learn. The faster he completed any training lesson the sooner they would move on to the next. That being said, his time was not truly infinite either, as the whole point in all of this was for him to become capable enough of holding his own in a fight for the crown in less than four years time. Vincent laughed as he worked. Not for a second did he think he would be anywhere close to that level in that short amount of time but as long as he could survive, he was sure he would gain invaluable experience and maybe get a few new rarity skills for his troubles. He frowned as he thought about the rarity of skills for the first time in a while. Taking a break from his studies, he quickly brought up the lists of the ones he had discovered so far, with the most recent being from his singularity. Uncommon Common Rare Epic Legendary Mythical Divine ??? ??? ??? There were still three more rarities left to uncover. That in itself made him pause. He had skipped an entire rank, with his most powerful non-unique skill going from Legendary to Divine. The gap in power between any of his previous abilities to his singularity was laughable. It was probably powerful enough to one shot the Fang he had beaten before. But even though the ability was unparalleled in its destructive capabilities, it also demanded a heavy toll. He could only imagine the kind of price one would have to pay for activating a skill with the absolute highest rarity. Bearing in mind that activating a skill requires emotional and physical effort, he imagined many would never even possess the stats or aptitude necessary to survive using one of the top tier attacks within the Nexus. As he got back to work studying the varies runes that would formulate his ultimate script, it vaguely occurred to him that the master could very well be playing some sort of devious trick on him so as to take control of him or something. However, he quickly dismissed the thought knowing full well the man was capable of subduing Vincent easily even without such subterfuge. Vincent may have been fooling himself when he thought he was a pretty good judge of character but the flows of energy he sensed from Zar-Rhah lead him to believe the man was good and honorable. The various tomes he read through said a lot of words multiple times in different ways. Things like bind, capture, tame, copy ect. He supposed he was a bit paranoid because of some past.. issues he had never truly learned to cope with properly. As his emotions rose and he found himself stuck in his own past, Vincent realized with an epiphany that when it came to engravings.. perhaps this was one of those times to let his emotions and instincts take control. Sure he would have to refine his technique and finesse at a later date, but what he needed right now were raw skill levels. Engravings were just a way for ordinary people who didn''t have Vincent''s rule bending abilities to make the most of the system. To give meaning and action to their desires. There was no reason it should be any different for him, just on a much more broad scale. What did he desire? Vincent''s eyes slammed shut as tears stung the edge of his vision. He thought about his parents, and the cheap replicas doing their best to support and empathize his emotions which in turn just made him feel worse and more lonely, of course. He thought about his best friend Jacob and wondered if he had made it through the earth''s inauguration into the Nexus. He wished he could see someone.. anyone from his past. Hell he would even settle for seeing his ex girlfriend right now. He forgot what it was like to be held by another human. Not necessarily in a sexual or even intimate way but just to be touched in any way that wasn''t hostile or dubious in nature. Humans.. even the most antic social, were heard animals. The psychotic effects of prolonged isolation from touch and kinship had severe effects that were only marginally mitigated by the creature''s he''d come to call family. It still had a severe personality altering effect being away from his own people for such a prolonged period of time. He was completely losing all that he ever was and ever had to this damned system. His love, anger, pain, joy.. it had all been consumed by the need to survive and get stronger in his early days here in the system¡­ But now he had so much time on his hands.. So many emotions pouring out.. Suddenly his eyes snapped open with the realization of something that was right in front of him all along. Engravings were words and words had power because they held meaning. Words were emotions and emotions powered skills and created greater significance in one''s actions. Engravings were just emotions given shape. It seemed simple on the surface but it was far more complex than just skills and engravings being used for the same thing. If one wanted to maximize the effects of engravings and skills they needed to combine the same type of engravings that came from a particular emotion with the skills that activated from those same exact emotions¡­ An engraving born of love would strengthen and amplify a skill like his bleeding heart, which was also made of bitter love.. Congratulations! Warning.. error.. anomaly detected. Significant amounts of synergistic energy detected. Overwhelming effects detected. Recalculating.. Congratulations! Your skill: intermediate engravings (Epic) lvl 21 has successfully evolved into Linguae Archit¨¦kt¨­n (Mythical) Skill level has been reset! Linguae Archit¨¦kt¨­n (Mythical) Words and their significance hold immense power. Along your path to the truth you begin to grasp the inner structure and shape of the Nexus. Using an infinite number of tongues, the system presents tools for which to grow ever more powerful on your journey. As the Architect of languages you''ve made it your sworn responsibility to understand every language contained within the Nexus and go beyond¡­ (Passive ability) "Ha! Trial, shmile. I can do this shit myself." Vincent laughed. He wiped his eyes and sniffed. In a way it sometimes seemed as if.. the ones he loved were still there. The remnants of their ghosts whispered in his mind. "Thank you all.." He mumbled. Instantly it was as if all of the information before him became much more simple in terms of how it all worked and fit together. Now it was just a matter of studying each symbol until he could memorize the unique shape and nature of the energies within. He was sure once he had become a master of the art he could start experimenting to find new and more efficient ways to do things but for now he would use the system provided tool in the manner it was intended. Honestly the system had been extremely generous with the evolution of his engraving skill thus far and he didn''t want to ruin that goodwill by tampering with the skill just yet. It was enough that he had gotten a free, evolved rarity level. He quickly gained two then three levels of proficiency. With each one he saw many different and more efficient ways to piece together the various different runes into a script. He was approaching level 7 when progress began to stall out a bit. But just with those 7 levels he could tell this new ability which translated almost literally into languages of the architect, was incomparably more efficient than his skill before. It didn''t seem to cost anything other than precious time, and he had plenty of that¡­ Over the course of several days he managed to more or less master five of the minor runes, which he suspected might have taken him several months before. It was extremely tedious but with the help of his companion and his new ability which had climbed its way to 11, he felt much more confident than before. For the first time since the task was set before him, his goal of mastering the script his master had presented him, within a couple years felt accomplishable. He wiped his forehead and decided to take a break. His companion bounded over and gave him a high-five, causing the man to chuckle and smirk. He looked at his arms and flexed. "Hmm. I''ve been slacking on my physical training. But there will be time for that later. In the meantime while I rest my mind, some food will help my body retain it''s strength." With that in mind he quickly made his way back to his master''s cave to prepare a meal. A few minutes later¡­ "This procedure never ceases to amaze me¡­" Zar-Rhah slowly mumbled while rubbing his chin. Currently he was standing uncomfortably close to Vincent and studying the man''s every move, as he proceeded to cook their meal for nearly an hour. It mostly consisted of some high grade monster meat and fruits/vegetables from the jungle. But of course, Vincent also splurged a little in the system shop for spices and such. Sometimes living in a world ran by an all-powerful system where literally anything was possible had its benefits. He also used materials from the shop and his skills to produce a large, flat metal cooking table. He quickly went to work chopping up and seasoning the meat before throwing it on the makeshift grill which he then heated to the perfect temperature with his Thermal manipulation and Cinder of flame abilities. Immediately the air was filled with mouthwatering flavors. Vincent made small circles with his arms, waving the air towards his face and taking in a deep breath. His brain, more powerful now than any pre-system supercomputer, analyzed the chemical reactions with uncanny senses. "Mmm. Smells deeeelicious!" He hummed. While the meat cooked he glided several feet over to another table where he set to work on cutting and mixing the fruits and veggies. The man moved with an unnatural fluidity and grace due to his stats and skills. A single step moved him a dozen feet in any direction, as if gravity had no pull on him. Each and every movement was precise and measured. Even now, Vincent was training himself in a way, as cooking exercised many abilities as well as his control and dexterity.. Once the fruits and vegetables were chopped and mixed as needed, he placed them in a massive pot that seemed to be made out of glass or some type of crystal. He poured a sauce of his own creation over the top, which had a sweet and savory glaze. It largely resembled honey but tasted unlike anything found on earth. He put the pot over an open fire and waited for its contents to come to a full boil before adding the meat and stirring it all together. Off to his left Zar-Rhah hmphed. "It seems tedious and unnecessarily time consuming, all this extravagant movement and dressing up. It would take but five minutes to roast a beast alive with my fireball skill." He suggested grumpily while crossing his arms. Vincent rolled his eyes and waited for the inevitable but that he knew was coming. This was more or less how his master complimented him anymore. "... But I cannot argue with the results. Come find me once you have finished your work. I shall take your plant clone out into the lake side for some practical training." The aged Orc quipped predictably. "Aye, aye, captain." Vincent said with a mocking nod and a sarcastic wave of his arm. Of course, Zar-Rhah being an Orc and having practically no social skills, didn''t understand sarcasm. Taking Vincent''s words at face value, a self-satisfied smirk appeared across the man''s features. When he hobbled off out of the cave there was a noticeable swagger in his limp. Vincent watched the man leave with a sweat drop before shaking his head. "Jesus fucking christ.. Give me strength." He muttered before returning to his work. He let out a long slow sigh as he tried to relax once more. Grabbing a spatula in both hands, he donned a chef''s hat. A look of determination filled his face. Now this¡­ This was work he could enjoy. "Alright, now for the hardest part! My body is ready for the challenge!" Because of course, a family dinner was never complete without dessert. End of chapter 31 Something wicked this way comes part 1 Time blurred as Vincent and his companion lost any semblance of meaning outside of deciphering the ancient languages and training with Zar-Rhah. Every few days he would take a break to eat and refine the basics of his other skills so they didn''t dull. His progress was noticeable as each and every day he found himself able to fair just a tiny bit better against his grayed Orc master who so pitifully outclassed him. These days when Zar-Rhah blocked a strike from Vincent, the Orc braced himself rather than lazily raising his blade like he had done in prior engagements. So caught up in training was he that Vincent likely wouldn''t even have noticed the second four weeks fly by, except for a fleeting curiosity and thus, a quick activation of his Absolute timing. At the exact same moment that their training eclipsed their 60th day, he and his companion decided to stop for a while and head back home. For one thing Vincent was beginning to feel a great deal of apprehension from his pack through his Network of souls. Guiltily he realized they hadn''t seen their Alpha in a month now, as he had stopped checking on them at some point during his obsessive labors. The pack understood his need for acclimating power as quickly as possible but they still felt akin to children missing their father who had embarked on leave of absence for work. Leaving most of his training related equipment behind, Vincent summoned the portal representing his inventory and stored what he would take for the road. Moving at an extremely leisurely pace, it would take them approximately six hours to reach their destination. This may seem like a long trip for super human beings that could make the journey in less than an hour, but Vincent enjoyed communing with nature and studying the country that had been his home for three years and a few months now. The changes in the general population and the ever growing plant life comprising the jungle were the only real indication that any time had passed at all since leaving their cave. While they traversed the dark and ominous terrain, countless dark red eyes traced their movements from the shadows. The environment still went out of its way to kill him, of course. Poisonous thorns that were practically sentient, and any manner of traps from quick sand to carnivorous plants were scattered throughout the jungle of Garkan. But when he ran into sentient creatures like packs of Hellspawn these days, the birds eyed him as cautiously as he once did them. They instinctively felt the shift in the dynamic of their relationship as Vincent had long since clearly overtaken them as individuals. His stats alone would make it difficult for them to overwhelm him even if it were a large murder of the crow-like birds. Add in his skills and even the dimwitted birds knew he was the predator in this situation and they would be the prey. It was incredibly satisfying in many ways but at the same time some days it all felt sort of surreal. He also had to resist the urge to hunt the birds to extinction... It probably wasn''t possible and they didn''t grant any experience anyways. Their material wasn''t eeally worth shit either. Whenever Vincent moved deliberately like this, studying everything around him, he could never help but note with a small amount of concern that the jungle seemed to expand just a tiny bit each year... Monsters mostly only spawned within the jungle, meaning civilized societies often founded homes away from it''s immediate vicinity. The Orcs and other various civilized factions, of which there consisted minotaurs, centaurs, and spriggins (as well as many others) did a good job keeping monster populations within check in the open landscape and surrounding lands outside the jungle. But even still, based on how fast the thing grew continously, Vincent had the sneaking suspicion that some day.. maybe even 100 years from now.. The entirety of this country would be a hostile, hazardous jungle. Amd destroying it simply wasn''t an option for most people. When one cut down a tree it had a tendency to be fully replaced within a week which was absolutely outrageous compared to the growth of plants before the system. Not to mention these trees were incredibly large and sturdy. Your average tree on the earth could take anywhere from 10-100 years to reach full maturity depending on species and climate. But here, it took less than a month for large swaths of the jungle to reappear and spread even farther than before. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. It seemed over the course of a few years the planet and its populace tended to grow stronger naturally as the system slowly injected raw Nectar into the air. Or perhaps it was the other way around and as the planet''s population rose in power, so too did a planet''s concentration of ambient energies in the atmosphere. He wasn''t 100% sure how it all worked, but underneath it all, it was still just a self sustaining cycle of growth that required life to devour others for strength. Upon their arrival to their home turf, Vincent approached the sentient wall that served as the gateway to his pack''s sanctuary. Frowning, the man wondered why he hadn''t considered the fact that the massive hole in the jungle wall caused by the meteor would have closed naturally on its own within a week. Instead he had panicked and more or less created a deus ex machina ability that put him in the dirt for a week... He supposed it was probably because of sheer desperation and he just didn''t want to wait that long. He was afraid powerful entities would be drawn to his home. Plus he loved doing things the hard way. It was more fun that way. The man shuddered realizing he had been shaking in anticipation as he walked through the parting vines. Truthfully Vincent couldn''t wait to try out the exorbitant power granted to him by the goddess in a real fight. Preferably with an intelligent being who communicated with spoken words.. One that could appreciate the full totality of his glorious awesomeness when harnessing that energy. At the same time.. he hoped he''d never face a situation so dangerous that he was using the last resort ability merely to survive and not just as a way to flex and show off his incredible awesomeness. He snorted as he was absolutely sure he would be put in a situation just like that¡­ Eventually. It was only a matter of time in this place, as Vincent was still nowhere near the top. Another thing he decided was that it was probably best not to use that kind of power in ''friendly'' fights, unless it was against the likes of Gildarts. Based on how difficult it had been for him to control his raging emotions and desire for violence when he used the skill to replace the damaged wall... He could only imagine the intensity of fighting for an extended period of time against an actual living creature. Would he lose himself to his more primal instincts? Would he kill someone because he couldn''t control how much mana he pumped into an ability? Or an even worse concept.. just to prove that he could? He shuddered once more and pushed the thoughts out of his head. His pack was awaiting his orders and affection. He spread his arms wide and grinned, hearing them howl their joy and excitement to the moon high above as he approached the central hub of their dens. "Hello my pups.. sorry I''ve been gone so long. I''m home at last. Let''s celebrate with a hunt." He finished with a predatory smirk and a burst of his Aura. The wolves howled in agreement and respect before their leader. 15 minutes later in the jungle of Garkan¡­ Vincent and Dawn led the pack as they darted through the trees, sticking mainly to the shadows. Dawn spear headed the group while Vincent moved in all directions as needed. It had been a full month since they had been on a hunt so they needed something challenging. The average pack level had risen while he was away, with Dawn being a remarkable level 50 and the others being around 40. With a small twinge of sadness and perhaps envy he realized his pack no longer truly needed him to prosper. But more than that he felt pride. They had all grown strong, together. Multiple different groups and packs had come together under his banner and now they were an indistinguishable family. Well indistinguishable to most people anyways.. Vincent chuckled. "I can always tell which wolves came from which tribe based on the color of their energy.. Almost all the wolves have one element or another they''re more familiar with." He landed roughly on a massive branch overlooking a flat, grassy valley that span miles across. The sun was beginning to set, painting everything in a beautiful fiery-orange. The branch they had landed on jutted out over a drop off that was easily fifty feet down. Upon seeing their leader stop, the entire pack of nearly thirty wolves fanned out on either side of him on the branch. It really was quite a large branch. Looking down into the valley he couldn''t help but continue his line of private conversation with himself. "Even if I can see them now¡­ If the pack flourishes long enough.. then in a few generations they would likely all have a very uniform and incredibly powerful energy unlike the ones I''ve seen up until now. Even I might not understand it.." He admitted to himself, lost in thought. Evolution happened so quickly here. Especially with a little push.. He himself was proof of that. Sometimes it was hard to truly feel like you belonged in one place for too long. ''Master?..'' Vincent jumped in shock, starled from his run away thoughts. It was more of an emotional message than an actual word, but due to his soul connection with Dawn he understood it. Vincent shook his head and chuckled. "Sorry. I swear I''m worse than a child when it comes to staying focused." He laughed. Dawn merely frowned in response as if to say, ''Your orders?'' ''Tough crowd..'' Vincent thought. "Ahem well.. Anyways. See that creature? Down there in the very center of that valley near the waterfall?" He asked, pointing. Dawn squinted before shaking his head. "You know I can''t see that far.. That''s at least three miles away.." He answered in exasperation. Vincent sweat dropped. "Errm.. right. Well I can only see it because there''s nothing obscuring my view to be honest. But yeah I can make him out pretty clearly¡­ Huh.. That''s odd?.." Vincent paused. Dawn growled low. "What is it?" "Not sure.." Vincent mumbled. "Could just be my imagination. It looks like he''s sleeping. The Nemian lion has never slept, as far as I''m aware... And call me crazy.. but what really gets me is that he looks smaller and less.. vibrant than before. We need to get a closer look." He said honestly. Dawn growled, this time in a loud, challenging manner. "You said closer is dangerous!" He accused. Vincent scratched the back of his head, noting how wild his hair was getting and looked at his adopted brother sheepishly. "Sorry! Haha.." He laughed. "It is dangerous.." He admitted, turning back to the valley. "But it''s also what we have to do if we''re going to push ourselves and become stronger." He said with eyes narrowed in determination. Beside him, Dawn sighed and sat back on all fours. "Why be strongest?" He asked simply. Vincent blinked several times in surprise and turned just his head in order to look at his friend. "Well.. Why not?" He shrugged. Dawn shrugged as well and the two shared a light hearted laugh before turning back ahead. Silently they leapt off of the large branch in unison. End of chapter 32 Something wicked this way comes part 2 Vincent and his pack came to a stop on the edge of a grassy field that flattened out into a ring in the center. It was there the lion lay dormant and motionless. The grass around them was more than tall enough to hide him and his pack from view while they stalked their prey from fifteen yards away. Something was definitely wrong.. Judging by it''s size it had shriveled down to only half of its original mass, maybe. Vincent frowned. "I have a really bad feeling about this¡­" He turned to his compatriots who waited silently beside him in the tall grass. "Stay here. Fan out and surround the beast. Watch my back and do not engage without my explicit command." He ordered. Dawn merely nodded in response and some of the others growled lightly. Vincent took a deep breath to calm his nerves before he slid out of the cover of the grass and began to move stealthily across the field. He made sure to push Stealth to its absolute limits and even slightly beyond as shadows slithered across him like tentacles, concealing his presence from reality. Once he had gotten within fifteen feet of the beast he paused, a perplexed look gracing his features. ''Even as I am, his stats are high enough to know something is close by.. why hasn''t he sensed me..'' Suddenly Vincent gasped in shock as he realized he couldn''t read the creature''s stats or sense it''s energy. Not because he was too weak, as in years past, but because they simply weren''t there. "Impossible.." The man muttered. "..Is the Nemean Lion.. really dead?" Moving around to the front of the lion he stopped, automatically activating his Camouflage while he confirmed his suspicions. "Not good.." The lion was definitely dead, but that wasn''t what made him uneasy. There were no obvious external wounds but the beast''s skin was wrinkled and taunt. The lion typically had snow white fur with deep black stripes and green splotches sporadically found across it''s body. In contrast, the lion''s primary coat of fur now seemed an ashy gray and it''s normally pristine, obsidian stripes were thin lines of charcoal. Rather than its usual vibrant green spots, there were areas covered in shades of mustard yellow. He had seen this handiwork before¡­ Vincent slowly reached out a hand and began sealing the body of the beast into his inventory. It took a lot of mana and time due to the size and quality of the beast, even though it had been desecrated and was only a shell of its former self. "This is bad.. I didn''t think any of the depraved were this strong." He mumbled as the lion''s body finished breaking down into raw essence and swirled away into his inventory. No sooner had he finished sealing the body of the lion when his sixth sense exploded in his head. Without warning a blur of pink energy slammed into Vincent sending him flying into the air. Fortunately he had been able to summon his shield and sword just before the moment of impact or he may have been knocked unconscious from the blow. As it was he had taken a lot of damage and cobwebs filled his head. He struggled to piece together what was happening as he landed in a heap of flailing limbs several meters from his original position. Vincent quickly sat up, spitting out a wad of dirt and grass that had gotten stuck in his mouth. He shook his head and coughed. "What.. What in the hell was that?" He asked rhetorically, grabbing his head. He quickly produced a potion and emptied it''s contents into his mouth. The massive gash that had been torn into his left side stitches back together rapidly.. Warning!... "Shut up.." He muttered, groaning as he forced himself into a standing position. He swayed on his feet but then stiffend as he felt a spark of electricity travel through his Network of Souls which took the form of a message from his companion. "Boss!? You ok? What the hell was that??" His companion''s desperation and panic wasn''t helping his situation in the slightest. "Wish I fucking knew!" Vincent barked back, out loud. Even though Lupus wasn''t present he would be able to decipher the information being sent to him as if he were watching a movie or a hologram. After a few seconds of huffing Vincent rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. He may have been fully healed but he was still reeling from the lingering pain of the impact and the subsequent feeling of having his bones remerge after being shattered. It was never a pleasant feeling nor one you simply got used to. Vincent narrowed hus eyes and looked around slowly. Whatever had hit him was close by.. he could feel it. "Lupus.. Remember that engraving we''d been working on?" He asked cautiously. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ''The one meant specifically to counter the depraved?'' Vincent nodded. "Yeah, that one. Begin preparations immediately. I have a feeling I''ve just gone from being the hunter to being the hunted." He said. C''on it!'' Came the simple, yet meaningful reply. Vincent closed his eyes and entered a battle stance. The field was completely empty and clear. He could still feel his subordinates nearby so he knew they were unharmed for now.. but where had the creature gone..? ''Master!'' It was Dawn this time, and honestly he sounded quite panicked. ''Above you!'' "What!?" Vincent gasped, eyes snapping open. By pure instinct the man shadow stepped just in time to avoid being flattened by a large pair of gray feet ending in sharp talons. As he reappeared he looked foward in shock. ''I didn''t even sense him until he was right on top of me..'' He observed. "Thanks for the heads up Dawn. If not for you I''d be a pancake right now. Just sit back and learn whatever you can for now." He ordered. "This thing is dangerous." Vincent raised his sword, leveling it across his shield and glaring at the creature before him. "What the fuck are you?" He wondered in astonishment while examining the beast. He had never seen such a monstrous creature before. Most monsters looked hideous, sure, but at the very least they all seemed to be fundamentally based off of creatures he was familiar with. This creature was the stuff of nightmares. It was somewhat humanoid but it easily stood at nine feet tall and its gray skin was packed full of writhing, veiny muscles. It had four bright purple eyes spread out across itw forehead that were shaped like diamonds. The top of its head had black spikey profusions that made it look as if it were wearing a crown. Razor sharp teeth lined it''s jaw and the creature''s long, violet tongue slithered between them. It''s broad shoulders supported two arms the size of tree trunks that ended in four ridiculously exaggerated claws. It''s chest, torso and abdomen were mostly bare, but from just under its naval area a thick coat of black fur covered the creature. The fur continued all the way down to its calves where it gave way to gray, muscular flesh once more. "I guess this would be the result if you fused the Gray Hulk with a Harpy and threw it into the system.. Just got to think of this as a boss in a game.." He said with clear and obvious dread. His face was clay and pale, and he readjusted his grip on his sword several times. He was trying to remain calm but the fact was.. his instincts were screaming for him to run. It wasn''t the creature''s raw power, as he had felt much greater pressures before such as from Gildarts. But still there was just something about the beast that terrified him to his core. Unfortunately he didn''t have any time to contemplate the precarious situation further as the beast began to move. It bent its thick furry knees slightly and haunches its shoulders, lowering its arms until its claws nearly touched the ground. Vincent''s eyes narrowed and he pushed his senses to the max, focusing his attention on the opponent before him. He began activating his skills and felt the power of his Aura coming to life around him. Yggdrasil reached deep into the ground with its roots, feeding on the energy of the environment and converting it into refined power before pumping through Vincent''s veins. He studied the putrid energy of the creature as it built and circulated throughout its body. ''A skill..'' He realized. The depraved was using a skill. Probably the same one that it had used on him before, if he had to guess. Honestly it made Vincent feel a lot better to know that this thing he''d avoided for so long was as at least somewhat familiar to him. It wasn''t some boogeyman, immortal and unseen.. It was just a hideous and disgustingly overpowered monster. ''I can win this.. Remember your training.'' He thought to himself. It took all of five seconds for the creature tp charge its attack, and Vincent knew without a doubt it was a raw force he could not match. Encased In a sphere of dense and erratic energy the creature lunged, looking like a pink speeding bullet. With that single movement it cleared the distance between them faster than even Vincent''s shadow step could follow, which is why his sixth sense hadn''t used it to save his ass before. The only thing for him to do was move enough so the creature only clipped him instead of taking the hit head on. "Gah!'' Vincent spun like a top blood flying, before he landed with a thud on the ground. Vincent stood and wiped the blood from hie mouth and smirked. This enemy was strong. Stronger than him by far. But for the last two months Vincent had been getting tortu.. trained, by a malevolent entity that was several magnitudes stronger than both of them combined. Though his master''s stats have indeed largely declined due to old age, the Orc''s skill levels, talent and experience were more formidable than ever before. He was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful beings in Garkan. Compared to Zar-Rhah.. this creature was slow and docile. All he had to do was stay one step ahead of it and not fight it directly. The man remembered back to one particularly painful lesson in which his master taught him that sometimes, precision and finesse were key, rather than brute forcing an issue. Tactical planning was a much bigger deciding factor in a battle than who had higher stats and skill levels. Vincet had a hunch that once the thing started moving it couldn''t change directions. It was all power and emotion... No control. The creature roared, snapping Vincent from his wayward thoughts. It rushed at him again, using that strange bullet ability. "Come on you sumbitch." This time as the creature approached Vincent side stepped at the last second and kicked out with a furious low kick. Even with all of his skills active the force of colliding with the beast broke his ankle in an instant. He yelled out in pain but, feeling his center of gravity beginning to shift, continued to spin with the momentum until he was facing the creature once more. The depraved carved a trench along the ground as it landed, coming to a smoking stop in a small crater. It was bloody and bruised, indicating that it had definitely taken some damage but Vincent knew it was trivial. Not wanting to give his opponent tike to recover he quickly began charging several abilities in tandem. His right eye began to shine a brilliant blue luminescence as his left eye burned a bright, bloody crimson. Shadow and light converged around the man in various places, licking the air like sentient whips. Using his telekinesis, he levitated his shield and sword beside him so that his hands would be free. Upturning his palms Vincent began to gather a large ball of black flame containing all of his energy and elements in one hand while in the other he created a Maelstrom Whirlwind which contained all of his gathered momentum and physical force. "You''re not the only one who can teleport, fucker." By this point the depraved had scrambled to its feet in confusion and was wobbling slightly as it tried to regain its bearings. It looked up just in time to see a smirking Vincent disappear¡­ End of chapter 32 Something wicked this way comes part 3 Vincent''s Shadow step was an extremely bizarre technique, and that was saying something in a world populated by monsters and various supernatural humanoids. Whenever he activated Shadow step for any amount of time he was taken to a space he dubbed.. ''The shadow realm''. In order to activate the ability to its fullest, one had to manifest the emotional force of their loneliness and sadness. Looking back on it and knowing what he knew now, made sense given that it was an ability he had created while in a dark mind-set. His earliest days in the system were not kind to him. Oftentimes he had gone starving for days, or had gotten so terribly wounded that by all rights he should have been dead a thousand times over. But the system wouldn''t let him go. It was lonely and terrifying. But because of that desperation and pain he had found himself here, in this shadowy world. Since it''s discovery, Vincent and his plant companion had spent countless hours studying the void-like tunnel of the shadow realm. If one stayed in there too long they would be driven mad by the environment and the ceaseless whispering of countless tortured souls. Fundamentally it was only meant to be used in short spurts from point A to point B and with time in between subsequent uses due to the physical and mental drain. Vincent, ever the over achiever that he was, had trained extensively to fight in this state and use it in unorthodox ways, going so far as to take some semblance of control over the void. He supposed shadow manipulation probably helped with that. If he wanted to, the man could travel distances of nearly a mile in a single step, although that took most of his current mana capacity. Furthermore, rather than only being able to travel in a straight line Vincent had the ability to travel omnidirectionally, even mid-step. While he was within the void of The shadow realm, it seemed to Vincent as if the ''real world'' was standing still. He could see and sense his prey easily, their outlines and weaknesses being highlighted in dark shadows. Vincent flew through the void superman-style at speeds faster than sound. Shadows coalesced around his body and a dark slipstream of tendrils were left in his wake. It took less than a second from the time the man from earth disappeared and reappeared. To the flabbergasted depraved, it looked as if an invisible beast had raked its claws across reality and caused an oozing, jagged tear made of shadows to form in the air before him. From that shadow, a roaring Vincemt burst forth looking like a terrifying demon from the void world. Vincent plummeted fist-first into the monster''s chest with his Wrathful gpames and Maelstrom whirlwind wrapped tightly around them. The beast was swept off it''s feet, flying through the air with Vincent saddling it''s chest and continuing to pummel him even as they flew through the air. They impacted the ground harshly and dug a trench but still Vincent continued to punch with his energy infused fists. "Gahhh! Diiiie!" He yelled with fury. His red and sapphire eye glistened in the corners as tears stung his vision. Pain he hadn''t even realized he''d been holding in came gushing out as his energy and strength rose rapidly. Subconsciously and without even meaning to he was channeling all of the hatred and pain of loss that all of the people of Garkan had felt since the arrival of these abnormal depraved. They had lost so much.. he had lost so much. They came to a stop in what was at first a relatively small crater, but with each subsequent punch from the deranged man the ground split further. At this point the depraved had regained enough composure to put up some semblance of a fight and Vincent quickly deployed several abilities to try and subdue him. Plante, in conjunction with Yggdrasil, caused powerful, dense vines containing dangerous, toxic thorns to wrap around the creature and restrain it. Vincent used his gravity manipulation to further amplify the already intense gravity of the planet so that the beast''s weight was effectively fifty times heavier than its natural mass would allow. Combining his sender of flame, his Blazing trail of wrath and his Flamecloak, Vincent lit up like a massive blow torch, causing temperature in the air to quickly jump a thousand degrees. The flames spewing from the man burnt the depraved and made it difficult for the monster to see or breathe. "I will reduce you to ashes!" Vincent promised, eyes glowing brightly before two beams of pure energy shot forth. The bulky depraved roared, breaking one arm free from its restraints. "Even while being bombarded with countless abilities this thing won''t give up!" Vincent lamented desperately. Hsi head was pounding from the continuous usage of Optical incandescence. The beast twisted and squirmed, throwing a punch that would have taken Vincent''s jaw clean off if his reflexes and instincts hadn''t allowed him to lean back just enough to avoid the blow. Without missing a beat he leaned forward and yelled before continuing to pummel the creature and blast ita face with his eye beams. He relished feeling thr depraved''s bones and flesh crack and compress beneath his blows. He would make this bastard pay. He swore it! On the surface of things he was inclined to think he was winning, and yet.. that damned feeling in his gut just wouldn''t go away¡­ ''Lupus! How''s the engraving coming along?'' He yelled internally. The reply that came was strained and short. ''It''s hard to concentrate from this far away.. I''m almost done, just hold on a little longer!'' "Easier said than done!" Vincent growled through gritted teeth. "Graaarg!" The beast beneath him roared once more. "Fuck!" Vincent cursed his momentary lapse in concentration as he realized in horror the depraved had somehow managed to gather a massive amount of energy in it''s four eyes in a very short time span. If he were a betting man, which he was, he would put his last dollar on this being some kind of skill similar to his own. One that was about to punch holes through his head. At the same time, he really didn''t want to give up this advantage he had procured. His opponent was taking massive damage and he may jot get a chance like this again.. The creature''s head glowed brightly and Vincent instinctively shielded his eyes. "Damn it! No choice!" He was mid-punch when he teleported away in a shadow step, just as the area around them exploded in a violent, pink light. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. When Vincent reappeared he shook his head to clear the cobwebs. "Tsk!" He clicked his teeth and looked down. He hadn''t been fast enough to completely avoid the explosion, as evidenced by his smoking and charred right arm. He quickly produced a potion and downed its content as the dust started to clear. The grassy field that was once peaceful and pristine was now littered with craters, cracks and trenches. It looked as if armies of men had blown the place all to hell with a barrage of weaponry. Standing in the center of the ruined field was the depraved, looking as if it had been put through the grinder but still very much alive. Vincent slowly took in a heavy breath which he released in a defeated sigh. That assault had taken everything out of him and even though his stats had been restored, there was a lingering weariness from having used so much of his body''s energies in such a short time span. Vincent knew that even if his vitals were back to a hundred he would only be able to put out 80% of his usual proficiency at best. Unfortunately, even though he knew this, the man had no choice but to defend himself as the depraved made to continue the battle once more. The beast beat its burnt chest and screamed wildly before charging at Vincent with its arms spread wide. "What the fuck..?" Vincent mumbled in disbelief. "It''s not even gonna acknowledge its wounds? Not to mention it doesn''t seem tired in the slightest.. Does this freaking zombie have infinite stamina?" He slid into a battle stance and waited to see what the beast''s next move would be as it closed the distance between them. He wasn''t disappointed as the beast stopped when there was only a tenth of the original distance between them. It crouched low, bringing its arms across in front of its body in an X shape. It looked as if the creature were trying to turn itself into a cannonball or something, which was almost comical. Even while balled up like it was, the creature was nearly as large as Vincent himself. Vincent yelped and was forced to dive to the side as the bulky monster began spinning rapidly before shooting forth in the form of a large cyclone. The funnel of force just missed the man''s ribs by mere inches, causing his hair to stand on end. He sucked in a breath and rolled into a crouched landing. He looked back with a mixture of concern and rage. "You bastard.. That ability.." He growled, trailing the beast with his eyes. He watched as the cyclone tore a massive trench along the ground, pulverized a random boulder to dust, and looped back around for a second pass. Vincent cursed, unable to think or breathe due to the creature''s tenacity and plethora of abilities as wrll as his emotional state. Most creatures only had one or two primary skills that they use and focus on due to how long it takes to make a skill worthwhile. It wasn''t necessarily uncommon for something that had fully evolved to have several minor skills as well. Mostly these would typically be passive buffs or abilities that were the opposite of their specialization. But this creature was different.. in a very harrowing manner, it reminded him of himself. It had already displayed several exceedingly powerful abilities that must have been legandary rarity or higher. Among the ones that Vincent recognized were adaptation, strength enhancement, durability enhancement.. And the most recent one it used, The Roaring Fang technique- An ability he had taught to one of his pack members that had disappeared a few weeks ago. Thinking about it now, it made sense. These creatures devoured others for their stats. Why wouldn''t it absorb their skills as well? But what really made Vincent sick to his stomach was that for just a second.. He had felt remnants of the wolf the ability had belonged to. Her personality, her emotions. He felt them the moment the depraved activated The Roaring Fang. "Zoe.." He whispered. Vincent closed his eyes for just a moment as a single tear slid down his face. Congratulations! Efficiency has risen to 100%! Righteous fury fills your heart! An inexplicable calm overtakes your mind. You have achieved a temporary state of Mushin! For the next ten minutes, none may stand against your blade. 10:00¡­ 9:59¡­ 9:58¡­ Vincent''s eyes snapped open and his Aura exploded outward around him. In an instant he summoned his sword and shield, intending to use his equipments'' abilities to earn more experience and adapt more quickly to his opponent. His Ecology and Sixth sense allowed him to ascertain almost anything from his opponents, but their effectiveness was drastically reduced if his enemies vastly outclassed him. The best way to truly understand and opponent was in the midst of battle. The creature was less than five feet away when Vincent raised his shield channeling all of his intent and energy into a single move. "Ancient Slumbering Tortoise.." He whispered. There was a massive crunch, followed by a resounding grinding noise akin to metal on metal. The creature slammed into Vincent like the force of a freight train, where it then proceeded to spin at incalculable speeds, grinding its claws against his shield. Vincent grit his teeth but held firm, digging his feet into the ground as he slid backwards a few inches. When the creature finally came to a dizzying stop it stood to its full height and looked at Vincent with shock and disbelief. "Impossible.." it rumbled. The creature''s voice was deep and gravelly. It was difficult to understand even without the system''s communication skill. Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Ahh, so you can speak? Good." He said darkly, standing on his tiptoes to lean closer to the creature''s ear. "You''ll understand what I mean when I say that what comes next.. is because of the precious little pup you sucked dry to gain that ability." He said lowly. The depraved''s eyes widened as it witnessed Vincent combine three abilities seamlessly into one, "Telekinetic Gravity Strike." Without even lifting a finger, Vincent quickly gathered a dark putrid ball of energy together. It''s edges simmered with force and power. In less than a second the ability was formed. Without a word the blast flew forward and exploded in the creature''s face at point blank range. A few moments later.. A massive crater had been formed in the center of the clearing. Of course no one could tell, due to the seemingly infinite black smoke wafting upwards. 6:00.. 5:59.. Vincent still had over five minutes left of whatever this state was that he had achieved. "Hn." He mumbled, flicking his wrist. As he did so all of the dust and debris was cleared from the area by a burst of focused telekinesis and gravity. Lying in the center of the 20 meter deep crater was the depraved, looking battered and unconscious. He was mumbling something which, thanks to his massively enhanced senses, Vincent was able to hear. "Power.. I can feel them.. their energy. So many different.. flavors." The creature smiled lecherously, blood dripping from its mouth. "..And you''ve brought them all here¡­ to me." As the beast spoke it drew itself up to its knees. "Give me more poweeeer!" It screamed, throwing its head back. Vincent''s eyes widened. ''Wait a minute.. looking back on it even when I had Camouflage activated he somehow hit me effortlessly..!'' He reached out one desperate arm as he came to the conclusion that his opponent could somehow sense energy like he could. "No don''t!" He pleaded. But it was too late. He wasn''t even sure when the monster had done it. He had been too focused on the enemy before him. He hadn''t noticed when the dark purple seeds, creates by the depraved, sprouted from the ground around several members of his pack and began devouring them. "Grahh" "Roaaar" "*whine* Fatheeer!" "Noooooo!" Vincent clutched his knees and fell to the ground as his enhanced senses and amped Network of Souls caused him to feel each of their pains and deaths on an intimate level that only he knew. He heard Dawn roar and bark out an order for the rest to retreat. He knew he needed to move. To help them. He could feel the others pounding him with emotional messages but he could only focus on one thing. He watched as the remnants of his packs'' souls were dragged down into the pit and subsequently devoured by the hideous monster. The souls were sucked down its gullet like noodles, making wet gagging sounds. His head was ringing. He could hear voices. His eyes were slammed shut.. And then they shot open and an eerie calm took him once more as he slowly stood on his feet. He blocked out the messages from his companion and pack members. Looking down over the rim of the crater at the slowly transforming creature, Vincent finally spoke. "Thank you.. I needed that. You''ve just taught me a hard lesson.." He said. This creature was sent here for him. He didn''t know how he knew, but he did. In that moment, Vincent hated himself the most. He hated that it had to come to this for him to finally see the truth. As long as he was at war with the system. For all of eternity. Vincent would be forced to hunt alone. End of chapter 33 Something wicked this way comes part 4 Overall the beast didn''t look much different now than it did before. It had five muscular, gray tentacles sprouting from its back and it had grown from 3 meters to 4 but other than that it was relatively the same ugly beast. Vincent was not impressed. He glared down at the creature with his arms crossed. "Is that all?" The depraved roared. A bright pink energy began to gather around it as it began to use the same bullet like ability as before. Its tentacles and knuckles curled against the ground as it bent forward before exploding upward at supersonic speeds. "Foolish." Vincent''s body melted into shadows just before the rampaging monster struck him. The beast continued through the air, confusion written on it''s face. A moment later the sky opened up and from its maw, an Electric Bolt mixed with shadow shot towards the depraved. The creature''s eyes widened and it''s tentacles wrapped defensively around its body as the bolt struck and carried the beast back down to the ground below in a thunderous explosion. Vincent reappeared from the shadows standing over the smoking and dazed beast. He stomped harshly on its chest and kept the massive creature still. It looked up at him with hate filled eyes as Vincent leaned over his knee. "Did you really think you could beat me just by killing my family? Trading their lives for a tiny bit of power? You will suffer." He promised with a somber tone. The creature''s face morphed into a bloody smile. "Die!" It yelled, as it''s tentacles curled inward. Each one formed a different element at the end before they shot toward Vincent like javelins. There was a flash and a blur of motion. Vincent never once took his eyes or foot off the depraved. Only his arm had moved as he summoned his sword in an instant, and severed each of the limbs faster than the eye could see. The depraved''s face morphed into one of horror as realization and pain dawned on the beast. It roared, or at least it had meant to, but all that came out was a muffled yell as Vincent grabbed the creature''s mouth with his left hand. Dismissing his sword, he pulled his now free right hand back making it flat like a spear. He coated his flesh in a potent combination of toxic, searing fire. "Now you die." The creature''s eyes widened and its struggles redoubled but it was clear the hunter had become the prey. "Haaaa!" Vincent''s hand cut through the air, nearing the creature''s heart¡­ *gasp* Vincent sucked in a breath and stopped just a few inches short of the monster. He looked up in shock and confusion as a tall and muscular figure emerged from the damaged grass surrounding the field. "Gildarts?.. Why are you here?" He questioned in bewilderment. With his typical nonchalant expression, the Orc''s Aura exploded forth. This caused Vincent''s eyes to widen in even further confusion. While it was still a deep amethyst in color, his friend''s trademark Aura had undergone a radical change. In the past Gildarts''s Aura had manifested as vicious, deadly tentacles. For whatever reason his Aura now contained the vestige of a gargantuan grim reaper hand holding a wicked scythe. ''Wait.. what in the hell is wrong with Gildarts''s Aura.. has he evolved it recently or something?'' The man wondered. The towering Orc stopped a meter away from Vincent and his quarry. He looked down at the creature beneath Vincent''s foot with disinterest. "I was just passing through when I felt the.. effects of your battle.." He said simply while eyeing his friend up and down. "Vincent. What is this power you acquired all of a sudden?" The Orc asked skeptically, ignoring Vincent''s question. Vincent seemed taken aback for a second before he chuckled and shook his head. ''Same old Gil.'' He thought. "I could ask you the same thing, big guy. Your Aura is giving me the heebee geebees right now. Anyways I have a feeling this form has got something to do with whatever Zar-Rhah has been pushing me towards in training. Unfortunately it''s only temporary, and I have less than five minutes left." He said. Vincent looked back down at the depraved who he had honestly expected to be struggling for his life beneath his foot, but the creature was strangely unmoving. It''s gaze remained steadfast on Gildarts rather than the obvious and immediate threat. "You.." The creature spoke in a surprised manner, clearly referencing Gildarts. Vincent''s eyes narrowed and his head snapped up. How could this thing have met the Orc and lived? Gildarts''s face remained disinterested even as he spoke. "Silence, pitiful fool." The Orc demanded. Above Gildarts''s head the ghastly hand of the reaper drew back its scythe, intent on finishing the creature off. Its eyes widened with fear. "The only reason you still yet live is because of this boy''s mercy. And now because of your incompetence, I will have to kill him before his evolution has been completed. Master will not be pleased." Vincent''s mind went numb. His body was frozen stiff. A mask of confusion blanketed his face. ''Wait. What.. Did he just say?'' A splitting pain shot through his head as his sixth sense and Shadow step involuntarily activated in a violent manner. Vincent slammed his eyes shut and shook his head. When he opened them again he was several meters away from his original position. The gray creature he''d priviously pinned shakily stood on its feet. Steam rose from its wounds as they gradually began to heal and his tentacles grew back. Beside the depraved an extremely agitated looking gildarts was bent forward slightly in a punch. His Aura''s vicious scythe was lodged into the ground and it was clear the trajectory of the attack would have taken Vincent''s head clean off his shoulders. "What..?" He gasped. "What in the fuck is going on?" Horror and disbelief over wote all other distinguishing features as Vincent''s mind whirled. "This is impossible.." He muttered. Vincent refused to believe his greatest friend had betrayed him in such a way. Yet as he looked up¡­ Gildarts straightened his posture and withdrew his scythe from the ground. He huffed in annoyance before schooling his features. The lumbering giant looked at the creature beside him who somehow surpassed even him in both bulk and height. "I missed him because I had to avoid hitting you. As always your mere existence impedes our cause." "Grrrg! Shut up!" The creature yelled in defense. "I am the strongest of us all, I have gathered more power than any for the master!" The creature insisted. Gildarts spared the beast a disinterested side-ways glance. "All that power and always we have to save you. What a waste." The Orc retorted before turning his attention back toward the human across the ruined battlefield. Vincent visibly shook, not with fear, but with fury. His Aura danced around him like an unquenchable blue flame. Of course, even amped as it was in this state, his Aura wasn''t nearly the size of Gildarts''s, but Vincent''s had always been noticeably more dense and potent than the average. Even without leveling, he had become a formidable force here within the Nexus. Gildarts turned to the beats beside him, who seemed to have fully healed by this point. "Focus. Do not be careless around this boy. He is dangerous." The Orc warmed. "Yeah, yeah, shut up." The gray creature growled, turning back to face their quarry only to see an empty battlefield. "Wait.. Where did he go?" The beast asked in confusion. "What?!" Gildarts turned in annoyance, clicking his teeth before sweeping his gaze left and then right. "That little shit! He ran away! Gah!" The Orc was cut off, crying out in pain as he felt his jaw slammed shut by the force of a mighty uppercut. He was lucky he hadn''t bit his tongue or it would have come clean off. As it was, his teeth shattered. Blood, saliva and teeth fragmants flew from his mouth as he was lifted several feet off the ground. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. "Haaaa!" Vincent roared as he finished his ascent. At the apex of his upward momentum he spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick to Gildarts''s gut mid-air, sending him flying into the brush surrounding the field. "Hnn!?" The gray creature yelled, scrambling to mount a defense. Unfortunately for him, the beast wasn''t quick enough. Still descending from his original attack, Vincent turned his fall into a front flip. As he completed his rotation, he threw out a fist, turning all of his forward momentum into a mighty punch that caught the gray creature square in the jaw. It was knocked harshly into the ground, leaving a body sized indentation as Vincent landed in a crouched position. Vincent stood up and huffed, cracking his back as he straightened. He closed his eyes and stretched out his senses, allowing his Aura to recede within him. "There you are." His eyes snapped open and he smirked before teleporting in a burst of shadows. Several meters into the unnaturally tall grass, Gildarts had just finished rising to his feet. He clutched his stomach and winced. "I knew he would be strong but how could he be capable of doing this much damage in a single attack? Curses. We may have to retreat until whatever is boosting his power, wears off.." Suddenly a fuming Vincent appeared in front of the shocked Orc with his fist reared back. "Bah!" The Orc yelled, reflexively stepping back. "Give me a break you freak! Raaaa!" He threw a right hook that would have taken his opponent''s head off, but Vincent wove around it as if it were child''s play. Closing the distance between them, his fist shot out and struck the Orc in the nose. The towering behemoth winced and back stepped before throwing out a left haymaker which missed by a mile as Vincent followed up with a second punch and then a third. "Bak!" The Orc stumbled and shook, raising his arms up to guard either side of his head. He closed his eyes and yelled. "Stop thiiiis!" *thump thump thump!* *punch punch punch!* The man from earth became a blur as he used his system enhanced body and his skills to dart around the massive Orc. He could only be described as a shadowy blur, landing countless punches and kicks in the span of a few seconds. Having had enough, a bruised and bloody Gildarts stomped his foot, causing a shockwave in hopes to break free of the assault. Not being deterred in the least Vincent grunted and created a shockwave of his own to cancel it out as he blasted forward at a speed that rivaled the depraved from earlier. He stopped just short of Gildarts and activated Flurry of strikes. This resulted in Gildarts getting jabbed nearly twenty times in the gut before he tried retaliating to the jabs with a backhand but Vincent broke off. Performing a back handspring he disappeared into the grass around them. The Orc hastily snapped his head left and then right, unable to ascertain the location of his opponent. "Why would you do this gil!?" Came the human''s desperate and hurt voice from somewhere is the brush. "We were friends! Family, I thought.." The disembodied voice continued, clearly feeling downtrodden. ''This may be the only opportunity I get to catch him off guard.'' The Orc thought silently. His face contorted in contemplation. Though the green giant could not see his enemy, he could sense him. The boy''s current emotional state made him sloppy and vulnerable. He knew Vincent was currently stationary several yards to his right, looking down at what Gildarts pictured was the boy''s shaking palms. ".. I thought you and I were going to be the ones who burnt the system to ashes¡­" From behind Vincent the grass exploded violently. A bloodlusted Gildarts burst through the opening, the vestige of his scythe once more poised to deliver a killing blow. Just as the Orc predicted, Vincent was staring down at his hands with a troubled look on his face. He was so distracted by his internal turmoil that it didn''t appear as if the boy would move at all. "Too easy." Gildarts smirked, as he brought his scythe down on the man''s neck. *skriiick!* Blood flew through the air. "Ha!" Gildarts''s face was filled with self gratification and triumph. But as he looked down at a smirking Vincent, blood slowly began to flow from the Orc''s lips. Gildarts''s victorious expression slowly melted away into one of pain and shock as stark realization dawned on him. At the last possible second the boy titled his head just enough to avoid the deadly blow, while simultaneously summoning his sword in a reverse grip and spinning around to drive it through Gildarts''s guts. "Now the only thing that will be ashes.. is you." Vincent whispered sadly, withdrawing his sword and hopping back several feet. He flicked his sword to clear it of blood and sheathed it at his side. He didn''t bother summoning his shield. He wouldn''t need it. As he stared at his best friend, a sense of numbness crept over him. So much had happened in the last twenty four hours. All of this was just supposed to be a stupid hunt. And in that time his world had been flipped upside down. "Why..? To what end..?" He wondered out loud. None of it made sense. Suddenly his eyes went wide with confusion. A frown crosses his face. "Wait.. what in the hell is that?"" Purple cracks were starting to appear on Gildarts''s skin, originating from the wound created by Vincent''s sword. Vincent looked down at his sheathed blade. "The Anguish of the Father.. The reason why it increases how fast my skills level up is because it reveals the true nature of things, burning away all the distractions with its fury.. I finally get it now." He laughed. A look of great relief and happiness flooded his face and he had to resist the urge to fight back bittersweet tears. "That''s why you didn''t use any weapons or skills. And why your Aura is so twisted.." "You''re not Gildarts." Vincent concluded with a pleased expression, as the cracks continued along ''Gildarts''s'' body like deep amethyst veins. The creature''s eyes rolled back in its head as it shuddered and shook, presumably trying to maintain its stolen form. "You''re just some fucking monster wearing his skin." Vincent didn''t know what this meant for his actual friend, and that left a disgusting taste in his mouth, but at the moment he couldn''t afford to think about that. He had just over a minute left of the Mushin state and right now he had to make this bastard pay for everything it had done. He looked down at his closed fist which was pulsating. His own body was reaching its limit. "Raaaah!" The Gildarts look alike used Vincent''s momentary lapse in concentration as it once more lunged recklessly at the man. Vincent gasped and looked up, truthfully having been caught off guard by the doppelganger. "Even with your body like that you would attack me? Mindless creature." The raven haired man huffed. As ''Gildarts'' charged at Vincent with his arms stretched out wide, the vestige of the deadly scythe swiped at him. Having expected this Vincent''s own Aura exploded to life, propelling him to the left and out of harm''s way. He leapt high into the air only to quickly transition into a downward axe kick. The Orc, or whatever he truly was, hastily tried to block with his arms but the axe kick, covered in several potent abilities, cut clean through his defenses and cleaved his flesh. "Gaaaah!" The creature roared, as Vincent tore a horrendous gash from his shoulder to his hip. So bad was the damage that the entirety of the thing''s arm was nearly severed from the strike. With one arm now limp and useless at his side the towering copycat was helpless to defend himself as Vincent darted behind him and kicked him in the back of the knee, forcing him to kneel. It tried to buck and squirm but it was an exercise in futility as he felt Vincent''s strong arms wrap themselves around his head. The crook of Vincent''s elbow applied bone crushing pressure to the faker''s throat. The doppelganger began to sputter and choke, grunting and straining. He tried to scream, especially as he felt the human on top of him beginning to pull upward with his considerable strength, but there was nothing the creature could do. It''s body cracked further, the violet lines now stretching nearly all the way across it''s stolen body. "Graaaahhg!" "I''m gonna rip your fucking head clean off!" Vincent roared, only for that roar to turn into one of pain as a blinding white light shot through him. "Gahh!" Instinctively he teleported back out into the open field, dragging the Gildarts look alike and his attacker with him. Standing behind him with its tentacles sticking out of his back was the gray creature that he had originally been fighting. "D-Damn.." Vincent gasped. "Got carried away. Almost had him." He huffed. He was forced to disengage a second later as the sharp scythe comprising his opponents Aura nearly bisected the man once more. He looked up with a dissatisfied expression as the system window flashed in his face. Warning! Your health has fallen below ten percent! Seek immediate medical attention! He hadn''t been fast enough to completely avoid the damage and was now sporting a large gash across his arm in addition to the various holes in his back. Truly it was a miracle he wasn''t dead. His wounds weren''t even bleeding because his body was automatically saving what was left of his vital energies, something he couldn''t do without his current boost in stats. He quickly downed a potion and snapped his fingers. "Welp, I''m fucked¡­" He concluded. With his enhanced hearing he listened in on the conversation happening across from him, hoping to hear that perhaps his opponents would just give up and call the day a draw. Of course, he had no such luck. "Are you ok?" The gray creature asked in concern. It never once took its eyes off Vincent as it''s badly damaged companion took its time responding. "N-No.. We must kill him quickly and get back to master. This body won''t last much longer. To think he could defeat the most powerful and the most skilled of us, simultaneously. I should have copied his body instead of this buffoon..." The gray Depraved risked looking away from the human for a moment. "You said you couldn''t use that body''s full potential, what makes you think the boy will be any different?" it asked. "It''s clear these two are somehow connected..." The creature said slowly, turning back towards Vincent. ".. I highly doubt it''s just some coincidence they are so abnormally strong." He supplied. The downed Orc merely grunted in response, clearly done with the conversation. While it didn''t seem as if the cracks on its body were healing, they weren''t spreading anymore either. It slowly stood to its full height. "What do we do?" The gray creature asked. The Orc took in a deep breath before sighing. "Now, it''s our turn." He said with a malicious grin. The gray creature shot him a confused glance only for realization to dawn on him a moment later as Vincent''s Aura shrank down to a tenth of it''s original size. A lecherous grin spread across it''s face as the other worldly duo slowly stalked towards their prey. A tired Vincent sighed and watched them approach with weary eyes. He watched the vicious scythe of the faux Gildarts twirled in mid-air and the gray creature''s tentacles wiggled dangerously. "Is this how it ends?" Vincent wondered out loud. End of chapter 34 Something wicked this way comes part 5; Providence Vincent had decided that for the remainder of his admittedly probably short life, he would dub the gray Depraved as Nimrod. This was mostly due to the fact that Nimrod currently had its tentacles wrapped tightly around the man''s throat, ankles and wrists and he felt so pissed he could probably blow up the entire world. Unfortunately, he lacked the means ro do so as A) he wasn''t nearly strong enough and B) he lacked the means to even move currently. The counterfeit Gildarts walked up to the bound man who struggled feebly before settling for glaring up at the creature who dared pretend to be his friend. The doppelganger growled and in one fluid movement, sunk its ethereal scythe into Vincent''s chest. The man''s screams were muffled, his body bucking wildly as a piercing cold darkness and despair began to flood his heart. Admittedly, he was pessimistic at best, but these were foreign feelings not of his own making. They were being carried by a dark putrid substance that was being pumped directly into his soul by the ghastly appendage sticking out of his chest. ''This is.. how they do it.. I''ve seen it countless times.'' He thought internally. Vincent felt the strength of his will being sapped as the foreign despair and depression filled him. He had never met a Depraved face to face but he had studied their handiwork in depth. ''They each have a signature ability to subdue prey..'' It was apparent that the gray creature probably relied on its raw strength and various abilities to overpower foes. Meanwhile, the body snatcher used its mis-leading appearance to get in close before using its putrid Aura to poison his opponent''s souls. Neither of these two seemed particularly suited for devouring others but he was sure they could do it given enough time. As the dark evil substance continued pouring into his chest from the scythe, he was forced to watch the lives of his friends and family flash and wither before his eyes, even after he slammed them shut. Everyone he ever knew and loved was slowly being devoured by the darkness that now spread from within him. His memories became wisps of smoke and unrecognizable blurs. His loved ones reached out in desperation and pain. "I''m angry!" Vincent wanted to scream. As much as he pretended like he didn''t care about anything, he really did, deep down inside. Internally he fumed, giving shape to the words and feelings he couldn''t express out loud. ''I''m Angry I''m going to die!.. Angry, I''ll never get to see my friends or family.. I''ll never fall in love again or have kids.. This isn''t how it was supposed to go!'' He attempted several times to draw on the Blessing of Silva deus, but the Goddess''s powers refused to cooperate. It was a power he still couldn''t fully control, and his focus was shot due to his precarious situation. A bone chilling cold started to overtake him as his consciousness began to recede. "Am I.. really going to die..?" "Vincent.." came a distant voice.. Suddenly a crack of light appeared. Vincent''s eyes slowly opened but he still found himself completely surrounded in darkness. All but that one little crack.. ''Strange..'' He thought. ''That almost sounded like..'' "Vincent." Came the voice again, this time with much more force and clarity. The man in question winced and rolled his eyes. At least he thought he did. It was hard to tell in this darkness. "God damn it Gildarts.. Won''t even let me die in peace, will you? Even though it''s apparently you who''s killing me?" He chuckled lightly. "Search your feelings. This creature is not me. You know this to be true." The voice accused. Vincent shuddered, still feeling the icy coldness of death and despair all around him. "Even still.." Vincent began. He craned his neck to look at the crack that had appeared. It looked like it had grown slightly, but¡­ "There''s no way out of this darkness, Gil.. I''m scared." He admitted. He honestly wasn''t sure if this conversation was just in his head or in real life. He supposed it didn''t really matter. "It''s just.. There''s so much left that I wanted to do.." "Then do it, Vincent. I believe in you." The Orc said warmly. This time the Orc sounded so clear that Vincent couldn''t help but flinch. He looked up and to his surprise he saw his friend smiling back at him with his trademark smooth, confident smirk. Vincent couldn''t help the smile that stretched across his face as he reached out and took his friend''s outstretched hand. In the real world, the gray creature and the fake Gildarts watched in mounting concern as Vincent began to glow a bright sapphire in color. "What is this!?" Nimrod shouted. "I don''t know, you wretch!" The other retorted. "Well figure it the hell out! I thought you said no one was supposed to be able to resist your touch of death!" He accused. His tentacles were beginning to burn as the human somehow raised the temperature around his body rapidly. The Orc, looking like a piece of fine China that was a hair''s breadth from shattering, held up both his hands and yelled in effort. "They can''t! Its impossible!" As he spoke, the vestige above his head grew darker and more realistic, becoming twice as potent as before. Vincent''s body bucked and the man yelled out in pain. A second later his head snapped forward. While one of his irises were still a deep azure and the other a bloody red, they were beginning to shine with a mixture of blue and green energy. "Stop him!" "I caaaan''t!" "Singularity!" Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. There was a massive explosion that rang throughout the clearing. From the blast came a piercing blue light so bright that any normal creature in its immediate vicinity would have been blinded in an instant. A shockwave flattened the grass around them. After several minutes of intense, deafening silence a smoking Vincent slowly opened his eyes and blinked several times. The attack had destroyed what was left of the field leaving a giant crater, which was slowly filling up with drifting ash. The sky was painted black and red due to the smoke and fire. He would have wondered if he had died, but the ringing in his ears and his pounding headache told him he was still very much alive. He groaned as he sat up in the ash and dirt. Between all the damage he had taken and using his Singularity, the man''s body was all but useless. It was all he could do to stay conscious at the moment and he had a feeling that even a potion wouldn''t help him much at this point. His soul needed rest. The Singularity was especially draining on him. Looking around the dark and desolate landscape, it was impossible to tell which direction was which. Not only was it dark but none of his skills would activate due to his complete lack of energy. Fortunately he still had a few very basic passive skills and of course, Yggdrasil. The ancient tree slowly took root behind him and grew ever so slightly as it restored his physical and mental vitality. Honestly that may have been his most valuable skill.. Vincent was startled when he heard a crackling sound followed by a whoosh, but he calmed down when he realized it was just some planet matter burning and falling over. The man sighed and looked up into the smoky sky. "Too antsy.. I need water.." He mumbled. The system rarely sold it for whatever reason and he honestly hadn''t thought to pack any because he could typically just use his water torrent to draw moisture from the air. To that end, even if he had packed it, drawing things from his inventory took a small amount of mana and currently he couldn''t manipulate it. He slowly stood on shaky legs, shielding his eyes from the smoke and ash with his arm. He grimaced and lulled his tongue in his mouth. For now, all he could do was pick a direction and walk. Hopefully the first living thing he came upon wasn''t as hungry as he was¡­ He took one step and froze as the ground several meters behind him exploded upwards with a rumbling crash. Vincent slowly turned, hoping against all odds for a miracle. From the epicenter of the explosion the gray creature rose, having somehow survived. The beast was missing an arm and all but one of his tentacles were severed at various points. The other creature that had copied his friend Gildarts was nowhere to be found. However, based on how the thing had looked before and the fact that it wasn''t as sturdy as its partner, Vincent safely assumed that one was dead. The gray monster began to limp towards the downed Vincent, blood trailing in its wake. "You.." The monster growled. It''s four eyes narrowed in fury and pain. "I''m going to kill you." He swore. "And then I''m going to devour you, just like I did that mangy mutt! My powers aren''t as merciful as some of the others, I''ll have you know!" He barked rabidly. "I literally sink my teeth into my victims and eat them alive!" As the creature got within a few feet of Vincent it raised it''s one good arm and tentacle. Shadows covered Vincent''s face. "Strangely.." The Depraved began, drawing its fist back further. "She didn''t cry out even once while I ground her bones between my teeth like most of them do." The creature''s hand flattened like a spear, the same way Vincent''s had when their positions were reversed. "Haaa!" It drove its hand towards Vincent''s heart¡­ *Gasp!* The Depraved sucked in a breath and stopped just a few inches short of the man. Vincent slowly looked up, fire dancing behind his blue and red eyes. "Of course she didn''t, you fool. She was my daughter. But you will scream." "What is this?!" The creature roared, spittle flying from its mouth. It was clear that the gargantuan beast was immobilized against its will as it shook and struggled in place, seemingly struggling against nothing. That is until the ground beneath their feet lit up and a vast array sprang to life. Large symbols and various other small ones spread across the ground like chains, forming some sort of alien language. "This is my partner earning himself a pay raise." Vincent smirked. ''You don''t pay me..'' Came Lupus''s disembodied voice in his head. ''Shut up, smart ass!.." Vincent quipped back internally. ''And good job on the array.'' He praised. ''Sorry it took so long. Zar-Rhah took forever..'' He said in an excusIng manner. ''Yeah, yeah, better late than never.'' Vincent chuckled out loud. He couldn''t help but let his humor show. The beast in front of him roared, which would have been intimidating any other time. Even while being somewhat crouched, it was thrice his height and width. ''I have work to do.'' Vincent turned his attention back to the monster with an annoyed expression. He stepped around the beast''s massive palm and ambled closer to its chest. "You killed my friends." Vincent accused. He drew in closer until his face was mere inches from the snarling creature. "You ate them alive and then you were going to eat me¡­" So you have no one but yourself to blame.. When I eat you first¡­" For the next ten minutes the sickening sound of tearing flesh and crunching bones were accompanied only by unfathomable screams of agony. The world listened and watched in silence as a act great evil was done by a soul that was once innocent and pure.. When it was over Vincent stumbled and crawled his way up the crater. Blood fell down his chin like a waterfall and he resisted the urge to vomit. As he reached the lip of the crater he collapsed on his back huffing and puffing. Looking up at the sky, he couldn''t help but notice a ray of light beginning to poke through the geothermal storm he''d created. "Hn.. So peacful.. I could almost.. Take a.. Nap." He mumbled as his eyelids fluttered shut and he drifted into unconsciousness¡­ ??? "Vincent honey.." It was his mom. He knew it because of the sound of her voice. She walked around their kitchen table and placed a hand on his cheek. She wore casual PJ slippers which contrasted sharply with her classy red dress and black skirt. She, "loved to look good and feel good at the same time!" She always said.. "Help me clean up the table, won''t you?" She asked sweetly. He looked up at her face and nodded slowly. How could he say no? He couldn''t really see her, of course. From the neck up her features were shrouded and ambiguous, as they always were here in his dreams. Strange that everything else was so vivid here. The layout of his house was exactly as he remembered it¡­ He wasn''t sure but he had a working theory that the intelligence stat was what made dreams so interactive and lasting in this world. His mother got to work doing dishes while he put away leftover supper and then cleaned off the table. He made sure to leave an extra plate covered up in the microwave. His dad was working late that night, as he often did. They didn''t mind, of course. He made good money and he made up for it when he was home by being the perfect family man. And even when he was away he would constantly check on them or bring them up to his peers. None would question where the man''s heart lie. "You remember that imaginary friend you used to always talk about?" His mother asked casually. Vincent rolled his eyes. ''This one, again?'' He thought with disdain. Vincent decided to humor the dreamlike version of the woman. He honestly missed her quite dearly, even now. If this was the only chance he would get to hear her voice, then so be it. "No." He said simply, as his hands idly stacked dishes. He glided across the floor and deposited them into the sink. His ''mom'' stopped and faced him and he did the same, staring at the murky, skin color vestige and trying to remember the details of her face. He wanted so desperately to see her again. Even for just a moment. Just this once. "Thank you, sweet boy." She said with clear amusement. She hesitated for a second. Even though he couldn''t fully make out her features he knew she was tapping her chin, just like his real mom used to do. "I swear every time I see you, you somehow seem even more graceful and inhuman than before. What''s happening to you my boy?.." The woman wondered out loud. His chin fell and he stared at the granite floors. ''I.. keep asking myself the same thing mother..'' "Anyways, what was his name? Gilgamesh? No that wasn''t it. Geralt? No that''s not it either¡­" she said with irritation beginning to creep into her voice. "Oh I remember! It was Gildarts!" She exclaimed happily while snapping her fingers in the same trademark way that Vincent himself always did. "You used to go on and on about all the adventures the two of you would go on together and how happy you were when he taught you how to ''hunt!''" At this point his mother was rambling and excited, not even registering the look of abject shock on Vincent''s face. This had never happened before in any of his dreams.. "Mom? How do you..?" He asked, looking up at her in bewilderment. But as he did so his breath hitched in his throat. His mom raised an eyebrow, cocking her head slightly. "Ehat do you mean, honey? You always used to tell me a story about the Nexus before you went to bed at night." The last thing he saw was his mother''s smiling face. It was clear as day. Just as beautiful as he remembered. End of chapter 35 The cycle of Life, Rot and Ash Vincent had always wanted children. He''d just never really been in a stable enough position in life to have them. Of course, he had only been twenty one when the system had inducted him so he was incredibly young. Basically still a kid himself. By all accounts he should have had plenty of time left still. It was something he hadn''t thought about immediately but over the course of the last few years that he had been stranded in this country he had come to the bitter realization that the system may very well have taken that chance away from him for all of eternity. For some reason that was a bitter pill that he found hard to swallow. If he couldn''t pass on his genetics and name, what then would he leave behind as his legacy when he was gone? If he never created life would he be destined only to take it? If it were neither of these things, then was he destined for anything at all? Many a lovely yet lonely night, he spent crying in the woods beneath the pale moonlight, wondering who he was meant to be.. And where? In truth, ever since seeing his mom''s face in that dream a month ago, he had been missing his old life more than usual¡­ "No.. that''s not it.. It wasn''t a dream." Vincent mumbled with certainty. His brow furrowed into a frown. "It was a memory.." The man from Earth could currently be found in his cave sitting deep in meditation. Suddenly a small object impacted his back, forcefully causing him to yelp in fright. He barreled forward, crashing face first into the cave wall where he slowly slid down it in a comical fashion. In a very un-gentle he was reminded that, even though he never raised a family of his own back on earth, he had become a very important part of his new family here within the Nexus. Currently he was surrounded by 6 very young, very hyper wolf pups that were hard at work tearing apart his home. Some were digging out his garden and others were wildly scratching about, ruining alot of the engravings he had placed around his home. Oh? And currently the smallest one was¡­ Peeing on the central pillar.. A tick mark formed on his head and he puffed out his chest. He was nearing his wits end. He imagined taking care of these stress inducing bastards was pretty much the same premise of emotions he could expect to feel when tending for human offspring. Very rarely did a wolf mother give birth in his pack but when they did, he as the Alpha always took the time to get to know them. Monster birth was spectacularly difficult for most creatures due to the massive influx between the stats of typical newborns and the stats of their parents. It often took several grueling hours of labor and multiple rounds of gouging and healing. Honestly he thought it was a damn wonder how birth could have somehow become even more difficult with the system but it seemed at least that infant and mother mortality was virtually non-existent, despite the grueling process the mother was put through. And the end result of course was as ireplicably as beautiful as ever. It was a lot easier for humanoid creatures that were often more intelligent and had far more versatile tools than the monsters found in nature, but even that was a painful process as the Orcs were a proud people who didn''t use medicine or artificial means of incubation. No matter how he looked at it, the world seemed to have somehow become a much harsher reality than the privileged life he had known before. This particular litter was special as it belonged to a dear friend of his.. Dawn, the once helpless and hapless Lunar wolf pup he had saved. Vincent would allow no other but himself to guard these¡­ precious angels. Naturally, the gods hated him for his goodwill and handsome face, so it would be his luck that due to system shenanigans the pups would be capable of running around at 100 miles per hour, getting into any amount of trouble and causing him untold amounts of grief. Some days he swore he''d rather tangle with dragons and gods than have to babysit the hell hounds that were the young of his pack. He was huffing, pulling out his hair and practically frothing at the mouth while looking frantically left and right for the final of the 6 pups. Naturally, he finally found the pup in question who had been trying to eat his entire years worth of garden produce in one sitting near the back of his home. Vincent sighed and shook his head. At least he was eating his vegetables? Looking over, the man noticed a few of the pups tugging on Lupus, dragging him towards the mouth of the cave while he scratched the floors and fought back in undignified terror. Vincent stopped struggling and took in a deep breath before stomping his foot with enough force to crack the solid system enhanced granite beneath his foot. "Enough!" He bellowed, raising his arm and entangling each of the 6 pups with a thick net of non-thorny vines with Plante. He huffed and puffed, face redder than a stop sign from the old days. "You brats are going home to your damn parents." The man yelled. "Today!" He finished, pointing at the ground before storming off with his messy net of writhing vines dragging the pups behind him. The creatures yipped and hollered with joy as they were dragged along for what they perceived to be a joy ride with their favorite grandfather figure. Vincent had intended to keep them for a full seven days to give the prince a well deserved vacation after having a litter with his mate but after only five days Vincent could stand it no longer. He really wasn''t cut out for this. A few minutes later, still huffing and puffing, he dropped the pups off in a yipping heap of flailing limbs just inside the retrace of their parent''s den. "I believe these are yours." He focused the parents with an accusing glare. The two wolves looked extremely sheepish, but grateful bowing and tucking their ears. They stayed low in respect for a moment, giving thanks to their leader for the much needed week of rest. Vincent could see the crescent moon shaped scar on the prince''s side, the only blemish in an otherwise perfect coat of gleaming fur so blue it nearly seemed black. The pup had changed a great deal since obtaining it''s final evolution. So much so, that Vincent barely even recognized him. Truly he was proud. "Dawn." He called, a small note of seriousness creeping into his voice. The wolf prince stared back at him with an easy expression. The two shared a great deal with one another through their bond. A look passed between them. Meaning was silently exchanged between the two before the wolf nodded and followed its leader with confidence and loyalty. The two of them met on top of a platform grown from the side of a massive tree somewhere much further down the wall of the jungle. Vincent had a habit of creating add ons to their territory whenever he got bored. Even if they were completely unnecessary, with some being located several dozen yards away from his main structures. When Vincent and Dawn had finally settled into comfortable positions, the wolf gave him a long meaningful look. Vincent looked a tad bit uncomfortable and squirmed under his adoptive brother''s gaze. "Look¡­ I don''t know how to say this so I''m just going to put it straight. I can''t be the Alpha anymore¡­" At this Dawn''s eyes encompassed the size of the moon. He made to growl but Vincent interrupted with a pleadingly wave of his hands. "Wait, wait, wait please just hear me out. I''m not.. I''m not leaving, you know?" At this the wolf gave him a look as if to say, "You think that makes things any better?" Vincent for his part gave the wolf a half-hearted smile. "Listen big guy.. I''ll always be here to protect the family. But you know I''m.. Different. Meant for something else. I won''t be around forever, one way or another. It''s just not the natural way. And you.." He stopped to look the beast in it''s eyes. Their eye colors mirrored one another in an eerie manner. If one didn''t know any better they would swear they were actually related but for obvious reasons that wasn''t exactly possible. "I''ve watched you.. Since you were just a defenseless little pup fighting for your life that day, all the way up until now. You''ve become a strong, kind warrior. One that I can be proud of. One father would have been proud of. You are ready. You understand me? You''re going to be better than either of us ever were." The wolf''s shining blue eyes glistened and it nodded slowly. It was a bittersweet moment for the creature, and for Vincent of course. Congratulations! Your title as the Leader of the wolf pack has been transferred to another! All benigits have been lost. Warning! Due to unusual circumstances an unexpected shift in the quality of your skills occurs.. Error.. Recalculating. Congratulations! Perk: Benevolent Patreon God of the Wolf pack! Achieved! Benevolent Patreon; God of the Wolf pack. you are the revered patreon of the most powerful pack in Garkan. Your followers look to you for guidance, shelter and sustenance. The love and well wishes of your supporters urges you to grow strong enough to provide great fortunes and boons to them. All skills level up faster depending on the development of your Network of Souls. The two spent some time saying their goodbyes. Literally saying them as Dawn was now capable of speech being the appointed Alpha of the pack. For simplicity''s sake the pair agreed that the rest of the pack could refer to either of them as Alpha and they would share equal command but ultimately Dawn was given the final say on things and all the subsequent responsibilities that entailed. When the duo arrived back at Dawn''s section of the pack''s den it seemed his mate was close to reaching her wits end, as Vincent had been an hour prior. Vincent and Dawn looked at the mess of a den which contained the hellions before looking at one another. Vincent flashed him an exhausted look clearly meaning something along the lines of, ''I absolutely do not envy you.'' Brfore the man turned and looked at the pleading wolf mama and smiled apologetically. He then focused his attention on the wolf pups and, in a manner that would have appeared hilarious before the system, he growled. As it stood because of the way the system had evolved Vincent into a true monster with abilities that subjugated the will of others, it was downright terrifying. The wolf pups yelped in shock and froze before standing at attention, shivering in fear. Their tails were tucked between their legs, ears down and eyes full of anxiousness. With his Aura and will keeping the pups in line he turned to Dawn and said, "So umm.. They''re probably hungry. And then they''ll want to play. I umm.. built them a little pond not far from here." He admitted, scratching his head. "Then in the afternoons they cuddle. Smallest to largest when they pile up, except you who has to be on the bottom, no matter what." He said with a hint of annoyance. "Then its exercise time¡­ umm.. yeah. I''m sure you can take it from here¡­" As Vincent turned to leave he couldn''t help but sigh and say briefly over his shoulder, "They eat snacks at midday and midnight.. the runt is the orneriest.. she always acts like she''s hungry even after she just ate but she''s just testing you. So.. yeah. Bye." He darted off before he could change his mind. Perhaps it was just as well that things had turned out the way they did.. He wasn''t even sure he would have made a good father as a human.. The man was pathetically weak back on earth, not just in terms of physical capabilities but his emotional and mental maturity had grown by leaps and bounds through these years of constant struggles under the thumb of the system. Before entering the Nexus his greatest ailments in life were conforming to society.Were people still around, that may have still been a problem even today. However, at least in this new world he now found himself he had the power and resources to live his life on his own terms and protect what was precious to him. Finally at peace for the first time in days, Vincent sat alone in his quiet cave. His companion was out gathering materials now. Ever since the event nearly a year ago, Lupus had been evolving in small subtle ways. It went beyond simple stats. He had began to act more human and even less childlike as the days progressed. He had started to communicate a lot more, and not just with Vincent. The man sat cross-legged in his favorite meditative position and placed his palms together, as if to pray. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in concentration. "Kind of lonely now, when it''s this quiet.." He muttered. He thought about his companion and how, looking back on it, he had originated as a small piece of Vincent''s soul and a bit of energy. He couldn''t help but to wonder.. was that the basis of all life? A small piece of a soul to give shape to something.. A seed. And then a sufficient amount of energy for that seed to grow and evolve into its own significant existence.. If that were the case.. then what did that mean for people? What did that mean for monsters? In a classic case of chicken or the egg, the question became where did it all begin? Was it possible that the religious nut jobs of the pre-system earth weren''t far off? Perhaps everything started all at the behest of some higher power. Perhaps all it did was plant a seed and step away... Vincent had never been the religious type in the old world. He believed in.. something.. an invisible energy that connected each and every living and nonliving life form. He believed one could sense these energies to a degree, hence why there was empathy in humans. Perhaps all of that was true to some extent, but perhaps it was also true that the energy needed for such a miraculous phenomenon originally came from a benevolent entity, billions of years in the past.. A combination of spirituality and science. Vincent had met a God. Or rather a Goddess. He had definitive proof that they existed. So maybe it wasn''t too far off to say a certain ''God'' gave a small piece of his soul and energy with the intent of making life on earth, the evolution of which resulted in humans. Vincent was certain that the Nexus itself may have encompassed the entire universe long before it had even come for his homeworld. It may have existed since the beginning of the universe and beyond. He wondered if this was what the system called the path to the truth and if so¡­ He had a long way to go. He also figured there were just some things he would never know. Vincent focused, digging deep within himself until he found the source of his powers, his Soulspace. It had taken him a long time but through blood, sweat and tears the man had become proficient enough to see, manipulate and even traverse his Soulspace. He called this Dreamwalking. He glanced up absently as the energy above him that clung to the ceiling of the cave pulsed and warped, seemingly reacting to the mounting tension in the air. Once he had learned about the truth and origins of Nectar from Vita a few months ago, it hadn''t taken him very long to put two and two together. The stuff that had been ever present throughout his cave since day 1, was in fact that very same substance. Raw, unrefined fuel of the Nexus, in its most pure form. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He sighed. What he had planned was probably going to suck really bad honestly. Assuming it didn''t just kill him outright, or worse. Gritting his teeth Vincent gripped his Soul with metaphysical hands manifested from his will. He grunted and hissed as Vincent forcefully ripped a small portion of his Soul away from the rest. He winced and muffled a roar. As predicted it was an uncomfortably painful process, even for him. It reminded him distinctly of that time the system had basically tried to control-alt-delete his ass after creating System interference. Warning! All stats have been reduced by¡­ Warning! Error¡­ Some skill levels have been reduced by¡­ "Mother fucker.. that sucked." Vincent sighed. ''Doubly so¡­'' He thought with a swrat drop, looking at his reduced stats. Thankfully, he didn''t need much of his soul for what he was trying to accomplish. As was clearly evident, any piece of the Soulsapce lost permanently took with it an amount of proportional power and emotion/significance. For example, if you lost 50 percent of your soul you could expect to lose at least 50% of your power and capacity to feel things. Of course, in cases that extreme, where such a massive amount of the soul was compromised, the average Soulspace would probably just collapse. That was apparently a fate worse than death. Someone like Vincent would be especially vulnerable. His abnormally large and mutated Soulsapce housed dozens of skills working in unison to provide him with his functioning mind, body and soul. If he suddenly lost half of everything he was, the other half would try and fill the remaining space but.. many of his skills and much of what makes him, him, would probably be irreparably damaged or outright destroyed. There was no telling what sort of effect that had on someone. It was a subject best avoided altogether, but for this one instance.. Vincent wanted to see just what exactly he was truly capable of. He knew that if he wanted, he could take life easily, with a casual flick of his wrist. Especially with his new skills... But could he create something as well..? Vincent focused as hard as he could on the tiny ball of swirling energies between his palms. It was a piercing, deep blue mixed with a sharp gold color. He was beginning to sweat as the small ball struggled and rebelled against his will. After a few intense minutes the energies reluctantly gave way to his domineering resolution and something ''clicked'' into place, making the piece of Soul self-sustaining. Vincent breathed out a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead. Congratulations! Soul Seed created! Cultivate this soul seed by infusing it with your energy to guide its evolutionary path! He smirked and began pushing tiny little fragments of all of his skills into the seed a little at a time. Focusing intently, he relied mainly on his Spirit fusion to imbue the seed with three specific new skills (and all of the repulsive, disgusting thoughts and feelings that comprised them) that he had inadvertently created from devouring the depraved¡­ Skill: Devour (Edax Animarum) The gluttonous ability of a depraved soul with unrivaled potential. As the user'' devours thr souls of others, their own mutates and grows, but so too does their hunger. The denizens of the Nexus detest such grotesque behavior and will try to stop you along your path to the truth. Only true heretics tread this path of loneliness and pain. Due to the ''???''... Error.. Recalculating! Congratulations! Legendary rarity effects have been applied! ¡­(Legendary) rarity, speed and efficiency of the user''s ability to devour energy is increased a massive amount per level. Grants the skill Absolute authority. (Passive skill) Skill: Progenitor of the Sectum Anima (Mythical) A unique surgical skill created by one who readily controls the inner workings of the Soul. Severs the Soulsapce of the user''s victim. Level of effectiveness is determined by the strength of the user vs the victim. As the progenitor of the Sectum Anima meaning; Sever Soul, your ability is automatically maxed. Takes a considerable toll on the user. (Active skill) Skill: Absolute Authority (Mythical) A uniquely powerful paralysis skill even among the depraved. Created to spite the system by the one who would devour even the Gods. User directly attacks the soul of their targets with the totality of their existence, paralyzing their victims and forcefully taking control of their Soulspace. Due to the ''Mythical'' rarity gain an astronomical bonus to Range and strength of paralysis per skill level. All stats grant a considerable boost to this skill. (Active ability) Vincent frowned. He really didn''t like the thought of being labeled as a depraved or a heretic after all the times he had spent studying their handiwork. But in the end he knew that was what he had become. He had tested it soon after unlocking the skills and, as one might expect, absorbing another soul created feelings of intense agony and emotional turmoil. These abilities were dark, dangerous things that often consumed their users. He figured the bit about devouring ''Gods'' may have been because he occasionally tapped into the power of Silva Deus. He highly doubted he actually had any snowballs chance in hell of absorbing a divine deity before they smote his ass. He shuddered. Even though he said he wouldn''t use these powers needlessly, he realized that perhaps he had long past the point of being what one would consider a.. ''good person''. The system.. and even the world before it, had made him cold and bitter. So if he was a bad guy he wouldn''t be surprised. He didn''t want to be but if that''s what it took to protect himself from the pain of losing others... It''s not like he wrnt out of his way to kill, but he didn''t go out of his way to avoid it anymore either. If someone threatened him or his family there would be no hesitation. Moralities aside, the abilities themselves made it seem that even though the system loathed the depraved as a whole, it couldn''t help its nature in rewarding what it perceived as incredibly resilient effort and intention. To be pure of heart didn''t necessarily mean being ''good'' as long as your desire and intent were unwavering and true.. As he continued cultivating the Soul seed he focused carefully on equalizing spirit fusion, Edax Animarum, Progenitor of the Sectum Anima and Absolute Authority. All of his other skills combined only contributed roughly 20 percent of this new soul seed. Meanwhile the primary four made up the entire rest of the remaining 80%. His Trinity armor, his Anguish of the father and his Mother''s Embrace had all gathered massive amounts of experience and Nectar that they had no real way of using, due to being restricted by his own level. He had long since come to realize that even if his equipment and himself could gather Nectar and experience they wouldn''t level as they were missing another piece of the puzzle that he hadn''t quite figured out yet. To that end he had been using his equipment more or less as massive batteries to fuel his skills and practice his ability to manipulate the Soulspace. Whether by sheer luck or coincidence he also felt that since their levels were the same as his own, his efficiency grew faster. Besides it was just experience he granted during combat and killing enemies. He could always get more when he eventually did find out how to level up. Experience was more or less raw Nectar gathered from slain souls, just like what he saw on the ceiling, only there was a noticeable difference. The Nectar derived from the Souls of others was spelled with red dots and veins, rather than the usual black. He had a strong feeling that was a key difference that he wasn''t quite comprehending. Even though he couldn''t figure out how to make use of this new version of Nectar to level up, for someone who was so proficient in understanding and controlling energy, storing it and transferring it from his equipment into his new soul seed was child''s play. It was just as well he did this now, because his poor weapon and armors were beginning to feel extreme amounts of discomfort from being so over gorged on Nectar and skill XP. "I''m sorry my friends. We don''t have to hurt any more. We did great." Congratulations! Astronomical Synchronization detected! As you learn to more efficiently harness all of your significance in tandem, your skills strengthen one another. Your efficiency has increased by 1 percent! Warning! Your soul seed is forcefully evolving! Forced trial activation! Trial: Insatiable Abominable; Embodiment of Death and Rot, Initiated! Vincent''s eyes widened. "Forced trial!? What the hell? And at a time like this!?" His body seized as the world dissolved around him. His mind raced, heart beating a million times a minute. Trials were something he specifically avoided these days due to how inherently dangerous they were, and the fact that he was waiting for something very specific.. The system, it seemed, had other plans for him. As everything came back into view he was astonished by what he saw. It was as if he were floating throughout the cosmos, innumerable stars of various intensity and sizes were spread infinitely in all directions. Massive streams of energy and matter collided, flowing around him and even through him. Suspended directly in front of him was.. well.. the Earth. He was watching it evolve and change in a series of five distinct stages. The very first Earth was covered in magma and charred dirt. The ''ocean'' that covered roughly 60 percent of the surface at this time was one of pure lava. Vincent knew this was the earth in its infancy, bustling with potential and power. The second stage was how he would have described the world on which he''d been born. It was luscious and full of life. A variable mix of green, blue and white with sprinkles of brown. This was the Earth at the epitome of its life bearing years. Healthy and strong. Humanity had come together and put aside their differences, and in the span of a hundred years Earth knew true peace. Of course, seventy three percent of the planet was water, but life was found in all manner of spaces¡­ The third stage was a barren, black/brown wasteland with a cracked surface and spurts of lava shooting upwards now and again. There was a greenish puke yellow atmosphere. Vincent''s metaphysical body suppressed a shudder as he could nearly sense the toxicity of it from his position billions of miles away. How he was even able to perceive any of this, he wasn''t sure. Probably because it was a trial. This was clearly the earth at the tail end of its life cycle. The beginning of the end. The fourth stage started out as a slow and silent explosion that seemed to take a painstakingly long time. There was a kaleidoscope of colors followed by a ring of force with an incalculable amount of energy behind it. Simply witnessing the spectacle nearly tore Vincent''s psyche to pieces. When the worst of the explosion had subsided, and the largest chunks of debris had drifted away, it left behind a gray rock a hundredth of the earth''s original size. All around the hunk of dead rock was a mist which was presumably composed of atomized particles of mass. The earth in this stage was a dead shell, surrounded by its carcass. From what he could observe the relatively smaller and now dead earth was beginning to flake and crumble, joining the sparkling dust drifting through the cosmos. It looked like it was becoming ash. The fifth stage was a trillion dead planet''s worth of ash just like the earth, conjoing and accumulating into a mass of swirling energy. The end of the universe was just a new beginning... The big bang. As the dust/ash of more and more stars began to merge with the congregating mass, an indescribable explosion rocked the universe, and Vincent to the core. He screamed in unison with universe as if he was the universe. It was unsettling witnessing the incomprehensible forces at play before him. And then the cycle began again. He watched and studied again and again, witnessing the flows of energies in each of the different stages and how they fit together in the greater whole. It occurred to him that, just as he had theorized, the planet was truly alive. He wasn''t sure whether it was conscious or not, but it held a soul. All of its mannerisms and organisms and cycles and behaviors were remarkably similar to humans. In the same way that when humans get sick and their bodies react, so too did the Earth as it caused an ice age or a flood. It was all in an attempt to maintain homeostasis. To follow the primary instinct of survival. In the beginning.. Vincent saw life and prosperity. The vital energies grew to a singularity point. Then.. death and rot would take hold, feasting on the life that had flourished and grown for so long. Next there would be fire, a combustion, using all of that vital energy and rot as a fuel source which created a powerful flame beyond compare. All of creation turned to ash.. But that wasn''t truly the end, was it? That ash would act as fertilizer, giving birth to a new even more potent cycle in the form of a big bang as this energy too reached a tipping point. An endless loop that continually grew stronger with each successful completion¡­ "Humans always wondered where it started.." Vincent murmured. It became clearz at least to him, that they existed in a small part of an infinite loop. "But the truth is.. it''s a bootstrap paradox.. it''s entirely possible there is no beginning or end. Because they are one." Vincent''s eyes widened. It suddenly dawned on him that the trial was resonating in some way with his Soulspace. What was happening with the Earth was being mirrored within himself because of his spectacular array of abilities and how they worked together to simulate the cycle. His Soulspace was going through the constant process of self improvement. His massive vitality and all of his abilities gathered life within him. All around him vibrant green energy exploded, Silva Deus activated on a metaphysical level, amplifying three effects. Tons of vines and plant matter burst to life rapidly around him. But then toxicity and poison began to spread through the Vines and flowers, mutating and twisting them into disgusting misshapen blobs of decaying rot. The plant life festered and burst into clouds of toxin before slowly dispersing, turning everything around it to a pile of bone and death. Just as the death and stench of decay started to become suffocating, a spark ignited, turning all of the disgusting rot that was once life into ash in a blazing inferno. The flames within him burned, more intensely than any he had ever produced before. The fires of his soul raged for hours upon hours. When they were done the ash lay still in its wake for several minutes, gathering vitality before Vines even thicker than before exploded from the ash. He watched as the Soulseed he produced slowly began to take shape into a rather large, mostly humanoid creature. It had a body much like a minotaur; furry from its chest down, and ridiculously tall and muscular. His upper torso, forearms and upper legs had golden armor with blue engravings that translated roughly into Death and Rot. Its head looked alot like the Egyptian Pharaohs of old. His face was smooth and metallic like, with cloudy white eyes and bluish skin. He exuded power and violence. Congratulations! New soul-bound companion has been created! Companion has half of all its progenitors stats and all skills/skill levels. + Companions level and evolve separate from creator Suddenly Lupus appeared within the confines of the trial. The being looked confusedly at its master who returned the confused look in kind. "Vincent.. What is this?" It questioned. The man merely shrugged. "The birth of my newest soul companion I guess. Not sure why you got drug into this though. Time is supposed to eb frozen out there¡­" Lupus for his part merely nodded before it studied its newborn brother. Eventually he shuddered. "I must be honest. I do not like what I sense from this being." Vincent for his part merely chuckled in understanding. He had to admit he felt the same inherently wrong vibes from the ominous creature that Lupus surely did. "You''re made from all of my most positive qualities and emotions. The vibrant and tranquil life energy within me. He is your polar opposite. He is my death, misery and rot. I should expect some friction." It was becoming more and more apparent as Lupus''s level grew and he continued to evolve that he embodied all of Vincent''s amazing vitalities and positive emotions which explained why his stats grew so fast and he was always in some stupidly happy mood. Vincent''s vitality was easily his strongest attribute. This new being before him however came from the deepest darkest depths of his soul. It hungered for death and power. He could sense that between Lupus, himself and now this new being which he identified as the Insatiable Abomination, the cycle of Life, Rot and Ash was made whole. Furthermore, Vincent''s armor and equipment were a trinity as well as he and his companions. There was significance in this as their souls bonded and strengthen one another even further. Just like with his equipment he was none of them and all of them at the same time¡­ Lupus was the life-force that provided vital energies. The insatiable Abomination devoured that life adding death and rot affinities. And finally Vincent was the flame that would consume all of the provided energies to fuel the combustion of his powers. The Ash left behind from hid enemies would be the fertilizer from which he would grow even further. Congratulations! Synchronization achieved! A shift is occurring within your innermost self. Your Soulsapce has begun to evolve and mutate! Synergy detected! Overflowing synergy detected! New skills created! New Feat acquired! New perk received! New¡­ Skill: Incinerate (Mythical) Everything in creation turns to ash. Burn for me. Incinerate! Due to the ''Mythical'' rarity user gains a peerless bonus to mastery over the element of flame per level. (Active ability) Skill: Festering Scarlet Rot (Mythical) Any wound you inflect is automatically infected with scsrlet rot, causing continuous decay damage until the user cancels their attack or opponents succumb to death. Due to the ''Mythical'' rarity gain a peerless bonus to the potency of the user''s acid and poison based attacks per level. (Passive ability) Skill: Ameliorate Wound (Mythical) Your cells explode with vitality. None save the most powerful in the Nexus can snuff out your existence. Due to the ''Mythical'' rarity gain a peerless bonus in passive regenerations and a massive bonus in your ability(ies) to focus healing per skill level. (Passive ability) Somewhere deep within the Nexus, the anointed prince stirs¡­ New feat: Never Ending Cycle of Life, Rot and Ash! Your Soulspace has forged connections within the Nexus that mimic the very premises of life and death itself. Your soul continually accumulates more significance over time increasing the potency of your Aura. Gather power far faster in areas saturated with Nectar or elements. Grants the perk Soulspace cycle. Unique Perk: Soulspace cycle Lvl 1. grants a Soul Skill; Soulspace Cycle (Unique) grows stronger with each full cycle completion. Unique perk. SoulSkill Current bonus + 10 all stats. Vincent grunted and sputtered as he was forcefully ejected from the trial and slammed against the floor of the cave. "That Was¡­ unpleasant." He gasped, holding his ribs. He sat up and rubbed his head. Just before the end of the trial he had caught a glimpse of the rapidly changing earth. He couldn''t help but notice that at the end it was flickering through the stages of the cycle so fast they were an indistinguishable blurry ring. It looked kind of like a singularity stream of energy. He thought about how Lupus had discovered that moving energies faster increased their potency and he figured he could apply the same principles with his Soulspace cycle as well. But for now that could all wait. Looking at his two companions, Lupus and the Insatiable abomination he narrowed his eyes as he studied them. The two of them could not have been more different. Lupus''s abilities were primarily derived from his physical capabilities and vital energies. His raw stats and skill levels were nearly double Vincent''s own. He was an incredible healer both for himself and allies and his efficiency rose even faster than Vincent''s. To put it bluntly, his companion was just a bit stronger than he was, at least physically. Lupus''s strength and skills were currently somewhere between a level 40-50. His evolution through harvested Nectar contributed a lot to his current mental maturity as well. Vincent was sure he would have to start from scratch with his new companion but it seemed his worries were unwarranted as his new soulseed averaged its level out based on Vincent and his plant comanion''s current capabilities. He could tell just by reading the flows of the things energies that while Lupus relied on high stats and energy levels, this thing relied on an incredibly powerful combination of paralysis, toxin and soul devouring skills. He also got the distinct impression that while Lupus''s physical capabilities may be superior, this thing''s mental capabilities, its techniques and its skills would keep them relatively on par with each other. The best part about Edax Animarum and Progenitor of the Sectum Anima was that he could use them at long range, but they left him extremely vulnerable. Effectively that meant that if they hunted as a group Lupus could be the tank, Vincent the tactical leader and the Abomination the support/sabotage. Vincent idly wondered what would happen if the Abomination managed to absorb an entire level 100 monster. What percentage of the thing''s stats would it receive? The one time Vincent had used the ability he had barely gotten anything at all for his trouble, he had managed to absorb a level 50 mythical creature that was probably equally as strong as the Fang had been. It was heavily wounded and therefore unable to resist the combination of his paralysis and Sectum Anima as he adjusted to his new skills. Severing the soul wasn''t necessary to absorb it but it certainly made things easier and he needed to know how it worked. It did cost quite a chunk of his own health though. He remembered the pain was ridiculous. He was forced to leave the thing alive for the full effects of devour and he had still barely gotten 5 to each stat. But he supposed his soul seed, a creature that was made partially on the basis of the ability, might not have as rough of a time with it. In the end he would let his companions grow in their ways and he would stick to what he was good at; improving the overall quality of his Soulspace. Here lately it seemed as if his Soulspace had been taking a very distinctive shape.. "It''s almost time." He decided. With all of their abilities and souls amplifying one another he was sure his power would grow faster than ever now. Each of his companions summoned their versions of their soul bound equipment and the three of them began to train their asses off to get a feel for the dynamic of their teamwork. End of chapter 36. Misery loves company Having completed his goal for now, Vincent bid his pack farewell and began a trek to Zar-Rhah''s place. He decided he would go it alone today. It saddened him that he rarely hunted with the family anymore.. He blamed it on them not needing him but Vincent knew the truth. He neglected most things in favor of work and training these days. Deep down he knew that. Loneliness was the price of power, Zar-Rhah had said one time. If Vincent really wanted to be the strongest he had to forsake everything else to improve himself. "You have nothing when you stand at the top.." He didn''t know what he meant at the time.. The trip didn''t take long. It never did anymore.. If he wanted to, he could travel at the speed of sound. That was pushing his skills to the absolute limit though. Today he took a much more leisurely pace, collecting materials and studying the scenery. Still it took less than twenty minutes to reach their destination. When he arrived the grizzled old master was making tea and a familiar face greeted them. Vincent smiled wide. "Gildarts! It''s been a long time my friend. How have you been keeping?" For just the briefest moments some part of Vincent''s instincts wanted him to take a defensive stance against the Orc man as he closed the distance between them, but his logical brain smothered the impulse immediately. The Orc in question boomed in laughter and clapped his much smaller friend on the back with the force of a freight train. Vincent nearly face-faulted not expecting to still be so outclassed by the jade giant. ''That definitely confirms it.. If that had been the real Gildarts I fought a month ago, I''d be dead.'' He chuckled internally to himself. "I have been well, Vincent. Thank you my mighty friend. Truly you have grown. I can sense the stirrings of an Aura within you. Astonishing given your.. condition." Vincent snorted. Gildarts always seemed to approach the subject of his inability to level with tentative care which was just weird considering.. it was Gildarts. "Y9u have no idea. And it''s not like I''m some kind of cripple. Besides, when you become king I have to be strong enough to at least seem like a somewhat competent royal guard." Vincent joked. "No way I''m not living it up in the palace with you." Gildarts shook his head. "I would expect as much from one such as you. Content with second place. Though your powers have grown, your spine is still pathetic bahahaha!" Gildarts Roared back in what amounted to his attempt at a joke. Vincent flashed a genuine smile at his friend before walking to the back wall of the cave, which was poorly lit. "Freaking vampire." Vincent muttered. It annoyed him how dark his master liked it. The four walls of Zar-Rhah''s cave were lined with various potions, many of which were actually created by Vincent himself over the last few years. Alchemy was not one of the areas Orcs excelled in. For someone like Vincent, who created more potions in a single day them he knew what to do with in a month, sparing some of his stronger ones in exchange for favors or information seemed like a win win. While the man was proud of all of his works, the back wall of the cave in particular was extra special. It contained the strongest spirits, you see. Vincent grabbed a robust, black bottle that was entirely unmarked save five X''s across the thickest portion. He pulled the cork off with a resounding ''pop!'' as he made his way back over to his friends. They wasted no time pouring three large glasses and cheering one another before partaking in the savory, succulent liquor. It didn''t take long for the three of them to find their happy place again agyer what had felt like so long of all work and no play. "You know.. *Hiccup!*" Vincent began slowly, measuring his words. The two Orcs looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I really wish the damn blue window had a stat that tells you how fucked up you were.. or wereren''t..?" He asked in confusion to no one in particular. Gildarts placed a pacifying hand on Vincent''s comparably tiny shoulder. "Vincent.. I never told you this, but I feel I would be remiss in my duties as your ''bestest friend'' if I did not inform you of your error in judgment. You''re the only person I''ve ever met that can see this ''blue window''." The Orc admitted. Vincent''s eyes went wide as saucers. "Get the fuck out. All those times I rambled on about it and you just nodded as if you completely understood what I was saying?" He wondered. Gildarts shrugged and drank some more. "Originally, I honestly just assumed you were a lunatic.." Gildarts began, causing a tickmar to appear on Vincent''s forehead. "...But the things you know and the things you''re capable of.. I came to realize you were special. And perhaps an outcast. Like me." He said sincerely. Vincent was torn between feeling squishy from the heartfelt sentiment and feeling like he should kick hsi friend''s ass for treating him like he was a child who still believed in Santa clause. Suddenly Vincent gasped, spinning around to face his master. "But wait a minute! You too Zar-Rhah!?" He yelled in disbelief. His master stared at him with a stoned face expression. "I have never seen the blue window. No living Orc has." He said simply. Vincents mouth hing open in shock. "But I just assumed.." He stammered, but his master finished for him. "That everyone else saw what you saw? I''ve tried telling you you are unique, dimwit. Sometimes the system speaks to us. But it does not communicate. For those of us born in the Nexus.. We are slaves to an intangible God." He said casually, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "As intelligent as you are, you really don''t pay much attention, Vincent." Gildarts observed with a shrug. Drinking from his mug. "Agreed." Zar-Rhah concurred, as he too began to drink. "Gonna get himself killed." *drink"*drink" "Probably." *drink" *drink* *drink" Vincent looked back and forth between the two of them with confusion and irritation. "Why does it feel like the two of you have reversed this?.." He asked with annoyed, squinted eyes. All joking aside this really did seem like a shocking and import revelation. Which just made it all the more annoying that the two beings before him couldn''t seem to care less about the subject. He sighed and decided that if you can''t beat them.. join them, as he too began to drink excessively. It was roughly an hour later when Vincent finally decided that he needed to address the issue he had originally come to discuss with his master. Running into Gildarts had merely been a happy accident and a stroke of good fortune. "Gildarts.." Vincent''s voice lost all pretense of joy and optimism as he looked at his best friend and then his master. ".. and you too, master. We need to have a talk. I ran into some of the depraved." He said solemnly. This in turn caught both of the Orcs'' full attention as Zar-Rhah leaned in closely and Gildarts finished what was in his mug, narrowing his eyes over the rim. "They always just seemed like mindless beast.. driven by instincts.. but.. They weren''t. Everything we thought we knew about them was wrong¡­" Vincent took in a deep breath as he recalled the events that took place that day. He told them all about the battle and everything he learned throughout the battle. He explained how, using that empowered state he had initially been winning.. until the Gildarts doppelganger showed up. Once he''d finished he looked at his friend with serious eyes. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "That Depraved somehow managed to copy you down to the subatomic level, Gil. His soul was even made of the same flows of energy yours is. That shouldn''t even be possible." He said, still somewhat not believing what he''d seen. The two Orcs patiently waited for him to continue, as it was clear he had more to say. "Although.. I should have known something was off when the shape of your Aura and Soulspace were different. I guess that''s one thing they can''t replicate. Probably because they''re based on our personality and life experiences." Vincent concluded. "Our Karma." Zar-Rhah agreed. The three of them sat in silence for a time as Vincent''s words and the gravity of their situation sank in. The fact that the Depraved were a coordinated group with an active leader changed everything. At the very least it certainly made them more dangerous then just some random beastly following their instincts. Never mind the fact that each one was more powerful than they originally thought and apparently had areas of specialty that included, but wasn''t limited to infiltration. Outside of a select group, it would be hard to trust anyone. "Zar-Rhah.. I have to stop them." Vincent said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I understand¡­" The grayed Orc began. "Not for me," Vincent interjected with pleading, desperate eyes. His master stared solemnly at him for several seconds. In that moment Zar-Rhah was reminded of another from his past. "....I understand. We must make the most of your abilities while we have the time. Especially given what you''ve told us. Come, we begin immediately. We shall make a true warrior of you yet." The old master said, turning around and swiftly hobbling out of the cave. A sweatdrop fell down Vincent''s forehead. "What have I just gotten myself into.." He mumbled in defeat before following his master dejectedly. Gildarts chuckled and decided that a little entertainment would be the perfect ending to his consuming of fine meals and spirits. Though the news they''d received was deeply disturbing, they couldn''t let that stop them. As long as they still had each other, they would still have somewhere they could run to, rather than facing their problems alone. As Vincent exited his master''s cave and his eyes adjusted to the lighting, he couldn''t help but notice a feather falling leisurely through the air. It seemed odd, partly because it was random and came out of nowhere but also because it was so serene and calm while the world around it was so chaotic. He watched as the feather landed on the tip of its shaft before twirling slowly and with grace. Vincent subconsciously compared the falling feather to dancing. Vincent contemplated the feather in silence while they made their way to their usual training spot across the pond. He couldn''t help but chuckle at how similar dancing was to fighting. Drawing hundreds of parallel movements through the air with his mind''s eye. Much of what he saw could be incorporated in his fighting, he realized. Congratulations! Your efficiency has risen by 1! Efficiency: 7% Vincent smirked. His skills and stats had improved considerably since the last time they fought. Of course even with all of his improved abilities he stood no chance against the level 100 Orc whose strength numbered just over a thousand. Taking a stance, they each wasted no words as they began exchanging blows. As one might expect his master casually annihilated Vincent in all of their clashes. Vincent''s sword sparked against his master''s and the human was inevitably pushed backward, landing harshly on his back and cracking the ground. He sprang to his feet just in time to avoid the Orc bringing his cane down in a Shockwave that would have crushed his skull. Raising his shield he blocked a vicious ball of wind that caused him to skid back several meters. He grit his teeth, trying against all odds to keep up with the relentless onslaught. Still he could feel himself growing stronger. With each swing of their swords and activation of their skills, Vincent grew a little better than before. Any time Vincent was training, he typically kept his weights bound around his ankles, and this was no exception. Doing so meant he had to rely on his vast arsenal of skills to avoid his master''s frighteningly powerful blows, but he preferred it this way. In fact he almost never took his weights off, except during hunts. Throughout most of the ''fight'' Vincent would step in, throw a multitude of attacks that his master would deftly deflect or avoid altogether and then Zar-Rhah would retaliate. This normally resulted in Vincent parrying and dodging as best as he could until the man could retreat once more. From the sideline Gildarts occasionally congratulated or lectured Vincent, depending on whether he had been hit by Zar-Rhah or managed to counter and evade him. Typically it was the former. "Gah, C''mon give me a break!" Vincent yelled as he was soaked to the bone after blocking a strike from the old master with his shield. One of the old man''s full powered swings was easily thrice as deadly as the Fang''s. On that note Vincent still wasn''t entirely confident in his ability to defeat the Fang one on one if it were still alive. Frankly he had Lupus''s assistance and a lot of ass pull last time.. With a yell Vincent jumped upward before quickly shadow stepping down at his master, resulting in a particularly aggressive bout of clashing. The end result was a bloody and battered Vincent left recovering in a crater. He managed to pull himself to the rim when he noticed his master applying an engraving to his cane. It was kne that he only faintly recognized. He had seen it once before and if he remembered correctly it translated roughly into.. bomb. "Shit!" Vincent''s eyes widened as he witnessed his master toss his cane in a completely uncharacteristic move for the old man. The master of the mystic arts cackled as he watched his gnarled cane tumble through the air, beginning to glow brightly before it exploded with purple lightning energy. Thankfully the blue and red eyed Vincent managed to shadow step away at just the last second¡­ The unfortunate side to this was Zar-Rhah had intended for exactly this to happen. Having orchestrated the whole order of events, he had calculated Vincent''s next move and trajectory. "Caelum Rendere!" The Orc yelled, swinging his massive blade right where Vincent appeared a moment later. He had just enough time to gasp and raise his shield "Shiiiit!" Activating all of his skills at once, he cursed realizing he wouldn''t have time to activate Silva Deus, which took a few moments of concentration to tap into. Fortunately for Vincent, both of his companions had cast a variety of buffs on him at the beigninning fo the bout. Plus, before he had left the cave he had cast bleeding heart on each of them so that their damage was shared. His incredible defensive skills and his multitude of 1v1 bonuses added together with the fact that he sidestepped enough so that the attack only clipped him meant that it was all just enough for the human to avoid being completely obliterated by the attack. As it stood, even though the attack didn''t outright kill him, he still lost consciousness for several seconds as he was blown backward several feet. A considerable portion of his left shoulder and upper torso were cleaved from his body and his shield was cracked, instantly de-summoning the item. His sword was wrenched from hsi grip and thrown several yards away from his body. After healing enough to come to and regaining his senses he began to wail in agony, both because of his own physical pain and the devastated state of his equipment which he felt on a metaphysical level. He gulped down two large potions of the health variety before collapsing in a heap on his rear and palms. He gasped and panted, desperate to escape the throbbing ghost of the pain he''d felt. Sweat covered his forehead as he struggled to overcome his fear and panic. Honestly one potion had been enough to heal him, even though he was close to zero health. Crimson essence was broken that way. But Vincent desperately craved the warm feeling of the potent vital liquids sliding down his throat, so he had drank two. Plus they tasted really good. He sighed in relief as he slowly settled his breathing, finally coming back to complete homeostasis. His companions assaulted him with mental messages and a rapid onslaught of emotions. Zar-Rhah hobbled up to him, huffing. "Bah." Zar-Rhah said in annoyance, as if he were the one that had somehow been attacked. "You must always be thinking several moves ahead.. *huff* *huff*" The man''s face went from stern to guilty and he rubbed his robed head. "But.. Perhaps I got a bit too carried away there. I am glad you survived." He finished with an apologetic shrug. Vincent waved his concerns away as he staggered over. "I did survive, that''s what matters. You pulled back just enough there at the end. I know how difficult it is for orcs to hold back in battle. Especially ones they''re enjoying." He said honestly.. He brushed his hands together and took in a deep shaky breath, still coming to terms with the fact that he had almost died¡­ Again. "Besides I gained several levels worth of experience I can distribute. And you''ve given me a lot to think about. I appreciate you, master." He finished, preforming a fist and palm salute/bow. Unfortunately for the human from earth, he was quickly learning that skills in the mythic level truly took an absolutely monstrous amount of experience even in the early levels. The Divine rarity was a whole magnitude higher and he could only imagine what the final three levels would be like. The two finished out the day as they always did, with a cup of tea and a lesson on how psychological warfare and a brilliant mind were even more important than brawn. This was followed up by a pleasant, unwinding chat about nothing in particular. Gildarts had left shortly after the conclusion of their sparring match, claiming he had a hunt to attend. Zar-Rhah was uncharacteristically quiet throughout the chat and several minutes in he began sipping from his cup in an exaggerated manner. It was a long, loud sip and Vincent sensed sharp emotions brewing beneath the surface of his master''s calm amd measured demeanor. "My son was the last student I taught." He said slowly, putting down his tea. Vincent was shocked so he remained silent for now. Zar-Rhah eventually sighed before turning to Vincent. "He was strong but.. he was rash. As he grew in strength he got arrogant. Thought nothing could beat him. I like to think maybe nothing could.. save one. The king." He sighed once more and seemed to age before Vincent''s very eyes, as if telling this story sapped him further of his vital energies. He continued unceremoniously, "He betrayed the King and tried to usurp control long before he was ready. It cost us.. so much. His mother. And his life¡­" The old Orc trailed off. Vincent stared for several uncertain seconds as he processed this, unsure of how to proceed. His throat felt dry and lumpy. He tried to formulate words that would help but what could he say? He eventually worked out the only thing he could think of: "I''m so sorry. I didn''t know." "Of course not.. How could you have?.." End of chapter 37 Trust Vincent walked slowly back to the sanctuary carved into the side of the mountain. He contemplated his position in this life and what his overall goal was. He knew he desired power.. but why? He was past the point where he had to fear for his life every day from trash mobs. Was he gaining power simply to gain power? His reason for existing seemed so shallow compared to those around him. Even Zar-Rhah, an outcast who had lived out the majority of his days amd still sought to one day reclaim his honor or perhaps avenge his wife and son. In either case the man had clear goals and he knew his purpose. But what was Vincent''s?.. So deep in thought was he that he hadn''t even noticed the looming shadow behind him for several long seconds. When he finally did notice it his heart skipped a beat, and he couldn''t help but reflexively jump several meters through the air. He cursed his stupidity and carelessness as he regained his composure. Turning he saw a smirking Gildarts. He sweatdropped. "You''re a dick, you know that?" The human quipped. Although Vincent outwardly appeared to be in a joking mood, internally he couldn''t help but remember a few parting words from Zar-Rhah.. Brief flashback "What''s done is done. We need to focus on the future." Zar-Rhah suggested. Vincent gave him a look the parent gives a child at the tail end of twenty questions. "The ascension?" Zar-Rhah nodded. "Maybe you can still talk some sense into that boy." Vincent''s eyebrow raised in concern. "I still don''t understand why you don''t want him to become king. Personal vendetta?" Zar-Rhah scoffed as if deeply offended. "I am above such petty squabbles." He insisted, before sighing. "Most of it is not my story to tell. He''s the key to bringing the system down." He admitted, shocking Vincent to his core. "What!?.." The man yelled, thinking this was some kind of joke. "Does Gildarts.. No, wait. Of course he does. That fills in a lot of missing pieces." Vincent surmised. His face was contorted in thought. He then began to laugh before saying, "Well if that''s the case then shouldn''t we just make sure he wins?" He asked hopefully, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Zar-Rhah shook his head slowly, his demeanor solemn. This gave Vincent pause and he waited for his master to elaborate. "If he were to come in second or be recognized by the new king.. If he follows you or another, he would likely live a long and happy life¡­" The old Orc''s hair moved, revealing the cloudy, blind eye he usually kept hidden. It didn''t really bother Vincent at this point, he''d seen it a dozen times. The reason why Vincent squirmed and shifted his weight was for another reason entirely. "But..?" He pressed reluctantly. "... But if Gildarts becomes the king. He will die." Flashback end The large hulking Orc chuckled, "Be angry not with I, The mighty Gildarts! It was you who left your guard so wide open. On any other day I would never get the drop on you. It is not my style to be subtle. As I recall you also lost yourself to the stars at the cave of Zar-Rhah as well.. What is on your mind?" He questioned, stroking his chin. Vincent chuckled before taking in a deep breath. ''Where to begin?'' He laughed to himself. "I.. I''ve been keeping a secret. I wasn''t going to tell anyone but.. well.. It''s you Gil. I don''t know how else to say this." He sighed once more fumbling with the words. Gildarts waited with a look of dis-concern, clearly in no rush. In all the years he had known the human, he never recalled a time where he had seen his friend so vulnerable before. The bottom line was that if he needed him, he would be there. Vincent sternly looked at the large Orc he had come to trust and consider a close comrade. "I''ve become a depraved." He said quickly and seriously. There was a moemnt fo silence as Gildarts studied his ally with an unreasonable expression. The Orc''s brow furrowed for several seconds. Vincient gulped, feeling anxious to hear the judgment of what was effectively his first real friend in this place. Sorry Lupus. Soul seeds don''t count. Eventually Gildarts humphed. "Ahh its just that then? For a moment i was worried something was truly wrong." He shrugged his massive shoulders. Vincent blinked in surprise. That was it? He had been on the verge of an existential crisis and Gildarts was just looking at him like it were any other Tuesday. "You don''t act like any depraved I''ve ever met." Gildarts added nonchalantly, as if sensing his friend''s dissatisfaction with the answer. "B.. But the system.." Vincent stammered Before being interrupted by a wave and a laugh from the massive Orc before him."Bahaha! When have you ever subjugated yourself to the restrictive labels or rules of the system?" He mocked boisterously. The giant leaned in closer to the comparatively small human. "You may have replicated their abilities.. But you are no Depraved. You are unable to turn your back on those in need. You always leave things better than when you came. You are my friend, but more than that.. you are simply.. Vincent." He said, eyes twinkling in a knowning manner. Vincent lowered his head for several seconds before raising it with a fiery passion in his eyes. He clenched his fist in determination. "Gildarts. I''d like to show you my home. It may seem silly but it would mean a lot to me." This time it was Gildarts''s turn to be surprised as he processed what he''d been told. He said nothing, merely nodding his consent as his mind raced and he followed the short, peculiar man. When the duo came to the elaborate, makeshift entry/exit system that Vincient had created Gildarts scratched his head. "Its a wall of.. thorns? How do I..?" As if anticipating the question, Vincent merely pointed to a series of square platforms made of thick plant matter and wood at the base of the jungle wall. Each one was roughly ten feet across. Gildarts seemed uncertain but he did as instructed. As the Duo each stood on a platform the semi-sentient mass of trees began to glide them gently through its walls, opening up before them like a flower blooming. The damgerous, toxic thorns gave way to vibrant, beautiful colors. As they traveled, the entity scanned each of them, its senses caressing their Aura. Sensing no negative intent towards Vincinet''s home or family, the Jungle allowed them through without any hassle. The sentient barrier even breathed a breath of pollen that refreshed them and healed their fatigue while having the added benigfit of smelling great. Vincent had made quite a few adjustments and alterations from his original designs since having made the thing including this rejuvenating pollen. Upon exiting the massive jungle Vincent''s ridiculous tribe of wolves bustled with activity and emotion. Vincent spent a great deal of time mingling and introducing the socially awkward Gildarts to the closest members of his family. Gildarts turned to the man. "This.. is what you have been working on when you''re not training? building a haven for these creatures? Not that it isn''t noble but.. why?" He questioned in disbelief. Vincent for his part merely laughed and answered with a snort. "No, no, no. This is just my family. Granted i spent a lot of time early on building up our home, but its not like that anymore. These days they mostly do their own thing and I just offer my sanctuary up to them.. He snapped his fingers and continued. "If I''m not training I mostly eat and sleep my days away. Anyways, what I wanted to show you is over here. Come." He gestured with a wave, turning and heading in the direction of the cave mouth. Due to the ever growing mass of dens, the entrance of the cave wasn''t immediately visible upon exiting the jungle anymore. Once he''d reached the mouth Vincent wasted no time in proceeding directly through the threshold and into the darkness beyond. Gildarts eyed the cave warily, taking in the strange symmetrical-ness of the triangular opening. He felt a strange sensation that he didn''t recognize as he stood just beyond the mouth. from just beyond the entrance he heard Vincient call back, "Yo, Gil! you coming!? I sent my companions away. It''s just us!" Gildarts shook his head, startled form hsi thoughts. He sighed and ducked into the cave. The man was so large he had to place a hand on the inner edge of the seemingly man-made structure to avoid hitt8mg his head. As his hand made contact with the mountain and he steooed through the opening Gildarts froze. "You??.. This place.. How..?" He gasped. With a shudder he followed hypnotically after the man, looking aol around. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Vincent gestured for his friend to follow him toward the back of the cave where he kept his luscious garden. Once there he pulled out a brightly shining banana that seemed as if it had been dipped in liquid gold with specs of black spots on its surface. The large Orc crossed the mediocre cavern in seconds, taking in everything around him as he did so. He was sure.. the heavy, pulsing energy on the ceiling.. the presence he felt.. The symbols engraved in the central pillar. Yes this was the place. Heedless of his friend''s growing concern, Vincent continued explaining his breakthrough with the mysterious golden fruits his garden now produced. "I honestly can''t stand using my depraved abilities that often. They''re.. uncomfortable to say the least. That''s part of why I havent absorbed all that abundant, raw Nectar on the ceiling. But by applying the concepts of those same abilities to my garden, I can still gain permanent stats and avoid the backlash. And I think all the excess Nectar is actually part of ehy things grow fast anyways." He said with a gesture of his hand. It seemed as if there were at least twenty plots on both sides and each one was teeming with life. Seeing all the vibrant, colorful plant life was a stark contrast to the otherwise dreary and heavy cave. "I can even share the bonuses with others since the fruits are recognized as an edible item. I can use any excess monster material from my hunts as fertilizer via my alchemy and use it to fuel the growth of these plants. Gotta be careful though." He said, chuckling. The man crossed his arms and looked up, his gaze seemingly far away. At this point the Orc was getting a bit annoyed with hsi friend. "One time, Lupus, that crazy bastard, actually produced an elixir that permanently increased my stats. It was like chapter 9 or something. I couldn''t figure out how he did it until I became a depraved.. turned out he siphoned off some of his very own life force, his Soulspace, and used that energy to create a permanent boost for me. Of course that was incredibly stupid and damgerous. I haven''t let him do it since.." He trailed off. Gildarts who had been growing increasingly desperate listening to Vincent''s incessant prodding could handle it no longer. He bounded over and shook a surprised Vincent by the shoulders with a fair bit of excessive force. "Woah, hey, what gives?" The human man exclaimed, confused. Gildarts fixed him with a stern look. "Vincent, how long have you been here? Do you know what this place is!?!?" He asked urgently. Vincent scratched his head and shrugged. "Since day one of me being in Garkan, pretty much. Got chased here by some God damn hellspawn. And no, not really. A weird cave where things grow fast because eof all the energy in the air?.. I guess? Why.. what''s gotten into you?" The human asked with concern. Gildarts pulled back swiftly, looking left then right either not hearing or choosing not to acknowledge his questions. Vincent suspected it was the latter. "So you''ve been here for some time and yet, no madness.. No visions.. so he was meant to come here.. yes I''m sure of it now. Something has been consciously protecting him. It must be the great spirit." The Orc mumbled to himself. Vincent began to grow a little agitated since it seemed positive the Orc was rambling about something involving him. With a rapidly inflating tick mark he stomped his foot. "Hey! What exactly is so special about this damn place? Obviously the Nectar makes my plants grow like weeds and gives me extra fuel for my Soulspace. I imagine that''s why I didn''t get Nectar sickness earlier than I did." He lamented. Gildarts shook his head, clearly unconcerned with his ecstatic friend''s antics. He fixed the piercing blue eyed man with a stare that left no room for funny business. "This is the entrance to the tomb of Garkan. The great spirit of my people. He is buried within this mountain. For any normal person, being here drives them to madness¡­ Even I, can not stay long. It''s like i am being suffocated by the memories of the past¡­ My mind is screaming in agony as I witness the last battle of Garkan unfolding over and over.." Vincent listened in abject fascination as Gildarts recalled the tale of Garkan and how, after learning the truth, he fought to separate their country from the greater Nexus. It was meant to keep the system''s influence from ever being able to affect Orcs again.. so they could rest in peace.. Of course in Zar-Rhah''s version of the tale, they were banished for their defiance by the system. "Clearly it didn''t work completely." Vincent observed. Gildarts raised an eyebrow as if to say, "what do you mean?" Vincent pressed on. "I mean even if you guys don''t see the blue window anymore, the system obviously still affects things here. I can see it with my skills. People like Zar-Rhah can study it." He said, flailing his arms. Gildarts''s face was contorted into a frown. "Indeed. Zar-Rhah and I.. That has been our hypothesis for decades. Only when you came along were our suspicions proven at least somewhat accurate. The system was not removed from Garkan. It still very much has a hold on my people. That explains why monsters of increasing strength appear to challenge our borders, and why the jungle grows so rapidly.. My world is oversaturated with Nectar. And its reaching a tipping point." The Orc admitted. "Garkan. Everyone made it seem like he was alive somewhere." Vincent said quietly. "But really this whole damn time, he''s been the source of the Nectar, hasn''t he? He''s the remaining connection to the system. Gildarts nodded. "I believe so. Without Garkan, the system''s last remaining remnants would be gone. The Nectar would stop flooding in. Enemies would stop appearing." He said somewhat distantly. "And your people would finally be safe?" Vincent asked assumedly. To his shock however, Gildarts shook his head no in response before elaborating. "If the system is what allows us to grow and Garkan is the only source of its energy.. even though there''s so much.. our bodies.. everything relies on it. The world has become so strong. What do you think would happen if it''s people suddenly lost our infinite supply of sustenance?" Vincent''s eyes widened in relaxation. It may take a while.. a decade or maybe even longer but.. "Eventually you would all starve.." He mumbled in horror. Somehow, Orcs may find a way to absorb energy from other species or even the planet itself for a while¡­ But without a continuous input of Nether, any lifeform that had been strengthened by the system would eventually shrivel up and rot. "We fib, telling to our younger generations that he is still out there somewhere, so they do not lose faith in the greatest of our heros. To them he was unkillable. A God. Only a few elite know the truth. And also... Only Orcs are supposed to be able to enter here." He said, looking at Vincent with clear confusion at the end. The human scratched his wild black hair, which he had cut to be just above his shoulders. He spiked it up just for fun a few months ago when he was bored. In his opinion, he looked strikingly similar to Gon from the old earth anime HunterxHunter. Or at least his hair did, the rest of his body didn''t really fit the part. Since that day he had decided to maintain his new look. Vincent settled for shrugging. Madness aside Gildarts''s unease made a lot more sense now. This couldn''t have looked good for Vincent, and right now he had no answers to give. "Well.. you have been saying I''m an Orc at heart!" Vincent quipped. Gildarts for his part did not seem amused. Sighing, Vincent looked sideways for a moment and mumbled something about tough crowds before looking back at his friend. "All jokes aside.. I''ve always known this place was special. I could feel an incredible power in the air. I had no idea it was because it was a tomb for the most powerful being to ever have lived. Not to mention the source of life for all of Garkan apparently." He said, clearly feeling guilt over having made himself at home here. Gildarts shook his head and held up a hand for the man to stop. "How could you have known?" He asked. "You were not born amongst our people. I would not derive you of the home you clearly care so very deeply for.. in fact I believe that means you will protect it. I meant what I said. You are one of us. But you must promise me one thing in return for my forbearance¡­" Vincent shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, literally anything, big guy. You''re my friend." Vincent assured. Gildarts breathed in deeply. "You must promise me you will not desecrate nor defile this mountain or it''s energies for your own selfish gain." He demanded sternly. "Not in any kind of way. Not even a little bit. You can continue using the ambient energies to grow, but do not absorb the Nectar. And do not delve any deeper into the markings on the pillar." The hulking man finished laying out his terms in a booming voice and crossed his arms, waiting for a response. As much as Vincent didn''t want to admit it.. he really did have the natural likeness of a king. Gildarts was the strongest and he was quite intimidating. The human from earth had to admit that the thought had definitely crossed his mind a multitude of times. If he felt like he could fully control his abilities, he would have already drained the Nectar laiden within this place. Not only that but he had a powerful inclination that there was something even more potent deeper within the mountain. Naturally, just as he had been close to finally deciphering the runes after all these years¡­ Gildarts gives him such an ultimatum. What was the man to do? Knowing how much this place meant to his closest friend, he didn''t even hesitate to answer. "I promise. On our friendship. On my life. On my homeworld. I shall not alter the flows of Garkan''s tomb in any way shape or form. Nor shall any entity under my command." Vincent said, puffing his chest as much as he could to emulate his friend. Truthfully he was very lucky no one besides the anti-social Gildarts saw how ridiculous he looked. Seemingly satisfied with his thr human''s declaration, the Orc nodded. "Thank you. You are a good friend, Vincent." Vincent offered to set a fire so that he could cook and brew some drink for the two of them to enjoy, which Gildarts happily agreed to. Yeah, they may have just eaten and drank at Zar-Rhah''s home, but when your body could consume over 10 thousand calories a day you typically spent more time eating than not. The two discussed Vincent''s adventures since having come to reside within the cave and how many times the mystical energies of the place had saved him from even the most persistent of foes. He explained how his farming was one of his first skills and how it had truly given him an edge early on when his stats were insignificant. He knew now he had Garkan to thank, for aiding him in his journey. After a bit Gildarts fixed Vincent with a strange look, as if the typically cocky Gildarts was unsure of himself. Honestly that just made Vincent downright uncomfortable. "Since you have trusted me enough to finally show me your home, where you and your family are most vulnerable, I think it is only fair that I show you the same confidence in kind." Vincent''s eyes widened at the implications of the man''s words. "Gildarts, you don''t have to do that.." He began but the massive Orc cut him off with a swift chop of his hand. "You don''t think I know that? I do only what I choose to do. I want you to meet my family." Gildarts said with a certainty that left no room for argument. Vincent couldn''t help but swell with pride and nod savagely. He knew what Gildarts was risking by doing this and he was more or less saying that Vincent was ready. That he was strong. And that Gildarts would put his honor on the line to defend Vincent''s own. He was officially part of the family. Soon after, the abnormal duo set off on what would be the longest and farthest journey from the cave Vincent had ever gone in all his time within the Nexus. He recalled Lupus and the Abomination to guard and tend his home whilst he was away. Besides, the Abomination would likely frighten everyone if he came along. As they traveled it was Gildarts''s turn to tell tales of his adventures while speed leveling. Using his Diverging perception Vincent used 90% of his brain to cycle through each of his skills, pushing them to their max for a few minutes before swapping to another. The other 10% was focused on socializing with Gildarts of course. Gildarts told Vincent of all the spots where the most powerful of foes lurked. Some of them were so fearsome even the current king wouldn''t dare not trifle with them. The dragon was a prime example of one such monster. When that beast is taken down it would take a hunting party of the most elite Orcs. Vincent made sure to imprint every bit of the information into the long term memory portion of his brain. "The strongest foe I ever faced.. was a level 100 Carsidion. I barely survived.. And he was just a grunt. We certainly did not win the battle. The casualties were many." He said solemnly. He was silent for several seconds. This shocked Vincent caus8ng him to frown deeply. He always believed that Orcs were the most dominant and powerful species in Garkan. By and large they technically were , but that was only because the Carsidions and the very few remaining dragons were not exactly civilized creatures like the Wolves, Orcs, or Spriggans. "What exactly are they like? Physically I mean." Vincent asked cautiously. Gildarts hummed before answering. "They are pure black creatures with crimson veins spreading in strange patterns across their skin. We believe the pattern of the veins represent some sort of power rankings but we remain unsure. Their combat prowess is incredible. They adapt rapidly and boast several powerful skills. But the most unnerving part about them is their eyes.. They have a somewhat suppressing effect on most people" He explained. Suddenly Gildarts stopped and faced the man fixing him with a strange look. "What is it?" Vincent asked with a raised eyebrow. "You.. have one such eye¡­ Blood red with a black slit." He revealed. Vincent couldn''t help the involuntary gasp that tore its way from his mouth. "My Sixth Sense¡­" End of chapter 38 Becoming a part of the family Vincent and Gildarts walked down a dirt road that was slowly beginning to give way to a brick one. Of course, each of the bricks were the size and color of a cinder block. "Remember, to anyone besides my family, do not speak about any subject you do not understand." Gildarts lectured. "As a matter of fact it''s probably best not to speak at all." The Orc added thoughtfully. Vincent laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head but nodded in agreement. Gildarts may have accepted him as one of them, but he still had to earn the trust of the common Orc folk. The duo rounded a peculiar wall of bushes that featured a statue of an Orc in the middle. Vincent''s eyes widened and the man stifled a gasp. He wasn''t sure what he expected when he came to his first ever Orc Village but this.. Wasn''t quite it. The front portion of the large village contained medieval cabins and huts of varying sizes. Most were made of wood, mud and bone. There were also a few rows of cheval de frise and roughly 10 watchtowers that were all nearly forty feet tall. It was clear thay this was where the poor and sick were made to live. Roughly a minute of walking into the Orc village was where the unembellished ended and the more extravagant architecture began. Vincent was taken aback by the sheer size of the Village''s stronghold; Something that amounted to an Orc''s city hall. Taking up the entire back side, it was a massive stone construct that covered half of the entire village itself. "Wow.. its basically like slaves on a plantation. Barely scraping by while the masters lock themselves away with more than they''ll ever need." He said absently. He looked over at Gildarts who frowned at him causing him to look sideways nervously. "Remember what I said about not speaking?" The tall Orc asked. Vincent scratched his head amd chuckled. "Uhh.. Yeah.. sorry." Gildarts sighed. "You''re not wrong. This is the lord''s castle and he has.. more than the rest of us combined. He was appointed by the council five years ago and things.. have gotten difficult since then. But most of the time this stronghold remains relatively empty." He admitted, causing Vincent''s eyes to widen in curiosity. "It really only sees use when the village must take shelter from unusually powerful fiends. Or on a much rarer occasion.. when the lord himself stops by for a celebration." He explained. Vincent frowned. "You don''t entirely seem to hate the guy." Gildarts looked st him and shrugged. "He last came about a year ago and he treats us relatively well when he comes.. He throws a feast for the village and he employs half the able bodied Orcs that live here¡­ For a time.. often at least a few months, we prosper." He said with a small hint of serenity creeping into his voice. Unfortunately this contentment gave way to a frown as he continued. "But once he reports back to the empire, we must leave the saftey and sell off our abundance, hoping that we have made enough to make it through to the next working season. Make no mistake his loyalties lie with the empire.. Despite his.. generosity. we live beneath the mercy of all royal blood." Gildarts explained. This time Vincent''s frown was one of disdain. It seemed like no matter what civilization it was or in what time period¡­ The strong and rich ruled the poor. Rather than trying to fix anything or better the world. Vincent hadn''t bothered himself with the politics of the old world. He wouldn''t get involved here either. Vincent only ever needed enough to get by. Of course there weren''t infinite resources in his world¡­ That begged the question.. How could anyone be starving or poverty stricken in the system? He thought about asking his large Orc friend why they didn''t just grow food or something, but he didn''t want to risk being offensive or ignorant again. For all he knew peasant Orcs weren''t allowed to make money or rise above a certain standing. The pair made their way over to one of the more lavish of the wooden cabins that was close to the stronghold walls. It was roughly three times the size of the average home. It even boasted a second story, which was rare from what he''d seen. "This is my home." Gildarts said simply. He reached out and pushed open what looked like a door made of heavy wood, animal leather and bones. As they stepped into what Vincent perceived to be a dining room/kitchen, two startled Orcs spun around to face them. "Oh! Gildarts you''ve returned!" Shouted a plump, dark-green female Orc. Though not quite at the ridiculous level of Gildarts''s stature, she was still extremely tall by human standards. The Orc woman measured just under seven feet. It was clear by the lady''s expression of love and joy that Gildarts was her son. Vincent instantly got Betty White vibes. Needless to say he was smitten. Beside her stood a male Orc that was just a bit shorter and a fair amount thinner than Gildarts, but the man had a very similar intimidating presence making it clear this was Gildarts''s father. It was obvious he was a powerful and experienced warrior in his own right. The man briefly scanned the trespasser within their midst before aiming a blinding smile at his son. "You''ve become quite powerful this year, my son. I can see how densely your Aura flows. But what is.. This.. thing?" He questioned looking at Vincent. "It''s energy seems artificially fluent.. Did you create this? Or summon him perhaps?" As he finished his greeting-turned investigation he fixed a frown at Vincent. Apparently the older man had an acute sense for the flows of energy within the Nexus, reaffirming Vincent''s suspicion that he was a seasoned warrior. The man''s senses may not have been as precise as Zar-Rah''s nor as dominant as Vincent''s but they were sharp enough to understand and measure basic energy levels at least. That must have been invaluable with no window. "This is a human. The first of it''s kind here within the Nexus. Their initial capabilities are minimal but.. they adapt quite quickly, I assure you." He explained, waving the human man over. "Vincent, this is my father Drigk-ah and my mother Marfu-ah. They are the only ones in this wolrd I would give up my purpose for." Name: Drigk-ah Race: Orc Level: ??? This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Class: Mystic Warrior Health: ??? Mana: ??? Stats: ??? Name: Marfu-ah. Race: Orc Level: ??? Class: Medical Brawler Health: ??? Mana: ??? Stats: ??? Gildarts''s mother beamed. "Oooooh! come Here!" She exclaimed, breaking Vincent from his scrutinizing observations. Before he could react the man was swept up in a bone crushing death grip of a hug and found he was unable to breathe or respond. "A friend of my son''s is a friend of ours! Oh and how cute you are!" she wailed, crushing him tighter while flinging his limp body side to side. Trying not to turn as green as his hosts, Vincent Shadow stepped to safety. He was now thoroughly convinced that the strength of Gildarts''s own attacks were vastly eclipsed by the hugs of his mother. He even gained several levels worth of pain tolerance experience and damn near evolved to the next stage of will to survive just from surviving the embrace¡­ Mar, as Vincent decided to nickname her, insisted on cooking a large feast for dinner. Vincent thought this would be an excellent time to show off some of his more.. Diplomatic skills. "Please allow me to do the sides while you prepare the main course madam. I promise my skills in the culinary arts have not been neglected." Vincent insisted. "Oh!?" The woman squealed. "A man what can cook and is skilled in battle? Praise Garkan, he still knows how to make em." She laughed with a wink. "You wouldn''t know it by his gruff, ungraceful attitude but my dear husband knows his way around the kitchen almost as well as he does around the battlefields hehehe!" The three men present sweat dropped at the Orc matriarch''s antics. Drigk-ah was the first to break the awkward silence. "Ahem.. excuse my wife. We so rarely get guests, especially ones so well mannered. It''s refreshing from the typical brutish Orc, come to challenge our son." He said with a sigh before puffing his chest. "A fool''s plight. Our son shall be the strongest to ever live, save Garkan himself. I have foreseen this on the field of battle when my death should have come. It was Gildarts, Standing no higher than my knees, what saved my life that day. He is truly one of a kind." The man said with a beaming, proud smile. Vincent would have thought the man was exaggerating more than a bit to put his son on a pedestal before the days of the system. However, as it were, he simply laughed and nodded while taking the story in stride. Gildarts''s confidence was easily attributable to his parent''s own demeanors. As they spoke they made their way into the kitchen and began working as a collective unit to prepare the large meal. While Mar and her family worked to make the main dish, Vincent began prepping a large variety of fruits, vegetables, seasonings and sauces. He honestly wasn''t even sure what some of the ingredients were but his plethora of perceptive abilities granted him a near precognitive sense of what was correct or incorrect in the culinary arts. His senses and abilities ensured that his creations would be the most potent and succulent as possible, granting the best possible outcomes for each dish he prepared. The beings watched the man with abject fascination having never seen someone with so man different abilities and such an inherent talent for multitasking. He used telekinesis, gravitation and others to carry, mix, stir, and guide a multitude of ingredients and tools all at once. Rather than creating a fire in a cauldron and having to mix everything, he created a few fires of his own in the space above his open palm. He began to control each flame with such expert precision that the onlookers were sure he was secretly some sort of flame deity in disguise. "So tell me human from the world Earth, with no system¡­" Drigk-ah began with a cautious/curious look. "...What is it like to live in a place that is so?" Vincent frowned at the strange manner of speech exhibited by the man but he supposed not every translation within the Nexus could be flawless. "Umm.. I''m not sure if you''re asking what the planet itself is like or what life on said planet is like but essentially.." he paused, looking thoughtful. Eventually settling for a shrug he said, "Everything is fragile. The planet, it''s people.. Everything." He explained. "Nothing heals. At least not the way it does here. People died.. all the time. But not from fighting like this place.. well there was a lot of death in that regard too actually¡­" He backtracked. Vincent sighed in frustration trying to think of how best to describe the mess that was his home world. "Look.. Humans were complicated. But we appreciated what we had because everything was so fragile and fleeting. Nothing was certain. Its not like people here don''t appreciate life just.. our priorities were different. We just wanted to survive and be right about things. Over there everyone fought about ideas and having the world be their way. Here, everyone just fights to fight." He concluded. ''But always people fight..'' He thought internally. The Orcs had listened with abject fascination and patience. Vincent quickly took advantage of the silence as they processed everything he said. "Now I have a question for the three of you." The man said, steepling his fingers. The Orc family looked at him with raised eyebrows as if to say, "go on?" Vincent inwardly chuckled and asked the question that had been on his mind since meeting Gildarts''s family. "It makes sense to me why my name is only one word. The system let me pick my own when I entered this world.." He began. Although Gildarts knew somewhat of this, it was news to the other two. They more or less knew nothing of Vincent''s intimate relationship with the Nexus and the blue window. Even still it didn''t take a genius to see where this was going. It was Drigk-ah that spoke first, finishing Vincent''s sentence. "You want to know why my wife and I have two names while Gildarts possesses only one?" Vincent blinked several times. "Actually uhh.. yeah. I dont fully understand it." He said surprised, scratching his head. He wasn''t going to admit to his hosts that his master happened to be an Orc outcast who also had a second addition to his name, but it certainly piqued his curiosity. Gildarts chuckled and finished the explanation in his father''s stead. "For those of us who were born in Garkan.. we are given only one name at birth.." He began slowly. Vincent waited patiently for his friend to continue. "Any Orc with a secondary addition to their name has reached the peak of their power; the level cap as you call it. Once the system grants our final evolution we may choose another title. This can change based on our feats, such as in the case of my father." He gestured with an arm to his dad. "He was originally named Drigk, and only earned the ''ah'' after reaching his final evolution and proving himself on the battlefield in service of the king. My mother on the other hand.." He continued, gesturing to Marfu-ah. ".. received her''s when she reached her prine and took my father''s hand in marriage. Only after a man and woman have reached their peak potential can they marry and bear children." Upon finishing his explanation, Gildarts stared stone faced at Vincent, waiting to see if he had any further questions. Vincent nodded and after a while he finally said, "You know, that''s probably the most I''ve ever heard you talk." The human said simply. The family of Orcs and Vincent burst into a fit of laughter as they finished prepping dinner. The group spent several more hours conversing, and sharing stories over their meal. The main dish was a wild alligator-type beast. This being the first real social gathering Vincent had been a part of since being abducted by the system led to there being several pregnant pauses and silences in conversation. Nobody really seemed to mind though, everyone was comfortable in one another''s company. Truth be told, Vincent barely seemed to have a presence at all unless you really focused on him. When you looked away you had a tendency to forget he was there almost immediately.. Yet at the same time he had a capable and confident Aura. To the Orcs, he was a welcome and mysterious anomaly to their family for the evening. Gildarts''s parents did most of the talking, and Vincent discovered that they were rather wealthy. This was due to Drigk-ah''s extremely successful career as a soldier in the empire before his retirement. Beyond that his mother also crafted rather powerful healing remedies that the warriors would buy in large batches from time to time, so they did quite well within the Orcish economy. That also explained why their housing was so large and close to the stronghold. But though they were well off, it appeared most of the majority of Orcs were vastly less fortunate. Gildarts''s village was one of the closest to the jungle and the mobs of Garkan. The threats they faced became increasingly more powerful and consuming by the day. If some of the more powerful factions of the Nexus were forced to migrate closer to this village or any other¡­ Only the capital and the strongholds were safe. Unfortunately, the royal family cared little for the struggles of peasants, and the king had long since lost his passion for truly running the kingdom. As the sun began to set the duo of Gildarts and Vincent made to leave. Gildarts gave his mother a hug of course and Vincent bowed to each of his new acquaintances. "It was nice to meet the two of you. Thank you both, for being such gracious hosts this evening. And for teaching me so much about things I was ignorant about before." "Come back any time dear! As far as I''m concerned youre one of us now!" Bellowed the mother. Drigk-ah nodded in agreement. "And thank you for being a friend to my son. He will not admit it but.. he has troubles fitting in. Even with the outcasts. I tell him there is no shame in this. His strength makes him unique. But perhaps one such as you can understand." Gildarts flushed and made to leave quickly. Vincent for his part couldn''t help but feel as if a piece of the puzzle had clicked. He''d always felt a sort of kindred brotherhood with Gildarts that he knew must have gone beyond him simply being the first intelligent person he''d met within the Nexus. It''s because they were especially both losers. Vincent nodded happily and bid one final farewell before making his leave. Gildarts threw open the door and practically ran down the brick road that brought them here. Vincent pushed himself to keep up with his friend as he bounded through the village at over 100 meters per second. Though they caused a ruckus, the two of them didn''t stop until they reached the edge of the village. It was there that they were greeted by a sight they certainly did not expect. End of chapter 39 Trinity chapter 40; Covenant of the Orcs... An Orc Vincent had never met, sat atop an armored white horse. He had long black hair that went just past his shoulders. The Orc was dressed in extravagant garbs that Vincent immediately deduced signified his ties to royalty. He could tell, even under all the clothing and armor, that the man was absolutely massive. Every bit as big as Gildarts at least. His four guards and their brown horses took a defensive formation infront of him and were leveling four massive javelins at a frail old Orc man. It only took a moment of observation for Vincent to piece together what was happening. The old man had approached the nobleman too quickly for their liking and was swiftly detained, even though he was clearly no threat to the young and powerful Orc. "Are you opening the gates today Lord!?" Vincent heard the old man cry out pleadingly. The Orc took a few moments to respond, sizing the man up. "Nay." he said in a smooth, deep voice. "They shall remain shut for a few more days, yet." The royal man decried. "B-b-but my family is starving lord¡­" the old man took a shaky step forward but was instantly forced to take a step back, lest he be impaled by the aggressive guards who raised their javelins to the man''s neck. The nobleman spoke in a disinterested manner from behind his gaurds. "There is a pack of lvl 75 Chiday just North of here. They''re creatures that look similar to bats, only far more sinister." He chuckled. "There''s not much meat on them but if you eat enough you should get by.." he supplied nonchalantly with a wave of his hand. "But my lord.. no one here is powerful enough to accomplish such a task.. we''re mostly old, sick and crippled on the outskirts.. most of us never reached the level cap sire.. If you could just spare a few men.." He insisted in desperation. He was cut off when the noblemen had his gaurds stand aside so that he could fix the fool with a stern look. "You''re beginning to draw my ire, old man. Your irritating ramblings have put me behind schedule. I do not care about your problems. All I''m hearing is that you are weak. Get stronger. Or don''t. Whatever happens is because of YOUR choices." The lord finished pompously The large Orc swiftly turned on his horse and began to trot away with a dismissive wave. "B-but..!" The old man cried after him before hanging his head in defeat. The nobleman smiled a crooked smile as he saw the massive form of Gildarts standing further up the middle of the path he was on. "Get behind me.." Gildarts muttered under his breath. Vincent did so without question. He sensed more than saw as the nobleman and his gaurds trotted up to the duo. Vincent couldn''t read his stats but he could feel the power and confidence exuded by the man. Beside him, Gildarts tensed, which did not go unnoticed by the skilled lord before them. "Pray, be at peace, we come bearing no ill will." He assured, holding up his hands." For a moment Gildarts said nothing and Vincent began to believe he had no intention of responding at all. But then his friend bowed slightly, causing Vincent''s eyes to widen. ''I never thought I''d see Gildarts bow to anyone..'' He couldn''t help but reflect. Gildarts returned to his full height and addressed the nobleman. "Forgive me, I was merely caught off guard by your presence here, my lord. We did not expect you for some time yet.. I hope you bear no ill news?" The lord smiled. "Nay. Me hears of a non-Orc guest in my village and me wishes to meet him mayhap. He must be something truly special to catch the eye of the mighty Gildarts." He bowed humbly from atop his horse. Gildarts said nothing in response. Instead he merely turned and nodded at Vincent, the meaning of which was clear. ''Remember what I said. He plays nice but it''s best not to refuse him.'' Vincent nodded in return and stepped from around the hulking giant. Vincent realized in his musings that Gildarts had grown roughly six inches taller since the two had met. He shuddered, feeling bad for any being, noble or otherwise who decided to cross his friend. The human''s obsidian hair reached halfway down his back and his appearance was wild and capable. His armor was pitch black with various red patterns. The equipment, though weak in overall stats, was clearly crafted with the utmost skill. In a disturbing way it almost seemed alive as the nobleman saw a ripple run across the man''s breastplate. He narrowed his eyes marginally. The items the man carried were intriguing but it was his unnaturally piercing blue eyes that truly caught their attention as he leveled his gaze at the party of Orcs. Vincent analyzed the group in seconds. He was unable to see their levels but the man was certain they were all at 100, given the density and complexity of their Auras. The leader in particular had a truly frightening amount of energy within his body. Though he couldn''t quite make out any real details about the man''s Aura, Vincent could tell it burned with a power equivalent to a 100 megaton nuke. The nobleman''s eyes widened slightly as Vincent clearly singled him out and attempted to read his stats. The man was quick to school his features and return the scrutinizing gaze. "Ahhh such a pleasure to meet you. My name is Varkor, son of Viktor. Pray tell, what brings you to our wondrous village?" Vincent smiled and bowed low as the name appeared across the systek window, allowing him to see that much deeper into the man. "The pleasure is all mine Lord Varkor. I am Vincent. A human from a place called Earth. I must say of all the Orcs I''ve met thus far, your strength and demeanor are the mightiest." Vincent wanted no trouble for his gracious hosts and he was no stranger to vain men with big heads and deep pockets. Even if they knew your flattery was a professional courtesy, they relished the power of feeling like others cared about them simply because of their status and name. The human arose from his bow with a closed eye smile as the noble Orc babbled on about some nonsense pertaining to how refreshing it was to finally have a guest with a good judge of character. Inwardly Vincent rolled his eyes. Perhaps flattery wasn''t the best route after all.. at this rate he was afraid the high class Orc would ramble on all day. The man clearly loved hearing himself talk. Vincent by contrast was a man of few words, preferring instead to take action. The Orc barely paused for breaths in-between his speech about various subjects. The current of which was how his family came to be royals, an affair that Vincent had no particular interest in and honestly no clue what even led them to it. Finally he had had enough. As the nobleman sipped some eine from an extravagant jug at his side, Vicent took this golden opportunity, to slide in and cut the man off before he could ramble on any further. "Your grace.. to answer your second question I''m here because my friend Gildarts was introducing me to his family. I.. craft items for him when he goes on missions you see. I am his porter and general support." He explained courtly. The nobleman frowned for several seconds before chuckling "Ahh so I see. Your talents must be truly extraordinary friend, to have caught the keen eye of the mighty Gildarts." He complimented. He leaned forward on his horse, eyes narrowing slightly as he continued. ".. And to have him employ you, an outsider for your services¡­ you must be something special indeed." He said warily. Vincent tensed as he felt the man''s perception stretch out and tear through him like a hot knife through butter. It was never a comfortable feeling being so clearly inferior when someone was forcibly probing your soul. In a way it was like having low blood sugar only a hundred times worse. Vincent felt dizzy and weak, his limbs shaking. Sweat pooled around his forhead and neck. The air felt increasingly heavy, as if he were caught in a bubble that was slowly constricting more and more until it threatened to crush him into nothing. As the nobleman began to peer into the deepest depths of Vincent''s Soulspace he began to feel genuine concern. What if this man found his Soulspace cycle? Vincent was certain that was something that no other creature in all of Garkan possessed. Beyond that Vincent had a connection to a god and even system interference. If the man was drilled enough to decipher what he was seeing within Vincent, would he realize how different he was from them? People typically feared that which was different and that fear sometimes reared its ugly head in the form of hate that could lead to a preemptive strike. Vincent mentally prepared himself but kept his Aura relaxed as he gathered himself together in case he needed to defend from a sudden attack. Suddenly it was over just as quickly as it had came and the nobleman withdrew his perception. Vincent let out a shaky breath and nearly dropped to his knees. He tried his best to hide his disdain but he hated feeling weak and humiliated. The Orc leaned back and shrugged his large shoulders. Vincent couldn''t help but notice with trepidation he completely dropped his weird manner of speaking when he continued. "Typically I would forbid such an interaction. It is considered pathetic and weak for Orcs to receive unearned pleasantries.." He drawled slowly. Then his eyes flickered to Gildarts, who had kept his demeanor neutral through all of this. ".. However we both know that if it is Gildarts, then he has put in more than his fair share of hard work." He said in a weirdly earnest tone. "Very well." He said, as he turned to leave. "Its another month yet till I''m due to arrive for our annual celebration. Don''t want to start the part too early." He quipped. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The man, or rather his horse, has barely made it four steps when the man made the entourage halt once more. He looked over his shoulder at Vincent once more and said as if it were an afterthought, "You may come and go as you please. Enjoy your friendship.. while you can Vincent from Earth." The nobleman smiled with a knowing look. "You know what they say don''t you? He''s trying his hand at the next ascension for king ahahahahaha!" The implications were clear as the nobleman began to leave once more, his guards following close behind. He fully expected Gildarts to perish in the ascension, and he didn''t even think it would be a close race. Vincent knew in his logical mind but he should stop there and leave it at that. Honestly the meeting had gone rather well, aside from the fact that this guy was clearly a dick who loved abusing his power. Vincent suspected the true reason he decided to delay opening the gate was that the nobleman was being petty about him having come here and offered his assistance to his people. It wouldn''t do for the common folk to grow stronger on their own in a system such as this.. The ones in charge needed their people to need them. This was a reminder that outside help would not save them. For some reason that he couldn''t quite fathom he was beginning to burn with irrational rage. Beside him he felt Gildarts give him a stern look but he ignored it. Honestly he was getting a bit flustered with his own thoughts at this point and he could no longer bite his tongue. He thought back to the old man who had since hobbled out of sight and into the outer slums of the village. "Lately your village has been suffering due to lack of supplies and general manpower!" He called. Gildarts slapped his forehead hard enough to produce a shockwave and the nobleman''s gaurds turned and looked in slack jawed shock. The nobleman for his part froze but did not yet turn around, so Vincent took this as a sign to continue before he no longer could. "For all your talk of being weak, is this once great city being reduced to rubble not one of the biggest signs you could possibly wave at your enemies?" Vincent said boldly. Everyone present froze, holding their breath in anticipation of what reckless thing the human would say next to their lord. Or if he would even get the chance.. "If people were fed and given shelter and purpose, their efficiency would see exponential improvement! Orcs as a whole would be stronger, together! I intend to provide support to our people from now on in any way I can." Vincent finished. At his side Gildarts tensed, as did the guards. Everyone present fully expected that these were the last words the foolish boy would ever speak. To their surprise when the lord turned around his face was entirely devoid of anger. Instead he seemed genuinely curious. "Our people?" He inquired simply. "What claim do you have to be one of us?" The lord asked in a deceivingly gentle manner. Vincent looked the man in his eyes, refusing to flinch away from the unspoken challenge. "It was Gildarts who found me. He is my brother. You may have only just met me, but for him, I have worked harder than any to learn the ways of the Orc these impossibly long years. I have grown strong." Vincent answered in a way that left no room for argument or doubt. It was clear he had been honest, at least partially and there was nothing more he was willing to say. The Orc seemed to be in thought for several seconds. It occurred to him that the only faction this ''human'' had any real interaction with had been the Orcs. Which honestly wasn''t far from the truth. Vincent had met other humanoids that operated in various degrees of civilization, but none of them appealed to him the way the Orcs did. Gildarts in particular, was like a flame that Vincent couldn''t help but be drawn towards. Every time he felt like he was making real progress he looked up and saw that the distance between the two of them had only grown larger. He used that as a motivation beyond just surviving and growing stronger. Gildarts feared nothing and no one. He needed no one to save him. And he did it all on his own. Gildarts did whatever he wanted, not adhering to common law. Vincent craved that power¡­ And though no one present truly knew what unpredictable thoughts ran through the lord''s mind that day, Gildarts above all suspected that Varkor saw that lust for power in Vincent''s eyes. "Let''s get one thing straight. I am more than powerful enough to single handedly face any threat to this village, be it monster, famine or disease. I am a god to these people." He insisted arrogantly. He frowned, eyes narrowing before his face relaxed. "However, due to an increased workload from the capital I have been unable to allocate much resources or time to my precious village." The man explained away, waving his hands as he talked. "Furthermore I ask, why should a god bother himself with the infinite and inconsequential toils of peasants? Are they not responsible for their own well being? Should they not be the ones to support my needs? I have worked to get where I am, why can''t they?" He reasoned. Vincent frowned in frustration for several seconds. In truth, he did agree partly with what the man said. To a degree, everyone who''s able bodied should be held accountable for their actions and be encouraged to want to improve themselves and their situations. But this line of reasoning requires an ideal world where everyone WAS able bodied, and given the same opportunities regardless of their environment. The real world was an unavoidable, unfair, pile of shit, death and helplessness. If they had the power to make things better.. did they not also have the responsibility to do so? Perhaps one man could not save everyone. But working together, people stood a much better chance of saving each other. "All it takes.." Vincent slowly. "Is a single stroke of bad luck to permanently break a man. Sometimes it comes from things outside of our control. Sometimes it comes from our own foolish choices..." He said in a quiet but somehow powerful voice. He looked the nobleman in the eyes, and the lord saw the universe pass between them in countless shades of blue. ".. Life is short. You should do good.. simply for the sake of doing it. Because you want to. If you truly don''t want to help others then you probably shouldnt fake it.. you might just fuck things up worse. But consider this¡­ When you''re on top, it''s easy to turn away the broken, beaten old man who made the wrong choices in life." Vincent said pointedly. A look of annoyance crossed the lord''s face, as it was clear this was a jab at his actions with the village peasant earlier. However, he was genuinely curious where the young man was going with this, so he reluctantly remained silent. "But what none of us ever stop to consider.. is what if we become that old man someday?" He suggested. At this, even Gildarts raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Imagine its you or I stuck on the bottom, buried beneath all the shit. And imagine then, Varkor, for just one second that you look up¡­" He said intensely. There was a heavy pause as the tension built. ".. And when you do, you see that same old man from before." Varkor''s eyes widened and he was unable to suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. Goosebumps formed on his skin as the mysterious human continued. "Now he''s the one on top. Looking down at you with those same, careless dismissive eyes. Nobody cares about you. Nobody needs you. Nobody knows you exist. and you die, weak and miserable. You die alone." He finished solemnly. The pregnant silence in the air muffled all noise, as not even the wind dared to blow. For a moment the world held its breath. And then the lord began to laugh. It was quiet at first, barely a chuckle. But over the course of a full minute it transformed into an uncontrollable barking. When he finished he wiped a tear from his now purple face. "Help weaklings simply for the sake of being good? And do unto others as you would have done unto you? Give up the things I want and maybe earn some pitty-karma? Be the change in the world you want to see!? Is that really your answer?!" He cackled. Although the question seemed like a direct response to Vincent, it seemed as if it was pointed towards no one in particular as the lord had been looking towards the blue sky. Vincent sighed. "I believe there is a hero in all of us. One that allows us to be kind and honest. One that allows us to march towards a good death. We can all choose to walk that path at any time. Sometime, on that path, we have to be steady and do what''s right. Sometimes we have to give up the things we want the most.. even our dreams." The man said sagely. Though on the outside he was collected and patient, internally he was bouncing and fervent. ''I totally nailed it, Aunt May!'' He screamed with mental glee. Turning on his horse, the lord addressed Gildarts. "I like this one, haha!" He laughed. "Are all humans this compelling? We could use a little more fire like that around these parts." He said boisterously before turning back to Vincent. "Perhaps with your measly contributions I shall have time enough to relax and draw a bath before opening the gates of the stronghold tomorrow." He said. This in turn caused the jaws of the four guards and even Gildarts to hit the floor, having never expected such a drasyic change in attitude from any of the lord''s, let alone theirs. He was a notorious procrastinator and there was a lot of paperwork to get the gates open in only a single day. But any lord who gives his word could be held to it. That was the Orcish way. With that the lord and his entourage of guards turned on their heels, or rsyher their horses, and marched away. This time they headed in the direction of the large stone castle that was the nobleman''s quarters. Vincent had a bad feeling about this situation. Would Varkor report his findings back to the empire? Would the ruler of the Orcs take to heart that one of his challengers was convening with outside forces? He wasn''t sure what type of vengeful and paranoid person the king might be, but he certainly felt like he was walking on eggshells after having so blatantly displayed his disregard for authority. Gildarts began to walk away, beckoning for Vincent to follow. The giant Orc said nothing during their trip and Vincent was happy to follow in the much more powerful man''s example. Once they were firmly out of the Orc territory and approaching the outskirts of the jungle Gildarts broke the silence. "I am sorry for that. I fear only trouble follows in the wake of attention from men like him." The large Orc said regretfully. Vincent frowned, partly in suprise but alos because his mouth tasted sour. He felt like he should be the one to apologize. "Will he tell the empire and cause trouble with the king?" Vincet asked, unable to keep the concern out of his voice. Gildarts snorted before he smirked and looked down at his friend, shaking his head. "No. The King is honorable. He cares only that your strength of body and heart are strong. And you have grown strong. At least for your kind, I assume." He said with a shrug. Ignoring Vincient''s annoyed glare he continued. "Anyways if Varkor was going to cause trouble he would have done so already. He is young and srragont to a fault. He enjoys dirtying his own hands." The Orc said confidently. He frowned as he continued, crossing his arms and shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "But not every confrontation will be so forgiving. You must be careful in the future, Vincent." Gildarts insisted. "Most who follow the king, carry out his will only with the intent to usurp his power. And he cannot always be bothered to involve himself in petty peasant squabbles. Nor can I. Watch your back. You are still not strong enough to hold your own against the more capable amongst our people." Vincent nodded and the duo continued at a brisk pace. He trusted Gildarts had his well-being in mind but he also remembered the time he had said he intended to save Orc kind from themselves so.. he questioned the moral compass of his good friend. "So.. the big fight is in just over two years.. you think you''ll be level 100 by then?" Vincent asked offhandedly. Gildarts didn''t answer for a minute and Vincent was beginning to think the large Orc hadn''t heard him. Finally he spoke in a reserved tone. "No. I will not. I''m only level 70 as it stands and the sharp incline in needed experience for the final evolution¡­ the last 10 levels alone take more Than the previous 90 combined." Gildarts admitted. This revelation came as a shock but Vincent supposed it made sense. RPG''s almost always had a sharp incline in XP requirements somewhere. "The final evolution grants an amazing boost to stats, sometimes tripling or even further multiplying them if one has sufficient achievements and potential." Gildarts continued. "There''s also the final class ability that combines the totality of your being into your ultimate attack. Without those unmatchable bonuses my victory is not assured. Perhaps.. I would stand no chance.. It is something I have thought about for some time now. But with this¡­" Gildarts reached around his waist and pulled out a pulsing crimson orb that looked like a frozen ball of pure flames. It was the heart of the Fang of flames. "With this maybe I can create an extra skill. Although you may be an abnormal freak of nature, most of us only ever create one or two major skills with several minor supporting skills." He revealed. Vincent said nothing as the Orc continued, though his mind whirled in deep thought. "Sometimes we don''t even receive additional skills for our first three evolutions. Rather the system finds it more efficient to improve upon what we already have, such as in my case. Or at least that''s what happened with my first two evolutions. I expect the next to be no different." He figured with a shrug of his shoulders. Vincent scratched his chin in thought. He had suspected for a long time that might be the case based on watching the various life forms of Garkan grow and evolve over the last three years. A lot of the time he studied his own pack out of pure convenience. Only in rare cases with prodigies such as Dawn did they ever develop more than a handful of skills. And to further collaborate with Gildarts''s explanation, each evolution saw the skills his pack possessed become incredibly more potent than before, with the final evolution always granting an incredibly powerful or otherwise useful ability. Gildarts began to speak once more, rousing him from his thoughts. Vincent chuckled, resisting the urge to point out the fact that his Orc friend had been uncharacteristically talkative lately. In fact he had been the one talking for pretty much their entire team back towards Vincinet''s home. It seemed that maybe Vincent had worn off on the Orc just as much as the reverse was true.. "I have been cultivating the heart ever since the day I.. stole it from you." He said hesitantly. "I still apologize. I am strong but time is short. This had always been my plan even before meeting you.. If there were any other way.." Vincent waved his hand rapidly through the air, dismissing his friend''s concerns. "Don''t. We''re passed that. You did what you must. In fact I think I might be able to help you someday soon. I just need a little bit more time to finish the task given to me by Zar-Rhah.. In the meantime let''s go back to my cave. I plan on expanding my garden a little bit." He foreshadowed mysteriously. "Now that I am officially one of you.. I cannot let our people suffer in silence." He said with a confident, mischievous grin and a flex of his muscles. Gildarts''s brow rose in morbid curiosity at what devious plan his imaginative friend could be scheming now. End of chapter 40 End of act 2 Rise of the King in Black Vincent sat cross legged in a large cave with lupus and the insatiable abomination on either side of him. The three of them were meditating in complete tranquility, minds linked to further amplify their considerable abilities. Their attention was focused inward, to Vincent''s Soulspace. The object of their careful observation was currently the engraving script that had become the bane of Vincent''s existence since beginning his tutelage under the sword master, Zar-Rhah. For Vincent, it had been five long and painstakingly gruesome years under the thumb of the system. In all that time he had pursued his goal of amassing power with an obsessive passion. On days like this it almost didn''t seem worth the effort.. But that meant he was close to a breakthrough. other another wall¡­ He grit his teeth and focused, feeling his raging emotions being mirrored by his two companions. They were almost there.. it was just a matter of finding the perfect sequence in which to apply the runes they''d finally mastered. With the help of not one but two synchronized souls aiding his research, his progress had been astronomical. To have almost completely mastered this difficult of a script in two years time was truly unprecedented by all standards of measure. Congratulations! Your skill: Linguae Archit¨¦kt¨­n (Mythical) has increased to level 33! Vincent panted in relief, feeling thoroughly exhausted, but he raised his head and smirked. "Gotcha." There was a pulse of blue energy followed by a small, semi-transparent shockwave. A golden energy spread slowly across Vincent and his companions as well as all of their equipment. Deep within his Soulsapce there was a strong pulse. He had more or less mastered dreamwalking at this point, so it was child''s play to project himself into the deepest depths of his soul. While his physical body remained in place, his mind was transferred into his metaphysical Soulspace. Of course this left him vulnerable and unable to guard himself in the real world. Time still moved at its regular pace. But that wasn''t a factor here. His Soulspace had grown much more comprehensible and detailed. It appeared as an almost exact replica of the very same cave that served as his safe haven ever since he had first come to the system. Whether that had been a decision on behalf of the system or his own subconscious doing, he wasn''t sure. The primary difference in this artificial world was the size of Vincent''s Soulspace compared to the actual cave in the real one. Vincent''s Soulspace seemed to grow larger and larger the more powerful he became, and with each successful rotation of his cycle of Life, Rot and Ash. Currently his Soulsapce manifestation measured roughly three times the size of the cave in the physical realm. The second major difference was the amount of ambient Nectar in the air. While a large amount of raw, untapped energy had gathered on the ceiling of Garkan''s tomb, it paled in comparison to the density and scope of the Nectar that permeated Vincent''s Soulspace. It gushed out of the pillar located in the center of the metaphysical space, looking almost ghostly in appearance. A massive inefficiency he would address momentarily. Vincent walked up to the pillar, where his Soul was currently undergoing a radical transformation. Naturally he had chosen to engrave his script on the ''pillar.'' Having it represent his innermost self just seemed.. appropriate. Originating from the pillar, and shooting off into various directions were multiple different colors of Nectar, acting as tethers. Some were much larger, and flowed faster than the others. Two in particular caught his eyes, one a bright emerald green and the other a deep, dark purple. These were the bonds that made up his Network of souls, connecting him to his companions, equipment and pack. The energy between them flowed back and forth simultaneously, becoming stronger and more refined as it was exchanged between the two sources. Vincent was surprised to find there were also two connections there that he hadn''t expected to find, and they had grown relatively large lately. One was a silvery gray and the other was maroonish red. Without even needing to look deeply into them, he knew these threads of energy ran to Zar-Rhah and Gildarts. As he got within hugging distance of the rough stone, he couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow, finding that his soul was littered with surprises today. At the base of the pillar a small patch of grass had begun to grow and slowly spread in all directions. ''How interesting..'' He pondered. It was the first semblance of biological life he had encountered in his Soulspace thus far. The man shook his head and turned his attention back to the central pillar. He narrowed his eyes as his perception dismantled the metamorphosis occuring before him. With one hundred supporting characters around them, two primary runes ''adaptation'' and ''molecular synthesis'' slowly took shape and blazed across the thick base of the pillar. The process completely obliterated the replica engravings that existed there before as his runes continued to spread and connect to one another like chains. The symbols began to glow brighter and brighter, deepening themselves in the stone as Vincent''s considerable vital energies were devoured by the engravings. The process was roughly guided by Vincent''s domineering will, but mostly he trusted his soul and the system to make the most of this offered resource. Engravings, unlike skills, were special in that they could be powered with mana, emotion, stamina, health.. pretty much any form of energy depending on the desired effect. So of course Vincent being the over achiever that he was, chose to use every type of energy combined in his Soulspace in order to power his scripts. He just didn''t realize how extensive the cost would be, as the Nectar in the air continued to rapidly dissipate. These runes, which he poured his intentions and feelings into, took longer than most. But they were unbreakable and absolute. However if they kept consuming such copious amounts of energy even he would run dry. He was scared for a second that the engravings wouldn''t hold as the symbols shook and wavered, beginning to vibrate with the pressure of containing his unnaturally dense powers. An intense pressure began to build that was difficult to explain. Vincent had never been several miles deep in the pre-system earth''s ocean before, but he imagined it probably felt something like this. After an annoyingly prolonged amount of time in which he nearly lost consciousness, he breathed a sigh of relief. The symbols began to dim and settle down. The pressure slowly withdrew its tight grasp from around him. The Nectar in the air was practically bone dry, but it was slowly being replenished with his skills. Much of the dense, gushing mist had ceased flowing from the pillar. As the runes finished stabilizing, they pulsed and glowed lightly in various different colors and shades. The multitudes of symbols swam in complex patterns with the two largest engravings acting as the unmoving anchors at the center of the structure. It faintly reminded him of the way planets orbited massive stars in a Solar system, the gravitational properties of each planet deftly interacting with one another. He methodically rolled his neck in a contented manner as he felt the effects. His sword, shield and armor buzzed in satisfaction having gained new abilities. AoF (Unique) lvl 1 Attk: 100 Ability: Adaptation. User absorbs a small amount of the targets skill, energy and experience per attack. Does not lower enemy skill level. If the target has multiple skills, the user receives experience from all sources. Warning! Skill leech has been absorbed! Calculating effects¡­ ''Tsk.. I literally just got that skill a few weeks ago..'' He groaned internally. Incorporating aspects of Yggdrasil.. Incorporating aspects of The Revered Patreon.. Congratulations! Adaptation now forms a sphere of influence around your person that is active even when you are not in combat! Grows in scope and effect based on the strength of the user. ME (Unique) lvl 1 Defense: 100 Ability: Molecular Synthesis. Allows the user''s equipment to passively absorb the element properties of any substance the user touches, adding their density and function to the user''s own. Trinity (Unique) lvl 1 defense: 100 Ability: Passive energy absorption. While donning your armor, gradually absorb the flows of energy from the environment and even the lifeforms around you. Quickly adapt to harmful environments. Greatly empowers Yggdrasil and the Cycle of Life, Rot and Ash. Congratulations! Synergy detected! Calculating¡­ Passive energy absorption and Adaptation are amplifying one another''s effects! Expanding sphere of influence¡­ current sphere of influence: ten meters Vincent sucked in a breath as he felt the effects on his body on the outside world, even from within his Soulsapce. He had to actively forbid his new abilities from leeching the Nectar from Garkan''s tomb, as he promised he wouldn''t defile the place. It split his attention a little bit, but not too much. With a sigh he shook his head and turned his eyes back to the blue window, where notifications continued flashing across his screen. Congratulations! Skill: Skill Configuration (Unique) achieved! Skill: Soulspace manipulation (Legendary) achieved! Synergy detected! Recalculating¡­ Congrarulations! New feat: Rise of the King in Black! Perk: Anointed prince, the Monarch fledgling has evolved to become.. Blooming Monarch! The system recognizes you as a young monarch with extraordinary potential! Your choices are yours, and yours alone. A young king sits atop his throne and gazes out at the expansive world with hungry eyes. Ancient ones lift their tired heads as a new King grows in strength.. Within the bowels of the Nexus, ancient beasts arise from their slumber.. Rewards unknown¡­ New perk: Enrichment of Life, Rot and Ash! Gives a generous boost to Life, Rot, and Flame based abilities. Skill Configuration: (Unique) Allows the user a fair amount of control over the evolution and leveling of skills. Allows user to place natural and temporary caps on their skills. A unique skill that does not level. Grows stronger in proportion to the user''s Soulspace and will. (Passive skill) Soulspace manipulation (Legendary) Our souls represent everything we are. Yours glows unnaturally bright; you demand to be heard by the Nexus.Your careful hands work constantly to weave together a more perfect vessel to house your ever growing Soul. (Passive ability) Enrichment of Life, Rot and Ash. Your understanding of the eternal cycle grants you invaluable insights. Your Vitality, Toxicity and Flame are much more potent than before. Your skills level more quickly. You break down and comprehend the calorific flows in all things slightly faster than before. Congratulations! Soulspace Cycle (Unique) has increased to level 3! His Soulspace shuddered before stretching and becoming marginally larger. The central pillar, rather than gushing Nectar as it had done previously, began to shine a bright gold color. The grass at his feet began to grow and a single flower bloomed¡­ His eyes snapped open as he came back to the real world once more. His companions were examining their equipment in awe. "Hell yeah man, this is so awesome!" Lupus yelled, literally bouncing around at sonic speeds with excitement. As mature as he had become, the goofball still acted like a child most of the time. His ever stoic brother merely smirked, eyeing his equipment with naked admiration and lust. Vincent smiled fondly at the two and took in a deep refreshing breath. He stood to his feet and gave himself a quick look over. Decidingly satisfied with the results of all of his hard work, he flexed. "I feel like I could beat the terror of the jungle with ease, now.." Vincent began making his way toward the mouth of the cave but paused to take a look at his garden. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it On either side of the tomb''s unnatural stream were twenty golden plants consisting of various fruits and vegetables. ''Not quite ready yet..'' He turned and gestured to his companions. "Come on. We''ve got work to do." Lupus bounded gayly after with the colossal, skulking figure of the Abomination lumbering silently behind. As the three made their way outside, Vincent raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Stepping out onto the flat field, he couldn''t help but notice that plant life all around him began to flourish and thrive. The grass at his feet grew rapidly and the ground hardened with increased vitality. "This must be the effects of my Adaptation after incorporating Yggdrasil and the Revered Patreon.." He realized. Chuckling, he made his way across the field at a brisk pace. Vincent was eternally grateful for his plante skill making it so that he didn''t have to deal with the sticky, waist high plant life anymore. His tribe, which had grown to over fifty wolves now, bowed in respect and clamored to catch a glimpse of their fabled God. It was an unfortunate and sad fact that his was probably the last remaining pack with numbers in the double digits.. The jungle seemed to grow ever more dangerous by the day and it was only because of Vincent that his adoptive family wasn''t left to a similar fate. Under his tutelary care they had prospered. They would follow him to the ends of the Nexus... Vincent walked elegantly, head held high as a show of strength and pride before his pack. The prince, now technically a king in his own right, was off hunting. His brother was one of the few still capable of holding their own in the ongoing war with the depraved. Vincent smiled. He always gave the utmost respect to the king of the wolves during public affairs for the sake of his adoptive brother''s pride but in Vincent''s heart Dawn would always be that little pup he rescued. On their way to their destination, Vincent glanced over his shoulder at a wide field that consisted of nearly fifty neat rows, stretching off into the distance. This humble farm was the result of his pledge to help the Orc people. While it didn''t grow the kind of impossibly high quality plants that Vincient''s personal garden did, it was still much higher grade than anything found on the pre-system Earth. The wolf God and his loyal subjects were able to pump out massive quantities of food each month, enough to feed an army. In fact, they had so much extra food these days that he was in the process of making a trade deal with the empire. But that was a matter for another time. The fields left his view entirely and the man turned back around, focusing on their destination. From its entrance, the farms were on the left hand side of the cave while Vincent and his companions had made their way to the other side. It was here where a large, dark amethyst object lay lodged in the ground and covered in mutated grass. It looked like a giant frozen fireball. Vincent and co. stopped before the meteor whose mysteries had plagued him since it had nearly crushed him and his family a year ago. Still to this day he was nowhere near understanding what the exact purpose of the object was. But now.. that was no longer a factor. He held up his large shield and pressed its diamond shaped face to the rugged surface of the meteorite. "Time to figure out what secrets you hold inside." He threatened, as if the rock were somehow supposed to fear his taunts. His companions sweat dropped but said nothing, simply observing as their master attempted to understand his equipment''s new abilities. Vincent wasn''t exactly sure what to do or how to activate Molecular Synthesis so he kind of just stood there awkwardly for several seconds ''willing'' something to do.. something. He could feel the sphere of influence that represented his Adaptation stretching out and lazily drinking energy from all sources within its grasp. He could even feel it siphoning off a small amount of dense Nectar from the meteor. Every few minutes there was a pulse of pure life from the sphere, increasing the vitality of the world around him and further improving the quality of the energy his Adaptation absorbed. But the strength of the skill was still too weak to be meaningful in any way. It would take far too long to absorb the properties of his objective this way and crack it open. Still holding the face of his golden shield firmly to the purple meteor, he sighed and looked both at Lupus and Abomination. "This is weird¡­ You two got any ideas?" He asked. Of course the two idiots just shrugged in response. He pinched his nose in frustration with his free hand. After several more minutes of trying to activate various abilities and absolutely nothing happening, he stepped away. But as he did so he couldn''t stifle the gasp that escaped his lips. There were no noteworthy changes in the rock¡­ His shield, however, had its colors morphed to the point Vincent almost didn''t recognize it. He looked at it, looked away and then did a double take as he looked back at it again in shock. "Wait, what the actual fuck!? My shield!?.." He cried indignantly. Whereas before the shield was a shining gold with patterns of red, now it''s base was a black so dark it almost seemed to absorb light. Where the red had been before was now an ominously glowing violet. A purple mist drifted lazily off the surface of the equipment and its sides had widened into spikes. "Fuck, screw this damn, poisonous thing!" He cursed kicking the meteorite. He fully expected he was about to break his ankle as he held nothing back with the kick. To his utter shock however, the entire thirty-ish foot tall object was obliterated in a wave of force. He stood flabbergasted for several seconds, mouth gaping in abject confusion. How had he..? He quickly checked his strength stat¡­ He hadn''t received some sudden ungodly boost so.. he focused his perception on his shield and instantly saw what he had missed before. Due to his panic, all he''d really noticed was the physical properties, not bothering at all to look at the shield''s attributes. Had he done so, or even noticed the changing shapes of the energy within his soul bound equipment, he would have understood what happened. "Haha.. hahaha" He burst into laughter as his mind calmly pieced the situation together. His sensory abilities allowed him to conclude that his shield had indeed absorbed the sturdiness of the strange amethyst rock, which apparently left it brittle as a consequence. He looked at his stats, specifically his armor. AoF (unique) lvl 1 Attk: 125 Ability: Adaptation. User passively absorbs a small amount of the energy and experience within his sphere of influence. ME (unique) lvl 1 Defense: 150 Ability: Molecular Synthesis. Allows the user''s equipment to absorb the element properties of any substance the user touches, adding their density and function to the user''s own. Trinity (unique) lvl 1 defense: 125 Ability: Passive energy absorption. Quickly adapt to harmful environments, boost Adaptation and similar abilities. His eyes grew to the size of saucers. His defense had grown by 75 and his attack by 25! Just from absorbing the event rock.. He chuckled at his fortune, finally having changed for the better for once. This new ability would prove exceedingly valuable in the future. He glanced over at the rubble from the meteor, which had begun to crumble and sink into the ground. That damn thing had been useful for something, otherwise proving to be little more than an eye sore after having nearly eradicated him and his family. His shield had obviously gotten the lion''s share of the boost but it was more than fair by splitting half the energies with its brethren.''Good girl'' He thought affectionately. The shield purred in response. Apparently she didn''t mind going full goth either, so he didn''t complain about the cosmetics too much. Vincent idly wondered if the boost in stats would apply multiplicative or additive if he somehow managed to level up. Would 100 points of armor be all it would ever add? He wasn''t sure. The only way to know would be to start leveling his gear and that was something he still wasn''t really sure how to do. Not while he had no way of increasing his own level¡­ He had never put much time or thought into it as he didn''t want to risk losing out on his precious efficiency. It was already so hard to improve, given his massive library of skills and abilities. It only got more complicated maintaining a decent efficiency with each new skill he acquired, which is part of why he didn''t just go off creating random ones all the time. Activating all of his abilities in tandem, his Aura imitation flared ro life as he considered what to do next. It was simply second nature to use all of his skills at once at this point for maximum efficiency. But what he hadn''t anticipated was that he had in fact become a lot stronger this past week.. He shuddered with the influx of energy granted by his equipment and his newest abilities. Given the number of stronger and higher rarity skills Vincent now possessed, there was quite a bit more strain than what he was accustomed to.. For the most part he was able to grit his teeth and push through it. Besides he would grow stronger from struggling through this pain. But for the time being his efficiency would be lowered slightly until he got used to this new level of power, and he wouldn''t be able to activate his highest rarity skills with their full emotional force. He had come to realize some time ago that rarity wasn''t necessarily determined by the function of a skill or what it did, but by how much emotional force, stats and raw energy it took to activate. He was sure leveling up would create a whole new kind of emotional and physical strain as his skills grew increasingly powerful. Over the last two years Vincent had developed some useful abilities, but nothing too sophisticated. "I need to find Gildarts¡­" He mumbled, the tip of his Aura casually licking the air. "But first.." There were still some shifts occurring within him that he needed to better understand. With a flick of his wrist he brought up his status window. It was time to see how powerful he had become and address the most obvious changes that he''d noticed since completing his script and obtaining his new skills. AoF Lvl 1 Attack: 125 Ability: Adaptation. ME Lvl 1 Defense: 150 Ability: Molecular Synthesis. Trinity Lvl 1 defense: 125 Ability: Passive energy absorption. Efficiency: 6% Skill XP available: 1% Nectar capacity: 1% Strength: 400 Endurance: 375 Vitality: 550 Intelligence: 375 Perception: 325 Agility: 350 Skills: Dodge (Common) lvl 99 (Capped) Smithing (Common) lvl 99 (Capped) Farming (Common) lvl 99 (Capped) Cooking (Common) lvl 99 (Capped) Sword and shield (Common) lvl 99 (Capped) Block (Common) lvl 99 (Capped) Crushing Grip (Common) lvl 70 (Consumes stamina to multiply grip strength. Also increases the damages of melee weapons by 200%) Shockwave (Common) lvl 99 (Capped) Parry (sword) (Common) lvl 99 (Capped) Shield bash (Common) lvl 99 (Capped) Alchemy (Uncommon) lvl 99 (Capped) Electric resistance (Uncommon) lvl 99 (Capped) Acid resistance (Uncommon) lvl 99 (Capped) Ice resistance (Uncommon) lvl 99 (Capped) Hardened skin. (Uncommon) lvl 99 (Capped) Reinforced bones (Uncommon) lvl 99 (Capped) Geographic inclination. lvl 99 (Capped) Tuck n roll (Uncommon) lvl 99 (Capped) Piercing thrust (Uncommon) lvl 99 (Capped) Magnetism (Uncommon) lvl 99 (Capped) Thermal manipulation (Uncommon) lvl 99 (Capped) Planta/Plante (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Courage (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Enhanced toughness (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) rejuvenation. (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Extract (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Refine (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Combine (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Berserker rage. (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Telekinesis. (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Aerodynamics (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Absolute timing (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Sixth sense (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Reconnaissance of the Alpha Wolf (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Lucky break (Rare) lvl Max Maelstrom whirlwind (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Shadow manipulation (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Radiant Light (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Water torrent (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Electric Bolt (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Cinder of flame (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Stealth (Rare) lvl 99 (Capped) Mental fortitude lvl 50 (Decreases strain of overusing the intelligence stat) Ecology (Epic) lvl 95 Unyielding guard (Epic) lvl 89 Unwavering strike (Epic) lvl 89 Shadow step (Epic) lvl 93 Comet (Epic) lvl 90 Pilfered kinetic force (Epic) lvl 90 Impact reduction (Epic) lvl 85 Pain tolerance (Epic) lvl 75 Diverging perception (Epic) lvl 60 Gravity manipulation (Epic) lvl 70 Blazing trail of Wrath (Epic) lvl 55 Flamecloak (Epic) lvl 50 Flurry of strikes (Epic) lvl 70 Optical incandescence (Epic) lvl 50 Shadow''s embrace (Epic) lvl 30 (When in darkness or shadow, become slightly harder to detect, move slightly faster, and all abilities with dark and gravity affinites gain a small boost per skill level) Cripple limb (Epic) lvl 50 (Passive ability. Attacks do increased damage to enemies limbs, slowing them and causing prolonged healing) Vulnerability (Epic) lvl 40 (Active ability. Enemies take more damage) Weakness (Epic) lvl 40 (Active ability. Enemies deal less damage) Debilitating stomp (Epic) lvl 25 (Causes intense vibrations in a 10 foot radius around the user which disrupts enemy footing and guard) Critical strike (Legendary) lvl Max Universal dialect of many Tongues (Legendary) lvl 75 (Formerly Advanced communications) Complete tranquility (Legendary) lvl 55 Unparalleled physical fitness (Legendary) lvl 52 Bleeding heart (Legendary) lvl 49 Ancient Slumbering Tortoise (Legendary) lvl 45 Mercy of the revered patreon (legendary) lvl 15 Yggdrasil; Ancient world tree (Legendary) lvl 8 Tempered atomic structure (Legendary) lvl Max Critical strike (Legendary) lvp Max Wrathful Flame (Legendary) lvp 30 Spirit fusion (Legendary) lvl 30 Linguae Archit¨¦kt¨­n (Mythical) lvl 33 Progenitor of the Sectum Anima (Mythical) lvl 20 Devour (Edax Animarum) (Legendary) 15 Absolute Authority (Mythical) lvl 10 Incinerate (Mythical) lvl 25 Festering Scarlet Rot (Mythical) lvl 30 Ameliorate Wound (Mythical) lvl 25 Eternal Pillars of Support; Soulbound Champions (Mythical) lvl 15 (Energy circulates between you and your companions, mimicking the circle of life. Your energy is refined and increased in potency as it passes between your Soulspaces. All skills level slightly faster, gain knowledge faster, gain stats faster, companions share strain of skills) Dance of the Immortal Chimera (Mythical) lvl 10 (Passive ability. User is slightly harder to kill and takes slightly less damage from all sources per skill level) Singularity (Divine) lvl 10 Soulspace cycle (Unique) Lvl 3 Network of souls (Unique) lvl ??? Blessing of Silva deus (Unique) lvl ??? Skill Configuration (Unique) lvl Max System interference (???) Lvl.??... The first thing Vincent noticed was the level cap present on all of his skills that had hit 99. He breathed a contented sigh of relief. The Nectar that had been gushing from his Soulspace was likely a result of him forcefully willing his skills not to level past 99 at all times. All the excess skill XP had nowhere to go, so it constantly saturated his soul. There had been a mounting pressure from forcefully suppressing that much unshaped energy, which Vincent only just now understood the full effects of. He hadn''t even realized how much of a deficiency and dihibiliation it had been up until this point. If he had to explain it, it was the equivalent of only being able to use one arm because the other constantly had to hold his insides together. But now that the process of converting experience and Nectar was being actively assisted by the system, he was able to divert his wasted focus and energy into power. And he truly felt powerful. Within his Soulspace, the pillar of his soul was shining a brighter gold by the second, brimming with excess potential. His storage of Nextar began to accurate once more as his abilities siphoned energy from the world around him. He flexed his powerful body and his efficiency rose to 7%. Some of the strain he had been feeling from his additional abilities receded as his power slowly grew. His blue Aura imitation spread out further, encompassing a space several inches from his body. This gave him the appearance of an azure candle that continuously glowed brighter and brighter. He raised his arms on either side of him and took in a deep breath, pushing his massive library of skills and considerable stats to their limits. The energy in his soul churned in carefully controlled patterns. Steam hissed off his body, the air shimmering around him. His equipment trembled in excitement, lending their own emotional force and will to their master. The ground at his feet quaked and began to crack. Plant life exploded around him with another pulse of his Adaptation. Ydgrassil reached out with its golden roots and greedily devoured the excess energy, which his system interference then converted into raw stats. The man''s Soulspace trembled as his cycle of Life, Rot and Ash accelerated. Some of the plants within his ten meters of Adaptation quickly began to decay while others caught fire. His mismatched eyes glowed, staring intently ahead as the essence of his being leaked out into the world around him. The air rippled and seemed to be pushed away from the man, causing a distortion effect. Even from the other side of the field where the gardens were contained, the pressure in the air grew. His pack shook in instinctual submission. Their hair rising on end as they tried to comprehend the power their leader was displaying. As for his companions, Lupus was a mischievous grin while the Abomination''s gaze was one of hunger and envy. His perception spread out for half a mile, allowing him to feel everything from the swaying of the trees, to the smallest insect scuttling across the ground. Though his five natural senses were abnormally sharp, his Sixth Sense truly gave the world in his mind''s eye depth. It gave him the ability to literally feel the universe around him. But rather than feeling things the way one typically would with their sense of touch, this was more of an emotional feeling. He inherently comprehended and parsed apart the very energy that comprised the universe. He understood the atoms that made up every single element, and how it all came together to work in nature. And Vincent was a star at the heart of it all.. separate from the system and feeding off of it to create his own light. Ydggrassil grew taller and more robust. Its roots dug deeper and reaching higher into the sky, gathering more and more ambient energy. As the rumbling grew to a crescendo Vincent lowered his arms and huffed out a breath. All at once his energy disbursed and he relaxed, causing the rumbling to cease. The world was eerily silent as it recovered from its shock. "Hmm.. didn''t sense him." The man muttered, running a hand through his rather short hair. At least compared to what he was used to. He scratched his chin and sighed before shaking his head in dismay. He turned to his companions, who patiently awaited his orders. Lupus giggled with a goofy closed eye smile while the Abomination merely crossed his arms and stared back stoically. Vincent couldn''t suppress the smile that split his face. "Time for a hunt." End of chapter 41 Seeking the truth part 1 *Smack!* Bzzzzt.. Vincent let out an irritated growl that reluctantly turned into a tired sigh as he killed the thousandth mosquito. The annoying bastards wanted his precious stats, he just knew. Looking quickly left and then to the right a tick mark appeared on his forehead. For the better part of three hours now he had been unable to locate his quarry. He had been everywhere but the most dangerous depths of the jungle. So far all he had to show for his drudgery was countless bug bites making him look hideously deformed. Scratching his face and then each of his arms, he narrowed his eyes. It seemed as if he was staring off into nothingness but in truth he was stretching out his senses, devouring an amount of information that would have given a regular human a stroke. He winced in discomfort and rubbed his brow. It was only because of his ridiculous vitality and considerable intelligence that he only had a mild headache after three hours of such thorough examination. He grit his teeth and shook his head lightly. "He must not be in the jungle¡­ Fine. I''ll go to master''s first then." He decided, turning sharply around and beginning to jump leisurely from tree to tree. "I have a bone to pick with him, anyways." And with that his speed multiplied, the unrecognizable man from Earth became a blur as he bounded through the air at almost the speed of sound. 5 minutes later¡­ Vincent broke through the tree line like a comet, striking the ground near the edge of Zar-Rah''s lake and creating a sizable crater. Some of the water from the lake began to spill into the newly made bowl and Vincent rubbed the back of his head and shook his feet as water pooled around his ankles. He was sure he would be getting chewed out for that.. As he trudged his way up the lip of the crater he paused, cocking his head sideways in bemusement. Before him, Standing nearly 4 meters tall on its hind legs, stood a creature that appeared to resemble a mole. Only this ''mole'' had razor sharp fangs with tusks protruding from its upper jaw and foot long claws that could probably tear through tungsten alloy like paper. It''s black, beady eyes stared hungrily at the man, deciding whether or not he would hold any nutritional value. Vincent snorted as he sensed the creature''s intentions. It opened its maw wide and roared, spittle flying and ripples of force coursing through the air. Vincent flinched. Not because he was scared in any way shape or form, but because a stray bit of phlegm smacked him square in the eye. He wiped the spit from his face with his gloved hand, looking down at it in disgust. He looked back up at the creature who eagerly took a step closer. Earth Reaver Lvl: 47 Class: Earth Health: 25,000/25,000 Mana: 10,000/10 000 Stats: Strength: 300 Endurance: 250 Vitality: 100 Intelligence: 100 Perception: 500 Agility: 300 Vincent''s eyes narrowed, his brow furrowing. His eyes began to glow a blue so bright that they resembled stars. His hair pevitated as his Aura slowly flickered to life and the earth shook beneath him. The large, muscular creature froze, it''s body becoming rigid. The Reaver''s hair stood on end as it began to comprehend the truth of the moment. That it was the prey and this man.. no.. this monster was the predator. Vincent sucked in a steady stream of energy filled air. His chest expanded and he opened his mouth slightly. "ROAAAAAAR!" The sound that tore its way from the man''s throat was anything but human. Reverberations of force blasted outward, flattening the creature''s fur and forcing it back on its hind legs. Its eyes were shut tightly, partly due to fear and partly due to the force of wind in its face. The sound was like a hurricane; a raw force of nature rather than any real scream. It ended just as quickly as it began, Vincent slowly closing his mouth and leaning back to cross his arms. He huffed and glared at the monster, who appeared to be shaken to its core. Frozen in fear, it could only stare at the man, unable to even run away. At least until Vincent clicked his tongue and quickly jerked his chin over his shoulder. The demand behind the gesture was clear and the large mole-like creature gladly obliged as it scurried off as fast as its massive body would allow. Just before reaching the tree line it dove a full meter into the air in an awkward dive. It hit the ground head first and practically sank right through the planet as it''s deadly claws revealed their true purpose. Congratulations! Title change available! Title(s) available: Vincent, The King in Black The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Rewards indeterminable. Warning! This action is not recommended as the title is not recognized by the system archives! Please seek the nearest system HUB or one of your homeworld''s tavern owners. Do you accept? (Y/N) Eyes widening slightly he hesitated, finger hovering over the yes. On one hand this would have permanent and unknown repercussions.. On the other hand this was a path the system clearly did not want him to take. And that was all he needed to make his decision. Congratulations! You will henceforth be known throughout the Nexus as; Vincent, The King in Black! Warning! Calculating effects.. error!.. Vincent clutched his chest as an intense burning feeling took residence there. It was far from the worst pain he had ever felt, even still he couldn''t help but wince and pant slightly. It felt as if a molten ball of steel had settled in his chest beside his heart. Congratulations! New skill: King in Black (Unique) lvl 0 has been achieved! New feat achieved! The King in Black takes his first breath! A path not walked by any other, The King in Black would seek to subdue and consume the truth, rather than understand it. The universe sneers in disgust at your existence.. A cold and lonely death will be your penance. Take what is yours. All stats are slightly more potent than before! +25 all stats! +25 vitality! Vincent fell to his knees and coughed up a wad of blood, only.. it wasn''t the blood of a human. Rather than being red and thin, this substance was thick and black. It looked more like runny tar than blood. Vincent''s very soul pulsed and he went rigid for a moment. Then he threw his head back and yelled, his arms shooting out wide to the sides as his body grew exponentially larger. His muscles bulged and he gained nearly a meter in height. His bones lengthened and became more dense, cracking and helaing under the pressure of his new body. Vincent was standing, face contorted in strain and arms still at his sides as if he were nailed to a cross. He looked like a bodybuilding giant, possessing a height and physique that should not have been humanly possible. His armor was stretched so far it split in the chest, arms and legs areas. He was sure he looked intimidating and powerful.. But this ugly, grotesque form was not him.. opening his eyes he grit his teeth and began to fight back against whatever transformation was overcoming him. He clenched his open palms into fists and began to pull himself in tight like a Cannonball. He grunted with effort, not really trying to end the ritual so much as guide its processes. His muscles began to compact and steam wafted off of him as he shrunk slowly down, back to his original (system enhanced) height of 5''10. With a final scream of defiance he took a step forward, cracking the ground beneath him. There was a bright flash, and the end result was Vincent. He scanned his body slowly from left to right, looking at his torso and arms. He appeared exactly as he had before the strange occurrence. At least on the outside. As he began to peer deeper into himself with his perception and abilities he garnered a deeper understanding of what had happened. Essentially his body had kept all of the power for that monstrous form and tailored it to be as efficient as possible for combat, which for Vincent was this body he had built over the last five years. His muscles were insanely dense, yet he could tell they also possessed elasticity and flexibility. His bones had shifted slightly. Especially in his abnormal chest plate area, but it wasn''t immediately observable to most, he was sure. Mostly they were just dense and better suited for explosive speed and power. If he had to guess.. This was probably the result of each individual stat he possessed all becoming more powerful all at once. The man shook his head tiredly. That had taken more put of him than he expected or he may have waited on accepting the new title. He began to make his way towards the mouth of the cave at the other end of the lake with unsteady legs, the strength of which he wasn''t fully used to. His blood had turned a small ring of grass into a puddle of death and rot. Something he would have to address later. Vincent stopped just a few feet away from the cave when a bulky, misshapen figure hobbled out of the cave and into the afternoon sun. His grizzled old master had clearly just woken up from a nap, his one visible eye unfocused and full of aggression. His gray skin was ashy and dry, and Vincent idly wondered if the man was getting enough vitamins these days. His thin white hair was mostly covered by the hood of his cloak, but it was clear that the man was balding. It occurred to the human that his master was very old. Over a hundred years by his own admission. He wasn''t sure how long Orcs lived, but even with the benefits of the system¡­ Somehow he was inclined to believe that his master was not long for this world anymore. And that was a thought that made him sick to his stomach. "What in Garkan''s name is going on out here!?" His master yelled with overly exaggerated ordination. He waved his arm and cane back and forth, pretending as if he were scanning the clearing and hadn''t already seen his student giving him a deadpan expression. Then the old man lowered his cane and focused on the human. "Ahh, Vincent. I didn''t see you there. What brings you to my home?" He asked in a theatrical manner. Vincent internally rolled his eyes but on the outside his face remained stoic. "Zar-Rhah. We need to talk." Moments later.. The cave belonging to the self proclaimed Mythic arts master was well lit, a stark contrast to its usual dark and shadowy atmosphere. With his engraving skill higher than ever, Vincent instantly deduced the reason behind all the unusual luminescence. Pouring two mugs of mead and sliding one to his student, the grizzled old master grunted. "Get on with it then." He ordered, slurping loudly from his drink. Vincent smirked in response. Straight to the point, the way he liked it. That was why he and his fellow Orcs got along so well. "You told me the runic language was essentially a stand-in for skills. You taught me they behave like skills and channel our emotions and intentions.." He paused, taking a drink and looking sideways at his master. Zar-Rhah merely returned the gaze with a casual, stoney demeanor. Wiping his face the man from earth continued, ".. and while that may be true in part, they do chennl our emotions and intentions.. They behave nothing like skills." He concluded. Still Zar-Rhah said nothing, so Vincent took this as a sign to provide evidence and support for his accusations. Looking over his newly created script, there were several runes that were dangerously incompatible. Even with the other 93 stable runes bearing the brunt of the conflicting forces, the massive series of tomes he had created within his Soulspace should have shredded him to pieces¡­ Yet they worked in harmony because he had willed them to do so. At last Zar-Rhah responded, chewing his inner lip before speaking slowly. "Ahh so I see.. You have finally completed the script to house your engravings." He said with mild surprise. "To have completed a task of that magnitude in such a short amount of time.. I admit I had my doubts when I first took you on as a student two years ago. But it seems Gildarts was right, as he often is. You truly are special." He praised sincerely. Vincent blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head. He coughed lightly. "Don''t think that flattery will save you from my ire old man. Why did you lie to me?" He asked somberly In response the aged Orc shrugged and said with what Vincent determined was a reckless audacity, "I had to. The Ancient tongues are more than just words. Long before skills were conceptualized, runes are what originally built and defined the Nexus. To this day they hold the system itself together, and shape reality as we know it." He revealed. Vincent''s mind whirled while listening to his master casually explanation behind the reasoning for his deception. The man spoke as if he had been doing him a favor, which originally annoyed the dakr haired man. But the more his mind continued putting the pieces together it occurred to Vincent that, that may have actually been the case. "..That is the truth of the power you are tapping into. Runes hold great power and meaning, allowing you to reshape matter and energy in the Nexus. But only if your emotions are strong, and your desires firm." Zar-Rhah said with resolve. "You must truly believe with all of your soul in what you''re saying. Since you already believe that water puts out fire, that is what I told you." Finishing his drink, Zar-Rhah grabbed his cane and hobbled over to a stone area that was free of clutter. He turned over his shoulder to Vincent and sighed. "But now you know a different truth don''t you? That the only real truth.. is the one you manifest. Your mind.. your will determines what is real and what isn''t. In this reality. The water does not just put the fire out¡­ It can make the flames burn brighter." He said quizzically. Raising his cane and closing his eyes he methodically began drawing symbols in the air while chanting quietly. Even though his voice was low, it seemed to echo and reverberate throughout the spacious cave. The bottles of potions along the walls that Vincent had gifted his master over the years shook and clanged together. The air before the gray Orc began to shimmer and wave before a ball of ferocious flame erupted to life in front of him. It was relatively modest, being no larger than a volleyball in size but it was stable and potent. The initial symbols used were easy enough to understand, even if he hadn''t mastered some of them. Words like ''ignite'' and ''burn'' shone the brightest as the engravings danced before his newly improved perception. But then as he watched, his master began to draw a second set of runes. These were relatively simple as well, but in terms of compatibility.. As if to orchestrate his line of thought a tightly compressed ball of swirling water bubbled into existence beside the ball of flame. Vincent watched in fascination as the two congruent forces of nature slowly drifted closer to one another until they began to converge. Naturally, Vincent had expected the two opposing elements to obstruct one another or perhaps erupt in a violent disagreement. To his surprise however, the two spheres merged seamlessly. A second later the two spheres exploded, fusing and becoming one large ball for blue flame that was easily the size of Zar-Rah himself. Vincent stared in shock and awe at the raw power and force that blasted outward from the newly created attack. Waves of force and energy shot forth in rings, and an intense wind was generated from the epicenter of the fire. And then just as quickly it was gone as Zar-Rah waved his cane through the air, ending the ritual and harmlessly dispersing the energy. He was huffing slightly, wiping sweat from his forehead when he turned around and grinned. "Do you understand now, boy? We are tapping into the power of God." End of chapter 42