《Anathum: Quest for the End》 1. Welcome to a New World The feeling of his head pounding at his skull was the first sensation that Damien woke up to, the ceaseless pulse of pain formed at the center of his brain and crashed against the edges of his head like clockwork, he groaned at the pain. His body felt foggy and hard to move, like he was recovering from muscle atrophy, but still, he managed to will his hand to clutch his head, the veins that pulsed in his temples as the pain came told him that a lot of blood was rushing to his brain and that was where the pain originated from. With each passing moment, the feeling of vertigo and nausea he felt in his body began to clear away in favor of clarity and motor functions. He stretched out his fingers and arched his back, which gave birth to a series of bone pops, he wasn''t a doctor, but he was sure that popping his bones had some sort of medical properties, he was already feeling way better. The next problem he encountered was his current surroundings or lack thereof. It was dark, he could feel the dirt below his feet, and the scent of wet earth, he was likely in a dark cave of some sort, why was he here? He could not remember to save his life. Deciding that staying here was not going to help him get out of the situation, he gathered his courage and gave his first step into the void that encapsulated him. But that first step was as far as he got before he tripped on something that was laying on the floor, luckily the object that caused him to fall broke his fall. He immediately moved away from the thing he tripped on, when his hands touched the thing¡­ It was warm, and fleshy¡­ Alive. It had failed to react to him falling on it, but there was no reason to poke a sleeping bear, he had no way of knowing what type of things made their home in this darkness. Before he committed to walking the other way, a soft groan was caught in his ears. The sound was human, he hadn¡¯t thought ahead enough to consider that perhaps he wasn¡¯t the only one here, listening in closely, he noticed he could hear soft breathing and even some snoring. It came from everywhere around him, in his panic and desire to get out of the darkness he had neglected to study his setting with a clear mind. ¡°Hello? Is anyone there?¡± A soft voice spoke from the darkness, Damien thought about replying to the call, but his cautious mind denied him the option, what if it was a trap? Or a trick of some kind? It would be unwise for him to reveal his position in the darkness, especially when he didn¡¯t know anything about his current situation. ¡°Yes! Hello?¡± A new voice answered the call, Damien¡¯s breathing was placed on pause as the waited to see the results of this development. ¡°Oh thank God someone else is here, it¡¯s so dark I can¡¯t see anything,¡± Damien was listening in to the girl speak while he slowly crawled his way to the thing he had tripped over, his gut was telling him that it was something, but he wanted to verify. His hand reached out to where he more or less fell, on his grasp was warm flesh, he dragged his hand to the side and felt a human nose, his hand was definitely touching a human face, a living human face. A new situation was developing in his mind, were there a lot of people knocked unconscious in this room just like he was? He stood up and feeling confident about his conclusion shouted out for the other people awake to hear, ¡°Hey! Also in the dark here, are there sleeping bodies next to you guys?¡± ¡°What!? No way!?¡± The shrieks of the girl echoed all throughout the chamber, she must have been close to or on some bodies, ¡°Oh yes! I found people sleeping close to me! What is going on?¡± That exact question was running through Damien¡¯s mind as well, the situation was just too bizarre, ¡°I don¡¯t know but let¡¯s try and wake them up!¡± Just as his voice shouted out, a bright torch lit up on both sides of the chamber, the sudden light blinded Damien for a few seconds. But not wanting to stay in the literally dark for any longer, he closed one eye completely and had his other one half-lit, this way only a portion of the light would overwhelm my eyes that had grown accustomed to the dark. Next to the torches that lit up, a new set of lights were set aflame by themselves, and then the next and so on. In a matter of seconds, the whole chamber was illuminated, it was a long narrow cave in the shape of a rather rough rectangle. Several things caught his eye right away, the giant stone door at the other side of the cave, the dangerous path to it, and the piles of sleeping bodies next to him. It seemed due to the light in the room, many of the occupants started to stir from their sleep. Men, women, old people, children, and everything else in between was suddenly waking up to a strange room, which they had never been in. My suspicions were confirmed when a woman began to shout in alarm, that¡¯s all it took, one shout of panic. As if on cue, everyone that had just woken up began to shout in fear of the unknown situation, it was understandable, everyone thinks that they will react calmly to an unexpected situation, they think that they would not crack under the pressure, but reality comes at you despite these expectations. Damien watched as some even ran like chickens with their heads cut off, adrenaline fueled their aimless paths, someone should bring them under control, but Damien shrugged off the responsibility, it wasn¡¯t his to take. ¡°Everyone calm down! Please!¡± A looming man stood in front of the crowd, he had the face that said you could trust him and bundled with his loud clear voice, it wasn¡¯t much of a wonder mostly everyone stopped shouting and looked at the new figure. The dark-skinned man, satisfied with the result of his intervention, continued, ¡°Everyone, please let¡¯s take a deep breath and settle down, we need to get information if we want to know what is going on.¡± ¡°Where are we?¡± ¡°Who are you people?¡± ¡°How did we get here?¡± A barrage of questions came right after the man had asked everyone to be calm, it would be difficult to manage a crowd this big to be orderly, there were around 100 people packed into this small section of the overall room, so Damien decided to start making observations of his own. But something peculiar happened, the more he thought about how he might have gotten here or where he even was before he got here, the more blanks his brain would draw, it was like the memories of before he got here didn¡¯t exist. The realization settled in, he knew his own name, but what did he look like? He looked at his clothes, he wore blue jeans and a grey t-shirt, skin that had not run into the sun too often and black shoes. General knowledge was there, but he couldn¡¯t remember anything of what his life was before. He tried reaching into his pockets, but he found them empty, he felt as though something he used every day should have been there, but he couldn¡¯t remember what it was. ¡°Hey! Why do you have long ears?¡±, a voice of a stranger called out. Damien turned to face the new commotion, there as an old lady pointing at a young, lithe, blonde girl. Her attire was odd, she wore a green dress that reached just above her knees, a brown corset and white stockings, aside from her long ears, the fabrics of her clothing appeared to be non-modern. The realization that she was an elf soon came to his mind, he knew about elves, so why was his brain telling him that elves don¡¯t exist? One stood in front of him after all.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The others were surprised by her appearance for a slight moment as well, but soon fell into a similar state of mind as Damien, elves did exist, so what was there to be confused about? ¡°Hey does anyone remember anything before you came here?¡±, another voice called out, more and more people were beginning to notice that they lacked core memories. The eerie realization that everyone in the room had their minds wiped or messed with brought another wave of panic. Fortunately, before the panic could really settle in, something completely and unnatural happened. A message appeared in front of everyone.
Welcome to Anathum! We look forward to what your future will bring, the System will now oversee your progress and nourish your growth.
The blue screen in front of everyone was weird enough to quell the fear that had arisen a few moments prior, Damien heard a ding from overhead and him along with everyone else in the room looked up to see a bigger blue screen, it read:
Level 0 begins now, as a preliminary test to cull the weak, please make your way to the side of the chamber with the door within the next five minutes.
The screen was replaced with a countdown that began at five minutes, Damien only had to think about what culling the weak meant, he wasn¡¯t sure what exactly was going on, but right now he needed to get to the other side. He wasn¡¯t the only one who realized the gravity of the situation, over half the crowd ran to the edge of their side of the room, there was only one thing in between them and the stone door at the end of the chamber, a death trap. The floor was completely missing, and if Damien¡¯s eyes were correct, there was no bottom he could see, the only method to get across was several pillars that rose from the void that was the bottom and looked sturdy enough to jump to, you could probably cross with those, or more like, it was the only way. There was another problem however, the platforms weren¡¯t what he would consider big, they could fit maybe one or two people at max, that meant that ideally only two people could cross at the same time, but realistically, only one could safely transverse the pillars at a time. With less than five minutes left and around a hundred people that would need to cross, it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out the problem here. Adding on to that, there were elderly and children, how would they get across? Damien¡¯s instincts told him to run across now, if he waited then more people would soon realize the nature of this Preliminary. Still, if he jumped then he would be the direct cause of the chaos that would ensue once that first person dashed through, did he want that on his shoulders? The seconds ticked by and just as he had assumed, it wasn¡¯t all that long before a man dashed through the crowd like a bull and even knocked some people off the edge and into their deaths. ¡°Get the fuck out of my way!¡±, he lunged out and landed on the first platform, not wasting any time of momentum, he made the second jump without stopping. It would have been more impressive if not for the fact that a sharp metal rod shot out of the wall and pierced his chest, the metal cut clean through the pioneer and he slowly fell out the platform, the trap had killed him instantly. Now no one was able to contain their shouts and cries, the threat of death was now very vividly standing over them. While people were going out of their minds and a few others were trying to calm them down, Damien and several few others were closely watching the platforms, if this test was possible to beat, then there must be a way to avoid the trap from activating at the second jump, so what was it? A voice whispered next to Damien, ¡°Was it the place where he put his foot?¡±, a quick look to his right revealed the Elf girl thinking out loud. Damien looked back to the platform and noticed something, each pillar had a symbol etched on to the front of the pillar right below the actual top of the platform, and that symbol was chiseled into the stone at the top along with several others. It appeared that if you stepped on the symbol that the pillar indicated then no trap would activate, but if you stepped on the wrong one like the guy who just died did, well then you would end up sharing the same fate. The problem was that you could only see where the symbols were arranged on each platform from the previous platform. You would have to take a leap of faith and make your best effort to land on the correct symbol when you were over each one. Damien felt that perhaps there was something wrong with him before he arrived to wherever he was now, because, despite the danger and the major room for error, his heart was beating with excitement at the change to take on this challenge, he must really have a screw loose. He took a deep breath and began this sprint, ¡°Aim for the proper symbols on the platforms, or you¡¯ll get killed!¡±, and with grace he didn¡¯t know he had, he leaped off the edge. As he crossed the abyss, he couldn¡¯t help but look down, the void called out to him, asking him to join the others, but he ignored the call and landed squarely on the center where the previous guy had landed, not giving himself time to take a proper look he took his second jump. He had a feeling that whoever had placed them here would not like them taking their time with each jump, a countermeasure was likely waiting for those too slow. Once he successfully landed that second jump, he knew he was set, something about crossing the first hurdle had given him the courage and confidence to jump each platform with even more precision and speed. After he jumped off the fifth and last platform onto the other side, he let his body¡¯s speed drag him all the way to the wall, he didn¡¯t care that he slammed into it with enough force to bruise his shoulder. His heart was beating out of his chest, he could feel his blood pumping through his body like he could feel the adrenaline run its course and leave him feeling weak and tired, it was a surreal experience. Looking back he saw that several others had followed in his footsteps, literally, and were halfway across, but the majority of people ended up getting stuck with the crowd that was trying to jump at the same time, many of them were forcefully pushed off the edge like one of those coin-pusher-machines, the memory of an arcade where such a machine existed briefly flashed into his brain before it was quickly gone. It irritated him to no end. There was still a minute and a half remaining, suddenly a blue screen appeared in front of Damien,
Title earned!: Bold, you acted in a situation with little information and a lot of danger, yet somehow you still came out on top. (See Status screen for details.)
Status? Before he could investigate any further a man approached him and grabbed him by the collar, ¡°What the hell is wrong with you!? Look what you caused, because of you and that other guy, the other folk panicked, and many died! You stupid piece of shit!¡±, he threw a wide sucker punch toward Damien¡¯s face, but the young man was able to nimbly dodge out of the path of the punch. The man was wide open for Damien to retaliate, but he relented, he didn¡¯t think it smart to start creating enemies here and now. ¡°Stop!¡±, we shouldn¡¯t be fighting right now, we don¡¯t even know what¡¯s going on. Besides he helped us get across, he didn¡¯t have to say what he figured out so just drop it.¡±, the Elf girl had, much to Damien¡¯s surprise, come to his aid. The man huffed at the woman¡¯s words, but he turned around to fume at another corner. ¡°HELP US! PLEASE! I CAN¡¯T CROSS!¡±, the voice of a pregnant lady reached my ears from across the chamber, behind her were the children and the elderly, the ones not physically fit enough to make their way through. Damien wanted to help, but he had neither the strength nor the time, if he stayed behind to help them then he would surely share their fate, whatever that was. 4, 3, 2, 1, 0! Like puppets with their strings cut, the people that had failed to cross fell to the ground, motionless and without a single sound of pain. It almost looked like they had their batteries taken out or something, like they only fell asleep. The gasps of shock from the people that had made across were not only for the dead, but for their own fate, whatever this thing was, it was able to kill them without any issue. What would come next? The stone door with intricate chiseled designs began to slowly creak open, the light illuminated the people who stood in front of it, as the light touched their skin, they felt a power surge into them.
Initializing class selection¡­
2. Level 0 Damien was starting to get used to the blue screen appearing in front of him by now, the rest were still finding it odd, it was unnatural, but the feeling of oddity was slowly fading with each interaction. Unlike previous prompts, this one did not have a simple dismiss option at the top, it had selections and what looked like a confirmation button.
Please select a starter class (Note that the class selection can be changed with certain special items or progression events)
Warrior: The beginning of any close-quarter fighter, swing your weapon with all your might, for you have been gifted with both strength and endurance (+25% to STR & EDR)
Mage: The beginning of any magic caster, draw from your mana and unleash fury, for you have been gifted with both intelligence and wisdom (+25% to INT & WIS)
Rogue: The beginning of any who fight from the shadows, attack from your opponents blind spot with massive damage, for you have been gifted with strength and agility (+30% to STR & +20% to AGI)
Cleric: The beginning of any believer, draw from both mana and faith to heal others, for you have been gifted with intelligence and faith (+25% to INT & FAI)
Ranger: The beginning of any long-range fighter, aim your shot and strike true, for you have been gifted with perception and dexterity (+25% to PER & DEX)
All these things looked familiar to Damien in some fashion or another, but the more he thought about it, the less he considered it. His memories were inkling away from him at an ever increasing rate, things he thought he knew when he woke up suddenly were forgotten, even his clothes. He thought he had been able to remember what type of pants he was wearing, but the information was now fuzzy and slipped from his grasp. ¡°Hey isn¡¯t this just like a video game?¡±, one of the people who had gotten across spoke. The elf girl turned to face this person with confusion on her face. ¡°Video game? What¡¯s that?¡±, her voice had an angelic quality to it, most of the men who made it across were suddenly fixated on her, a peculiar phenomenon. The man who had spoken was now clearly embarrassed to be talking to the girl, ¡°Uhhh, you know¡­ Like a video game!¡±, but suddenly the shyness disappeared, his face filled with uncertainty, ¡°Wait a minute¡­ What is a video game?¡± Damien grew a small comfort in the fact that everyone was suffering from the same memory loss that he was, it was a slightly cynical thought, but he understood that it was simply human nature to feel this way and he shrugged it off his mind. ¡°I don¡¯t know actually, I felt like I did when you said it, but I think it''s just the stress getting to me,¡± another man added in, the question still remained, however, what class to select, or better yet, what did a class even refer to? Damien voiced his thoughts, ¡°What class are you guys going to pick, each one sounds like they specialize in different areas,¡± he wasn¡¯t sure what the 25% boost would actually do, but it was the System had set up for them to do next, he had already seen what happened to those that failed to comply with the System¡¯s demands. There was no need to antagonize it, for now, they had to choose one. Damien carefully weighed the options before him, he needed to select the best choice for the situation he was in but before he could make a selection the dark-skinned man that had blamed him for the people¡¯s death spoke up, ¡°I think we should assign people their classes, there¡¯s only twelve of us here and judging by the descriptions, I think it will be a bad idea if we all select the same option, having a diversity of classes will help us overcome whatever it beyond this door, what do you guys think?¡± Damien wanted everyone to start giving out their names, it was getting pretty tedious for him to have to keep track of everyone with just descriptions alone, but the man had a point. It wasn¡¯t hard to figure out that they would have to be fighting something here, all these classes spoke about fighting and healing, it was the natural conclusion one could come up with, and with the people¡¯s death, it was beyond the realm of a joke. The classes that were options were designed to have limitations and specializations, the Warrior class seemed to be suited for short-range fighting, and therefore would benefit from a ranger who seemed to be able to fight from a distance, the Mage, Cleric, and Rogue, and Ranger did not have the boost to endurance that the Warrior did, so they would benefit from working with a Warrior. It made sense to have everyone choose a different class in order to close off everyone¡¯s weakness, however¡­ ¡°Alright! I think it will be good if we have four Warriors and two of every other class,¡± the dark-skinned man, who seemed to be taking the leadership role, It was easy to see the logic behind his suggestion, but Damien saw it differently. Another one of the survivors voiced his confusion, ¡°Wait why four warriors?¡± The would-be leader turned to him, ¡°Warrior seems to have defense, it would be good if we had several of them to protect the weaker classes.¡± The man nodded at the response, ¡°I think I get it, but how do we decide who gets what role?¡± This was the core of the problem Damien saw in the plan, it was true that having people with different roles would be helpful, but only if they were working together, if you were told by the group to pick Cleric to heal them and then the next test was individually based, you would have a hard time. It was easy to make a plan now, but they didn¡¯t have information on what the next test was, that wasn¡¯t to say it was unlikely to be a group based test, but it wasn¡¯t a guarantee either, and if it was, then there was nothing saying that the number of people in a group wouldn¡¯t be limited by the System. Due to the fact they that if they followed this man¡¯s suggestion, then there would have to be people that picked the Ranger and Cleric class, which seemed to be the ones that relied most on other classes, if they ended up being the odd people out due to some rule presented, they could even die. Not to mention that the System made it sound like it wasn¡¯t easy to change a class, if all Mage spot was taken, then the group would pressure you to select another class even if you didn¡¯t want to. As far as Damien saw it, there was no reason to listen to the leader and select a class of the overall group¡¯s choosing. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but let¡¯s get Warrior out of the way, I¡¯ll take a spot, anyone else?¡±, the leader started while taking one of the spots for himself, the next action was expected. ¡°ME!¡± ¡°Yeah me too!¡± Clamoring calls, each one wanting that Warrior class, several more than the four proposed spots, not to mention one was already claimed.
Due to delay of selection, starter classes are going to be selected at random for you!
¡°Huh?¡± A new blue screen was superimposed on the class selection screen everyone received, it killed the conversation that was taking place as everyone stared at the new prompt, it began to flash through random letters before it finally settled into a single coherent sentence.
Congratulations! You have been awarded the Rogue starter class! Think about your status in order to see what changes have occurred.
Status. An intuitive mechanic made Damien¡¯s thought into a direction, a window filled with information popped up in front of him.
Class: Starter Rogue Name: Damien Rank: F
Species: Human Title: Bold Lvl: 1
Passive Skills: N/A Active Skills: Shadow Strike Lvl 1 (10 SP) I Shadow Step Lvl 1 (5 SP) Bond: N/A
HP: 50 MP: 30 SP: 40 Skill Points: 0 STR: 8 EDR: 4 VIT: 4 AGI: 7 PER: 5 DEX: 5 INT: 5 WIS: 4 FAI: 0 Status Effects: N/A
Blessings: N/A EXP: 0% Fighting Style: Quick Strike
Damien and the rest stared at the new information that quantified their whole being with a few lines and numbers, it was slightly degrading but it gave great insight to their overall ability, that was if the numbers could be trusted anyway. Before anyone could begin to question what exactly all this meant, a white light enveloped them completely. It was blinding and sudden, without time to react all they were able to do is attempt to cover their eyes, but it was no use, the light had done its job.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Damien felt a new weight on his body, it felt like his clothes had gotten heavier, a quick look around his body gave him the answer to his new situation, the clothing he had worn before was now gone, in its place was leather armor that covered the most vulnerable parts of his body. Brown leather shoulder-guards were on each shoulder, each had a strap that ran through his chest making an "X" formation, the rest of the armor was the legs with were covered with what appeared to be shin-guards and upper-leg leather that protected his thighs. What really caught his eyes however was the short sword that hung from his left leg. It was really plain, the handle had a white grip and it went straight into the black blade, skipping the guard. He reached out for it and pulled it off the clasp that held it to his side, he had never held a sword before, at least not to his limited knowledge, but he felt the basic technique come to him, how to grip the handle, how to strike and where, all the necessary information on what to do with it rushed into his brain. Looking around he saw that they were no longer in front of a stone door, instead, they were in a decently sized circular chamber, all the others were now wearing a form of new clothing along with a weapon each. The people he assumed to be warriors were wearing thin metal armor that like his, covered what he thought to be some of the most vulnerable spots in the human body, they even got a metal helmet, that covered mostly everything except their face. On their side with a proper sheath was a large sword. The ones that looked like mages were wearing a grey robe with black accents that covered most of their bodies and even came with a hood, it looked to be made of some sort of thick fabric much like the one that made up Damien''s white shirt. On their hand was a crude wooden staff, they were thin toward the bottom part and grew bulbous on the top. There seemed to be no other rogue than him however, that might prove to be detrimental going forward. There also seemed to be no clerics, or maybe they looked too much like a mage to tell them apart. Lastly was the sole ranger, much like him, it was the elf girl, she wore similar armor to his with the key difference that she, rather than a short sword, had a bow and quiver hanging from her back. All in all, the distribution of classes seemed to be heavily proportioned with Mages and Warriors with two outliers that were a Rogue and a Ranger. "What the hell? What happened?"
Please organize into groups with a number of members no greater than four. After groups are confirmed each will be randomly selected to enter the testing ground. Please note that a group may have fewer members than the four member limit.
Realizing that he would need to take a proactive stand in order to build a balanced team, Damien quickly approached the nearest warrior, he would need at least one to properly be prepared for whatever they would face. "Hey! Want to team up? I''m a rogue, and I''m pretty sure I know how to use this thing," he pointed the sword on his left, "So what do you say?" The young teen seemed to hesitate with the proposition, Damien didn''t blame him, if he accepted without taking the time to think he would be a grand fool. Regardless he needed to get him on his team, he would serve as the crucial foundation he would use to build support in the test. The teen continued to think about it while looking troubled before a new-comer gave him a life-line, "Hey can I join your team too? I''m a ranger so I''ll be able to provide damage from a distance, I also think I can use my bow really well... I think." The idea of the addition of the beautiful elf girl to the team was attractive enough for the young teen to quickly dissolve his doubt on joining his team, "Oh yeah I''ll join too!" Damien smiled as two pieces of the team fell perfectly on his lap, he had been hoping that after he snagged this Warrior he would be able to take a mage and if he was lucky, the ranger. This was lining up almost perfectly for him, but just when you think things are working out well is when complications rear their face. "Hey wait a minute! You can''t just go about making teams like this! We have to divide our members as a whole group, with votes," again the man who had been trying to take the leadership role took action, Damien felt he should have seen this coming. Still, he had no reason to back down now, "What are you talking about, why shouldn''t we be able to make a team if we want to?" "We have to make the decision as a group because that way we will be able to make the most balanced teams possible." Damien looked at him for a moment before he answered, "Is our team more capable or less capable than the remaining possible team make-ups?" The man was stunned by the question, "What? What are you even talking about?" Damien began to explain, "I''m talking about our chances of survival with this team compared to other possible team combinations, is this setup unfair to us or to you?" It was clear by the time the leader took to think that he had not thought this out to this extent, after all, his desire to make up the teams as a group stemmed from his latent want to make a great team and place himself on it, he didn''t actually know if the team Damien made was better than other teams or not, all he knew was that by taking the rogue and the ranger out of his possible choices, the best possible team to make was limited to only warriors and mages. Whether a team of warriors and mages would fair better than the one Damien was composing was up for debate, all that mattered to his man was to have all the possible choices available to him before he made his team. Damien had seen through this man''s true selfish character since he had gotten upset with him for crossing ahead of the others, he had claimed to be upset about the other people dying, but in actuality, he had chosen to cross as well instead of staying back and helping those he could. "I don''t know if this team is fair to the others or not, what matters is that we all get equal odds at this thing, doesn''t everyone want equal odds?" his argument was based on a sense of equality which was easy to use as a point since many people thought equality was good. But in this particular case, it was a flawed argument. "No, I don''t agree with that actually," Damien''s resolute refusal to give in was a solid wall in the face of this man, "If the equal odds were something like 70% across the board then I would have no problem with the suggestion, but this is not that kind of situation. This is a zero-sum game, in order to give equal opportunity to others you actually have to take a percentage from another team and add it to your own, it sounds like a good idea in theory, but the fact of the matter is that we don''t know anyone here, not even ourselves. Why should we give up a percentage of our success rate to others, when we don''t know them at all, increasing the success rate of other teams can only be achieved by lowering the success rate of our own, essentially making it harder for us to survive whatever is coming next." The elf girl and the young warrior on Damien''s team remained silent during the whole altercation, they had no connection to the other people here, Damien''s logic was beginning to internalize slowly. "I want to join your team too!" a mage suddenly shouted, a grin made its way towards Damien''s face, the last thing he needed was secured.
Party One completion is recognized!
It seemed that the System automatically acknowledged them as a team once the limit of members had been reached. This made things much simpler to officialize, it was now unlikely his team members would be able to leave and join another team last minute, the System had assured that. Seeing as how the System had recognized them as a team, the other people were quick to form teams composing of two warriors and two mages each, they hurried since everyone feared retaliation from the System for taking to long. The other teams were now official as well, it was then that the System once again gave an announcement and a directive.
Party Two head into the testing area!
The circular chamber suddenly had a section of the wall that split up into a set of giant walls that slowly opened for them to enter through, the inside was completely dark and you could feel a chill down your spine as you peered into the darkness. "What that''s us right?" a man asked, it was one of the teams that was composed of two warriors and mages. The leader walked up to the man who asked and placed his hands on his shoulders, "Don''t worry man you will be fine, just walk on through and do what you can." "Wait are you serious? We have to go in there? It''s dark as shit! Hell no!" the man''s complains were valid in a regular setting but here the rules were much different and the leader quickly reminded him of that. "Don''t forget that the System is able to kill us without warning, you don''t want to disobey now, this could be the final thing between us and freedom." Team two was sweating from the nerves, they were all fearful of the things that awaited them beyond the door, but they managed to psych themselves up and gathered the courage to take that plunge. As the last member walked past the door and into the darkness, the heavy stone doors slammed shut, the loud bang startled some of the other teams. It looked like there was no way out of the exam once you started. The minutes passed as the people in the chamber waited for the return of team two, partly to see them alive, but mostly to get insight into the test they would also have to take. Damien didn''t have a way to tell time, but he felt that roughly half an hour passed before the doors slowly began to open again. Everyone stood up from their sitting positions and rushed to the front of the doors, they stared anxiously at the dark hoping to see the arrival of team two, but as the seconds went by it became all too obvious that the team was not coming.
Party Three head into the testing area!
Team three''s leader was shaken by the sudden call, "What? What about the other team? What happened to them? Did they move on to another chamber? Hey! System answer me!" No matter how loud he shouted at the System, it would not answer his questions, minutes of silence followed as he simply stood there, staring at the void beyond those doors, his own teammates were the ones who reminded him of his own words, "Dude, shouldn''t we head on in there? Like you said the System might do something to us if we take too long like with the classes." "What? Oh yeah, let''s... go I guess," his defeated attitude was demoralizing to see for his own teams, even Damien was starting to feel slightly sorry for him, after all, he was simply a man who was in over his head just like everyone else in here. Team three made their way into the darkness and once again the door slammed behind them, this time the door opened once again after around what Damien guessed was ten minutes. It was a bad sign, the door was not the herald of anyone''s return, Damien was hoping that successful runs of this resulting in the team leaving to another place rather than coming back, that way the mortality rate, or rather the failure rate, was not guaranteed zero. "Let''s go." Team one had enough time to ready themselves unlike the previous two teams, they entered without a fuzz. Damien walked through the darkness for a few seconds before he saw a light at the end of the tunnel, picking up the pace to reach the safety of light, the team soon arrived at a large arena-like room. However, the contents of the room revealed the fate of the two other teams, their bodies laid everywhere around the room, some all over the place, they had been bisected and others beheaded, their blood pooled up on the cold stone floor. It was a macabre scene, and the team would have likely thrown up if not for the fact that the perpetrator of these violent acts was still in the room. The few torches that hanged from the walls gave light to the behemoth of a beast that stood on two hooves, its bulging legs were filled with muscles and its frame was huge, on its strong arms rested a crude large axe that was dripping with blood, it''s head was that of a bull with large sharp horns. As the beast''s rage-filled white eyes bore into the new arrivals, Damien''s brain was only able to come up with one word: Minotaur. Its nostrils flared and it began its mad rush towards Damien. 3. Level 0 Clear! The Minotaur raged towards the group as it dragged its giant axe on the ground, the hard stone gave way to the strong weapon and the rubble it left in its wake was proof of that. The stomping hooves grew louder and sent out vibrations that Damien even felt on his head, the hulking beast was now upon them, although the team had only been stunned for a few seconds, it was enough time for the Minotaur to close the distance to nothing. Half expecting a mad bull headbutt, the surprise grew when the Minotaur instead stopped his sprint with a thundering step, the momentum he had built up however was transferred into his right hand which wielded his weapon, Damien shouted as he threw his body out of the way, ¡°Jump!¡± Fortunately, while the strike had a lot of power, it was very clearly telegraphed, its path of destruction was easily seen, and the warning had been enough to jolt them into action. Ducking, dodging, and jumping out of the strike¡¯s range followed soon after, the Minotaur roared in anger after missing to cut through his prey. They had to figure out a way to stop his movements, he was too wild, he swung in huge arches at every direction he saw a person, truly a mad bull. ¡°Mage! Archer! Get to the back! You guys have skills right? Use them from the back!¡± Damien tried to strategize; it was a difficult thing to do with the giant axe that was coming at him every three seconds. But he was right, ideally only the warrior should be up on the front taking the brunt of the assault, but a Warrior¡¯s abilities had a direct relationship with damage taken, if an ability did not work as the description explained then the Warrior might be crippled for the rest of the fight, or worse. They had discussed their abilities while they had been waiting their turn, but they had been reluctant to try them out since they all had MP and SP costs, if they ended up needing that extra MP or SP, that would be disastrous. Still they had explained each other¡¯s abilities in great detail, each of them was given a Fighting Style that allowed them a basic understanding of how to use the weapons they were given, furthermore, each one was given two skills. The ones that mattered most right now where the Warrior¡¯s.
Heavy Blow Lvl 1: Imbue your sword with your strength and unleash it against your enemies. Charge a sword swing for 3 seconds before you unleash an attack that deals 80% more damage, 40% chance to inflict the Stun status effect to your target.
Parry Lvl 1: Your sword is not only a tool for offense, it will serve as your shield. 75% chance to redirect an incoming attack safely away, chance decreases with level difference of opponent.
Heavy Blow in particular would be instrumental in defeating the seething monster, but unfortunately, it relied on a secondary effect with a small chance to really get a good use of it, not to mention that getting the Minotaur to sit still while the Warrior charged for three seconds would be incredibly difficult, even now the beast was raging and swinging its axe as it tried to hit Damien, he was lucky that the large weapon did not give much in terms of maneuverability and in combination with his boost in agility, he was more or less fairing well now that the shock of seeing the other teams'' dead bodies was wearing off. With each swing and each charge from the Minotaur, a plan was quickly being out into place inside Damien¡¯s head, they needed a way to kill to the Minotaur before they grew exhausted from fighting, judging by the fact that the first team took 30 minutes before the door opened up again, it was somewhat safe to assume that they had done the same thing his team was currently doing but had failed to deal a massive blow before they ran out of stamina, the second team must have done the same thing but had made a fatal mistake that had cost them their lives, if he didn¡¯t think of something and soon, they would end up sharing their fate as well. ¡°Mage! Use your Arcane Blast to create an opening in its guard, try creating an opening near his face, and you Ranger! Try your best to land a shot on his eye, the opening won¡¯t stay open for long so make it count!¡± One of the Mage¡¯s skills was Arcane Blast, it allowed the user to create a ranged concussive attack that did a small amount of damage, and had a low chance of disarming an opponent, but more importantly, it was the high chance of making an opponent lose his guard for a bit. Although the Minotaur was a wild beast that was striking at the closest thing in front of himself, he never seemed to drop his personal guard, it kept an eye on both Damien and the Warrior and made sure that every attempt to strike him was met with either a powerful kick or a vicious punch. If the Mage managed to make the Minotaur drop his guard for even just a little, then that was enough opportunity for the Ranger to poke out an eye and create a blind spot for them to exploit and deal a decisive blow. The Mage raised his wooden staff and pointed it at the monster before him, the only warning came from his shout, ¡°NOW!¡± A blue ethereal like force was launched from his staff, it traveled through the distance between the Mage and the Minotaur in an annoying slow fashion, next time the Mage should stand closer to avoid giving the enemy extra time to dodge the attack, for now they would have to improvise. The monster saw the attack coming and prepared to move out of the way, before he could take another step Damien had jumped into the air, short sword in hand, he performed the first true strike he had done in this entire ordeal. The result surprised even him, the sword was held with a strong grip, it sliced through the air with extreme precision, never deviating from its target. A wonderful strike indeed, but the Minotaur was faster, it managed to pull up its axe in time to prevent the sharp blade from reaching its neck, sparks illuminated the poorly lit room as his blade ran across the surface of the axe, but it was enough. The Arcane Blast was now too close to avoid, its impact hit the face of the Minotaur straight on, the force of the magic could even be felt a few feet away as the power dissipated into the surrounding atmosphere. The beast was pushed back, the moment was brief indeed, but its guard had been dropped, on cue a metal-head arrow flew through the air, it soared through the lowered guard and found its mark deep inside the monster¡¯s right eye. The Minotaur exploded with a wave of violent anger; it had become enraged as it howled in pain. The arrow the Ranger had successfully shot was sticking out of its eye socket and the loss of an eye had caused the Minotaur for the first time to be fearful, although its attacks had been wild before, now they were instead frantic, the blind spot created was certainly living up to the expectations that Damien had for it.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. They were close now, the conditions to have the Warrior properly land his Heavy Blow attack were now ready, he just needed to be the bait for three seconds, ¡°I¡¯ll distract him, hit him from his blind spot with your skill, NOW!¡± Damien now stood in front of the beast¡¯s left eye, the eye which had once been white was now glowing red, its pupil focused on Damien¡¯s form, the personification of the pain that had come to the Minotaur, using him as the outlet for his rage, the Minotaur began his all-out attack. All this time, Damien had been avoiding the Minotaur¡¯s attacks by moving out of its range and away from the monster itself, but that would not work at this point. The Heavy Blow skill was not something that the user could charge and then move to deliver it, once the charge started the user was not allowed to move from the initial position, if Damien dodged the attacks by moving, then the Minotaur would follow and exit the Warrior¡¯s very limited range, he had to dodge while not increasing the distance between himself and the bloody giant axe; Not at all easy. But he had no choice. ¡°Mage and Ranger, throw everything you got!¡± They had resisted doing so until now because they risked getting the Minotaur¡¯s attention, they were more useful outside of the beast¡¯s range, so it had been necessary, but now this was an all or nothing, no point in holding back. As soon as Damien¡¯s words left his mouth, arrow after arrow came into the fray, most missed but some landed and dug themselves deep into the flesh of the Minotaur, even a concussive blast was sent its way, surprisingly the beast did not care to acknowledge them whatsoever, they hurt him but he simply cared more about killing Damien. Here goes nothing, Shadow Step!
Shadow Step Lvl 1: Shadows are your friends, let them be your guide and no attack will find its way to you. +200% to AGI (+250% if user is in shadows) +50% PER.
Damien¡¯s body immediately felt lighter than before, the leather than had been restraining his movements slightly up until now was pushed to the back of his head, it was a strange feeling, but not an unwelcome one, then came his surroundings, he was suddenly aware of a lot more things that were happening around him. The slight wind that ran through the room, the faint scent of water that had been overpowered by the smell of iron in the blood, the small sound of a beating heart, and of course, the giant axe that was making its way to him. He was aware of it all at once, he was able to react much quicker with speed that he never dreamt of using, the blade barreled down to him, but he simply sidestepped and completely avoided the strike. Damien now was sure that he must have been crazy from before he arrived here, because despite the dangerous monstrosity that towered over him, the crazy axe of death that would surely bisect him in one strike once again coming for him, despite the ever increasing danger of the situation, he couldn¡¯t help but feel laughter trying to escape his mouth, when the pressure of all this peril was coming at him from all directions, he could only feel the joy of overcoming these odds, the thrill of facing hardship and clawing his way through. He wanted to win. Jumping over the next axe swing, he barely moved quick enough to narrowly avoid his body being sliced like a piece of ham, the longest three seconds of his life were over, ¡°Arghhh!¡± the Warrior brought down his blade which was now glowing a white hue, the sword moved with deliberate motions and tore into the ribs of the Minotaur, the first real damage they had dealt during the whole fight.
Notice: Minotaur (F+) has been afflicted with the Stun status effect. Effectiveness of capture & assassination skills is greatly increased.
Jackpot. Damien had been hoping the stun would activate, he hadn¡¯t planned on it, but he kept his hope and sure enough, Lady Luck had answered, it was time to hopefully deliver the finishing blow.
Shadow Strike Lvl 1: Your blade is your soul, sharpen it till even the world is cut away. An assassination skill that deals +250% damage (+15% True Damage if enemy is unaware of attack or with the Stun status effect).
All the stars had lined up for this one strike, Damien¡¯s blade silently dragged itself through the air, it was a single fluid motion that extended the will of its user to carve out his wish, a wish for victory. The blade danced across the Minotaur¡¯s neck severing it off the rest of its body, the attack was so mesmerizingly perfect, even Damien found himself lost in its simplistic beauty; the beauty of winning.
You have slain a Minotaur (F+), EXP has been disturbed evenly across all party members.
You have beaten the first of many levels Anathum has to offer, please continue to do so, congratulations on your success! The System officially welcomes you to the race for the End.
Title earned!: The Beginning, you have started on your journey to the End.
A light not unlike the one that teleported them from the stone doors to the waiting area enveloped the winning party, it once again only lasted for the briefest of moments, the next immediate sensation that assaulted Damien was the fresh air, he wasn¡¯t sure that he had ever been in air this clean, it was incredible. Then it was the light, unlike the dark cave he had been up until this point, he could now see a sun directly above his head, he groaned as he adjusted to the light, once his eyes were able to more or less see, he spotted buildings all around him, people walked around with horses and carts, their clothes and the architecture of the buildings made him feel like the place was uncannily similar to older times, but just as quickly as the thought came to his head, it was erased, much to his annoyance. His more immediate surroundings was a large circular stone plate with intricate lines going through it, much like a magic circle, the team he had formed were strewn about it just like he was. ¡°Ah the new batch of Climbers, an unusually low number, the test must have been rather difficult his time.¡± He turned to face the new voice, an old man wearing what looked like farmer¡¯s clothes was staring at him, the old farmer smiled and waved at Damien¡¯s confused demeanor, ¡°Nice to meet you! Name¡¯s Samuel, bet you got tons of questions but I¡¯m not very suited to answer them, I barely know enough about this Level, much less the other levels so I can¡¯t do much, but if you head down the road into the Mercenary Guild, they¡¯ll explain things to you in exchange for you to listen to their recruitment pitch. Good luck fella!¡± Mercenary Guild? 4. How this World Works Walking down the streets was a jarring experience, after all, he had been fighting for his life with all his strength just a few minutes ago, and now people were strolling down the paved roads as they talked about their day, it was extremely off-putting. Along the way he spotted several people who looked more like him and his make-shift team, they had armor and weapons and walked with purpose on their steps, of course, they all had better gear than him. They were all mainly coming out of the building that stood in front of him, a three-story building with a giant sign that read: Mercenary Guild. Knowing that nothing would happen if he didn¡¯t go in, he took a deep breath and pushed the lock-less set of doors open, inside was a large hall with seats and chairs where hundreds of people sat and ate, they all seemed to be happy as they chugged down mugs of alcoholic beverages. Further down the room was a counter where people were lined up and ordering their food and drinks, but the receptionist in the center of it all seemed to have a different purpose, every other line the people would leave with a tray of their lunch, but with her they would leave empty-handed or with papers. She seemed to be the thing he was looking for. Making his way through the tables of drunks was hard, some tried to reach for him and his companions, especially the elf girl. But due to their intoxicated state, they were not very good at it, soon they found themselves flowing through the room. Damien couldn¡¯t help but notice that everyone in the room seemed to be rather young, there were some older people in their 40s but mainly everyone seemed to be a teenager or in their mid-twenties. Is there a reason for that? The line for the receptionist wasn¡¯t very large at all, in fact it was very small. The lady in the front beamed when she saw him and his group, ¡°Hello! You guys must be new Climbers, I take it you are here for the orientation?¡± She got straight to the heart of the matter and she was right on target too, ¡°Yes, we don¡¯t know what is going on here actually.¡± She nodded at his words with understanding, ¡°Yes of course, we¡¯ve all been there where you are, but don¡¯t worry the Guild will take care of that!¡±, she turned to the side and exited from behind the counter, she wore a white button shirt covered with a dark-blue vest and a long black skirt, the thing that caught Damien¡¯s eye was the pin on her vest, a red shield emblazed with golden swords that pointed out from the sides, they looked like angel wings. If he had to guess then that would be the Mercenary Guild emblem; it had a nice stylish feel to it. ¡°I am the receptionist of the Guild Branch located on Level 1, at your service,¡± she young woman curtsied her skirt, ¡°And you are in luck, the next orientation is today so no need for waiting, we usually do these when enough new Climbers built up, please follow me.¡± She strutted off to the side where a door was located and the group followed her through to a long hallway, as the pretty blue-haired receptionist guided them to a room she prodded at the group, ¡°So you cleared Level 0? What kind of test did you have? I¡¯m asking because normally when we get a new group of Climbers, they come in groups of around 20 or so, not 4.¡± He thought about his next words and figured that her insight might help understand the test they had to go through more, ¡°We actually were put into teams and made to fight a Minotaur, it was very difficult actually.¡± Her eyes widened at the response, ¡°You guys fought a Minotaur? Yikes, no wonder there¡¯s so few of you. Tests are normally taken in parties, that¡¯s very standard for Climbers, but a Minotaur is pretty rare to encounter on Level 0, you guys must have very good instincts if you made it out.¡± So we had an unusually hard test, just my luck, though things did end up working out in my favor, so I suppose it evens out somewhat. ¡°Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I have a question,¡± the elf girl stepped forward from the back where she had been walking, ¡°What exactly is the Mercenary Guild?¡± The receptionist smiled at the question, ¡°That¡¯s a great question, but it will be answered with the rest of the common questions, so I implore you to wait a bit longer.¡± The elf made a face, but otherwise remained quiet as the receptionist stopped in front of a door, ¡°We are here, I ask you to refrain from asking questions to the Guild Master as he gives his explanation, there will be time for questions afterwards so for now only listen.¡± Once the group had consented to these terms with simple ¡°Okays¡± and nods, the door was opened, and they were led inside. The room was illuminated by lights encased in glass spheres, the light within simply floated with no suspension, it was magic. On the floor were dozens of chairs with people already sitting on them, on the front was a stage where an important-looking old man stood. His elegant robe made it clear that it was expensive, and his face showed a dignified expression, likely the Guild Master that had been mentioned previously. Although many of the room¡¯s occupants had turned to face them when the door opened, once they had seen them, they quickly lost interest in them and returned to facing forward, ¡°Matilda, is that a new group? Kinda small isn¡¯t it?¡± the man on the stage spoke. ¡°Yes, they are a new group, I believe that you are good to start now Guild Master.¡± The man nodded at her, ¡°We were just waiting for you so I think we will, alright listen up fresh chickens, before we begin, we must make one thing clear. If you wish to continue your life as a Climber then you will have to face the threat of death each time you climb to a higher Level, the rewards will be great as you reach some of the upper Levels, if you think those things are worth your life then listen to me, but if you don¡¯t then, feel free to leave now, there¡¯s no shame in that.¡± Expecting some people to get up, Damien was surprised when nobody even moved, they were all determined to be Climbers, ¡°That¡¯s good! Then let me start explaining how this world works, it¡¯s a long explanation so get comfortable, I will allow questions in the end so shut your yapping for now.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The quiet muttering that had been happing up until now shushed into silence, the man was intimidating even with his old man appearance, ¡°The world is made up of several ¡®Levels¡¯, just like the one you are in right now, we have tried to measure the area of each level and have estimated that each Level is roughly the same size of 200,000,000 square miles. On each Level there is a test administered by the System which, once passed, will allow a Climber to reach the next Level, each Level¡¯s living area is different from the other, I¡¯ve seen worlds of ice and worlds where flames engulfed everything, though most Levels are relatively normal with the exception of the monsters that inhabit them.¡± Levels? This world is just one level? There¡¯s more of them? How many? Questions filled Damien¡¯s mind as the explanation went on, he refrained from speaking out like asked but he was sure that the others in the room felt the same way he did. ¡°The pattern is four Levels of a season in a row before it transitions to the next season, the Level before a full cycle can be completed is normally a unique Level that doesn¡¯t make sense, they are very dangerous which is why unlike the other Levels, people don¡¯t settle in them. On each Level Climbers will normally fight monsters and grow stronger before they head to the center of the Level to take the System test, which brings me to the next important topic. The System tests on each level. These tests will progressively grow tougher and tougher as you get higher up so don¡¯t go thinking that you passed one level so you can pass them all. The difference between the people that pass Level 1 and the people who are at the Frontier is like a man to a God, there is no contest, so don¡¯t get cocky.¡± The Guild Master took a second to make sure everyone was paying attention, ¡°The test themselves will change from instance to instance, there is three types of test mainly: tests versus monsters, tests versus other Climbers, and finally tests that don¡¯t fall in the previous categories. With each Level you climb you will grow stronger and so will the monsters that live on that Level, this is because leveling up and achieving new ranks will increasingly be tougher and require more EXP with each level up. It isn¡¯t rare for Climbers to give up climbing around the 17 Level, the first unique Level. That is because that particular world has a very hard test compared to the one in Level 16.¡± If you choose to stop climbing what happens? And why would you quit if you get that far anyway? The old man smiled, ¡°I know what you are thinking, if it gets that hard then why climb at all, right? Well the higher the Level you live on, the more resources you can find and therefore the better quality of lifestyle you will be able to afford, you can life a very comfy life if you make it to a high Level, trust me, some people I know people that live like kings. But now for the most important part of this explanation, the way the System helps people get stronger. It¡¯s actually a very complicated subject but I will try my best to simplify it into sections for you guys, you might already have seen this by now, but if you think about your status a screen will pop up, please do so now.¡± Damien was indeed aware of it so a mere Status and the blue screen was once again in front of him.
Class: Starter Rogue Name: Damien Rank: F
Species: Human Title: Bold Lvl: 4
Passive Skills: N/A Active Skills: Shadow Strike Lvl 1 (10 MP) I Shadow Step Lvl 1 (5 MP) Bond: N/A
HP: 70 MP: 42 SP: 60 Skill Points: 8 STR: 20 EDR: 8 VIT: 8 AGI: 19 PER: 9 DEX: 9 INT: 13 WIS: 8 FAI: 0 Status Effects: N/A
Blessings: N/A EXP: 54% Fighting Style: Quick Strike
¡°The first thing you should see is your class, each of you had an option between the first five starter classes, there is hundreds of known classes out there, classes can evolve from actions, new ones entirely can be obtained from quests and events, and so they can even be changed with special items, but don¡¯t expect to get one without spending a fortune. A class is important because it will grant you certain skills at certain levels that are associated with that class, moreover it will shape the way you gain stat points and how they are weighted. For instance, a warrior will receive 3 points to Strength and only 1 point to Intelligence with a level up, and they are weighted in the sense that 10 points of Strength in a warrior will be worth more than 10 points of Strength in a mage, and so on so forth. Next is your Rank, it basically denotes how powerful you are, the Ranks go from F and F+ all the way to S and S++, Ranks will increase with the number of stats you have in total, in order to go form Rank F to Rank F+ you need a total of 100 stat points, and that number will continue to double with each Rank.¡± Damien did some quick math and found out he had a total number of 94 stat points in total, he was close to getting to the next rank. The Guild Master continued, ¡°Ranking up will grant a skill associated with your class too. Next up is the Title, these are earned through actions and events like a class is, there are thousands of these and once you get one the effects that come with it will always be active, regardless of whether you have it equipped or nor, with the exception of the title saying otherwise. After that we have Lvl, this will increase your stats and power, to increase these number you need to get EXP from killing monsters or completing quests, you can see how much of the EXP for the next level has been acquired by the section at the bottom middle. A Bond is whether you have a pet, a slave, or a master, you shouldn¡¯t worry about that for now. The next two sections are for your stats, they are pretty self-explanatory, but, much like everything on the screen, pressing on it will bring out more information so I will leave that for you to do later. Status Effect will display anything you are currently afflicted with, and how it is currently affecting you. Blessings are like Passive Skills, only much stronger and extremely hard to get, you probably don¡¯t need to think about that one for now. Lastly is your Fighting Style, this will dictate how you fight, it will automatically allow you to have a certain level of expertise in that field of fighting, there is thousands of these out there and are earned much like Titles and Classes are, keep an eye out for rarer Fighting Styles, these are extremely helpful.¡± The Guild Master finally stopped talking and the room grew silent, Damien was about to explode with the number of questions he had gotten during the explanation, there was plenty that was explained but with every answer two more questions arose. The Guild Master smirked at the confused faces that everyone had, ¡°So¡­ Any questions?¡± 5. Questions Answered ¡°Yeah, I have multiple questions, for starters, where did we come from? I mean why don¡¯t I remember anything about me but my name?¡± Damien¡¯s question was one that was lingering in the back of everyone¡¯s head, since they woke up in this world, they had no memories of who they were, they waited anxiously as they stared at the Guild Master. ¡°That¡¯s a difficult question, you see, even after thousands of years of wanting to figure that out, we still don¡¯t know.¡± The Guild Master¡¯s response came like a blow to many of the people here, not knowing where they come from or why they were brought here was demoralizing, except for Damien, his curiosity simply grew, ¡°But you must know some stuff about that right, you guys mentioned that new groups of Climbers come here, how many? How often? Details like that.¡± The Guild Master stroked his beard, ¡°We know more or less those details, let me explain more clearly. It happens either everyday or every other day, but new groups are transported to the Center of Beginning, most of the time the group is composed of several people, but it only happens once a day at most. We don¡¯t know where these people come from, just that if they pass Level 0, they will be brought to this Level.¡± The information that Damien had wanted had been given to him, but there was still more things he wanted to know, he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the Guild Master, ¡°I am aware you have more questions but in the sake of fairness, I would like to answer other people¡¯s questions too, anyone else?¡± It took a second, but several people raised their hands and the Guild Master looked around for a bit before picking a random guy from the crowd, ¡°You, what do you want to know?¡± The man was a little nervous as he spoke, ¡°I just want to know how those Levels work, you said that people go to higher Levels than this one, can they go down Levels?¡± The Guild Master smiled, ¡°Yes, excellent question. The rules of the System are more clear on this matter so let me explain, you are able to go down and up to any Level you have previously reached, going to the center of the Level will allow the System to teleport you either down or up, depending on where you want to go. That being said, any Human, Elf, Dwarf, or Beastkin is able to go down any Level they have not previously passed the test for. You might be wondering how people would reach a Level without first passing the Level below it, its rather simple, once people stop climbing, its not unusual to find a partner and settle down and have a kid with. That kid will receive a System¡¯s interface like everyone else, but they will not be allowed to take the test of the Level of which they reside in, they will be forced to travel all the way down to Level 1 and take this test to begin their climb. This is very popular and its known as The Descent Ceremony.¡± Although this was not one of the questions he had been thinking about, the information given was rather informative, he held no complains, if this kept up he might not have to ask anymore questions. ¡°Alright you, what is your question?¡± The young mage shyly moved her hair behind her hair, the mannerism was noted by Damien, ¡°I was just wondering what happened if you failed a test? Do you¡­ die?¡± Nodding at her words, the Guild Master answered, ¡°Well no, it is possible to die from failure of a test, but it is not a direct correlation of the act, you can fail and live to try again depending on the test. A word of warning though, a person can only fail the same Level¡¯s test three times before the System will give you the Reject status effect, it¡¯s an effect that doesn¡¯t run out like many of the others, and once you have it, you are banned from taking the test ever again, so watch out for failing too many times.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Turning to the next man who was clearly a warrior, ¡°Next question, please.¡± His voice was rough to the point where it seemed to be an attempt to fill the typical warrior stereotype, ¡°What is at the end of these Levels? What do you get when you are done?¡± That was very high up on my questions, but I don¡¯t think the answer will be what I am looking for. ¡°The Frontier is currently Level 96, and the people that are trying to pass this Level are known as Primers. They are given this Title for reaching the highest known Level. We believe that there are 100 Levels, so you guys have arrived at an exciting time. Hopefully, we will find out soon. Alright, next question.¡± Figured, the System spoke about the Beginning, and the End, but the way it talked about it, it used the word race¡­ meaning that waiting for others to get there first would not be good, rather it is the worst thing possible, there¡¯s no way of knowing what will happen when someone reaches the End. I need to get stronger. ¡°I have a question, what are those golems that move around the city? They look scary.¡± The Guild Master chuckled at that question, ¡°You are talking about the City Vanguard, they are the protectors of this city, not even Primers would be able to defeat one, they prevent people from killing each other in the city and they exist in every Level, you should feel safe when you see them, haha.¡± The sour topic of murder had been brought up nonchalantly, the atmosphere in the room grew tense, ¡°Well, not gonna sugar coat it, people do get killed by other Climbers just as much as monsters, so keep your wits about you. Money, items, knowledge, just about anything that is valuable could end up costing you your life if the wrong people found out, watch out for the Thieves Guild.¡± With the topic of their own safety being brought up, people suddenly had more questions that were thrown like a barrage at the Guild Master, ¡°Hold on, I¡¯ll explain the Thieves Guild and the Mercenary Guild at the same time. The Mercenary Guild is sanctioned by the Merchant Guild, and so we are given requests by anyone, the Kingdom, Climbers, and even regular people. These quests can be anything from bodyguard work to monster exterminations, the Mercenary Guild takes a cut of the payment and the actual mercenary is given the rest. The Thieves Guild on the other hand works on the underbelly of society, they will take any job that they are given, anything from assassinations to robbery is on the table if you have the money, they are a nasty bunch so don¡¯t get tangled with them if possible.¡± This man was really getting on my nerves, anytime he answers a question he drops two more, the Kingdom? At the least I hope that it is what it sounds like. ¡°Talk about the Kingdom and the other factions isn¡¯t suitable for this place and would take too long, so I¡¯ll just skip over that, any other questions?¡± a small period of silence reigned over the room, the Guild Master looked around and finally settled on Damien, ¡°Well if you got any more questions then now is the time to ask me.¡± Damien cleared his throat, ¡°I have two more questions, first of all, what makes those ¡®unique Levels¡¯ really different, and second of all, how will we prepare for the test on this Level.¡± ¡°Oh great questions, let me start with the unique Levels then, Level 1 is a spring world, and so are the next three levels, after that we get four summer Levels and so on so forth, but when we get to the end of the winter Levels, instead of going straight to a spring Level , we go to these unique Levels. These Levels are special not only because their worlds are imbued with magic, but within each one, a Dungeon can be found. These Dungeons increase the rank of nearby monsters and makes living there tough, clearing a Dungeon will reward you greatly though, so if you are up for it, I greatly suggest it. About this Level, normally it is not much more difficult than Level 0, so we will train you guys without strings attached and even give you some better gear, all that we ask is that you consider joining the Mercenary Guild, we are always looking for new talents.¡± What followed was simple introductions from people as they tried to get into teams, or parties, they had been informed that the party limit for all Levels from this point on was 12, so many people started to recruit in hopes of making a good party. Even the team that Damien had formed went out to find a stronger party, the still-unnamed elf girl was surrounded by guys asking her to join their team. Damien had considered going into the fray and trying to once again form a party, but considering that the previous time restriction was not in place, he thought it more prudent to take his time and learn more before he got into an arrangement with others, silently he slipped out of the room. Training won¡¯t start until tomorrow, they are bringing a trainer for each of the starter classes, so I will return for that, but for now¡­ I need more information. 6. Training Having spent the whole day yesterday asking questions to Climbers who were on the Guild and even some that he saw walking around outside, Damien had headed back to the temporary lodging that the Guild was affording him for the two weeks of training they would receive before they would have their first attempt to take the Level 1 test. He had to share a room with other men, he didn¡¯t remember anything about his past life, but judging by his body¡¯s revulsion to the thought he was sure that this was something he rarely did before, he wouldn¡¯t complain though, it beat sleeping outside. As he laid on his cheap bedding, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder where his life was going, one moment he wakes up and is forced to fight for his life, and when he is given a chance to leave the danger behind and live a normal life in this world, he rejects the idea and chooses to put himself into more dangerous situations. He understood why the others did it, they wanted fame, money, women, power, or something else along those lines, but when he thought about the reason he wanted to keep moving forward, his mind would draw a blank. Back when he fought the Minotaur, he remembered feeling a thrill as his life was pushed to the limit and death loomed over him, the challenge that had been placed on him was the thing that made him smile in the face of death. Which reminds me, I need to check that Title.
Bold: you acted in a situation with little information and a lot of danger, yet somehow you still came out on top. +25% to EXP from monsters that are higher level than you, temporary +20% to stats during combat with enemy of higher level.
An EXP bonus? I remember that old man said that these were active even if you didn¡¯t have them equipped it at all times. I¡¯m sure that the extra EXP will come in handy later. Giving up thinking about things he could not figure out by himself, he headed to sleep, he needed the rest for tomorrow.
¡°Is this all of you?¡± Admittedly there weren¡¯t too many rogues in the group that had gathered in the morning. Each class had been told to meet up in a certain part of the forest that surrounded the town, since there were no monsters in the Level there was no reason to worry about danger. Damien had counted about 50 warriors and around the same amount of mages, regarding the rangers, there were around 20 or so, but it was the clerics and rogues who were scarce. The instructor that had been called to teach the rogues rubbed her temples as she looked at the group in front of her, for the most part they did not fit the type, ¡°Alright, well to be honest I am not surprised. For the most part not a lot of people pick rogue as their starter class, even in the Frontier the dominating classes are warrior-types with clerics and mages as support. When I get to the Frontier, I¡¯ll show those stuck up royals what¡¯s what, you¡¯ll see!¡± As the instructor rambled on about the superiority of the rogue class, Damien took the opportunity to analyze her as much as possible. If her ears didn¡¯t give her away as an elf, her lithe and tall stature did. The next thing that stood out to him was her white skin, it was almost identical to snow, and her long flowing platinum hair aided in that color scheme. The only color on her face was her slightly pink lips and her red eyes that had darkness slowly inked out from around her eye lids giving it the look of moving eyeshadow. And although the other rogues were already caught up in her woman charm, there was only one thing he could focus on; her armor. The chest-plate she had was silver and engraved with multitude of lines that ran all around its surface, and a small rainbow hue ran through it seemingly at random. Her shoulders were covered with a dark leather that seemed to absord all light, it ran all the way from her shoulder to both her wrists, acting almost like a shirt. The dark leather also ran up to her jawline, likely to ensure her neck would not be slashed easily. Chainmail armor ran from underneath the chest-plate, while it ended on her waist, on the back it ran all the way down to her thighs, the material was a duller color than the silver of her chest-plate. Her legs were covered with black pants that ended with boots that had the same material from the chainmail covering her shin and the toes of her feet. The thing that tied it all together was the inky black cloak with the velvet red inside, even though it was just cloth it seemed to be special. What kind of armor is that? Some parts even look alive¡­ He must have been staring for too long because soon a voice interrupted his thoughts, ¡°You checking me out or looking at my gear? Either way you have good taste.¡± The instructor was now staring directly at him, he didn¡¯t recall if he was good with people or not so he opted out of answering and instead chose to smile at her question. Seeing the instructor smirk at his response made him feel at ease, at the very least his face must not be that bad, though he hadn¡¯t seen it himself. ¡°Alright smartass, let¡¯s see you smiling like that when I am through with you, for now huddle up. I want to explain how a rogue fights in theory, and listen good, this is important. Let¡¯s get this straight, you are not the star of the show, okay? You aren¡¯t the one that will be in the spotlight, we work much like a cleric or a mage, in the sense that we provide support. This support comes in hiding in the shadows with our skills and speed, when the time is right we strike at the enemy¡¯s weak point and deliver a crippling blow that will then be used by the warriors and mages to finish off the monster. Got it? Second of all, you are not suited to fight multiple enemies at once, you are suited for dealing massive damage to a single enemy.¡± The information she gave out was what Damien had been able to gather from talking to the people in the Guild hall, nothing new.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°With that out of the way, lets talk skills and stats. As you level up, you will receive skill points and depending on your class, they will be distributed accordingly, you want to make sure these stats are the highest in this order: STR, AGI, PER, DEX, INT, and the rest you can do as you please. As a rogue, your weighted stats work in this favor, our STR stat is worth even more than that of a warrior, so is our AGI. These are our bread and butter; can anyone tell me how you would go about fighting with these stats? How about you smartass?¡± Being put on the spot as all five rogues and the instructor stared at him wasn¡¯t a big deal, he had actually been thinking about this quite often, ¡°Since we lack defense we mitigate damage by using our speed to avoid all attacks, so we fight by dodging all attacks as we deal damage where we can.¡± The instructor looked pleased with that explanation, ¡°A bit of an oversimplification, but essentially right on the money. As a rogue, being hit by a boss-type monster is your worst nightmare, you are a glass cannon, you can deal damage, but you cannot take it. Alright let¡¯s get started, pull out your weapons.¡± The instructor stood and waited as the other rogues did the same and pulled out their swords from their sides. The group watched as the rogue instructor reached her hand into the air and saw it go into nothing, her hand disappeared from view as it entered somewhere, ripples in space slowly formed around her wrist. A second later her hand retreated and with it, a long rapier followed. The thin blade was black, it looked more like the absence of space rather than darkness, red lighting cracked and arched from the edge of the blade and went into the silver guard. The weapon brought a deadly chill to the back of everyone¡¯s spine, the space around the weapon seem to distort and disappear when the blade moved. The elf looked at her weapon in her hands, ¡°Sorry but this is the only weapon that I can carry with me, rogues rely on speed so heavy armor and multiple weapons is not a good idea, my Invisible Sheath can only carry a single weapon. Don¡¯t worry though, I¡¯ll go easy on you.¡± Seeing the rogues gulp in fear brought a wicked smile to her delicate face, ¡°Relax, I¡¯ll just use my fighting class and restrain my stats to be more in tune with yours. It¡¯s hard to level up on this Level because there is no monsters, and quests aren¡¯t so easy to acquire here either, so the only way to get stronger is to spar with someone stronger than you, so line up.¡± Damien looked at the woman¡¯s formidable stance and guard, he quickly decided to allocate the points he had acquired from fighting the Minotaur, with those he should be able to Rank up. It should help a little bit against this person, maybe learn more too. Deciding to follow her advice he allocated most on his points on STR and AGI, suddenly a white light shone from within him which turned to motes.
Note: You have Ranked up! Congratulations! Enjoy higher weighted stats and a special skill!
Class: Starter Rogue Name: Damien Rank: F+
Species: Human Title: Bold Lvl: 4
Passive Skills: N/A Active Skills: Shadow Strike Lvl 2 (10 MP) Shadow Step Lvl 2 (5 MP) Assassinate Lvl 1 (15 SP & MP) Bond: N/A
HP: 70 MP: 42 SP: 60 Skill Points: 0 STR: 24 EDR: 8 VIT: 8 AGI: 22 PER: 9 DEX: 10 INT: 13 WIS: 8 FAI: 0 Status Effects: N/A
Blessings: N/A EXP: 54% Fighting Style: Quick Strike
Assassinate Lvl 1: You have taken the first step into perfecting your strike, no armor will stand against you. +500% damage on strike (+50% True Damage).
The light which Damien assumed was caused by his rank up was seen by everyone, ¡°Oh, you were holding out on me? Alright, you can go first then.¡± Damien did not back down from the challenge, he knew he was out of his league here, but he had to start somewhere, ¡°Alright,¡± he readied his short sword. ¡°Just attack however you wish, I won¡¯t attack back, just defend. I win if I disarm you, and you win if you can make move from this spot, just start when you want,¡± her rapier was on guard in a slanted position across her chest. It was an ideal position for her a general defense, it was centered in all directions so that the distance between any point of attack would be the same, this threw away any strong points of defense she might have, but at the same time it discarded any weak points. Damien still had to strike however, and there was no point in holding back at all either, he had to go all out from the get-go. His feet leaped off the ground. Activating Shadow Step mid-air gave him the perception needed to see how she would begin her motions for a parry, his hand fired out with a thrust, his hand moved so quick it was still hard to believe. But she was quicker, her thin blade slowly moved slightly to the side and was able to intercept his attack with ease, with a flick of her wrist his blade was redirected to the side. As he had placed his all into that attack, he was completely thrown the way his attack was redirected, he flew to the side of the instructor and attempted to pivot his body mid-air and unleash his next attack, Assassinate! The feeling of his blade was completely different from mere moments ago, it felt heavy¡­ but not slow. It almost felt like a burn was running through his arm as the blade arched back from the thrust and speed towards the instructor¡¯s face. Judging by the position of her rapier she should have no way to dodge this except by moving, I¡¯ve won. The instructor looked at Damien right in the eye as his blade inched to her face, the smile she flashed towards him sent a dread down his body, she was not worried at all. The hand that was not holding her rapier was already in position to block the attack, Damien saw a thin metal bracelet that fit snug on her wrist. As his blade struck it, a million sparks flew off and his blade was completely rebounded, and he was sent flying backwards. He had only moved for a little bit, but he could already feel sweat dripping down his back, ¡°Shit.¡± ¡°Shit indeed, that was a good move¡­ for a rookie, we aren¡¯t done though, or are you giving up so easily?¡± Damien¡¯s answer was a renewed sprint towards her, his blade reflected the light of the sun as he prepared to jump back in there. 7. Completing Training Watching as his dagger flew out from his hand was a rough experience for Damien. Ever since the System had given him his class as a rogue, he had felt safe while he had his blade in his hand. He thought that as long as he had his weapon, then he could find a way through any situation, but he was wrong. His sword soared through the air and dug into the ground of the forest as it landed. He had lost, the instructor reigned over him. She approached his downed form, "Don''t look so down kiddo, the whole thing about me losing is a fantasy. I am one step from becoming a Primer and I have a few thousand levels on you, so pick yourself up," she reached out her white hand for him to hold on to, he did with little hesitation. She was kind enough to dust his shoulders off the dirt that hit on him when she kicked him on his ass, "I''m actually impressed you held on for so long, I was honestly trying to disarm you after the first 30 seconds but you slipped your way out of my plans like a true rogue, you did good." Receiving her praise took him a nudge of the hard reality he just faced, it''s not possible to beat everyone, he learned that he had a long way to go before he as anywhere near a relevant level. It was one thing to hear about the Primers and high-level Climbers being like gods compared to newbies, it was a whole different experience actually crossing blades with one. If she had wanted to, a flick of her sword would have been all that stood between and becoming paste on the ground. "Alright, go rest now. Next one, I don''t expect you to last five minutes like this one but do more than the freebie 30 seconds I give you," the next rogue that went up against her had better gear than Damien''s, likely from the Mercenary Guild. "Hey sweetheart, if I last more than five minutes, how about you and me go out on a date as a reward for my hard work?" this new rogue was rather bold, his confidence allowed him to speak to the instructor as though she were a chick he found at a bar, the instructor barely reacted to his flirting though. She looked him up and down before she answered, "I''ve lived thousands of years, I see you more like a baby than a man," the insult make the smooth-talker''s ears go red, "But if you somehow manage to last the five minutes, then I wouldn''t mind going out on a little date, hope that motivates you." And motivate him it did, the excitement of going out on a date with the beautiful rogue was enough to get all the other rogues to start stretching for their turn, "Alright! Just you wait, I''ll have you eat your words during our romantic dinner." The instructor simply picked up her rapier and placed it into the same position she used to defend against Damien''s assault, "Whatever you say." The young rogue began his mad dash and swung his sword wildly, it came towards the instructor in wide predictable patterns which were easily deflected by small turnings of her rapier. He continued to run and went around behind her, he thrusted his short-sword to her back and his attack was parried without her needing to turn around. It was easy to see that the new rogue either underestimated the instructor severely or overestimated his own ability by a large margin. With each passing second his attacks became more predictable and his frustration grew. The 30 second mark was approaching. Damien counted as the seconds ticked down, even if he wasn''t the one doing the attacking, watching the unnamed instructor defend was a lesson in and out of itself. The way she conserved her motions in order to keep her sword at the center of her mass was not lost on him, she ensured that every move of her blade had purpose. And by keeping her sword near her core, she was always keeping the strength of her sword to the highest point possible, essential for defense. The 30 seconds were up. The next frantic strike the rogue performed was the last, with a simple swipe of her hand, she caught his blade and yanked it off his grip. The spar was over. The rogue started at his empty hands, "You should really learn not to talk big if you can''t back it up, I hope you learned something from this. Next!" he was dismissed. The enthusiasm from the rogues that were hoping to earn a date had quickly been killed on the spot, there was no chance to last more than a minute. More and more glances were thrown towards Damien, originally when he had lasted five minutes, it didn''t seem all that impressive. Now it was clear he was an outlier, the fact that the next attempts from the rogues resulted in each and every one of them being disarmed at the 30 second mark cemented that. Damien himself didn''t think he performed all that great, still, he acknowledged that in comparison he had outperformed the others. The seeds for rumors regarding his ability were quietly planted. The weeks of training went on like this until the training was almost over. Over the course of the two weeks, they had been training with the instructor on how to properly dodge, something they will be doing quite often from now on. How to properly see an enemy''s weak spot and when to attack, it was all drilled into their heads, she called it the basic tools for a rogue to know. Today as the last day of training, they would be sparring amongst each other; the anxiety of the group was palpable. "Pair up, I want to see how much you have improved from the day we met, I''ve seen you grow, but I want to see those results in action," seeing the rogues awkwardly try to avoid being paired up with Damien gave the instructor a mild frustration, she hates cowards, "Alright fine I''ll pair you up myself." It only took her a moment to get all three pairs ready to go, she really wanted to see them fight already, "You two will start, you win by disarming your opponent, if serious harm will occur I will interfere so don''t worry about hurting someone." The two rogues she picked to go first stared at each other as they pulled out their blades, the wind ran through the forest leafs, then she gave the signal, "Start!"Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Damien observed the spar with a keen eye, he had quickly figured that in order to grow stronger he would have to internalize everything he could about the fights he witnessed. Even spars like these, you never knew when something useful would appear. The last day of training progressed very quickly, people were eager to be done and get into their prearranged teams to tackle on the first test. The spars themselves were much like Damien had anticipated, something about the other rogues'' technique he found rather lacking. He just didn''t know what it was, maybe it was just that the instructor had raised the bar or it might have something to do with the extra EXP he earned from killing that Minotaur, either way, he was not too worried about his turn. "Alright your turn, you''ve been doing great all this time so I''ll kick your ass if you fail me now," the instructor''s words were crude, but Damien understood that it was simply the way she way and it was her weird way of complimenting him. He stood up and went to his side of the clearing, they had been sparring on a clearing in the middle of the forest, his opponent stood a few yards ahead of him. The way he glared at him made it clear that he was still upset with him about what had happened on the first day. It wasn''t Damien''s fault he had run his mouth and ended up embarrassing himself, Damien thought nothing of the event and had not even bothered to remember his name. To him, his opponent didn''t matter all that much. Desmond had lived his life since waking up with excitement flowing through him at all times. He has woken up in a dark cave with a group of people, although he didn''t remember anything about his past, his future was full of possibilities. A weird System had granted his a choice of classes, although warrior was tempting, he had ultimately decided on rogue because it seemed way cooler to him. The way the System augment his body and allowed him to do things he didn''t even think were possible was amazing. He passed the test on Level 0 with the help of a party he was drafted to, it was a fantastic experience. They ganged up on several small goblins and cleared the test with ease. When he arrived on this world-sized Level he had been shown the promise of greatness. Immortality, power, treasures of the greatest magnitude, and all the good that came with reaching the upper Levels and becoming a Primer. He thought that it was all within his reach, that it was all for him. He had yet to face hardship and assumed that he would have a grand adventure to the top. That was when training began. When he saw the beautiful elf that was going to be his teacher, he thought that his luck was just increasing. A girl that had the allure of a goddess was dropped right on his lap after all. That was when that guy had the first spar with her. He fought much more ferociously than what he had seen with his party, his strikes were all deliberate and quick. He was honestly impressed with his ability, but he was not jealous at all. If that guy could be that strong, then he thought he could as well. It was his turn. He tried to make a move on the teacher, although she ridiculed him, she gave him a chance. If he could last longer than the other guy, then he would be in. But all his attacks were easily deflected and trivialized, she had called him a baby before the spar and as she played around with him, he truly felt like her words were true. His frustration grew as time went on and soon he was disarmed and beaten. The possibilities he has thought endless were now becoming more grounded. But it was not over, his chance to redeem himself stood in front of him. He had trained hard over the past two weeks in hopes of improving far beyond that guy, he couldn''t have asked for a better final spar. The rogue stood in front of Desmond with a blank expression, he hated to admit it but his handsome features coupled with his nonchalant attitude made him look composed and calm before the battle. It added a bit to the psychological aspect of the fight, but he tried his best to not let that get to him. He just needed to focus on winning. "Start!" The voice of the instructor was all he needed, he slowly approached the passive rogue. Unlike last time he was not about to get reckless and lose his temper, that was a major part of winning. The rogue watched as he approached and observed every move that Desmond made, it was eerie. But the moment he stepped into his opponent''s range his blade was unleashed. It swings with speed and precision at this side, the sudden attack caught Desmond off guard and he had to make a hasty backpedal to avoid getting hit. His opponent took advantage of his lack of footing to advance on him and press the attack. Again the blade went out in slashes that wasted no movements, they only struck directly to their target. Desmond struggled to keep his guard up to parry and block each attack, each time he stopped an attack it would be less than a second before the next one arrived, it felt like a barrage of attacks from multiple people rather than a single person. This motherfucker! He''s too much! I have to use my skills! Perhaps the thing that Desmond found to be more impressive than everything else was the skills that the System afforded you. With Shadow Step and Shadow Strike, he was able to move around quickly and deliver a blow with massive damage. It was his trump card. As Desmond kept trying to regain his footing among the strikes that kept coming at him, he activated both his skills and felt the difference almost immediately. The way his body grew lighter spread around from the center of his body and soon reached his fingers. For the first time in the spar, he was able to properly dodge an attack and have enough room to launch his counter, the blade felt heavy with power. The rogue immediately noticed Desmond''s increase of speed and very likely activated his own skills. It''s too late! Even if you activate them now, I still will reach your neck first! It was then that a new feeling reached Desmond, a push on his forearm. His eyes widened with surprise as he slowly realized that his Shadow Strike was being redirected by his opponent pushing with his hand. He had been too distracted with his opponent''s blade that he failed to pay attention to his free hand. As his attack was redirected to a place where all damage would be avoided, Desmond recalled that this was exactly what had happened with the instructor and this rogue when they first sparred. He had thought he had won, but the instructor deflected the attack with her wrist. It was the exact same. He was wide open for a counter-attack now, the rogue moved his blade to disarm Desmond and despite his best efforts, he failed to keep his hands on the sword. It flew out of his hand. The realization he had lost settled on Desmond as his sword clanked as it landed on the floor. He learned... What the instructor did to him, he learned from that and did it on me, I thought I was improving but I was just copying what he did. Why couldn''t I improve like he did? "Match!" the instructor''s voice called the end of the spar. As he sat on the dirt and his opponent looked at him with eyes that quickly dismissed him, Desmond had come to realize that natural-born talent was not something you could easily overcome. 8. Eira Damien looked at the man who he disarmed only for a second, he did not relish in this small victory; he still needed more training. "Alright, that was good," the instructor began, she motioned for them to approach, "This is your last day of training, I hope you learned something from all this. And I''ll say this just this once, good luck kiddos!" The instructor definitely seemed to have warmed up to the rogues just a little, it was far more than what he assumed was possible when he first met her. The other rogues shared a small cheer, they held hands and jumped into the air like drunks. One even grew bold enough to take his shot, "Instructor! My name is David, we never really introduced ourselves," he took a small bow at his introduction, it was true in these two weeks the instructor had not once introduced herself. Damien had been curious but thought it rude to pry so he kept to himself. The instructor raised her eyebrow at this, "Nice to meet you, David, it was nice being your temporary teacher now get out of here, the day is almost over and you don''t want to miss the chance to celebrate," she avoided giving her name, the disappointment in the man''s face was obvious. But he did not give up, "Right... Oh, we are going to the bar next to the Guild hall, want to have a few drinks with us? As a toast for our teacher!" The smirk on the instructor''s face herald her refusal, "I actually have plans already, sorry kiddo. Have fun." she was firm and would not give an inch of progress to him. A bar? Sounds kinda fun. Everyone had been enjoying free gear and a daily allowance from the Mercenary Guild, they used money to shop for more gear and to get drunk at parties they threw, but Damien had refused to accept the generosity. It''s not because he was suspicious of it, though he was, it was a different reason that made him refuse the help. It was pride. It must have been a trait he had before he arrived here but he felt embarrassed when he needed help, so he only took what he felt was absolutely necessary. A place to sleep and training. He did odd jobs here and there to earn some cash he would use on food, but other than that, he had not been eating too well. He did not want to be helped, it felt like a defeat every time he had to receive aid from others. He felt bad knowing that the Guild was willing to give him all this, but he was not sure he would end up joining them at all. The others did not seem to have this reservation, the thought that he was strange filled his head. Am I weird? But even if I am I can only be me... Even if he was strange he didn''t think he needed to change, rather the idea of change disgusted him. He wasn''t wrong to be the way he was, it simply was how he felt, he need not ponder the subject any further. Dusting the dirt off the leather shoulder guards, he readied himself to go back to the inn the Guild was providing before a voice stopped him in his tracks, "Where do you think you''re going?" a hand was placed on his shoulder, if you had to judge by the strength of the grip, you''d think it belonged to a giant. A twist of the hand and he soon found himself facing the impassive instructor, "Did you think I would let you go this easily?" Did I do something wrong? I don''t think so... "Let''s go, I know a nice place, " and with that, she turned on her heel and began to walk towards the town. Damien considered going the other way but ultimately he had no reason to suspect she was going to be malicious, not to mention she could have easily killed him right now when they were alone in the forest. He had no friends in the past two weeks so no one would even bother to look for him. "Hurry up you idiot, I''m doing you a favor here," deciding he might as well go, he rushed after her. The walk towards their destination was spent in silence, he looked around the people and took it all in. The people with dog ears had initially surprised him, they were called Beastkin and they were humans with animal characteristics, most of the guys thought it was cute and Damien thought about the possibility of a Beastkin with insect features; chilling thoughts. He had been wanting to learn more about this world, but the library access was restricted, he would not be allowed in to browse their selection, he had to send a letter asking for a specific book and then the library would either approve or deny the request. It was a counter-active system, he was not allowed to see the books so he didn''t know any of the titles he was looking for and therefore could not request them. He contemplated sneaking in but ultimately gave up on the idea, far too risky. "We''re here, " the sudden stop caught Damien by surprise, they stood in front of a restaurant, the sign read: Feast Godmother. A restaurant? What? "What are we doing here?" his question came more in the form of a whisper than a question.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. The instructor shook her head at his response, "We''re here to reward you, it''s only fair since you were my best student. And frankly, there are some things I want to ask you, don''t worry my treat." "A reward, I don''t know... I don''t think I did anything that merited a reward." His instructor sighed, "Listen, I had fun teaching you, so let''s have a conversation over dinner or I''ll crack your ribs." The flat tone she used to deliver her threat did not give Damien the context to know if she was joking or not, but since she was putting it in this way he couldn''t refuse. Not to mention he was hungry, "I guess I don''t mind." "Great follow me," following his instructor into the restaurant was a revelation to him, unlike the hectic Guild hall filled with drunks, this restaurant had a tranquil atmosphere where everyone ate their meal and had their conversation. It seemed so normal but Damien liked the settled atmosphere more than the Guild. The instructor looked at a waiter that was ready to walk them to their table, "I want a room, just gimme the most expensive one with privacy. Oh and bring me two of everything." The waiter and Damien''s eyes widened at her words, "Excuse me miss, you want one of everything?" The instructor furrowed her eyebrows at the waiter''s question, "What are you deaf? That''s not what I asked for," the waiter seemed relief for a brief moment before she spoke again, "I said two of everything. Now guide us to our room." After a second of letting her words settle, the waiter snapped out of his stupor, "Ah yes! Right this way." The two of them were quickly led to a room on the back, the inside was furnished with a dining table and plenty of expensive decor. Damien felt a little out of place, still, he took a seat as directed. "Isn''t this too much? This looks like it might cost a lot, " he was thankful that she wanted to reward him with a meal, but his pride would not let her spend too much on something he thought trivial. "Maybe for the residents of this Level, but not for me, this is a drop in the ocean so relax and eat." That information put him at ease, his mind had let it slip that this person was almost a Primer, someone who stands at the pinnacle of strength. He slowly began to eat as the plates were brought in one after the other, and she did too. For a while, they ate in silence, but conversation was brought to the table by the instructor not much later, "Alright I''ll come clean, the reason I brought you here was that I want to talk to you about your future. That and I could easily see you have not been eating well," she eyed him as she spoke, "You might not realize this, but you are a prodigy! I''ve never seen someone adapt to the System so quickly, not even those Princes and Princesses." Princes and Princesses? She had previously mentioned something about royals too... "My point is that if you keep growing at this rate then many people will take an interest in you, I don''t want you to end up dead in a ditch if you give lip to the wrong person," she drank from her water before she continued, "Stay away from the Kingdom and the Church, those two are the most dangerous factions on the upper Levels. I''ll explain a bit so you don''t think I''m playing with you." Her face grew serious and Damien straightened out to listen to her, "The Kingdom is composed of thousands of members, they each are given a rank and act in the direction of the Grand Duke. They seek to bring every Level under the control of their future King, in order to find that person the Dukes will give out the rank of Prince or Princess to those with great potential in hopes of getting close to the future ruler, don''t get tangled with them. And this goes double for the Church, they are shady as hell, trust me, they believe that the System is the voice of God and will kill you if you say otherwise, it doesn''t help that they have several Nex Primers at their command." The visible confusion on Damien''s face cued her explanation, "Once you reach the Frontier, you become a Primer and are placed in the Leaderboard where your score can increase. If it increases high enough, you are placed on the top 100 Climbers and are given the new Title of Nex Primer, these guys are the Gods amongst Gods." Damien was understanding more of what she was trying to convey to him, "And the Church has a lot of these guys?" "More or less, so don''t mess with them either. No need to mention they have strong Paladins all over their Churches, and it''s hard for them to take no for an answer." Pondering on her words for a bit longer, he asked, "So what do you suggest I do then? And why do you care anyway?" She smiled at his suspicions, "It''s good to be suspicious of me, truthfully don''t trust people too much, you are liable to end up dead somewhere. But to answer your question, I see potential in you, if you can keep this up you''ll be on the Frontier in no time," her smile grew wider, "And when you do, I''ll be waiting up there." With that, she got up from the table and placed a stack of coins on her side, "Oh and my name is Eira." Being surprised at finally hearing her name, he opened his mouth to give his own name, but was stopped by Eira, "Don''t bother giving me your name, it doesn''t matter. I''m not trying to be rude, but the System will christen you with a new name after you pass the test on Level 34, kinda crappy considering the last special reward was immortality." She continued her way out of the room but once again stopped at the door frame, "Ahh, I really shouldn''t be doing this... Whatever, catch!" From her hands a coin-like pendant was thrown to him, it had a thick dark band and the actual pendant was the same material her chest-plate was, a rainbow hue and everything. Engraved on the expensive looking metal was a Phoenix in flames. "I''m not really allowed to give people in lower Levels items for free, don''t let someone see it or I''ll get in trouble," and while Damien was mesmerized by the item she stalked off.
Having stuffed the pendant in his pocket, Damien headed outside. He had to rest, tomorrow they would be allowed to take the test, he needed to be in the best physical condition. He went down the streets and into the dark alleys, they served as a shortcut since Eira had taken him to the good side of town, a bit far away from where the inn the Guild was providing was. The faint sound of metal clanking on a sheath froze him on the spot. The area around him grew silent, the small light that reflected from the blade in the dark was all he needed before he dodged with a backflip to get some distance from his attacker and draw his sword. Out of pure instinct, he dodged to the side again, another blade had struck where he had landed. From the shadows five figures came out, his fellow rogues stood menacingly, blades drawn in the moonlight. 9. I, Alone The rogues slowly began to surround him, no matter which way he looked there was one of them. The reasoning behind their intent, however, was not clear, why had they decided to do this? "Don''t suppose you''re here to invite me to your celebration, I didn''t think you guys liked me, but I never imagined it was to this extent," he looked all around for a possible way out as he spoke. This was the worst case scenario, rogues were suited to fight one-on-one, anything else would half their capacity to fight. Rogues weren''t like mages who could do attacks with area-of-effects, single targets were their Intended target. "Don''t take this personal, we spend some time thinking, and we all agreed, you gotta go," one rogue spoke, "We aren''t going to kill you, but you won''t be participating in this upcoming test." They don''t want me to participate? But why? "What''s wrong with me participating? It won''t affect your chances at all," even if he took part, it shouldn''t have much to do with the other rogues. "While you were out having dinner with the instructor, we were at the Guild hall, we heard some interesting news about the upcoming test," the rogue who I had sparred with answered, "The test will likely limit the amount of people who can pass from the same class based on performance, they said only half of each class will pass the test." The new information made everything click in his head, the current situation made a lot more sense, it was starting to look bleak, "You''re good, we acknowledge that, but that''s bad news for us. If we let you participate then only two of us five will pass, the other three will fail. If you don''t take the test, then a slot will open and three of us will pass, in order to increase our chances we want to you to wait for the next test." Solid plan, they want to make me sit this one out because they believe I will be guaranteed a spot in the ones that will progress, there''s just one problem with that plan... "Sorry, but I''m going up," his words immediately drew the fury of the rogues, their raised swords were proof of that, "So I''m not going to stay here like you wished, what will you do?" It was a complicated situation, he hoped that they would lose their nerve and just leave him alone. However, the group already had come too far to simply go back with nothing. "Then we''ll make you stay." at his words, they began to slowly inch towards him. With each second his chances of escape grew slimmer and slimmer, he needed to do something. "Arghhh!" came a shout from behind him, it was more than enough warning for him to turn around and clash his sword with the blade that tried to cut through his back. Just as the first attack was being deflected, another attack managed to cut into his arm. The feeling of his flesh being cut was foreign, the blade''s edge ran through his skin and left a burning sensation on its wake. The pain was sharp and it made him suck in a breath, but he did not make a noise. He did not want to give them the satisfaction. They had not learned anything from the training they received, the first guy''s attack was so predictable, to the point he even shouted, and the attack that came afterward was sloppy. It left his opponent unguarded for a few seconds after the attack was finished, he wanted to retaliate with an even deadlier strike. But he couldn''t. It would certainly connect, but he needed his blade close to himself right now, otherwise, the others would make him into mincemeat in no time. He needed to focus on defense. He slanted his sword in front of himself, just like Eira had done. His sword was short, not like Eira''s rapier, but it would have to do. The next attack came from the front, he focused completely on defense, discarding all other thoughts. Defense and nothing more. Attacks came at him one after the other fast, but he was faster. The sound of metal clashing and scraping against each other filled the dark alley. His eyes took everything in, although defense was needed right now, it would not win the fight. He would have to strike eventually. Another sword was redirected as it tried to reach him, although it was difficult at first, now a pattern was beginning to form amongst his five attackers. Two swords came barreling at him at the same time and that was his chance. Instead of blocking the attacks, he dodged to the side and moved out of the way by mere centimeters. They were both open for an attack, his blade moved but they reacted too slow. Assassinate! The feeling of power as his blade sliced through the first guy''s neck was a new feeling, his sword met no resistance. The only other time he had slashed flesh was when had struck the Minotaur, but that thing had tough hide, nothing like the soft flesh of humans. He hadn''t wanted to kill him, but the situation he was placed in left him no choice, he had no room to give mercy here.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. As the rogue fell to the floor, gasps and shock emerged on the other rogues'' faces. The sudden death of their comrade had them completely flabbergasted, their attacks had stopped and their guard was down. His body has several nicks and cuts from stray attacks, but the biggest injury was the one he received at the beginning. The slash he got in his arm, the blood from the wound was already pooled on the floor. He had wanted to retaliate at that time but was unable to do so. It came as no surprise that this was the target of his next strike. A blue screen appeared but was quickly dismissed with a thought, there could be no distractions right now. His target was not even looking at him, opting out to instead look in horror at his buddy''s body on the floor. The strike was as precise as it was silent, the man never knew what hit him. The rogue''s dead body falling to the floor was the sign of another life expiring. "Wh-what the fuck is wrong with you!?", came the surprised yell of one of the rogues who ambushed him, "Holy shit, what the fuck!" The break in character was enough to stop Damien''s assault, he stared at the remaining assailants and they stared back at him in shock. "What the hell have you done? You killed them!", one began to shout at him, he was seething, "Why did you do that!? You''re crazy!" Now Damien was extremely confused, they had just attacked him, tried to kill him even, so why were they acting like this? "What are you talking about? You ambushed me, you attacked me five-on-one," he really was confused, this development was not what he was expecting at all. "We weren''t going to kill you though! Just scare you off from participating!", he countered. It might have been that when they got together to discuss how to deal with Damien that they said they would only use scare tactics, but in their adrenaline-filled bodies they forgot all about that and seriously tried to kill him. "You could have fooled me," Damien didn''t lower his sword, rather he shifted his stance, "Leave." For a moment, no one said anything, but a rage that was growing at seeing their friends killed spoke for them, "Like hell I''m just leaving after what you did," he raised his sword to meet Damien''s, "I''ll make you pay." However one of the three remaining rogues began to slowly back away, Damien, who had been keeping a close eye on them noticed, but the other two did not. The two rogues who did not back down rushed at him, one leaped off the ground and brought his sword back to strike. The sword movements were wasted, there was lots of room to improve the attack. In order for an attack to be successful, there are two needs that must be fulfilled: the swiftness to overcome your opponent''s reaction speed, and two, the technique to ensure your target did not have an easy way to circumvent your attack and block it. Damien noted this swing had neither. Before the sword could even be brought down on his head, his sword cut through the air and made a long gash on the rogue''s belly. The leather armor he wore did little to protect his flesh from the decisive blade. The sudden wound and the blood that spilled out was enough to make the man lose his strength and drop his sword on the ground. The metal whined as it bounced once on the stone floor, it echoed in the deadly silence. The last remaining rogue soon realized that he was the last one left, three of them had been killed and the other had run away, he was alone now. Damien approached him quietly, like a cat stalking a mouse, it was over. The fear that gripped his heart was paralyzing, he tried to run away but his legs would not budge, he wanted to scream. So he did, "HELP! HELP! HE''S GOING TO KILL ME!" As Damien grew closer his legs began to give out before he found himself on his knees, looking up to see Damien he only found the face of death. "Is this really how you want to go? Pick yourself up, at least die on your feet," his eyes pitied him. "N-no, please spare me! I didn''t want this! I just want to live!" his voice cracked and sounded like that of a child, Damien truly felt bad for him. But still, something drove him to kill him, a feeling within him would not let himself be attacked like this and take it lying down, "It''s strange, you know? The threat to my life is over, but somehow I still feel the need to kill you." The man''s face twisted in terror at these words, "You don''t have to! You can let me go, please!" Sensing that he would continue, Damien raised his sword to silence him, "You''re wrong, I have to. Do you remember anything about your past life? I don''t, sometimes I get blurbs here and there, but they always vanish from my grasp. But something remains, even after all this time I still feel it within me, and thanks to you guys I finally know what it is." "Please please please," he had broken down into a trance, the fear of death was too much. "The one rule I live by, always return what is given to you ten-fold. That''s why I have a hard time receiving help, because if I am given something, I feel compelled to return it with interest," he readied his sword for a final strike as the man kept begging for mercy, "I think this is the path to goodness, return kindness with more kindness so it will flourish and give malice back to those that give it room to grow, that''s why..." His sword came down and beheaded the man who was on the floor, his head rolled and stopped at Damien''s feet. He looked at his sword which had been bloodied and swiped it in the air to get rid of the stains, for the most part, the blood was cleaned. He would have to run it down with a cloth later but it would prevent rust for now. Why did things end up this way? Is killing a crime? If we were in the streets instead of the back alleys then a City Vanguard would have stopped us already, so maybe it is. Didn''t I get a System prompt? Remembering that he had seen a blue screen after he killed the first guy, he brought up his status but was met with a new prompt.
Quest!: I, Alone. Twist fate in your favor and become an indomitable blade.
Requirements: - Kill other rogues (4/5) - Make it through the test on Level 1 as the only rogue
Rewards: - Indomitable Title - Arcane Assassin Class - Perfect Strike Fighting Style - Fang of the Initiated (D) dagger - +50 Skill Points
A quest? 10. Monster Hunting Having had no sleep, Damien stood in front of a wall of light among a crowd that consisted of all the Climbers ready to take the test today. The Mercenary Guild had escorted them to the center of the Level, where a gigantic black stone pillar rose from the ground and reached into the blue sky. In front of said structure was an arched opening, like a giant entrance, where the wall of light was located. If you looked closely you could see the light swirl and twist upward, it flowed like a tranquil river. Everyone stood anxiously around it, they were waiting for the test to begin to take in participants. Like the Mercenary Guild had explained, not all tests were the same. The test you took on Level 3 might not be the same that another person took on the same Level, although some tests never changed. There were also several ways to know what kind of test you would be having. For instance, on this test, if you were unable to enter the testing area, that meant the test would be Climber versus Climber. This stemmed from the fact that tests which involved Climber versus anything else would allow you to enter at any point, tests versus other players would have to wait for the necessary number of Climbers to gather. Level 1 was infamous for sending half of each starter class up in its Climber versus Climber tests, which is why he had been attacked last night. "Hey, have you seen the rogues?" "Now that you mention it..." "I think I saw them drinking last night." "They better not be hungover." All the rogues except Damien had wiggled their way into teams, it was only normal for them to notice their absence. What he did find peculiar was the fact that he had not been accused of killing them, after all, he had let one escape, why didn''t he out him? A loud hum began to vibrate through the air, it ringed in his ears. Everyone looked on as the light, which had been content previously to simply flow through the pillar, started to spill out in the ground and air like tendrils. "It''s open! Go ahead!" one of the Guild organizers shouted from behind the crowd. It was easy for them to say this, but to the people who had never willingly entered a test, it was a daunting task. Luckily the collective courage that came from being in a massive crowd was enough to make those in the front begin to march forward. The tendrils of light reached out and captured those that walked into their range and pulled them into the wall, it was a terrifying sight for many, but many more simply walked through the wall from their own volition. As the Climbers quickly began to disappear into the pillar, soon Damien himself stood in front of the wall, his hand reached out and sunk into the light. It was hard to describe the feeling in his hand, it almost felt like his arm was no longer attached to it, but he pushed ahead anyway. Going through the boundary fully was not exactly what he was expecting, instead of entering a new space he was instead inside a void, he floated amongst all the other people who had entered. it felt nice to simply float in the darkness, going up and up in a soothing wave of nothing was making him get sleepy, it didn''t help he had not gotten any rest last night. He was too paranoid about the rogues he''d killed, would the Guild apprehend him? Or would he get attacked in his sleep? Those thoughts kept his eyes open and his blade in hand through the night. But that tranquility didn''t last much longer, a System window opened up in front of him, the electric buzz that sounded off in his head as the screen materialized in front of himself was enough for him to break his relaxation.
Welcome to Test 1! Phase one will begin shortly, for this challenge your objective is monster hunting! Kill as many monsters as possible in the allotted 10 minute time frame. Certain monsters will be worth more points than others, please seek out the strongest ones to gain the most points possible. As a bonus, the person with the most points accumulated in the end will receive a special boon from the System itself. You will be able to see everyone''s score in the center of the arena, use this to make sure you know how many points are needed for the number one spot. Monsters will display their name and point worth above their heads, so keep an eye out.
Monster hunting? A boon? The void that he had been swimming in slowly began to fade away to light, it was blinding. Then his vision was filled with green, unlike the summer forests that were in Level 1, the trees that surrounded him here had elongated leaves and denser vegetation. Not to mention the air was filled with moisture, it was almost to the point where it could be called uncomfortable. Bird-like chirps were heard in the distance, it was a tropical jungle or an approximation of one. He saw no monsters anywhere near him, but that was no reason not to draw his sword, he needed to be ready. A glance at the sky revealed a System window, in it was over a hundred names, and next to them, numbers. For the most part, the number was zero, but for the ones at the top, it was 3 or 4. And it was increasing. That was quick, I can''t get left behind. The first step he took in the jungle was enough to raise his suspicion, despite there being sounds in the distance, not even a single bug could be heard in his immediate surroundings. The scraping of wood brought his attention to a tree in front of himself, in the dense foliage, something was staring at him. Noticing that it had been spotted and it would not be able to use the element of surprise in its favor, the beast jumped off the tree and landed on the jungle floor with a slam. It was a large cat, over ten feet in height, covered by a red thick hide and two large horns on its head. The black claws on its paws looked incredibly sharp and as it opened its mouth, the display of jagged teeth was all he needed to know this thing was an apex predator. The long thin tail behind it swayed as flames burned on its end, it was ready to pounce on him.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The display on top of its head read:
Inferno Felis (F+), 125 Points
125 points for this thing? Those better be a lot of points. Steeling himself for the incoming attack, the large cat began to slowly circle around him. It was prodding at his defenses, seeking a spot where he was weak, he made sure to never give the beast his back. His life would be forfeit if he did. Two more laps and the cat looked a little annoyed at not finding a place to strike, but it was not deterred in the slightest. It faced the sky and unleashed the loudest roar he had ever heard, it was a chill that coursed through his body strangely. Something was happening to him.
Afflicted with Fear (F+): -10% AGI!
Bold activated: +20% to all stats
A status effect!? Thank God for Bold, I would probably be so screwed right now if not for it. The beast launched itself at him like a sprung coil, it was amazing how something so large could be so quick. Its open jaw was primed to cleave his body into two, but thanks to the stat boost he had received, he was quick enough to bring up his sword and stop its teeth from tearing him apart. Unsurprisingly the teeth were just as hard as the metal of his blade and neither gave away to each other. However, the cat had much more momentum and greater strength which was enough to send Damien back into the foliage. Making sure not to lose his balance as he was thrown back was harder than what he had anticipated, but thanks to the training he had received from Eira, he somehow managed. The force of the attack lingered in his arms, they felt heavy from the impact, Should I run? No... I doubt I can outrun it in its own territory, I need to get close. Damien''s train of thought originated from the fact that his speed was more or less even with the cat, the same could be said about its strength, but when there was distance between them, the cat was able to use that to create momentum. His chances of victory were in fighting close quarters, still not ideal judging by how flexible the monster looked, but it was his only chance to win. The cat had not attacked since the first attempt, it was likely surprised that he had managed to react to its attack when he had been debuffed. Those seconds worked in Damien''s favor, he was able to recuperate the feeling in his arms and cut the distance between himself and the large cat. Small embers drifted from its nostrils as it breathed, Damien had already gotten the fire theme that was going on here but he was starting to realize that it might be more than what he figured. Shadow Step. Concluding that he needed all the speed he could gather for this fight, he activated Shadow Step and increased his AGI and PER, if only he was in the shadows he might have a better chance. The increase in his perception came right in time to see the cat hop lightly into the air, it rotated its body with immense speed. The result was a tail-like whip that aimed and latched on to his sword. The flaming thin tail was tough, Damien tried to pry his weapon free but it was no use. The leathery hide would not be cut without more space to gain speed, all he could do is hold on to the grip of his sword. The monster was not only fast and strong, but it was also smart too. It realized all too quickly that his weapon was trouble and was trying to disarm him. The beast pivoted its body to generate a greater pull on the blade and Damien felt his feet dig into the ground as he pulled back with all his strength. With each second he spent fighting the tail, the tighter the hold became, it didn''t help that the cat got the sword by the tip, away from the center of his strength. Right before the pressure built to a level he would lose his sword, an idea popped into his head. If it''s getting harder to fight it from pulling back, then all I gotta do is go with the direction of the force. Instead of fighting back, Damien jumped off the ground and ran in the direction of the cat, immediately the grip the tail had on his weapon loosened to the point it was free. Thanks to the force of the cat pulling him plus his own, he had arrived to the cat in the blink of an eye, what''s more due to the pivoting the cat was using to pull with more strength, he was giving Damien its back. This is my chance! Assassinate! The sharp metal came down on the tail that had held it prisoner just prior and with newfound power, hacked the appendage clean off the cat. The useless piece of flesh thumbed on the ground and flailed a little before it twitched slightly on the jungle floor. A loud howl of pain followed soon after. Damien prepared to attack once again but was kicked back by the hind leg of the enraged cat. Damien tried to roll with the kick to stop himself from going too far and getting hurt. He quickly spared a glance at the System window in the sky and noticed that some names already had high numbers and four minutes had already passed.
Monster Hunting Leaderboard!
1. Jane: 56 Points 2. Donovan: 52 Points 3. Zen: 45 Points [...]
Time: 5:47
People were already racking up points, and Damien felt frustrated he was stuck dealing with this monstrosity. A rising heat brought his lapsed attention back to the battle at hand. The anger was visible in the Inferno Felis'' eyes, it had never in its life as an apex predator been hurt by something it considered prey, and now its tail was gone. The more notable thing, however, was the flames leaking from its mouth, it was readying an attack. With a roar, a large fireball was summoned from its mouth and sped to Damien. Even when it was so far away, he could still feel the heat as it quickly grew closer. He ditched all thoughts of defense and offense and focused only on running to the side and avoiding the blast of the fire. A side glance and he became aware that the flames were mere feet away from him, he focused all his strength into his legs and made a leap to reach the edge of the area of effect. He was barely successful and the attack went on passed him and into the trees. Upon impact, the flames expanded from its already large form and exploded in a fury of ashes, heat, and fire. He looked in awe at the power of the attack, the wind created from the explosion was heat and as it ran through his air, he was certain he''d be ashes if he had failed to escape the blast. Standing up, he faced the cat with a new solid respect for its power. Flames once again leaked from its mouth and Damien prepared for another attack. 11. You Saved My Life Another blast engulfed the jungle trees as it exploded on impact, the situation had grown a little more dire for Damien, each attack was being dodged by a smaller margin with each iteration. At the current rate, a fireball would burn him to a crisp, but he wasn¡¯t purely on the defensive, his true strength lay in observation, so he observed. It was easy to see that each attack began when flames leaked from the cat¡¯s mouth, if you listened closely, you could even hear the pressure built up in its snout. The thing that was only noticed after the fifth fireball was the state of the Inferno Felis. Or rather how its attacks were being performed, between each fireball there was a five second delay between each attack, furthermore for a brief moment the cat¡¯s eyes were closed after the fireball left its mouth. The flames burned so strongly that having them so close to its face was blinding it and forcing it to close its eyes to avoid them being damaged. That¡¯s my chance. Still, it was easier said than done, not only were the fireballs strong, they had a long-range and were forcing Damien back with each blast. With no way to close the distance and take advantage of the weakness in the cat¡¯s defenses, he was stuck with very limited options. He didn¡¯t actually know much about how monsters worked, but he reasoned that like Climbers, they would have stats and that would include both SP and MP. Those fireballs were definitely costing it either or both of those, he could not keep this up forever. Though the same could be said for him, with each second that he had Shadow Step active, not only was the initial 5 SP cost, but there seemed to be a drain based on time used. It was a battle of attrition, and he was not sure he would come out on top. If nothing changed soon he would die. As if to emphasize his train of thought, a fireball roared its way to him, although he tried to jump to the side, a portion of his left leg was licked by a stray flame. The feeling of the sear was unlike anything he had ever felt before, it lingered like a plague and pulsed pain to the rest of his body. That¡¯s going to leave a mark, he really wanted to just sit down and pour some water into his leg but he knew better. Luckily the Felis was not able to see him getting injured, his leg was not in the best shape right now, if the beast knew, he¡¯d pound on him. A snarl was released from its throat, it was clearly growing impatient by the lack of results its attacks were having. If it were a lesser beast, it might have given in to its frustrations and leaped at him to attack with its sharp claws, but the lump of flesh that was its tail on the floor gave it more sense than that. It would only give Damien an opportunity to fight back and it knew it. Damien looked down at his sword, he found it frustrating that he was being placed so much into the defensive, if he had higher stats or more skills the situation might not be so dire, his grip tightened. The Inferno Felis stared at him with eyes still filled with fury and brimming rage, it knew that it held the advantage here and it would string him along till he collapsed. Anything, just happen! His futile prayer was answered. Directly behind the Inferno Felis branches moved out of the way as something tried to get through them. The sudden noise was so unexpected that even the behemoth of a cat was distracted by it for an insignificant fraction of a second. But it was enough, he took this lifeline presented to him.
After being transported to a jungle, Zen was lucky to be teleported to a high hill amongst the dense trees, due to her class of Ranger, she would not have fared too well in the jungle floor. The vantage point would give her the platform she needed to start getting points from a distance. With the keen eyes that her PER gave her, she was able to spot green little men that ran in groups through the shrubs. She watched as they crawled on the floor and scurried from point to point with hobbled steps, she found the sight to be quite disgusting. They carried themselves like thieves in the night, like they had done something wrong or were about to. Pulling back the string of her wooden bow with an arrow was easy, especially with targets that weren¡¯t moving very fast. She took a deep breath and steadied her hands, the goblins were still a little distance from her position, and although she had practiced for two weeks, this was the first time she was actually shooting live targets from this distance. She didn¡¯t want to start the test with a blunder. The large bow began to slowly bend inward, the pressure on her two gloved fingers that were pulling back the arrow mounted to optimal levels. She released her hold on the arrow and the built-up elastic energy was released in the form of an arrow silently cutting through the air with considerable power behind it. The poor goblin never saw it coming, the arrow pierced its way through its thin skull and made a hole in its small brain. The final breath it released was the only sound that it made as its life expired. By the time it had fallen to its knees and the sound had alerted the remaining number of goblins to the silent killer, a second arrow had already been fired from over a hundred feet away. As the second body fell to the floor, the shrieks of an attack already filled the surrounding area, the goblins scattered like bugs in search for cover. goblins were dumb, ugly creatures, but they had survived this far by their immense sense of self-preservation. They attacked viciously at every opportunity they got, but the moment the tables were turned they would desperately make their escape any way they could. Zen was not happy to have her prey run in all directions, the System prompts were also not helping.
Killed Goblin (F): +2 Points! Killed Goblin (F): +2 Points!
She dismissed the annoying pop-ups with a thought, a fleeting thought of having experienced that feeling before she arrived at this place was quickly squashed by the System, Zen hardly cared, however, she had already given up on remembering her past life. She felt that whatever it was, it wasn¡¯t as exciting as what she was currently doing. There weren¡¯t many places to hide in the jungle aside from the vegetation, which was being extra useful to the green goblins, Zen internally cursed at her misfortune. Though that didn¡¯t stop the occasional goblin who¡¯s trembling gave away his position among the leaves. Or the few that peeked out to see if the danger was gone. Her arrows were primed to meet them as they revealed themselves. She had gained a few points from her exploits, but looking at the leaderboard revealed that others were quickly gaining more and more points, if she wanted a chance for the System boon, she would have to get in there. The goblins had either decided to hunker down for good or ran away without her noticing, either way, she would have a hard time getting more points out of them. A careful trek to the nearby jungle later and she was soon at the border of the trees. It was daunting looking into it and hearing all sorts of noises, mainly the ones that didn¡¯t sound human. Even if she wasn¡¯t suited for this type of combat, she wanted the points, there was no way of telling what they would mean at the end of the phase. Walking through the multitude of trees was harder than what she had initially thought it to be, the moisture in the air got in her long hair and made it annoyingly hot, luckily her armor was light, especially when compared to the thick robes of a mage and the heavy armor warriors wore. As she kept going deeper into the jungle, a small thud could be heard up ahead, it came one after another, like clockwork the sound grew closer and closer. Her eyes saw the green giant long before it spotted her small frame, just ahead of the trees in front of her stood a large orc, the only three items on its person were a loincloth, a large necklace filled with small bones, and a large jagged stone cleaver.
Lesser Orc (F): 35 Points
35 Points? That would be a huge boost! Lured by the thought of said points, Zen began to crouch into the ground, she wanted to make herself as small as possible. Quitely pulling out an arrow from her quiver, she began to draw her bow back. Orcs were tenacious monsters, they had slow speed and low intelligence, but they made that up in their high strength, vitality, and endurance. She did not want to get into direct combat with the mass of muscle, her aim was the head; a one-hit kill.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Since the Orc was huge and barely moving, he made an easy target for the novice archer, with her aim on his right eye, she released her deadly arrow. Due to the close proximity, the arrow had greater strength in it than when it traveled a hundred feet to strike the goblins earlier. ¡°AGRHHHH!¡± came the loud wail of pain from the now one-eyed Orc, he reached out to grab the arrow that was stuck to his head, it had gone straight through its large eye and had imbedded itself into its eye. With a rough pull, he yanked the offending stick and blood began to pour profusely from the open wound. He quickly turned to the direction the arrow had come from and Zen, who had gotten up from ger position, was easily spotted. How the hell is it still alive!? Having stood up from her crouch due to her wrong conclusion that Orc would die from her one arrow, only one word came to her mind at that moment, ¡°Fuck.¡± The Orc charged at her and ripped through the trees that stood in the way, his angry growls reverberated through the nearby area and Zen got the clue to book it. She knew her chances of escaping the Orc were currently slim, she had to hide somewhere. Noticing the mud where she ran, she threw her body in a dive and used the mud to slide faster than what she was able to run. Her sliding led her to a particularly thick set of trees, she lunged past them and readied her bow with an arrow as quickly as she could. The Orc arrived seconds later and fortunately was stopped by the robust trees. Immediately noticing it would not be able to run through these, it began to use its massive hands to start tearing the trunks apart. The massive strength his muscles afforded him made the task as easy as tearing through paper. Zen knew she would only have a few more seconds at most, so she did what she should have done with her first shot and went all out.
Piercing Arrow Lvl 2: Your arrow will penetrate the toughest of armors. +250% damage (+50% True Damage)
The tension on her bow grew to immense proportions as the arrow was charged with power, unlike her previous arrows that flew in tranquil silence, this strong attack was heard loudly as it shot out like a missile and struck the Orc dead-center on its forehead and ran all the way through. The Orc¡¯s eyes widened in pain, after a loud scream of death, its massive body fell limp on the ground. Zen huffed and took air as quickly as possible, her heart was beating out of her chest. If it weren¡¯t for those trees, the Orc would have torn her apart in no time.
Killed Lesser Orc (F): +35 Points!
She mentally kicked herself, 35 points now barely seemed worth putting her life in danger. Out of nowhere, her body began to glow a white hue which then immediately turned to little motes of light. Strange¡­ A second System prompt, however, made her grow in curiosity, she had leveled up, I guess I should take a look at my status.
Class: Starter Ranger Name: Zen Rank: F+
Species: Elf Title: N/A Lvl: 4
Passive Skills: N/A Active Skills: Piercing Arrow Lvl 2 (10 SP) Quick Draw Lvl 1 (5 SP) Stealth Lvl 1 (15 SP & MP) Bond: N/A
HP: 65/65 MP: 30/30 SP: 23/50 Skill Points: 0 STR: 16 EDR: 5 VIT: 4 AGI: 22 PER: 23 DEX: 21 INT: 10 WIS: 7 FAI: 0 Status Effects: N/A
Blessings: N/A EXP: 23% Fighting Style: Archery
Is that a new skill? And I ranked up too¡­ Sweet. ¡°I need to get somewhere to rest, or hopefully find someone so I don¡¯t have to walk around with Orcs looming over me, rangers work best in a team after all.¡± She had joined a team prior in the Guild hall, but that was worthless in a situation where everyone was sent to different directions, at least that was what she thought. She hadn¡¯t seen another person after all. Boom! ¡°Huh!?¡± A loud explosion was heard nearby, Zen entertained the idea that a mage was close to her location, ¡°Perfect!¡± Not wanting to stay alone in the dangerous jungle anymore, she quickly ran for the direction of the loud explosions. As her legs drew her closer to the source of the blasts, she spotted brimming red fire in the distance between the leaves. A fire mage? That¡¯s pretty crazy for Level 1. The reason Zen thought this was because mages did not get elemental classes until they evolved their initial starter classes, they needed to level up quite a bit an have an affinity for a certain element before they would get the option to evolve their class. That or they could buy an elemental skill from the Merchant Guild and use that until the System gave them their desired class, but that could be expensive depending on the class you wanted to get. Not to mention that it was also based on luck, there were stories of Primers in the Frontier who had attempted to get their classes to evolve into rare classes with this method for centuries without success. Either way, a Fire Mage would be super useful in the current situation, so Zen moved through the jungle at a quicker rate. It quickly became apparent that the flames that were being produced were extremely hot and powerful, the heat was rising very quickly as she got closer. What kind of mage is doing this? Or better yet¡­ What in the world are they fighting that requires this much effort? Should I help? The new thoughts that entered Zen¡¯s mind made her stop dead in her tracks, the thought that she would be walking out of the pan and into the fire, literally, was a very real concern. What if they are fighting a Dragon!?... Well, There¡¯s no way something like that is here, nor that it would fit in this jungle anyway, but still, it could be something bad. Gathering her courage, she decided that she might be better off with the mage than by herself anyway. She began to push her way through the thick shrubs and headed for the mage. That was when she heard a loud snarl, it sounded almost like a cat. That was when she finally managed to clear the foliage and the branches and entered the clearing where the fire was coming from. The sight that awaited her was not at all what she was expecting. A giant red cat stood before her, it was larger than even the Orc from before. Its eyes only told of the terror that would come from encountering this thing. The million way it could kill her flashed before her eyes, the claws that were the size of her finger, the sharp teeth that would sink into her soft flesh; everything about it was death. The small flames that were leaking from its mouth cued her into the origin of the fire, what she had thought to be a mage was actually a monster, all she managed to see before the next sequence of events were its name.
Inferno Felis (F+), 125 Points
Blood spewed from the large gash as the man took out his sword by cutting its way out. The cat twitched violently, it jumped in all form of directions aimlessly, the spectacle only lasted for a few seconds before it finally lost too much blood and fell to the ground dead. From the other side of the clearing, the moment the cat looked at her, a shadow had blurred with surreal speed. It moved through the large clearing in a single bound, the cat noticed right away, but it was too late. The moment it had been distracted was all it took for this new figure to drive its sword through the underside of the beast¡¯s jaw and into its head. A man stood where the large beast once did, he was covered in blood and looked even more tired than her, he smiled at her and said, ¡°Thanks, you saved my life.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± 12. Phase Two ¡°Yeah, thanks for that,¡± he continued as he walked toward the body of the dead Inferno Felis, he looked at the corpse as though he was admiring it, ¡°But yeah, I owe you one.¡± Zen stared at Damien with a face of disbelief, a quick look at the leaderboard let her know that the person in front of her had just taken over the competition¡¯s number one spot. Despite his tired appearance and slight burns all over his body, he looked relatively fine, ¡°You were fighting that thing¡­?¡± Damien turned back to look at the ranger, he looked back and forth between the newcomer and the downed Felis, ¡°Ohhh, you mean this thing? Yeah, it actually was pretty crazy,¡± noticing the strange look the archer was giving him his brain processed a possible reason, ¡°Ah but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m crazy, I also don¡¯t think fighting something like this is wise, but it attacked me first so I had little choice in the matter. If I can be honest, if you hadn¡¯t shown up when you did, it probably would have killed me soon enough. So again, thanks.¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± Damien, feeling a rush of strength surge into his body, was distracted by numerous System Prompts. One after the other, they populated his point of view.
Killed Inferno Felis (F+): +125 Points.
You have slain an Inferno Felis (F+): EXP has been awarded.
Lvl up! Lvl up! Lvl up!
Class: Starter Rogue Name: Damien Rank: F+
Species: Human Title: Bold Lvl: 7
Passive Skills: N/A Active Skills: Shadow Strike Lvl 3 (10 SP) Shadow Step Lvl 3 (5 SP) Assassinate Lvl 2 (15 SP & MP) Bond: N/A
HP: 46/85 MP: 23/57 SP: 22/75 Skill Points: 6 STR: 33 EDR: 11 VIT: 11 AGI: 31 PER: 12 DEX: 13 INT: 19 WIS: 11 FAI: 0 Status Effects: N/A
Blessings: N/A EXP: 84% Fighting Style: Quick Strike
I leveled up three times, I really need more of an explanation as to how these stats work, I understand most of these, but things like INT, WIS, and FAI are tricky. But those thoughts could be postponed, what mattered most to Damien at the moment was the current score, last time he had checked, there was less than half the time left and he did not have a single point to his name. With this victory, he hoped that he had taken the number one spot.
Monster Hunter Leaderboard!
1. Damien: 125 Points 2. Jane: 116 Points 3. Donovan 112 4. Matthew 57 5. Felix 54 6. Zen: 39 Points 7. Wilson: 36 Points 8. Eiji: 35 [...]
Time: 0:08
Right in the nick of time, it was closer than what I thought it would be too. I shouldn¡¯t get careless. ¡°Looks like we made it, guess we got lucky,¡± he spoke to the elf archer who was still standing in front of him, he was only able to tell her class was archer due to her large bow on her back, the thought of being able to her status floated across his mind, but as far as he was aware there was no innate way to do so. Perhaps there might be a skill or class that might allow for something like that to happen, he decided to add it to the list of things he needed to research. The countdown reached zero and the usual white light that appears when the System takes people somewhere covered the area that they occupied. While it was initially a jarring experience, Damien had started to grow more and more accustomed to it. One word invaded his mind as he opened his eyes in the new surroundings he found himself in; modern. Everything around him reminded him of that word, a contrast to the city he had just come from. The material of walls, floor, ceiling, furniture, and even the ventilation system, everything was best described as the word modern in his head. Unlike the irregularity he felt as he walked through the city, in this new hall, he felt at ease. But just as this mental comfort settled in him, it was violently ripped from his mind. Another sense of a memory was destroyed, the substance of being something was separated from him, and left him feeling hollow. The indignation that was a product of the violations he perceived the System to be guilty of grew exponentially larger.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He found solace in the fact that even though memory and ideals escaped him more and more each day, something within him remained. It was hard for him to pinpoint what that was, but it was something. A small comfort for now, but it held potential to himself. ¡°Welcome to you all!¡± Suddenly he was acutely aware that he was not the only person in the room, he was surrounded by several people. Each one he recognized as someone from the group of Climbers that he had come with, all but one; the person who now welcomed them with open arms. Said person was a woman who seemed to be more dead than alive. But rather than looking dead, it was more akin to her never being alive in the first place. Everything about her lacked personality, her eyes held no mirth or woe, the faint smile on her pink lips was not unlike one you would force yourself to wear, her posture was too perfect. She was more like a doll than a human. As if to reflect that, her clothing was plain. A black pencil skirt with a white long-sleeved button shirt was all she wore, no jewelry, no ounce of personal touch to anything. Her porcelain skin was unmarred and her long pitch-black hair was done in a flawless half-crown braid, it was like everything about her was done with perfection in mind. ¡°I congratulate you all in passing Phase One of this test,¡± she began once everyone had snapped out of being teleported, many of them were fairly beaten up and wounded, they seemed to be relieved to have been taken away from wherever they had been, ¡°Allow me to introduce myself, I have no name, but you may feel free to call me Admin.¡± Damien and a majority of the people in the room looked at her with confusion, ¡°Some of you who are Descendants or the others who were brought from within the Levels of Anathum, might have already heard about me, but to those who aren¡¯t aware of me, allow me to properly explain.¡± The same fake smile on her face didn¡¯t drop as she began, ¡°I am Admin, I was created by the System to facilitate the process of test-taking. I was granted the role of Overseer and I will act as a representative for the System to ensure its will is carried out without exception. That includes making sure all tests are carried out with integrity, although the possibility of cheating is insignificantly small, it is not zero. That means that if anyone is caught cheating, or even attempting to cheat the System, I will delete you.¡± Delete? There was unsettling confidence to the way Admin spoke, as though the punishment for cheating was handled in absolutes. If you were dishonest with the test, there would be no way to escape your fate. The threat lingering in the air caused an uncomfortable silence to overtake the massive room. ¡°That being said, I am also here to help Climbers achieve their goals, so please feel free to speak to me if you have any concerns, I will do my best to advise and guide you to a resolution,¡± although her words were kind they held a synthetic quality to them, it was impossible for Damien to place any trust in Admin, as she was the embodiment of the System. Everything that had happened to him and everyone else up until now was likely caused by said System, the prime culprit of their situation. ¡°Who is Damien?¡± The tense conversation was cut by the sudden question, turning his gaze to his side revealed the form of a red-haired woman, her face was filled with irritation and a simmering fury, a few seconds passed with no response to her question, ¡°Huh!? I¡¯m asking you a question you bastard, aren¡¯t you man enough to answer?¡± Damien simply looked on, he hadn¡¯t the faintest idea as to why she was calling him out, he felt that if he answered her call he would get dragged into a conflict that he was not willing to partake in. Something about the girl cursing him out told him that she was more dangerous than she appeared. It also didn¡¯t help that the armor she wore was unlike the other warriors, he hadn¡¯t seen her in the Mercenary Guild, so it was somewhat a given that she had received her gear from a different source. His deductions pointed to someone who had gone down Levels to be allowed to Climb, although he had been told that these people held an advantage over regular Climbers, it was implied that said advantage was mainly in regards to information. Everyone is born with level one, even if you were born in Level 70, the monsters would be too strong for you to kill any of them, equivalent EXP sharing only existed with teams inside the testing arenas, not outside them. So this eliminated the possibility for someone to level up in the upper Levels and then coming down to breeze through the initial tests. He was also told that Climbers were not allowed to receive items with a higher rank than themselves to use within tests. All that being said, the form-fitting red armor with white accents was clearly better than the regular steel plate armor that the warriors had. It was unlikely Admin would let her be using gear outside of her rank so openly, so the only other possibility was that she was using the best gear available to her at her current rank. But the biggest sign of danger in his eyes, was that unlike every other Climber in this hall, she had no visible weapons on her. ¡°Please settle down Miss Jane, there is a time and place for everything,¡± she placated the now named Jane, she was the person who had claimed the number two spot in the leaderboard, ¡°There will be plenty of time to mingle with your fellow Climbers in a minute, but first I must finalize the results of this Phase and explain the next one, please remain quiet for now.¡± The words of Admin did not go without heavyweight, even the enraged Jane begrudgingly snarled at her question being swept to the side, but she relented anyway. Seeing Jane back off, Admin continued, ¡°Good, you might have noticed that your numbers have been cut by quite a margin, those that failed to meet the 25 point threshold and those that died, have failed the test. You 18 are the ones that passed and will participate in the next Phase.¡± Damien had indeed noticed the lack of numbers, he realized that some people might have died in the test, after all, he himself had almost been separated from his life, it wasn¡¯t particularly unreasonable for others to have perished. What did strike him odd was the 25 point minimum rule. Why wasn''t that announced? That could have caused some people to fail. ¡°But before I begin to explain how Phase Two will go about, there is still a reward that must be given, Mister Damien? Please step forward.¡± Being called out again, Damien felt an unneeded amount of focus on himself, but unlike the previous time with the red-haired girl, he was not in a position to ignore Admin. Not that he would anyway, he was very interested in the System boon he would receive. As he walked from the small crowd and headed for Admin, he felt the stares of every Climber bore into his back, especially Jane¡¯s. ¡°How did he get 125 points? I was looking at the score and he was nowhere near the top in the last minute, he literally went from zero points to the top of the leaderboard in the last few seconds.¡± ¡°Hey isn¡¯t he one of the rogues? Isn''t it weird that only he and that other rogue showed up? What happened to the other ones?¡± ¡°A rogue getting that many points though? You don¡¯t think he might have stolen someone¡¯s kill at the last second?¡± ¡°What kind of reward do you think he¡¯ll get?¡± Ignoring the not so subtle whispers, he was soon in front of the smiling Admin. She stretched out her arms and signaled for him to do the same, ¡°Please hold out your hands like this.¡± Doing as he was told, lines of light began to rise from Admin¡¯s hands and swirled in her palms, they started to grow brighter and faster and with a sizzle in the air, a white circular mass was created. It was content to float harmlessly in her hand but with a small signal with her finger, it suddenly flew straight into Damien¡¯s hand. Palming the ball, he felt the hefty weight it held, after a moment of him admiring the shining sphere, it began to lose its luster. The resulting ball was identical in size and weight, but it was simply pitch black. If he stared closely he swore he could see something in the center. He was slightly entranced by the reward before a pulse from the ball shook him out of his stupor, a heart was beating from within. What is this? ¡°Excellent question, this is a familiar core, designed personally by me, please feel honored,¡± she said with a rough similarity to pride in her voice, ¡°It is currently bound to you, please keep it in your person until it hatches if you wish to have a friendly connection to it.¡± Sensing that Admin was done, he turned on his heel and headed back for the crowd. It didn¡¯t escape him that his mind was read, but it hardly surprised him. He kept his eye on the dark sphere, but from the corner of his eye, he spotted Jane giving him a death stare. It wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t understand where she was coming from. From her side, she must have gone through the whole monster hunting test thinking her spot as number one was all but secured, but out of nowhere, an upstart that wasn¡¯t even in the top three comes and takes the crown. It must have stung a bit. ¡°Now with that out of the way, let''s talk about Phase Two. Phase One¡¯s main purpose was to assign a value to each and every one of you, I will select two Climbers to lead teams and compete against each other in Phase Three. These teams will be organized by having each leader gain points throughout the week that Phase Two will take place in. With these points you will be able to purchase teammates, it goes without saying but people that performed better than others in Phase One will be worth more than others.¡± Value... Does that mean that I¡¯m the most expensive one? ¡°Each leader will be given tasks to complete during Phase Two for points, these tasks will only be known by each respected leader. Phase Two for the other Climbers will be mainly about specialization, in other words, evolving your starter classes into things more useful.¡± Evolving our classes? I did have the Arcane Assassin reward for that quest, but I doubt I will be able to get that done now. The Admin smiled at the Climbers, ¡°Any volunteers for the leader positions?¡± 13. Challenge Issued ¡°Me!¡± The red-themed warrior spoke with glee as she stepped forward, her enthusiasm was a complete change from the anger she had displayed earlier; almost a whole different person. Admin smiled at her self-offer, ¡°Great,¡± she readily accepted her proposition. There didn¡¯t seem to be a great deal of resistance propped up, perhaps there was no requirement to become a team leader or Jane¡¯s high score contributed to the lack of objection. Jane smiled at her admittance to the leadership position, her eager fist-pump cemented the clear distinction from her former behavior. Damien was making sure to observe her to the smallest detail, he knew she was capable, and that she was upset with him. All he needed to know now was how her personality functioned in conjunction with both her surroundings and individuals. If her nature was too volatile he would have to keep a closer eye on her and start developing a strategy to deal with her in case her petty anger would evolve into something even more serious. Refining his thoughts to contemplate the current situation, he inwardly prepared himself to make his next move, ¡°I¡¯ll also volunteer.¡± Everyone¡¯s heads turned to face his unanticipated bid for the remaining leader position. Although it had only been a few seconds since Admin had asked for volunteers, and even less since Jane opted in, it was obvious that the others had been thinking about taking the position themselves. However even if they wished for the position, it was impossible to make an argument for themselves, after all the two people that had stepped up were the two with the highest scores in the Monster Hunting Phase. They would be hard-pressed to even make the opening dialogue that would lead them to start the argument. So they remained silent, except for another warrior. This one, unlike Jane, who had unique armor, was wearing the armor that was issued by the Mercenary Guild. ¡°Wait a minute,¡± he interrupted Admin before she verbally accepted Damien as a team leader, ¡°I also want to be a team leader,¡± her smile never wavered. ¡°Mister Donovan,¡± Admin revealed the warrior¡¯s name, he was the one who had reached the number three spot. His tan skin, tall stature, and scowl somehow gave him a feeling of intimidation, he fit the warrior part splendidly. Although Damien had only watched Admin for a few minutes at most, he had already begun to see patterns in the System embodiment¡¯s body language prior to answering things. It wasn¡¯t that he was a great analyzer, it was more fitting to say that Admin ensured that her mannerisms were comprehensible to others, likely to make up for her absence of humanity. When conversation flowed in one direction without objections, much the same as an explanation, she held her hands behind her back. If at any point there was a misunderstanding, she would bring her hands forward in front of her body as she corrected the confusion. It wasn¡¯t much to go by, but it gave a pretty general idea of how she expressed herself with her body movement, the way she would move if there was no problem and the action she would take when there was one. This was why Damien had a pretty good idea of what she would respond to Donovan¡¯s offer after she brought her arms from behind her and held them in front of her. ¡°I am sorry to say you may not take a position as leader, unfortunately,¡± to Donovan¡¯s credit, he did not lose his cool at being rejected, he handled her words with subtle distaste, but he was not angry, he waited for further explanation, ¡°Both Miss Jane and Mister Damien hold higher scoring, even though you displayed a great performance in your own right, I can¡¯t justify giving you that position over these two. I hope you can understand.¡± ¡°I see, I do,¡± he relented to her. With that explanation the warrior Donovan receded back to the crowd, Damien was partially surprised, he didn¡¯t look like the type to do so. Should I really be judging people by their appearance? It¡¯s all I got though, so it can¡¯t really be helped. ¡°Well with that out of the way, allow me to guide you to your rooms,¡± Admin gave a small bow before she signaled with her hands to follow her out of the great hall. The crowd of Climbers slowly began to head to the door she was pointing to, but Damien decided to give the current room they were in a quick look, he wanted to memorize the layout of their immediate environment. The room had two identical walls that were adjacent to the wall with the double glass doors that were being pointed to by Admin, on the opposite wall there was a glass display with empty silver containers. The room itself was filled with several rectangle tables with chairs, it was akin to a dining hall. Is this where we will be eating? Satisfied with his observation, he headed out with the rest of the Climbers into a large hallway. The walls were made with a grey dull stone, the floor was a set of white and black tiles in checker patterns, but what drew everyone¡¯s attention was the doors at the end of the long hallway. The massive gold and black doors almost occupied the whole wall it was on, the design on the frames was a roaring dragon with jagged horns and sharp claws. It was fantastic craftsmanship he noted. Admin walked down to the doors and the enormous doors started to open for her, by the time she had reached the end of the hallway the doors had fully opened for her, ¡°Please step inside, I will show you the place where you will all be resting.¡± Following behind Admin lead them through the doors and into a new space. Inside there was a small hallway with five doors on each side, at a glance words were inscribed next to each. A closer look revealed that each was a name, the Climber¡¯s names. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°There is an identical hall through the stair to the side,¡± Admin pointed to their right, a rather elegant white marble stairs lead upstairs, ¡°If you can¡¯t find your name on these doors then simply head upstairs where you will find your own room.¡± All the Climbers looked at the doors in both parts trepidation and excitement, for the most part, they had been forced to share rooms with each other up until now with the hospitality the Mercenary Guild had shown them; now they each had a room for themselves. ¡°These doors will only open for their respective owners, furthermore, only the owner can invite others to step inside. The System believes in privacy so not even the System will know what you do inside each room, which includes the bathroom within. That being said, it''s not a completely good thing. The System governs this whole testing arena, and protects you from foul play. That means you will not be able to be attacked by other Climbers or even myself, but if you invite someone to your chambers, the System will not be able to prevent you from being the recipient of harm, so please be careful with who you allow to enter your room, okay?¡± The words of Admin brought with them a necessary feeling of distrust for the Climbers, questions started to linger in their mind; why would someone want to hurt you? Admin once again revealed her almost omniscient knowledge and answered the unspoken concerns, ¡°You might be asking yourself why someone would want to kill their fellow Climbers, and although this doesn¡¯t apply to all tests, it does to some, just like this one. You see, this test will only allow a maximum of three for each position. In the Final Phase, there will be a grading system to see who is worthy of moving on and who isn¡¯t, but even if you prove to be good enough to progress to the next Level, if that limit is reached, the ones with a higher grading will be allowed to go on. That is why it might be worthwhile for some to kill their competition, to ensure they have the room to go on.¡± ¡°Wait, you mean that we can kill each other?¡± a warrior spoke. A quick survey showed that warriors took up six of the 18 spots of the Climbers that had passed the first Phase, which meant that at the very least two of them would not be able to move on. The problem was more pressing for warriors, it seemed that there were only five rangers and five mages, though Damien was still unsure which were mages and which were clerics. These would only have to worry about a single one of them not making it to the next Level, at the very bottom of this worry were the rogues. He had already killed four rogues before the test began, although he did it for reasons unrelated to the test, it ended up working in his favor. Only two rogues were in the test, the possibility of not making it due to the limit of four being reached was non-existent for them. ¡°Now, unfortunately, no clerics were able to progress to this Phase, but we will carry on anyway,¡± the additional information Admin brought was a small shock to Damien, he had been wondering how exactly a healer would go about damaging things. Especially in an event that was Monster Hunting; a solo test. It seemed that the clerics either died or failed to make the 25 point threshold. ¡°Tomorrow I will explain the positions a team typically has, why they are important, which are interchangeable, how classes work, why some are preferred over others and everything else. It is important to know these things since, despite the great different challenges you might face in Anathum, these teams will be flexible enough to deal with everything that comes your way. So I implore you to take my lessons to hear.¡± Classes? Positions? This is exactly what I was looking forward to learning about. ¡°At this point, you may feel free to find your room, you are all dismissed,¡± Admin spoke in her soothing flat voice, but Damien already saw the but coming through her body language, ¡°Except of course for Miss Jane and Mister Damien, unfortunately, due to your roles I must keep you a bit longer to explain some other rules.¡± The others, excited to see their rooms, quickly scattered all over the hall to search for their own rooms. Some were quick to find them and head inside with a smile on their face, others had to head upstairs to find their own lodging. All that remained after the burst of activity was Jane, Damien, and the ever-smiling Admin. Now that everything was out of the way the red warrior was once again throwing a death stare to Damien who was doing his best to ignore her, she was still upset about her loss in the Monster Hunter Phase. ¡°Perfect, allow me to explain your extra rules you must know as team leaders,¡± Admin¡¯s words snapped both Jane and Damien¡¯s attention to her, ¡°Although you will be participating in your respected group for class evolution, you will also have to be mindful about your points. Throughout the week, you will receive a task each day. A message will appear through the System to inform you of what that will be, if you complete your task without issue you will be awarded a predetermined amount of points. If you fail or someone becomes aware of what your task is, you will receive a small amount of consolation points. These points will be used at the start of the Final Phase to bid for team members, make sure you buy the team you think will work best.¡± The dump of information was not too difficult to follow through, the only problem for Damien was not knowing the nature of the tasks that will be asked of him, he doubted they would be simple, but hoped they would not be incredibly difficult either. ¡°That being said, don¡¯t forget to pay attention to what you will be learning here, it is very crucial and helpful. Goodnight,¡± with that final word, Admin disappeared in a flash of light. With Admin gone only Damien and Jane remained, an awkward silence filled the hall. Damien attempted to extend the proverbial olive branch to his fellow Climber, ¡°Even though we already know our names, I feel it is only right to properly introduce myself. My name is Damien, nice to meet you,¡± and in defiance to his expectations, the warrior reciprocated his courtesy. ¡°It¡¯s good to see at least you have manners,¡± she reached out her hand, and recognizing the gesture to be of mutual understanding he reached out his own, ¡°My name is Jane, although I am upset about losing out on that prize I still feel it necessary to have dignity if my opponent does as well.¡± Damien¡¯s genuine gesture of civility had somehow meant something to the warrior, perhaps it was a code of honor or personal motto, but she had recognized him to be a proper opponent. ¡°Don¡¯t think that I¡¯ll be satisfied with this loss, I¡¯ll gather a great team and beat you in the Final Phase, so don¡¯t start getting overconfident in this small victory over me,¡± she said to the still surprised Damien. Content with her declaration of her intentions of victory, she headed off to find her room. Damien watched her strut off and had his mind focus on the short conversation he had just had. The moment Jane had expressed her desire to challenge and beat him, something within him stirred. It was difficult for Damien to understand himself, the System had stripped him of everything that was personal to him, despite that something had remained. And whatever that was, it enjoyed the feeling that came with struggle. This should be fun. 14. First Task Luxury. If there was a single word that Damien would have to attribute to the current room he was in, it would be just that; luxury. When observing the doors from the hallway one would assume that each room had little to no space between each room, but somehow, stepping within would reveal the large interior. From wall to wall the room was easily a third of the hallway¡¯s length, it was a space that should not be able to physically fit within the given boundaries, yet it stood defiant to reality and existed in all its splendor. What greeted him was a living space that held a small glass table with two chairs over a very intricate-looking rug. Beyond a half-wall that separated that space was a large white bed, a floor to ceiling mirror was directly to the left of said bed. The lavish dresser to the opposite side was impressive, though a quick peek inside revealed only white clothing, a pattern was starting to form. But all these things were ignored, there was something that was more important now. He had been worried when he received the familiar core from Admin, but now, if Admin¡¯s words were to be believed, he had true privacy. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the black sphere, the smooth surface was almost slippery in his hands, he raised it up to see it in the light. A dazzle was reflected from the sphere¡¯s side, with the better lighting the room provided, the center was easier to see. What had once been a formless white mass within, was now beginning to take shape. It was very murky, but it had definitely taken steps to becoming a proper form. He wanted to learn more. Is there a way to know more about things? Like how the monsters in the last Phase showed their names, did I do that? Or was it the System? Deciding to put his thoughts to the test, he looked at the trinkets in his room in hopes of making the information from each item appear in a blue box above them. He reached out to the pillow that was on his bed and picked it up over his head, his stare grew intense with each passing second. As if expecting the pillow to crack under the pressure and divulge its information, his eyes developed more and vexed; but it was futile. Realizing how foolish he would look if anyone were to see him, he dropped the pillow back to the bed. Whatever had happened in the test, it wasn¡¯t going to happen here. The disappointment at failing to progress in the matter clung to his mind for only a moment, a thought had emerged, pulling out the sphere again he attempted to learn more from it by simply looking at it. To his surprise, a blue box appeared.
Familiar Core (A+): A familiar core personally designed by Admin, the (???) within has progressed into hatching by 1%. Currently bound to Damien.
Relevant information was held within the box, it wasn¡¯t all new, but some of it was. Like the item¡¯s ranking, and the fact that it was bound to him. It was something. Why can I see this item¡¯s information? And why not other things? Is it to do with the fact that it is mine? The line of thinking was somewhat solid, and more importantly, easy to test. Taking out the weapon on his hip would resolve the question. Pulling out the silver piece of metal and following through a similar process to the core, a similar blue box appeared over the short sword.
Starter Rogue Weapon (F): A short sword given to starter rogues by the system when they elect the rogue starter class in Level 0. It is not a very good weapon¡­ (This item gives no extra stats).
Extra stats? Does that mean that other items do? Then that girl¡¯s armor likely does as well¡­ I hope it doesn¡¯t give her too much of an advantage. Wait there was that other thing! The thought of good items brought back the night he had been attacked by his fellow rogues, he had been so concerned and panicked that night that he had failed to remember that Eira had given him an item. It was a pendant that he had stashed into his pocket, reaching into the pouch that hung from his waist the shiny metal was retrieved. Once again observing the beautiful glistening metal was mesmerizing, the multicolored hue that ran through the silvern pendant was easy to get lost in, but what really caught his eye was the Phoenix which had meticulously been engraved to the smallest details. Even the thick black leather band that was used as the chain looked special, doing the same process for the previous items, he was rewarded by a blue pop up box.
Returning Soul Pendant (S+): Extracting the magic from the heart of a Phoenix Boss-Type monster that had been imbued with S-Class spell Vivify results in the Veritas Mana, which can be used to enchant Argentala metal. Allows the wearer to resuscitate once. Part of the Phoenix Everser set (1/7).
Damien stared at the amazing piece of information for more than a minute after he had fully comprehended what was said by the blue box.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Receiving gifts like this from a stranger is probably not a good idea, isn¡¯t something like this too much? There¡¯s too much information here I don¡¯t understand, like the Argentala metal and the S-Class spell stuff, I probably shouldn¡¯t have this. But it will save me from dying once¡­ Sorting his confliction regarding the item, ultimately he hid the precious pendant in the drawer next to his bed. Using items that were outside your rank was not allowed through the System¡¯s rules, at least not during tests. Preventing his death would be extremely useful, but incurring the wrath of the System and having Admin ¡®Delete¡¯ him would not be in his interests, it was better off staying in this room where only he could enter. Trusting that the item would be safely tucked away from prying eyes, he headed to bed. The slightly cool air was staved off by the warmth the white sheets provided, the soft pillow under him and the comforting mattress where he laid, all those little things gathered into a familiar feeling of bliss and ease. The thought of his previous life once again came to his mind, the kind of person he used to be, the kind of people he knew, his family, friends, lovers, likes, and even his dislikes; he wondered about it all. Now, none of that existed. He knew he should care more, he understood that losing all that would be devastating for anyone, he was no exception. Still, despite that, he could not mourn what he did not know. Everyone else was in the same position he was in, there was no point in dwelling on what he could not recover, nobody else was. His thoughts left him as his consciousness faded into slumber. Waking up to the ding of a blue window was not the best way to start your day, but it served well enough as an alarm clock. Damien¡¯s eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the light in the room, somehow the lights had turned on, likely a feature to facilitate his waking up. The thing that took his attention, of course, was the pulsing box in front of him.
Day 1 of Phase 2: Have another Climber invite you into their room willingly (50 Points).
Is this what they meant by tasks to earn points? I was worried about what they might ask, but this is pretty high up on the difficulty scale. Admin drove the point yesterday that the only place where you are vulnerable from others is your own room, it will be pretty difficult to convince someone to invite me into their room right the next day¡­ Shit. Dismissing the daunting task, for now, Damien got out of bed and stretched his body, for now, he should probably head out and see what is going on outside. Admin was not very explicit in regards to where they should go, but it was fairly easy to figure out his next steps. He doubted Admin would go door to door gathering them, she was too dignified for something like that, instead, they would have to gather for her. The only other room where they had been allowed in, was the room they first appeared in. It was no coincidence that it was also very likely the room where they would be having meals for the week, at the very least he had to check if breakfast was being served there. If it was, then it was a good starting place to launch off from. After triple checking that the pendant he received as a gift from Eira was still where he left it, he headed out for the door. The acute hiss as the door opened up alerted the person who was outside in the hall of his arrival, Damien stepped out and was greeted by the figure of a petite elf, the ranger he had met in the Monster Hunter event. She looked surprised to see him. ¡°You¡¯re that archer girl, right?¡± he asked in greeting, she still looked not quite mentally in the conversation, whether it was due to the fact that she probably just woke up or a different matter, he did not know, still she managed to nod her head at his question, ¡°That¡¯s awesome, you saved my life at that time, and I didn¡¯t even introduce myself. My name is Damien, it''s nice to meet you.¡± One of the vestiges of his being was his manners, being courteous was important to him, one of the few things that remained. ¡°Oh right, my name is Zen,¡± she quickly replied, she seemed to finally catch on to herself and get into the situation at hand, ¡°I don¡¯t think I did much, but I won¡¯t argue with you,¡± her argument did not come from any form of self-belittlement or self-depreciation, she simply did not understand how she helped him out. Luckily, Damien was also not willing to argue in the matter either, he decided that he would pay her back somehow, give back what was given to him. ¡°So what are you doing out here, waiting for a friend?¡± She looked somewhat startled by the question, ¡°What? Oh no¡­ I did make a team back in the Mercenary Guild, but none of them got to this point,¡± she responded with a low voice. It was true, while there had been initially a little under two-hundred Climbers who began the test, only 18 had managed to pass into this Phase. It came as no surprise that teams had been broken apart. ¡°Right, not a lot of people passed,¡± he tried to speak with sympathy, while some people had not made it due to lacking the score, others had died. It would be distasteful to pry, she might have lost a friend, ¡°Well, I am headed into the room we appeared in, want to go check it out?¡± Her puzzled face prompted Damien to elaborate, ¡°I mean, that¡¯s the only other room we were shown,¡± the realization dawned on her, ¡°Plus I think we might get served some breakfast there, maybe.¡± The smile on her face was all Damien needed to know about Zen, depending on what they would do today, he needed to plan out how to go about his day. Zen was waiting outside to see if anyone would come out of their room, she had no friends here so naturally she was worried that something would happen and everyone would leave without telling her about it. That was why she was simply waiting outside her door, so that if anyone would get out she would know about it and not get left out of the loop. Still, even if someone did get out, it would be pretty strange and suspicious if she simply followed them to their destination. The fact that he had approached her and even asked her if she wanted to come with him was a lifeline to the lonely girl. As they walked down the hallway toward the room they had been teleported to, Damien¡¯s mind was hard at work. This is probably my only chance at getting invited into someone¡¯s room, the groundwork was set up by pure coincidence, but it''s more than enough. I feel bad, it¡¯s almost as though I¡¯m tricking her, but I need those 50 Points. I need a more concrete plan. 15. Training Again "So you are a rogue?" The latest question of a series which had been the only conversation between the two arrived, it seemed Zen was interested in learning more about Damien and his victory in the last test. "Yes, through some circumstances I was given this class. I''m not complaining though, I quite like it so far," from the things he had learned so far, being a rogue was rather fitting for him. The brutish and front and center aspects of being a warrior were not a good blend with his personality, if he had to pick something else it would be a mage. The idea of being able to deal damage and provide support at the same time was worthwhile in his eyes. "And you were able to beat that Inferno Felis all by yourself? You might not realize it but those kinds of creatures are very strong, not something people like us should be able to beat by ourselves. I''m honestly impressed," the short elf explained. She was right in a sense, Damien didn''t understand her point. He lacked the arrogance others possessed in spades, he had trouble in dealing with the giant cat but he didn''t see it as something overwhelming. With a bit more power and more an ideal setup, he thought the fight would have gone much more fluidly. He didn''t think he did anything all that great. "Really? It did get me first place, but I don''t think it was all that impressive." "No, No! It really is crazy to do, especially considering you are a rogue! Normally a rogue can''t fight by themselves, they need others to fill their weaknesses. Although they are strong they aren''t all that balanced so a team is essential," she countered with excitement in her voice. The sudden display of emotion from the girl who had been more reserved until this point was caught by Damien, seeking to make a foundation for friendship he prodded at her, "You seem to know a lot about this sort of thing, did they teach you this stuff in the Mercenary Guild? I thought I was paying attention to everything, but I must have missed this." The cheer which had slowly been built by Damien in the girl dimmed at the new question, her face looked troubled as she answered, "I just know¡­ I woke up in Level 0 just like most of us, and exactly like everyone else I had no memories. But we all have common sense, right? We keep knowledge of basic stuff, but I already knew about the Levels and the tests, and everything else really¡­ I asked around and I was told that my situation isn''t all that uncommon." "Wait you knew stuff about this world beforehand? How is that possible? I don''t remember anything from my previous life, but at the very least I know I didn''t come from anywhere similar to this," he questioned further, everything he knew about this world was particularly strange to him. The world he currently found himself in, along with its weird System, it deviated from what he perceived to be normality. "They told me that Elves, Beastkins, and all other sorts of demihumans will have common knowledge of Anathum if they appear in Level 0. On the other hand, humans will have a chance of knowing basic knowledge or being completely unaware of the System," it seemed she had trouble putting her explanation into words, "It''s a little hard to describe, but people think that it''s possible for inhabitants of Anathum, from any Level, to randomly get sent to Level 0. That''s why all demihumans know a little about the world when they appear here, although it is theorized that humans that don''t remember anything about Anathum are brought from somewhere else¡­" Somewhere else¡­? Where did we come from? "So in other words, all demihumans come from within Anathum, but not all humans do, that''s interesting," he summarized, his curiosity was piqued, "Well what about you then? If you came from somewhere within this place then you must have family out there, right? You must have disappeared from someone''s life?" She squeaked at his questions, she had likely placed thought into that sort of thing already, "I suppose so¡­ But it''s not so bad since I''m an elf!" "Is that right? I don''t know much about other races," he said to the now focused Zen, she was now staring directly at him as they made their way to the sliding doors, "I''d love to hear more about Elves from you if possible." The effort he went through to make sure his tone sounded sincere and his smile looked kind paid off when Zen grew excited to have the chance to talk about her race to someone who was genuinely interested, "Of course!" That conversation would have to wait however, the doors slid open to let both Climbers into the large hall. Sitting within were a few people already, the only two he recognized by name were Jane and Donovan. Luckily they were sitting apart from each other, Damien recognized the aura of strength each one possessed, if Jane were to get him on her team he would have a very difficult time overcoming that obstacle. The last thing he needed was for her to get closer to Donovan. Looking at the tables his theory was proven true, plates with morning food were in front of each person and each seat. He wanted to approach Donovan, he would be instrumental for whatever the next Phase was, if he got into good terms with him then their interactions would go smoothly if he managed to purchase him as a teammate.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. But he couldn''t do that with Zen in tow, he wasn''t great at dealing with people. He could deal with making friends with a single person at a time, if the situation had more than him and one other then he was unaware of how well he would manage. He would have to find another opportunity. "Let''s sit here, alright?" Damien pointed to the closest empty chairs. "Oh alright." The atmosphere in the room was one of seriousness, no one spoke and the only sound that ran freely was the sound of cutlery. Not wanting to disrupt that peace, Damien and Zen joined in on the silence. As more and more people began to make their way to the hall, the tables began to grow more and more crowded. But fortunately, there were a few more tables and chairs then they were people, Admin either must have foreseen the amount of people that would pass to this Phase, or she had constructed this room the moment the event was over. Either one was hard to believe, but if it was Admin then the situation was perfectly normal. There was no way to know the limits of a being created by the System. Then the silence was broken by the soft voice of Admin, "Good morning to you all, I am happy to see you all found your way back to the dining hall," she spoke to the group, she looked exactly the same she did the day before, not a single hair out of place, "If you are all done eating, then please follow me to your lecture room." Without waiting to see if the Climbers would stand up she turned on her heel and walked away. Not wanting to be left behind every Climber rushed out of their seats to follow behind her. Admin continued to move through the hall without concern for the sudden clanging and scraping of chairs on floor, the group followed shortly behind. After a brief walk, they arrived at a new set of dark wooden doors. "Please step inside and sit wherever you please," Admin held the door open for them. The room inside was filled with rows of chairs and desks much like a classroom, towards the front was a podium and a large dark screen behind that encompassing the whole back wall. Admin stepped toward the podium and patiently waited for everyone to take a seat somewhere. Once every Climber was settled into the room, Admin smiled and began her lecture, "Let me start by saying that there are many teams that can be formed, each one specialized in a certain aspect of a fight. Sometimes a team must add another member to make up for an aspect of a particularly difficult monster, but what I am trying to say is that there is no correct or incorrect way to form a team. There are many ways teams have been formed to combat a situation, so don''t feel constrained by conventional methods." Sensing no questions coming up she continued, "That being said I will explain the most basic team and why it is used even in the highest of tests. We begin with the foundation of a team, the warrior types, these classes specialize in high defense and moderate to high damage, depending on the specific class. These will take most of the damage and be front and center in a fight, their job is to ensure that all other party members are safe and able to continue their functions." The information was particularly useful for Damien and Jane who were seeking to create their own teams, knowing what to look for would be vital to creating the best team possible. "Then we have our mage types, these are able to deal high versatile damage. Many monsters have special defenses that will weaken other types of damage except a particular one, in these cases, it falls to the mage to deal that particular damage and lower the monster''s defenses. That''s why mages must focus on learning multiple sources of damage, either Elemental or Special magic." Looking to make sure everyone was paying attention to her words, Admin continued, "One of the most important aspects of a team is their ranger/scout. These classes will scout out the areas ahead and find the best route to travel along with the threat level of each monster, scout and Ranger types are the only classes that receive the Analysis skill which allows them to see the information of other things. You might have noticed you are able to see the information of things you own but not of other things, the Analysis skill is useful since it will allow a party to know if they are able to take on a creature or if they are better off running away." Analysis? A skill that lets you see the information of others¡­ that''s extremely useful. "Next are rogues type classes, depending on the rogue class a party has, a rogue''s role can differ greatly, but generally they are used as damage dealers. This is because their STR stat is the highest weight among all other classes, so a rogue will always be able to deal more damage than most other classes easily," she explained mostly to the only two rogues in the room. Pretty much what Eira already explained. "Lastly we have cleric types, these are crucial to a party since they can both heal and buff party members, but also debuff enemies in multiple ways. While other classes might be interchangeable clerics are not, they will always be present in any party that is at least sane." But there are no clerics here. Flicking her head to face Damien, Admin smiled, "Great observation Mister Damien, there are no clerics that made it to this Phase, a real shame. However I recommend you make up for that by adding an extra warrior to the mix or maybe even a mage, you should find a good workaround.¡± I really should stop thinking when Admin is around, don¡¯t want her to respond to some of my thoughts. Admin replied by smiling at him. ¡°I know some of you are thinking about some other questions you have for me, but I will ask you to wait on those, you can ask during your instructions. Please head out to the rooms that are labeled with your class, from now on these will be the places you report to in the mornings. You will be instructed on how to obtain more skills and how to evolve your starter classes. And if you score at the top of your class, you will even receive a charm for your troubles," Admin pulled out a small box from her pocket, "Which will even grant you a Title, so please try your best." Damien looked over to his only competition for the charm and Title, the other rogue in the other side of the room simply stared at the floor to avoid his gaze. I still have to deal with that person somehow¡­ The Climbers stood up from their charms and got ready to begin their training. 16. Growing Animosity Feeling the sweat build up in his back was the latest indicator that Desmond was extremely nervous, the reason for his anxiety was only a few inches away from him. Even though he had purposely sat in the furthest seat possible when he entered the rogue training room, the reason for his woes had decided to go out of his way to sit down next to him. When he watched him make his way through the sea of empty chairs all the way to the spot he had picked up, he was sure that he was going to be killed. His body tensed up, the air grew heavy, and the fear sunk in his gut like boulder; his life was over in his mind already. But the other rogue simply sat without making a sound or without any sign of malicious intention, it should have been a relieving sight, but it only sent his blood pumping to his head faster with terror. Desmond could not bring himself to look at him, ever since that night he had killed all the other rogues, he was not able to meet his gaze at all, or sleep properly for that matter. Death could be waiting in his sleep. Across the rows of chairs in the room was a large rectangular stone field, it was likely where they would be putting things to the test or even fighting, but the instructor who was supposed to teach the rogues had yet to arrive, leaving an uncomfortable silence to plague his mind. He hadn¡¯t told anyone what had transpired that night, he was too scared to do so, after all, he and the other rogues had been in the wrong as well, he could at least admit to that. While he could not bring himself to look at the guy, he glanced at him from the corner of his eye and got a decent look at him. Short dark hair that fell on his forehead, pale skin that seemed to rarely see the sun, and a youthful face, he looked to be in his young twenties, but the thing that contrasted it all were his eyes. While his face could be called lively, his eyes looked old and excessively focused, his grey pupils were content to idly stare at the front of the room. Although it could be said he was a comely man, his eyes threw that motion into dispute, they simply were too overbearing to be stared with. The seconds turned to minutes and the tension that the stillness of the room only grew to unbearable levels, on the verge of a mental collapse, he broke the silence. ¡°We didn¡¯t mean to take it that far¡­. It was an accident, please¡­ Believe me,¡± his makeshift apology and explanation pierced the quiet that governed the room. For a long excruciating moment no reply was given, Desmond felt a knot form on his throat, he had used all his courage to give birth to that line and now nothing remained. Just as it seemed he had spoken to the void, a long sigh escaped the other rogue¡¯s lips, ¡°I believe you.¡± Those three words were exactly what he was hoping to hear, but he had expected to have to give a lengthy explanation for what had occurred that night before he would believe him, the fact that he was so easily trusted left a bad taste in his mouth, ¡°Wait, you actually believe me?¡± ¡°Sure, one of your friends said the same thing, I think I can believe you.¡± One of my friends? ¡°You mean one of the other rogues?¡± he asked. At this point Damien finally turned to face him, his intense eyes completely focused on him, he felt like a mouse in front of a hungry snake, ¡°Weren¡¯t they your friends? One of them said you guys weren¡¯t planning on killing me.¡± ¡°So then you know that it was an accident? That we were innocent and-¡± Desmond was cut off from his advance by Damien¡¯s eyes, which had grown fierce at his words. ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand, I believe you guys decided to scare me off from competing in this test, but that night you guys definitely tried to kill me, not to mention, you were the one who struck first. You even injured my arm, did you forget?¡± The words died in his mouth, what he said was true, it would be difficult to refute in any way, but rationality had already taken a backseat in the conversation for Desmond, ¡°Look I said I was sorry, what happened back there was something we didn¡¯t intend to do, it went out of control.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t sorry, you are just sorry that things didn¡¯t go your way. If I had failed to defend myself back then, I would have ended up dead in that dark alley don¡¯t you think?¡± he spoke in a harsh cold voice, ¡°Or are you saying you would have taken my body out of the alley and admitted to your actions? No. The only reason you are trying to apologize is because I am not dead, you are sorry because you fear retribution for what you tried to do.¡± The viciousness in his voice was more than what Desmond could handle and he became defensive, ¡°Like you are any better! You killed four people back there, I didn¡¯t kill anyone! I¡¯m more innocent than you are!¡± The conversation turned argument was now on the precipice of violence, but Damien¡¯s calm question quelled the situation, ¡°Then why did you do it? Why did you try to stop me from going up by going so far?¡± The question dropped on Desmond as cold water, his momentum had been ceased, ¡°Well¡­ I suppose that if I had to come up with an answer, it¡¯s because I wanted to go up, I knew that if we stopped you from participation our own chances would increase. That¡¯s why we came together and came up with that plan.¡± ¡°No I get that, I¡¯m asking why did you want to go up so badly?¡± The answer to that question came much more fluidly, as though it were obvious, ¡°I wanted a better life. If you go up to the higher levels you can get anything you want, that¡¯s why I wanted to go up, all the beauty and riches in the world, it can all be yours if you go up.¡± Isn¡¯t that obvious? ¡°I see, truthfully I don¡¯t see anything wrong with killing. It¡¯s the way of the universe, killing is the foundation of life, only by killing and eating others do you go on existing. But you are just pathetic,¡± his words shot out like venom, ¡°You were the one to make the first strike that night, and you were the only one who ran away, you incited that violence. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get what''s coming to you.¡± The atmosphere in the empty room became increasingly volatile, ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean? What are you going to¡­ what? Kill me¡­? Gimme a break, you can¡¯t kill me in this test area, no way I¡¯ll ever go into your room or let you into mine. There¡¯s no way for you to kill me here!¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Words that had turned into shouts rung into the large room and echoed. ¡°You are right, but I¡¯m sure a way will present itself to me. You see I¡¯m going up because I want to learn more about what brought me here, the System, and why. I¡¯m sure that there is intelligence behind the System that oversees this world, so I feel confident that it gave me this quest knowing that I would have a way to complete it.¡± ¡°What quest?¡± The question was interrupted by the sound of doors opening, the attention of the room focused on the new arrival, the instructor; Admin. Admin looked at her two students, they were at each other¡¯s throats. The conflict had arisen from before the test had started so she had decided to give them time to talk before she stepped forward, but now that the main points of the conversation had been talked about, she felt it was prudent to appear. ¡°I welcome you to the rogue class, the main point of this course will be to evolve your Starter Rogue class into the Rogue class. Although the names are very similar, the Rogue class offers much better weighted stats and better skills. It is fairly easy to obtain too,¡± she explained with her usual smile. Knowing the question in Damien¡¯s mind, she added, ¡°If you have a question, feel free to ask Mister Damien.¡± The youth in question no longer acted surprised at her reading his mind, ¡°If you are here teaching us this, then I assume you will also be teaching the other classes?¡± ¡°Astute as always, yes, just as I am present in all test areas, I will be the instructor for each class.¡± Admin gestured for both rogues to approach her on the rectangular field, she would not be teaching anything in theory, instead, it would be something of practical use, a skill. Once the two students had reached the front of the room and both stood before her, she pulled out a simple in make sword, it could even be called a simple piece of iron, ¡°Earning enough stat points will increase your rank from F to F+, ranking up will usually come with an extra skill and maybe even with a class evolution, but for starter rogues, it will award the Assassinate skill.¡± Looking at Damien¡¯s status showed the reason for his half-interest, he already had ranked up and obtained the Assassinate skill, he had put it to good use against the Inferno Felis and had brought him the first place after all. ¡°Now the exact point of this class will be three things; to level you up until you obtain the Assassinate skill, to evolve your class through EXP earning, and finally to ensure you know when to use your skills in a fight.¡± Since the System facilitated the use of skills, that¡¯s how people with no knowledge of smithing, or archery could be good with forges and bows, it was a great boon from the System. However, it also served as a detriment, Climbers grew accustomed to not having to know anything about a skill and letting the System carry their movements. It was one thing to know a skill because the System allowed you to use it, and it was a whole different matter if you had a skill and knew how to best put it to use. That¡¯s why Admin¡¯s job was to make sure that Climbers would be taught that in the first test arena. Admin turned away from the Climbers and faced the stone field, ¡°Now listen, the thing about assassin type skills is that they aren¡¯t meant to be used at every opportunity, they are strong, but usually take a lot of MP or SP. This means you will only be able to use them sparsely, so only use them when the time is right, that means you are sure the attack will land.¡± In front of Admin, a white light began to appear and gave birth to a monster, it was as tall as a human with light leather armor and a rusty jagged sword in his hand. It might even look human if not for the red skin and disfigured face, it grunted at the force that kept it in place. ¡°This is a Hobgoblin of the F rank variety, it is a fairly strong monster, you should be able to beat it if you use your skills and fight smart,¡± the force that was keeping the monster immobile suddenly stopped and the rabid beast screamed in rage as it rushed to Admin. A twirl of her hand and her sword had beheaded the red-skinned Hobgoblin. The two pieces of the monster returned to the light which brought it here and disappeared into nothing, ¡°You can go first, Mister Desmond.¡± With her declaration, a new Hobgoblin spawned at the center of the field, ¡°Mister Damien, please step back.¡± Damien followed her directions quickly and took several steps back, now only Desmond remained in front of the angry Hobgoblin, it was agitated that it stuck. ¡°Mister Desmond, at the count of three: One, two,-¡± ¡°Wait a moment! I AM NOT READY!¡± ¡°Three.¡± The Hobgoblin roared with its yellow teeth and sprinted towards Desmond as it flailed its sword wildly. Admin watched as her student let his instinct to run away take over his common sense, he immediately turned away and began to run from the Hobgoblin. She didn¡¯t judge him, a Hobgoblin is a decently strong monster, it was easy to get killed by it if you weren¡¯t experienced in a fight. Desmond continued to run, his AGI as a rogue was more than sufficient to keep him out of reach from the blade that followed him. After a minute of running, it was starting to settle into him that running away would not be enough to win, he needed to fight. Desmond stopped his running and skidded in the ground, the Hobgoblin¡¯s blade was already coming at him. Still, his superior agility was enough for him to deflect the old rusty sword, the resulting clash of metal chipped the rust and left a dent in the Hobgoblin¡¯s sword. Due to Desmond¡¯s weighted STR stat, he was also able to overpower the monster. After a few more sword swings, the tide was quickly turned, Desmond was now in the offensive and the Hobgoblin was being pushed back. Desmond¡¯s attacks lacked timing and finesse, but what he lacked in skill he made up in speed and power. It was only a matter of time now. Then it happened, the moment where the Hobgoblin¡¯s guard was lowered, and he struck. Desmond¡¯s sword dug into the monster¡¯s flesh and bisected the beast. The monster fell to the floor and his sword clanged in the ground, the fight was over. ¡°...¡± Desmond stared at the downed figure of the Hobgoblin, ¡°I did it¡­ I DID IT!¡± he cheered at his achievement. Admin smiled at his success, he was a little rough, but he got the job done. ¡°Excellent work Mister Desmond,¡± she spoke in praise, ¡°We will go over what you did right and what you did wrong once Mister Damien has his turn, so for now please step off the field.¡± Desmond cheered as he got off the stone platform, as Damien walked past him and toward the center, he couldn¡¯t help but smirk at Damien. Admin chucked it up to a growing ego, she waited until Damien was in position before she started the count.¡± ¡°One, two, three.¡± This time without interruptions, the Hobgoblin was unleashed. Much like the two previous times, the Hobgoblin ran toward its target with blind rage, Admin watched at Damien pulled out his sword and took a deep breath. He was mimicking her movements, she had shown them what to do, and he had listened. Just as she had done, when the Hobgoblin¡¯s neck came into his range, he activated his Assassinate skill and with an identical twirl of his wrist, the monster was beheaded. Damien released the breath he had taken in, and cleaned the blood off his sword with a swing. Admin looked on with an approximation of awe, of course she had seen his fight with the Inferno Felis, but faced with the actions of the rogue in this situation, he had copied her attack with flawless precision. He was a true prodigy. 17. Lies and Loneliness "So you practiced your archery? That sounds interesting," Damien spoke to Zen as they ate the lunch provided, "We had a different class, we spent all our time earning EXP and practicing a single skill." Zen quietly took a bite out of her meal as she listened to the rogue, after swallowing her good she chimed in, "Well Admin told us that the basis for being a good archer is accuracy and precision, so we spent all our time practicing our shots on moving targets." Listening in to what Zen had to say about her training, he couldn''t help but feel that the rangers were getting less useful training. After all the rogues had received a live enemy to fight, and tomorrow they would be fighting multitudes of goblins, to show them why they should be wary of fighting multiple foes. From what he heard from Zen, the ranger class just seemed lacking. Wanting to share his thoughts he questioned the blonde-haired elf, "And is your training too easy? Or am I missing something?" He did not fail to notice the tense grip her hand developed at his query, something was bothering her. "I don''t know if I just have a bad affinity for archery, but outside of skills, I have a hard time using the Fighting Style I have," she confessed with embarrassment, weakness was a sore subject for everyone, "Admin told me that Fighting Styles are facilitated by the System, it lets the System know what type of fighting knowledge you should know. That''s how people can pick up a blade for the first time and know what to do with it, but knowledge on how to do something and actually doing something are two distinct things. I may have a poor aptitude for this¡­" Maybe¡­ But. "I don''t think that''s true, you scored in sixth place, that''s the second highest for a ranger, right?" he attempted to lift her spirits, "That didn''t happen out of nowhere." His words fell on deaf ears, her expression didn''t lift, "I don''t know, I spoke to some of the other rangers, and they said that they had a hard time finding monsters," she said with a low tone, "I just got lucky to find that Orc, otherwise I might have even failed the first Phase." Damien looked at the downtrodden Zen, the mood of the conversation had gone sour within a matter of seconds. If he was better at dealing with people, this might not have happened. Still cheering Zen up was extremely important for Damien at the current moment. This might be the difference between earning those 50 Points or not. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Jane trying to talk to the group of mages. Judging by their nervous looks and tense body language, they wouldn''t be allowing her access to any of their rooms any time soon. Her brutish behavior when the Monster Hunter event was over had stayed in everyone''s mind. Their first impression of her had been of one that resorted to violence quickly, it would be unwise to let someone like that into a place you were most vulnerable. Feeling better knowing that even if he failed here, his competition was not likely to succeed either, he pressed on with a last effort. "Hey I heard that some people worship the System as a God," he interjected into the conversation. "Huh?", the comment that came out of nowhere confused Zen, "Yeah I know about them, they concentrate at the higher Levels and hold some of the strongest Nex Primers. What about them?" Damien looked away from her and spoke to the air as if in deep thought, "They can worship the System because it''s such an amazing thing, it gives people the power to live forever, to make people into Gods, it can quantify the worth of your existence in a mere page of numbers and words. It''s amazing." Not following what Damien was trying to convey, Zen voiced her confusion, "What are you getting at?" Looking back at Zen, his piercing gray eyes looked directly into her, "I''m just saying, this almighty System didn''t bother putting luck as a quantifiable stat, it didn''t matter to it. If this godly System doesn''t believe in luck, then neither do I. You didn''t get lucky, you tried your best and this is the result you ended up with. I think that you''re going to make a great ranger if you keep trying your best, don''t you think?" Damien''s argument was flawed, of course. At the very least it was easily argued. One could say that even if the System didn''t consider luck as an individual stat, that the uncertainty of the real world played a major factor in the outcome of one''s actions; luck. If this is taken into account then the success of an individual in perspective to the failure of another in the same field could be chucked up to the phenomenon known as luck. Even if Zen performed better than other rangers, it didn''t necessarily mean that she was better, she was right in saying that real-world uncertainty had played a role in success. But arguing against Damien was not what Zen wanted, she wanted some validation of her efforts. Rather than seek out those arguments, her mind was happier to settle into the comfort that his words brought. "Well when you put it like that I can''t find where to disagree," her voice had gained a faint joy, "I guess you''re right, I just have to focus on doing better." Happy with his small success, he smiled to further lighten the mood. He needed her disposition to be the best possible if he wanted a chance to get those points. It was one thing to become friends with someone in a day, it was another matter for that friend to trust you with their life. Truthfully, without the pressure of the test and the lack of support from other sources, Damien would have been hard-pressed to get this far. Fortunately Zen was responding well to his attempts to grow closer, but ultimately it was impossible to make this into a guarantee. It would be up to fate to decide if he would triumph. A soft ring signaled a System Prompt,
The Dining Hall will now be closing, dinner will be delivered to your individual room. The Hall will open its doors again tomorrow morning, have a good night.
The once noisy room was now filled with people staring at the new information. The prompt came off as a surprise, they had not been warned that the Hall had a closing time, and it only made sense for them to have dinner here if the room was called the Dining Hall. Still, the prompt¡¯s eligibility was not in question, if the System said so, it was the truth.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. The reason the atmosphere in the room had died was rather down mainly due to the thought that everybody had at this point. People had to spend their time somewhere, if not in the Dining Hall then there was only one other place, their rooms. It would become a difficult matter to continue their conversations in the comfort of their private rooms for obvious reasons, so one by one they each began to slowly excuse themselves from the tables. Still, warm lunches were left behind as people went to their rooms, aside from the lack of company, it wasn¡¯t much of an inconvenience. He kept an eye on Jane as she desperately tried to make conversation with the others who were practically fleeing from her. Her frenzy was detrimental to her cause, people were able to easily smell her rashness and steered off course from it, he almost felt bad for her. But in the end, she was his competition so the feeling subsided. The window to make his own move was rapidly closing. "I guess it''s time to get going," he spoke without a particular target, Zen, still caught up in the prompt, only nodded her head. "Are you also headed to your room?", he carefully prodded. He couldn''t be too forward with his words, or she would become skittish. She needed to be the one to propose the idea or she would never agree to it. "Oh? Oh right, yes! We should get back to our rooms now I suppose," she said as she stood up from her seat like everyone else was. The window of opportunity narrowed. "It''s a shame," his dejected voice spoke, "We still didn''t get to talk about Elves, I really want to learn more about your culture." It was a risky move, if considered carefully, it might be perceived as an overextension on his part. Although his face smiled and his expression was calm, inside the stress was building up to colossal heights. He had made great strides in befriending Zen today, too aggressive of a push could ruin all his work. Zen froze in place at his words, thankfully she stopped to think about what he said. It was a good sign, the alternative would have landed him a quick refusal. She rubbed her chin in thought as she pondered for a few seconds before she spoke, "Right I almost forgot you wanted to hear about that, well we can always talk tomorrow, right?" Shit. The conversation was barreling down to a failure, he needed to do something and he needed to do it quick. The question was now whether the 50 Points were worth risking the progress he had made so far with Zen. On one hand, if he dropped the subject, he would be in good standing with Zen. If tomorrow''s task was something similar to today''s then he would already have groundwork and would be more likely to succeed. Not to mention that Jane had failed at earning the points from what he saw, even if he didn''t get these points, she wouldn''t hold an advantage over him. Alternatively, he could make a headstrong last-ditch effort and try to get those points. If he succeeded he would have 50 extra points that his opponent would not, he would have an easier time building his team for the final Phase. But failure would result in Zen becoming wary of him, ruining his efforts. If the next tasks were like this one, he would have to find a different Climber and start from zero. A worst-case scenario. The smart choice would be to hold on and try again tomorrow, but Damien knew that doing so would be admitting to a small self-defeat. A personal slight to himself, he would have failed in something he had set out to do. The thought burned in his mind, he hated it. Throwing caution to the wind, he made his move. Just as Zen was beginning to turn away, he reached out and grabbed her hand. The sudden physical contact startled Zen, who began to instinctively make a move to free her hand from his grasp. Before she could, however, she was stopped by Damien''s voice. "Actually¡­ I want to know more about you." Damien''s bold declaration coupled with his stone-cold serious face made Zen lose her words. Her brain ceased to work for a second as she mouthed out nothings, this was one of the better outcomes that he could have hoped for. Zen''s dumbfounded expression continued for a couple of seconds more before she managed to regain her bearings. She hadn''t tried to pull away, another sign of fortune. The slight red at the tips of her pointy ears was also a good indicator that his gamble was closer to a payoff rather than a bust. Zen looked at him with confused eyes, "You want to know more about me and Elves that badly?" It was too late to pull back now, he answered with as much genuine as possible, "I really want to know more about you personally¡­ The thing is that I don''t know much about what''s going on in this world. You''re the only person who was bothered to listen to me so far, I''d really just like to talk to you a little more. Maybe just a few more minutes?" Several factors came into play at this moment. All of the little things that Damien had done snowballed into a feeling of closeness for Zen: reaching out to her in the morning when she was alone, inviting her to eat with him when she clearly knew nobody else in the room, making an effort to comfort her when she was feeling down due to her class. Lastly his seemingly heart to heart confession, he had targeted the points he had deduced she felt strongly about. He knew that she was feeling alone, despite knowing more about this world than him, she was even more alone than he was. It was likely the uncertainty of her pre-made team was also weighing in her mind; had they survived the Monster Hunting event? Making sure to iterate all the points she felt strongly at this point. It was all calculated in order to condense all these little things into a form of agreement. "Well I don''t remember anything specific, but if you don''t mind I guess I can tell you what I remember," she spoke shyly, people were beginning to stare at the spectacle that was two people holding hands, "Ah! But just for a bit!" Damien''s all or nothing high stakes gamble had paid off. "Oh, that''s great! It means a lot!" his face broke into rare sight of true happiness, the stress levels he had, which were on the precipice of bursting, were brought down to nothing. His smile and eyes reflected this internal change with a glint of charm, Zen was only able to look away with no small amount of embarrassment. Finally growing too flustered from having her hand held by Damien, she managed to voice out a squeak, "Damien, my hand¡­" "Hmm? Oh right," he answered to her small voice as he let go of her hand, he truly had forgotten about that, "Sorry about that." She shook her head, "No, it''s okay," she beckoned for him to follow after her, as they walked she spoke, "You know, I''ve actually been feeling exactly like you have. I''m glad you''re here, otherwise, I''d probably be having a harder time." Zen''s actual heartfelt confession sprouted a seed of guilt in Damien''s heart, although in his mind he had not done anything truthfully harmful, he knew that he was in some ways using Zen and taking advantage of her current situation to advance himself. Promising to make it up to her, he followed her into her room. Although she showed a bit of discomfort as he physically walked into her private room, she relaxed when his attitude didn''t suddenly change.
Congratulations, you have completed your daily task! +50 Points
Success Zen and Damien''s short talk about Elves turned into a lengthy discussion mainly led by the curious Zen, although the positions had been shifted Zen had a happy time talking about Elves anyway. 18. Calamities ¡°I¡¯m sure that you have already been warned why it is not wise for you to take on multiple enemies at once, even the best rogues in the Frontier are not able to take on a test by themselves. It''s not a matter of strength, it¡¯s more to do with an aptitude with the System,¡± Admin¡¯s lecture continued. The second day of learning had been more or less the same as yesterday¡¯s, if Damien¡¯s predictions were correct, it would follow a similar pattern. ¡°That is to say, the System designed each test considering the ability of each class and their applications. From this, we can gather that all possible outcomes are predetermined by the System. If all obstacles and solutions are made by the System, then there is no way to achieve something that isn¡¯t within the desirable or satisfactory results,¡± Admin continued her explanation. The dazed eyes of Desmond let her know that her words were becoming lost on him, it was expected, not many people had an interest in this particular topic. She spoke in simpler words, ¡°In layman¡¯s terms, rogues will not have a good time fighting hordes because Anathum is designed by the game to limit you as such. The same could be said for every other class and position, they each have their strengths and weaknesses. It''s a hard limit which keeps the balance of things.¡± It was strange for Admin to discuss this topic, in Damien¡¯s eyes, it was counterproductive. Admin was the physical embodiment of the almighty System, she was meant to champion for the System, yet here she spoke with almost a hint of destain. Although Desmond simply nodded at her words, Damien already had seen a flaw within her words. She said that people were limited by what the System allowed them to do, a way to ensure that things would not go out of hand and for Climbers to clear levels without getting so strong as to fodder the tests. It made perfect sense, except for the fact that he had already seen an example where things deviated from her explanation. It wasn¡¯t definite proof or anything like that, but it was something. Hoping to hear a clarification from the stoic Admin, he asked without making a mask to hide his intentions, ¡°If the System assists you in using your skills and Fighting Styles, then I have two questions. You had previously explained to us that knowing how to use a skill was not the same as knowing how to best efficiently use it, there is more to using a skill that letting the System take over; user input,¡± his question came out of his mouth without emotion or meaningful expression. Unlike with other people were showing certain sentiment would have a higher chance of producing a positive response, Admin could read his mind, there was no need to hide himself from her. He proceeded, ¡°Furthermore I spoke to a Climber, she said that she was not as good as using her Fighting Style as her fellow Climbers, she was being outperformed. Which again brings up the factor that is different in each situation; user input. My questions are as follows, what determines your compatibility with the System, and if it is possible to underperform, then is it possible to do better than the hard limit?¡± Damien¡¯s dead tone had sent a shiver down Desmond¡¯s spine, it was clear he was still unnerved around Damien. The serious face he was making and the chilling setting that was growing in the silence that followed after his question was not helpful in his plight. Admin merely smiled innocently at his query, she brought her hands and clasped them in front of her as she answered his questions, ¡°You must be referring to Miss Zen, yes it is a little shame she isn¡¯t doing as well as her peers, she must be more suitable as an actual scout than a ranger, but that isn¡¯t the matter of the question. To answer your first question¡­¡± she paused as she seemed to think, an empty gesture to seem more human, ¡°There is no definite answer, some people are just not suited for certain classes, they must simply try to change into something better for themselves, nothing to it. At least nothing that can be quantified.¡± Or so she said. It wasn¡¯t what he had hoped to hear, but it was what he expected. And the other matter? Smiling at the telepathic communication, she answered, ¡°Unfortunately, it is not unheard of for certain individuals to supersede the limits the System carefully places within itself, although it is an anomaly amongst anomalies.¡± At this response, both rogues¡¯ perked up, talk of going past the limits of the System was something that would interest anyone. ¡°There have been very few individuals like this in the past, through unknown means, they possess the ability to go past the assistance that the System provides. They are able to perform better than the System,¡± she spoke with faux exasperation, ¡°They threaten the balance of this world through their unusual strength, the System rewards the killing of these individuals, although not a single one has been ever killed.¡± Rewards the killing of them? Because they cause an imbalance? ¡°Precisely, as I said, these people are extremely dangerous, so even if the rewards can be enticing, I suggest you don¡¯t try anything if you are unfortunate enough to find one,¡± she continued, ¡°The System denotes them with the Title of Calamity, they break the very fabric of this beautiful world.¡± The new information was concerning to hear, Damien could understand why they would be called calamities, if they had the ability to break the rules of the System, then there was no telling what sort of damage they could do. ¡°And these Calamities, how many are there out there?¡± It was an important question, after all even if Admin said they were rare, in the supposed vastness of Anathum, extremely rare might still be a few thousand. Meeting one of these dangerous people randomly would be bad news. Admin waved her hands around in dismissal, ¡°No need to worry about that, there have only been five Calamities ever reported. Four of these are found regularly on the top of the Frontier Leaderboard, and although the last one is not a Primer, much less a Nex Primer, she was last spotted in the upper Levels. There is no need to worry about stumbling upon these.¡± The thought that someone so dangerous could simply disappear out of the radar was concerning to Damien, to say the least, ¡°She just disappeared? Nobody knows where she went?¡± Admin placated him with an explanation, ¡°It¡¯s not that simple, this individual is the holder of the unique class Hero, as she was making her way through the 85th Level, the Church approached her. The reports of who attacked first are muddled, but ultimately the two got into a fight outside the City Vanguard¡¯s range. The Hero, Luma, killed one of the Church¡¯s Nex Primers, which forced them to relent on their efforts and thus she got away. That was over ten years ago, she has not been seen since.¡± Despite not being conscious for more than a month in the world of Anathum, from what he had heard from Eira, Primers were the epitome of power. If one so much as sneezed in your direction, you would be reduced to atoms. To hear that this Luma person managed to kill a Nex Primer was surprising, to say the least. ¡°So then-¡± ¡°I think we should get back to the lesson, I have entertained your question for a little too long now Mister Damien,¡± she quickly shut down Damien¡¯s next barrage of questions. Suppressing his frown, he quiets down and listened to Admin, the physical portion of the training was about to begin. ¡°Now although rogues aren¡¯t meant to fight too many opponents at once, if the enemies are low enough rank or they aren¡¯t numerous enough, they will still come out on top. In order to properly show you how quickly numbers can overwhelm you, you will fight ten goblins one level above your own. Please don¡¯t worry about dying, the System will prevent your HP from reaching zero. Any volunteers?¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°ME!¡± Ever since the animosity between both rogues had been made verbal, Desmond had begun to develop a complex, he did everything to show Damien he was strong. Damien theorized it was an attempt to tell him that he would not be an easy prey, akin to an animal puffing up their chest to appear bigger. ¡°Very well Mister Desmond, please step into the field,¡± her eyes showed no sign of malicious intent, but Damien couldn¡¯t help but feel that there was a sadistic nature within Admin. His suspicions of her had increased widely. Putting that thought aside, he focused on Desmond¡¯s fight. A strange phenomenon had been noticed by Damien with every single fight he witnessed. The effects were very subtle at first, but with each fight, it became more prominent and harder to miss. He had noticed it at first during conversations and everyday things, every word spoken, every action and mannerism taken, he would notice it and compile it. Using all those little bits of information he was able to navigate and predict where conversations were going or how people were feeling at a given point. Initially, he thought that everyone was the same way he was, that everyone was able to analyze the situation like he was, but again and again, people would say the wrong words in their own discussions. Outcomes that could have been achieved, mutual benefits that could have been reached; it all went to waste again and again. At this point, it quickly became apparent that his powers of observation were above the norm. However, it didn¡¯t stop there, it went even beyond simply working on his people skills, it extended to the realm of his fighting ability. His eyes tracked every move Desmond made, every swing his blade committed, every wasted movement, every step, and every strike. Same for the goblins, all their sloppy wide attacks, their frantic claws, and even their infernal wails, nothing was lost on him. Deconstructing their attack patterns, scrutinizing their effectiveness, and converting them into something he could use. It all happened in a matter of seconds, with each fight he observed, with each aggression that came his way, his combat fortitude grew stronger and refined. It culminated yesterday, he was able to observe Admin perform that true strike, her fluid motion was a perfect attack with no wasted energy, he saw it and he learned. He was able to mimic that perfect attack despite only seeing it once. Something within him was different from the others, whatever the reason for the ability, he was growing stronger than what was considered normal. Even worse, he was growing stronger in ways that ignored the parameters imposed by the System. It was not quite yet to the point where he could say that his growth disregarded the hard limits set by the System, but it was dangerously close to it. If he was not careful, he could be slapped with a Calamity label. His ever-increasing suspicion for Admin spiked to higher levels, she was the one who had led the conversation into talk about that topic, one he didn¡¯t even know existed. Perhaps it was his advanced analysis that was finding something he was not yet able to see, or maybe he was starting to lose his mind, but he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that something was wrong. It felt as though someone was using him as a pawn, and Admin was his prime suspect. Unfortunately, there was neither crime nor transgression to look into, it was all in his head. Just like Admin had said, Desmond was quickly overrun by the little horde of goblins. The System made it so starter rogues had attacks that cost high MP and SP so, despite their high attack values, they would grow tired quickly and thus be unfit to fight a mob. After taking out four of the ill-equipped goblins, Desmond was finally too tired from using his skills and the onslaught of the little green men to fight back. The small daggers they wield stabbed into his abdomen and legs, the blood-curdling screams that were unleashed were nothing but uncomfortable to Damien¡¯s ears. Desmond¡¯s HP was quickly dropping, as the monsters cackled at their victory, a tremendous white light exploded with Desmond¡¯s screaming form at the center. The intensity of the sudden intrusion broke Damien¡¯s focus and caused him to shield his eyes. At first, the screaming stopped, then so did the light. Looking at the center of the stone field, the kneeling form of the hard-breathing Desmond was revealed. His previous wounds were now completely gone, even the holes in his armor were mended. If it were not for the blood on the floor then Damien might even consider the fact he imagined it all. ¡°That was very good Mister Desmond, I hope you learned a valuable lesson from this. You learn best from experience after all,¡± Admin broke the silence. Despite her words of recognition, Desmond did not respond, he seemed to be more focused on the ground than with Admin. Even after a minute of silence, he refused to move from his position in the middle of the room. Frowning at the development, Admin gestured with her hand. The small wave of her fingers was all it took for Desmond to disappear from the room, ¡°It seems that Mister Desmond suffered a little mental damage from coming close to death, I would have assumed he was more prepared for that when he so bravely volunteered. Rest assured we will heal him as good as new!¡± Her fake cheer held no effect on Damien, he was more focused on his thoughts. Even after thinking all this, you still won¡¯t answer? Admin merely smiled, ¡°I believe it''s your turn Mister Damien, please step to the center of the room.¡± Knowing that arguing or trying to dig deeper would not yield any results, Damien simply stood up from his chair and went to the center of the room. He was excited for the fight anyway, Admin said that the goblins were going to be one level above him, that should be enough for the boost from the Bold Title to activate. The ten goblins materialized all around Damien, each one with the same feral look in their eyes, he picked up his sword and held the grip strongly with his right hand. Feeling the boost that the Bold Title brought, he angled his sword diagonally with his body like he had seen Eira do, it was an overall good way to defend so he simply waited for the attacks. Sparring with Eira, being attacked by his fellow rogues, it all came back to him. How to move and how to attack, the way the goblins moved when they fought Desmond just prior, it all was fresh on his mind. ¡°AHHRG!¡± came the first howl of a goblin as it ran at him, his small dagger had less reach than his sword, but it would be harder to block or deflect. Still, his composure was more than enough to deal with the sloppy attack, without overextending himself, he moved his blade with his wrist, effectively throwing the goblin off balance. He would have taken the opportunity to slash the green little thing¡¯s throat, but the next goblin was already attacking. The wide swing was exactly like he had seen with Desmond. This is too easy. Knowing how the attack would be coming, he did not even need to deflect it, he merely moved an inch from his left and saw the blade swing and miss. The next two goblins performed similar attacks, each one more predictable than the last. The longer the fight progressed, the more he was able to see the patterns and avoid them. Although his stamina was going down, it was a rate where the goblins would tire faster than he would. The little demons placed more energy than what was necessary in each strike, he just needed for them to use more energy before he went into the offensive. As soon as they grew even a little tired, the moment their attacks grew a little slower, then he would attack. The next three attacks came with more fury than all the previous ones. A horizontal slash, followed a few inches behind by an identical attack, and finally a swing at his feet. His mind quickly found the best method to deal with the assault, finally releasing his tight guard, his short sword flew out vehemently without care for restraint. Letting his body flow with the upward momentum from his attack, he jumped as his sword clashed with the two horizontal attacks and the low-swing attack missed. It would be the final true attack the goblins would be able to mount against Damien. Not letting the power from his attack die out, he pushed the blades out of the two goblins¡¯ hands. The surprised goblins were unable to counter the steel that went directly for their necks. The loss of two goblins put a stop to the drive the monsters had, unlike with Desmond where the four goblins died with sufficient time between each other to not cause a feeling of panic in the monsters, losing two in such a short time activated their instinct to run away. The moment a single goblin turned his back on Damien to run away, the fight was over. The only advantage the little beasts had was their number, which was useless if they did not attack in unison. Once Damien took that from them, they became easy pickings. His sword swung down without mercy, each attack would cleave a goblin in two, and the soon the fight turned into a bloody massacre. Despite the ease of the fight, Damien¡¯s attacks never lost their carefulness. His sword continued to move with enough room for a sudden change in direction, just in case the goblins would be able to calm down and make a last effort to kill him. However it was for naught, in the blink of an eye, the goblins which had been delivering non-stop attacks, were on the receiving end of a bloody blade. The fight was over.
Level up! Level up! Level up! Level up!
Lateo Jump Lvl 1: Move between the shadows and the light. Short distance teleport which brings you into the back of your target, a successive uninterrupted attack will deal 200% damage and stun the target.
19. Rising Suspicion The smell of iron permeated the air around the room, the heavy stench of vile liquids spilled out of the goblins'' stomachs who had been cut in two and settled into the once fresh air. The carnage that was scattered over the room was horrific to the eyes as well, limbs that had been severed and laid on the floor were everywhere, organs slowly fell out of the torsos of still twitching bodies. One particular goblin remained alive, he was nothing special, he survived until now merely due to his overly cautious nature. Unlike the other goblins spawned by the System, this one was created with a slightly lower fear tolerance. It wasn''t a great difference from the others, but it was enough for him to hesitate a single step where his comrades didn''t. His terrifyingly skillful opponent had assumed he, like the goblin who was side by side with him, would take two large steps to launch their attack. But he faltered. That single step he failed to take was the difference from being beheaded like his fellow spawn and his throat being slashed. It was the fate of a coward. He lived longer than the others, but it was much worse for him than the alternative. The other goblins had suffered fatal blows that had killed them almost instantly, his enemy ensured that every attack was deliberate and resulted in fatalities of dexterity he could not hope to match. He could recognize that much, he was simply outclassed. Unlike those that had died without much pain, he remained. Slowly and slowly his life escaped him. Gasping for breath he struggled against the empty harsh pain that assaulted his small lungs. He would take in air through his nose, but it escaped with a horrible sound through the hole in his neck. His life was dimming with each passing second. The pain was agonizing. His hands were stretched out and they desperately searched out anything on the ground, where he laid face-up, what his hands were searching for? Even he did not know. He just wanted to hopelessly reach anything, something to ground him. Unfortunately, all his hands found were the pools of blood from his and his fellow goblins, the warm liquid was all he could reach. Slowly and slowly his body began to grow cold. Something was leaving his body. Was it blood? Air? Or even his soul? He didn''t know. If he couldn''t be saved, he just wanted it to be over. He regretted not taking that step with his brethren. The soft sounds of liquid quietly splashing faintly approached him. It must have taken a few seconds at most, but to his dying mind, it was an eternity of pain and torment. Every second he spent in this state was a torture too long. A shadow blocked the bright lights that were bothering his eyes, he was a creature that chose to live underground, away from the light of the sun. The shadows were much more preferable, a small comfort in his sea of misery. His hands had long since stopped trying to grab hold of anything, the strength in his body was fleeting. An effort was made however, he gathered all his remaining vitality and looked at the figure which stood over him. One feature stood out past everything else, past over the shinning blade at his side, past the blood that stained his face. His eyes. Gray piercing eyes. The eyes that had watched every single one of his moves in the fight, the eyes that studied every intention in the goblin''s bodies, the eyes that didn''t miss a thing. Those same eyes that had carried out the massacre that was around him, those same eyes now rested solely on him. However now they lacked the cold steel and calculating relentless from before, now only a word could be found within. Sorrow. His eyes were filled with sadness for him, he was being looked at with compassion and regret. The human then spoke. "I''m sorry¡­ You must have suffered." The strange voice said in a language the goblin failed to understand. Unlike the grunts and screechings goblins used to communicate, this voice used many sounds and complex pronunciations to get a message across, it was lost on him. Only one thing was carried through, the kindness in his words. There was no mockery in his tone, no arrogance or gloating, only a sincere benevolence. In its last moments, the cowardly little goblin only had one question in its clouded mind. Why do I exist? A swift mercy in the form of lightning fast steel was delivered to his neck. His life expired into a flash of nonexistence.
Level up!
Enough EXP has been gathered for class evolution! Starter Rogue ¡ú Rogue.
Rogue: The blade strikes and becomes clearer to you; your growing expertise will cut down all your foes (+32% to STR & +23% to AGI & +15% to INT).
Due to class evolution transferable skills have progressed by two levels!
Shadow Strike Lvl 3 ¡ú 5 (MAX): Your blade is your soul, sharpen it till even the world is cut away. An assassination skill that deals +275% damage (+40% True Damage if enemy is unaware of attack or with the Stun status effect
Shadow Step Lvl 3 ¡ú 5 (MAX): Shadows are your friends, let them be your guide and no attack will find its way to you. +225% to AGI (+275% if user is in shadows) +75% PER.
Assassinate Lvl 2 ¡ú 4: You have taken the first step into perfecting your strike, no armor will stand against you. +520% damage on strike (+70% True Damage).
Lateo Jump Lvl 1 ¡ú 3: Move between the shadows and the light. Short distance teleport which brings you into the back of your target, a successive uninterrupted attack will deal+ 215% damage and stun the target.)
As the last goblin died, Damien received a last chunk of EXP, even without the prompts of the leveling up, he felt Bold''s boost disappear once he began to kill the goblins. He was able to deduce he leveled up past the goblins own levels. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Looking at the list of messages, he spotted a class evolution and a new skill. It wasn''t his main concern at the moment however, what was in his mind was the dead monsters around him. He was supposed to lose here, after he had been explicitly told by Admin the purpose of this exercise and why it was important, despite that, he had won. The topic of Calamities swirled his mind with worry. ¡°How interesting,¡± Admin¡¯s voice drew him out of his thoughts, she slowly walked towards him, ¡°It seems that little hiccups occur like this every once in a while so please don¡¯t mind it,¡± despite her encouraging words, her usual emotionless face was not able to contain her massively wicked smile from emerging. Doubts of how artificial Admin was, appeared in Damien¡¯s mind, but as those thoughts arose Admin returned to her stoic expression. It would be impossible for him to figure her out while she stood in front of her as she read his mind, there was nothing he could do other than simply play along with her. ¡°I see, even so, I was able to learn much from this, so it wasn¡¯t a waste,¡± dumbing himself down and suppressing his intelligence around Admin was like poking a hole in his lifeboat while he faced the world¡¯s greatest hurricane, the incomparable acumen in her eyes made him feel like an ant in front of a giant. He was almost able to see the satisfaction in her face as he acted subserviently and played along with her, whatever was happening to him, Admin was at the very least partially responsible. ¡°I had planned on allow you two to kill more goblins after this exercise, but seeing that Mister Desmond is resting and you have leveled up past what I had been expecting,¡± she explained as she gestured to the bloody floor, ¡°I think it¡¯s best you just take the rest of the day off. Besides I¡¯m sure that you can use the time, you have a task today, don¡¯t you?¡± She was right, looking at the empty air in front of himself, he willed information to appear in the form of a blue box,
Day 2 of Phase 2: Have another Climber show you their Status screen (Climber must be different from Day 1¡¯s target (If applicable)) (50 Points).
The question of how he would go about actually seeing another person¡¯s Status screen was another matter entirely, she was right however, he did need to get this done. ¡°To answer your question, a person must simply think of sharing their Status information with another person, a prompt will resolve all the rest,¡± she preemptively answered his thoughts. Placing his sword back on his hip, he turned to leave. He was headed for his room, while his armor was useful to fight in, in terms of comfort, the white clothing in his room was much better, ¡°Thank you for the information, If you¡¯ll excuse me¡­¡± But as he was walking out the doors into the hall, Admin gave one last call, as though she just remembered something, ¡°Oh and please, don¡¯t forget to keep the Familiar Core with you at all times, I did work hard on it so it would be a shame if it didn¡¯t hatch properly.¡± Keeping his grimace and worry in check, he answered in an even neutral tone, "Of course," the door closed behind him with a dull hiss. The minimalistic hallway soothed his concerns, he wasn''t an architect, but he was able to understand that the uncomplicated design and color palette was meant to keep your kind in a similar state and therefore reduce stress. After a brief walk through the empty hallway with doors that were labeled with each class, he reached the housing section of the complex. Walking upstairs to his room, he quickly changed and checked to ensure his pendant was still in the place he left it in. It was supposed to be completely safe, but after finding out the true value of the shiny piece of metal, he couldn''t help but feel a little uneasy about leaving it out of his sight. Satisfied with the pendant''s security, he reached into his side pocket. In the secured pouch he grabbed a black sphere, the incredibly smooth surface was brought into the light so he could study the shape within. The once faint white figure inside was quickly gaining more definition, pawed feet was the one thing he could clearly make out.
Familiar Core (A+): A familiar core personally designed by Admin, the ??? within has progressed into hatching by 21%. Currently bound to Damien.
The core was quickly getting close to 100%, he assumed the thing would transform into a creature of some kind, what exactly that would be he was not sure. Although he had initially been excited to see it, his interactions with Admin had soured his enthusiasm greatly. Is this thing really just a boon? If you can''t trust someone, then obviously you can''t trust what they give you. I don''t think she has my best interests in mind, although I chucked up my inability to read her as I do with others to the fact that she was emotionless as part of the System; she has an actual personality. I can''t read her aside from what she willingly shows me¡­ Something is wrong here, I just can''t see it. Damien had long come to the mindset that he should only focus actively on the things he could act on, which at the moment was the daily task given to him by the System. The theme of these so far had been rather consistent, the trust of others. The first task had asked him to enter another person''s room, a situation where their guaranteed haven was placed into question. Now he had to see another person''s Status, he could see why this would be an issue. He wouldn''t want to show another person his Status screen for fear of revealing his exact strength, his HP and his weaknesses. It would be far too easy to use that knowledge against him, and because he could see the reasons he wouldn''t show his Status to others he could understand why others would do the same. If he was allowed to ask Zen this might be incredibly far easier. She had already begun to develop trust in him, he could figure out a way to get this done with her. However the System deemed that too easy, it had to be somebody else. Although theoretically, he had over a dozen choices of Climbers to choose from in reality he only had about two or three. Everyone else but these two would take too much time to gain their trust, due to his first-place status the other Climbers had grown cautious of him. It was to be expected, it would take more than a day to work them to a state where they would be willing to share their personal information. Realistically speaking there were only two choices. It will have to be either Donovan or Jane¡­ 20. Lets Fight It was a few hours until everyone else was released from their own classes, spending his time outlining plans for each possible situation was worthwhile by his judgment, there was little training he could do by himself after all. Although depending on his target the general outline of his plan would change drastically, the beginning would be the same no matter what; avoid Zen. Having befriended her to a considerable level, the expectation of eating lunch again was set up by social norms, neither had spoken to others in their free time and thus the setting was one that gave a natural transition to eating lunch with each other again. That was easy to recognize, the problem came in the form of Damien¡¯s perceived lacking social skills, traversing two people at the same time would be too difficult. He had run into a similar obstacle recently, if he was to target either Donovan or Jane, he had to go to them alone. Leaving Zen alone for today might leave her in an awkward position since she had no other known acquaintances or friends, but he would be able to get away with it since they had not verbally agreed to have lunch again. It would dim their friendship a bit but it was not in the realm of creating a huge issue, this was a loss he could take. To ditch her he would simply have to sit with either of his targets, she was not outgoing enough to follow him without an invitation of some sort. The next thing to think about would be choosing his target, even though Jane and Donovan were both the best possible people to pick from, that did not mean that they were going to be easy to talk to. There were pros and cons to each, for Donovan there was the fact that he was aiming to be a leader, he might be slightly resentful about his missed opportunity. If that was the case then he would be wasting his time talking to him, the only reason he was considered a possible choice was from the fact that he had accepted Admin¡¯s refusal of his candidacy for leadership without a fuss, he had a much calmer mind that his deceivingly large frame would have you think. Perhaps with the right reasoning, he would be able to come to an understanding with him, still, from that, it would be an even harder task to get him to show him his Status screen. The next point of contention came from the matter of Donovan¡¯s performance in the Monster Hunter event. He had earned the most points right after Jane and him, which meant that he was the most desirable party member to purchase, it would do him well to get along with Donovan for the sake of efficiency. On the other hand, Jane was also a viable target with her own individual pros and cons. On the downside of things, she was his direct competitor so approaching her would be on the grounds of showing each other their respective Status screens for mutual benefit. That would mean that she would earn her daily points and be able to see his personal information, of course, this would be balanced out by the fact that he would receive the same information and points from her. While it could be called balanced, it would be more accurate to say that the way the information was used would prove one side more or possibly less profitable from the interaction than the other. It would be up to him to use her Status information more intuitively than she would use his, that is if he managed to convince her that was, after all from the prideful nature she displayed she would be hard to come to terms with. Furthermore, it would also depend on her being unable to sway another Climber and be desperate enough for points considering her loss from yesterday. If she managed to talk to someone and actually get to a point where they showed her their Status screen, he would be forced to go to Donovan. Realizing he already had made up his mind, he headed out for the Dining Hall. Upon entering the large room, the once lively atmosphere died down to hushed whispers. It seemed that he brought a heavy enough presence for others to grow carefully around him, if it wasn''t for Zen he wouldn''t have anyone to talk to. Everyone had been brought together by their time in their classes, warriors with warriors, mages with mages and so on so forth. With the exception of several outliers that was, people like Jane and Donovan were eating by themselves. Even though they were both part of the warrior class, it seemed Jane was too prideful to approach others with the intention of making friends, and Donovan looked more at peace by himself. The anxious expression on Jane''s face was all he needed to make his decision, whatever her situation was right now, it probably wasn''t good. After yesterday''s failure, she had overextended herself and created a rift between her and the other Climbers. It would work in his favor. Walking through the tables filled with clusters of small social ecosystems made Damien feel like a pariah, at his approach the individuals on said tables would lower their heads and eye themselves nervously. Despite him being the number one Climber in this place, he didn¡¯t think his presence warrant such a reaction, perhaps there was something his keen eyes were missing. While others were shying away from him, the person directly in his path neither averted her sight nor cowered in the slightest. Jane the red armored warrior stared him down as he made his walk towards her, emerald stalked his every step and grounded his path into a sluggish march. If it weren¡¯t for the current setting, and he had encountered her in the wild of the world, he would have taken his blade into his hand and prepared for a fight by now. With a final heavy step, he stood in front of her table. ¡°What do you want?¡± Despite her delicate face, her words flowed like knives to his ears, she was upset and he was the only outlet available, it was a bad start. Using the information at hand, he crafted his words, "Hello to you too, I wanted to talk to you about your daily task," his informal greeting furrowed her brow. She gestured for him to sit down and lower his voice, there was reason to be wary of speaking about this particular matter. "What are you crazy," she began in a whispered tone, "Don''t you remember that if someone finds out what are tasks are, we will lose those points? That might extend to us as well." Damien smiled neutrally to ease the conversation, "I remember, but I''m pretty sure you and I can know our tasks," he replied evenly. Her annoyance at him and his relaxed disposition were visible, "Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?" Giving a cautionary look to his sides to ensure nobody could overhear their discussion, he answered, "Seeing as how I was able to figure out your task from yesterday with ease, I doubt the System would make it so we could sabotage our opponents so easily." His response stiffened the red-haired teen, "What do you mean figure out? Were you watching me?" her cold voice came as an icy blade. Having the decency to look a bit abashed, he rubbed the back of his head as he spoke a small apology, "Well yes, sorry about that I guess." "You guess!?" Her suddenly loud tone drew the attention of everyone in the room, everyone stared at the tense situation with an eerie silence. Extrapolating the reason for her outburst was not very hard, anyone would be upset if they found out that they had been spied on and the culprit was unapologetic. Finding a solution, on the other hand, was a whole different beast, her volatile personality was difficult to manage. Thousands of responses flashed through his head as he thought back to all he knew about her, there was a path to get through this, it was small but his brain worked overtime to find the best words.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "I guess, it''s because I''m not really sorry," his counterintuitive answer finally came. Although he was retracting his apology Damien was not worried about agitating Jane any further, that was because, through his intense brainstorming, there were two features he was safely able to know about the mysterious girl. One she liked or respected straightforwardness, for instance, she had put aside her displeasure at losing the first Phase to him when he openly introduced himself and let her know that he was taking the competition between themselves seriously. She had responded well to that, which led directly to the next thing he was able to put together about the warrior. She liked competition, or at least disliked losing, a sign of self-pride. It was found within her eyes, intensity born from a winner mentality, she became clearly upset from her loss in the Monster Hunting event. Using these two factors, he was able to see the best course of action, there was a flaw, but he would just come to him in a form he would be able to manage. "You''re not sorry? What are you talking about?" Grimming slightly he answered, "I kept an eye on you because I consider you praiseworthy competition, keeping you in my sights is only natural if I respected your strength and took you seriously, don''t you think?" By admitting she was a strong opposition in his statement, he made Jane subconsciously want to agree with his statement, a subtle but effective tactic. Jane''s expression lightened slightly, gauging she was at the very least mildly pleased with his explanation, he waited and didn''t push any further. Her response came a moment later, "I get it," she relented before she continued, "Well what do you want to talk about exactly then?" The moment of truth, he needed to get his point across without sounding pitying or patronizing, "How about we help each other? Share our Status screens with each other, we can both benefit and not have to worry about today''s task." Fortunately, she didn''t immediately physically reject the idea, her eyes narrowed slightly, "Want to share our Status screens? Sounds too risky, we''d be helping each other after all, we have no desire to do that. Not to mention that one of us will run a great risk," she stated flatly. She was right, one of them would have to show their Status screen first, they ran the risk of the other person backing out of the deal and leaving them without points. In Damien''s eyes, this risk was almost nonexistent, he had no intention of betraying anyone, and he had a decent grip on Jane''s character. The possibility of betrayal was low, but for Jane who didn''t know Damien well, it was a very real outcome. "I''ll go first then, besides aren''t you curious about my stats too?" Not giving a verbal response, she gritted her teeth slightly, the information would serve both of them greatly. It was a tempting proposal, fighting the idea briefly she remained silent. But with the small amount of deliberation, she came to a conclusion. "Fine, you got a deal. I''ll show you my Status screen after you show me yours, don''t try anything tricky," her voice was hard and cold, she was desperate to get some points but she wouldn''t concede any weakness to Damien. A small smile on his face, he spoke, "Perfect, no tricks, here you go." Within a moment, a blue screen appeared in front of Jane.
Class: Rogue Name: Damien Rank: D
Species: Human Title: Bold Lvl: 12
Passive Skills: N/A Active Skills: Shadow Strike Lvl 5 (MAX) (10 MP) Shadow Step Lvl 5 (MAX) (5 MP) Assassinate Lvl 4 (15 SP & MP) Lateo Jump Lvl 3 (10 MP & SP) Bond: Familiar Core A+
HP: 115/115 MP: 75/75 SP: 105/105 Skill Points: 18 STR: 51 EDR: 13 VIT: 17 AGI: 49 PER: 11 DEX: 11 INT: 31 WIS: 17 FAI: 0 Status Effects: N/A
Blessings: N/A EXP: 4% Fighting Style: Quick Strike
Staring at the stats of the person who was supposed to be her biggest competitor all Jane could feel was a growing sense of disappointment. It wasn¡¯t that his stats weren¡¯t impressive, they were, but it wasn¡¯t good enough to compete against her. She would love to have a rogue like him in her party, but she wasn¡¯t able to see an opponent in equal footing in him. She committed his important stats and skill names to memory before she gazed at her own Status screen.
Class: Flare Blitzer Name: Jane Arian Rank: F+
Species: Human Title: Lucky Star Lvl: 12
Passive Skills: Constitution Lvl 5 (MAX) Velox Step Lvl 5 (MAX) Active Skills: Flame Punch Lvl 5 (MAX) (10 MP & SP) Flame Fury Lvl 5 (MAX) (15 MP & 10 SP) Hellfire Immolation Lvl 5 (MAX) (15 MP & SP) Dragon Strike Lvl 3 (25 MP & SP) Bond: N/A
HP: 120/120 MP: 65/65 SP: 120/120 Skill Points: 0 STR: 48 (+10) EDR: 46 (+15) VIT: 32 AGI: 22 PER: 17 DEX: 18 INT: 21 WIS: 15 FAI: 0 Status Effects: N/A
Blessings: N/A EXP: 74% Fighting Style: Ignis Rush
Congratulations, you have completed your daily task! +50 Points.
Not wanting to break her part of the deal, she sent her Status information to him. She hoped that seeing her numerical superiority would give Damien perspective of his current situation, but his face remained impassive as always. It infuriated her. She wasn¡¯t shallow and in need of him to awe at her strength, but Damien was an opponent she was having slight difficulty with, not in the way she traditionally does, however. She was confident in her power, if a problem came her way she would tackle it head-on with her powerful fists, but Damien was different, his eyes said it all. Or rather didn¡¯t say anything at all, they were very quiet and gave nothing away to you. Despite her focus on physical strength, she was very perceptive of people, they often gave away their intentions with their eyes; trickery, hatred, jealousy, falseness, it was all easy to see in their eyes. But not him, it was hard to get under his skin and know what he was thinking. Even now where she thought he would show a little caution or weariness, he gave nothing away. She wasn¡¯t going to admit it, but she was grateful that he had approached her with this proposal, she had failed to get anyone¡¯s trust and was likely not going to get someone to show her their Status screen if he hadn¡¯t come along. But it was a defeat in her eyes, although it benefited her, it felt like a charity. There was only one way to restore her wounded pride. ¡°Let¡¯s fight.¡± 21. Raging Fire ¡°Are you really going to fight her?¡± Looking across the small table Zen stared at him with focused eyes, her meal was barely touched despite them having spent the last ten minutes sitting down. Her worry was justified, the match-up was bad to begin with and that didn¡¯t address the underlying problems, there was much to be said regarding what had happened just a few minutes ago. Letting his mind drift back to what had transpired Damien relieved the conversation he had just had with the ill-tempered Jane. Her words had been shot at him like a cannon, he had prepared dozens of plans, foreseen multiple outcomes to avoid and compromises to achieve in search for a suitable conclusion to his proposition. He had readied himself for her anger, distrust, and even her indifference but her words had not once popped up in his strategies, he had truly been blindsided by her. He didn¡¯t consider himself to be all-knowing but when he had studied her personality to this extent and organized all these efforts, he expected to be somewhat prepared to face anything she might throw his way. His failure to anticipate her reaction stemmed from the massively contrasting nature he possessed in comparison to her own, while he had been diligent in his calculated endeavors he had been restricted to what he thought logical and natural for her with a tinted self-point-of-view. Despite being able to deconstruct her character and encapsulate her true inherent attributes, he had failed to emulate them to a genuine degree. It was a moment of learning, no matter how much you think about something there will always be a way to improve on that, taking that revelation to heart he accepted his loss. Her declaration for a fight had silenced the whole room and brought even the sound of cutlery to a halt, with bated breath the Climbers waited in stillness to peer into the intriguing conversation. ¡°Alright, I have no issue with that.¡± If the room could have been described as silent before, the drop in temperature from his relaxed response sent the atmosphere into a state of skittish anticipation. There was little that people enjoyed more than seeing people beat each other senselessly into a bloody pulp, it was people¡¯s nature to enjoy conflict. The red-haired warrior snarled at his nonchalant demeanor, Damien assumed she was trying to shake him up with the sudden request for a fight. He should have been scared, he had seen her stats himself and he had no idea how her unknown class weighted her attributes, he was clearly at a disadvantage with numerical stats alone. Not to mention that she also had a Title, he also was clueless about what that would do for her, if anything. But the idea was not without merits, so far he had only fought those that were, in a certain point of view, weaker than him, but Jane was stronger and that new experience would give him a lot of information to properly scale his abilities in regards to others. Not to mention that he would get to see her strengths and weaknesses first hand. With this acceptance made clear, she spoke, "Tomorrow after classes are over, come to the Warrior room, I''ll be waiting." The finality in her words was all he needed to leave the table in silence. The conversation had been shorter than what he anticipated but that served in his favor, at least he would not have to completely ditch Zen in favor of his daily task. "Are you okay?" A warm hand gently tugged at his shoulder. Drawing him out of his thoughts, Zen was reaching over the table with a worried expression. Realizing he had mused for too long after her question he smiled to show her that he was okay, "Yes sorry I just spaced out a little. Don''t worry I''ll be okay." Her lips turned into a small frown, "Hey listen I know you are strong, you killed that Inferno Felis all by yourself, but isn''t this match-up a little bad?" It was a matter that he already had comes to terms with, but ultimately there was actually little risk involved in the matter. He had seen what happened to Desmond when he was about to be killed by that horde of goblins, the System had intervened and saved his life. Even if the fight got out of hand and a deadly blow was dealt to him, he would be spared. Disarming her concerns he said, "Well even if the fight goes sideways, It''s not like I will die, right? At worst I''ll get injured and have to rest a bit," although he had meant to assure her with this, his words only gave rise to a conflicted expression. "That''s still bad, rogues are good at dealing damage in parties where they are protected and have support from mages and rangers, warriors, on the other hand, hold an advantage over you. It''s their job to be able to take damage as well as dealing it, they are way more balanced," she said in an exasperated tone, "she will be fine by herself, you won''t." She spoke no lies in her analysis, he would have to receive little to no damage in order to win, his endurance compared to her own were very telling, it was absurd to even entertain the idea of putting up a decent fight. Still, despite the evidence against it, a doubt bloomed in his mind. What if I can win? Something was clearly happening to him, or had been done to him. With each passing day, he sensed the noose snaking around his neck tighter and with it his chance to escape whatever machinations dwindled into nothing. Calamities huh¡­ "It will be a learning experience for me, despite your presumptions I don''t have a great deal of experience with fights," he picked at his food as he spoke, "so if I just come to understand a thing or two about fighting or my opponent, then it will be well worth it." Damien''s soft-spoken words and calm disposition for the upcoming fight left Zen feeling confused and conflicted, she was unsure if he was simply crazy or if he was actually a genius. It was hard to come to terms with, but Zen had slowly realized that more and more she was starting to become unable to find flaws in his logic and his words. "When you say it like that I really can''t say much," she sighed more than said, "but still be careful. I really don''t think that this match-up is even at all." The rest of the meal was spent in comfortable silence. "And that''s the basis for defensive tactics, remember you should always take the damage over any other member of a party to fulfill your role. You are dismissed." Came Admin''s gentle parting words, however, no one moved from their chairs. She didn''t mind much, she had spent her day yesterday and all of today looking forward to this moment, they weren''t to blame for being curious. Staying in the room would give them prime seats to the upcoming event, the tension was palpable in the room. Static filled the hungering boredom that gnawed at their need to have fun, in the tense test you could fail and return to the previous Level as a loser, this was going to be a much-needed break from that anxiety.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "She is going to destroy him¡­" "I''m looking forward to it, that should put him in his place." "You don''t have to tell me that, who does he think he is? A rogue beating us warriors? I bet that number one spot is getting to his head judging by the fact he accepted this fight." "Yeah this girl is a monster, she''ll tear him apart." "Shhh! She will hear you, idiot!" Her eyes grew cold at their comments, being used as a tool to conform to their expectations of their own abilities was not her intention. The fact that they would be drawing satisfaction from this in this sense left a bad taste in her mouth, she wasn''t doing this for them. She was doing this to prove she didn''t need his help and that she was perfectly fine handling this test by herself. People like her fellow warriors were scum in her eyes, if they really had a problem with Damien then they should have told him something themselves yesterday but instead, they cowered in silence. Truth was that their insecurities prevented them from acting, but her victory would reaffirm their conviction that their class was superior. Even the lower Levels suffer from this issue, people are the same no matter where you go. The excitement peaked when the sound of the sliding doors hissed open and revealed the form of Damien. Jane observed him as he walked in with that expression that said he was unfazed by everything, it irked her but she didn''t let it show on her. She couldn''t wait to wipe that arrogance out of his face. As their eyes met she spoke, "I''ll give you dues, I''m impressed you showed up. I would have understood if you changed your mind," her words held no lies or empty platitudes, she was really impressed he decided to show. Before he was able to answer, the soft click of heels tapping on the floor drew everyone''s attention to the one person who appeared to be amused by the situation, Admin approached the two fighters with a smile, ¡°I see you two are starting to get along, it¡¯s great for each party leader to feel that sense of rivalry that drives you into better results.¡± What the? All this time she has been emotionless for our classes, so why is she showing us that expression? What is going on here? Admin was known across each Level of Anathum to be devoid of all emotions except the ones that came as pleasantries, even the church officials tried to emulate her controlled personality as a sign of respect for their God, the System, showing emotion was just not something she did. Before the idea could fester in her mind, Admin continued, ¡°In fact to commemorate this gesture of animosity, I wish to offer a Quest from the System, I''m sure that will incentivize you to perform admirably.¡± What!? Confused clamorings ruptured all across the room in the warriors that were present and the outsiders that were pouring in from the doors, stragglers from the other classes that had come to see the show. ¡°Wait are you serious!?¡± came the voice from one of the mages, his wide eyes reflected his state of mind, ¡°You are giving a System Quest?¡± Admin¡¯s sharp eyes honed in on the intrusion to her words, her usual comportment, her cold voice replied, ¡°I never joke, please be seated, the fight will commence in a bit.¡± ¡°No wait, I want to participate!¡± ¡°Yes! Me too, please!¡± Suddenly everyone in the room began to circle around Admin as they vied for a chance at the quest, Admin being a being of a calmness was out of place in the torrent of shouts and exclamations. But despite the mob forming around her, she remained poised and dignified, in the hysteria of voices and pleas she flatly raised her hand and without missing a beat she swung it down as if she was trying to push down on air. The effect was immediate. Every person who had surrounded Admin was violently pushed into the ground in an instant, the white stone floor cracked under the invisible pressure that threatened to crush the helpless Climbers. The pain that came in shouts and wails filled Jane¡¯s ears and she jumped out of the way to avoid being hit by whatever was acting on the rest of the room¡¯s inhabitants. Her action was useless however, even if the attack was targeting her, she reacted much too late to successfully get out of the way. The form of Admin stood over the pile of Climbers, her hand kept in the same position as if she was manually pushing the people down with her hand, it was very faint but Jane saw it, her smile had returned. ¡°I am aware you are all new Climbers and you don¡¯t know how things work exactly, but I implore you to show me the same respect I show you. Please don¡¯t crowd me like that again,¡± she spoke as her hand was released and brought back to its usual position. simultaneously, the power holding the slightly beaten Climbers ceased to exist and they were once again free to move as they please. She had expected Admin to do something about their behavior, and she was not able to blame the Climbers that had stood up, she imagined that most were like her, people that Descended to climb the Levels and earn status or power. Quests were a feature of the System, it allowed Climbers and Natives to give tasks to others while the System acted as the middleman to ensure that rewards were given out by the person who requested the task, it also gave EXP upon successful completion of the Quest, in accordance to the difficulty of the objective. System Quests, on the other hand, were rare, they only ever were given in uncommon situations or during events to certain people, they were akin to winning a jackpot. They were known to give out special Titles with unique effects and often allowed one to jump pass class evolutions, saving them a lot of time and effort, not to mention that it also gave Skill Points which would bring you closer to ranking up. She was frankly surprised that Admin was willing to give this out for something she had personally set up, there was little reason to do so, it was essentially like handing her a System Quest for free. All I gotta do is win¡­ ¡°With that out of the way, please start the fight, and remember that the System will prevent death,¡± Admin spoke, ¡°so please don¡¯t be afraid to go all out on your opponent.¡± With that thought, she turned to her right where Damien had been standing. ¡°Huh?¡± The empty space gave no clue as to his location, he had disappeared in the frenzy. Did he leave? Her question was led to its answer as she spotted Admin looking down further into the room, her eyes were focused and filled with an emotion she was not able to quite decipher, at the end of her sight was the form of Damien stretching in the fighting arena. She gritted her teeth, again he was acting without worry or concern, she wondered in ire if his confidence had bordered into hubris. She quickly made her way into the opposite side of where he stood, even if he didn¡¯t take the fight seriously, she would still try her best. A System Quest was too good to let go, any thoughts of going easy on the rogue were squashed away. ¡°You really don¡¯t have a care in the world, do you? You said you respected my strength earlier, was that a lie?¡± She didn¡¯t know why she was speaking to him now, conceivably, she might have found a small repose in his verbal gesture and was now seeking to find its validity. Either way, a rage was slowly starting to build up, she was smart enough to know that she should not fight with her emotions and have a chance to leave an opening to her opponent, but she couldn''t stop the anger from building up. His eyes finally looked from the ground and landed on her, the dull gray was like a silent steel, ¡°You¡¯re wrong¡­,¡± he said in a near whisper, ¡°Don¡¯t think I am expecting an easy fight or even winning here, I know you are strong.¡± She wasn¡¯t able to tell if his words held any truth in them, nor did she want to think of them, at this moment she only wanted one thing, she wanted to see him lose his composure just once. For once she wanted to see a look of surprise on his face, his disposition made it seem as though he had seen through her and everything she did was within his expectation. She hated it. ¡°You¡¯re the one that¡¯s wrong¡­ You think you know I am strong, but! I will drive it into your skull how big the gap between you and me is.¡± Her clenched fist lit in a torrent of blue inferno, the menacing flames danced and jumped in all sorts of directions around her hands. I¡¯ll show you that you can¡¯t quantify me so easily!