《The Idle Chronomancer's Path to Eternal Dominion》 Chapter 1: Alone Peter¡¯s heart throbbed wildly in his chest as he stood patiently in the long line of other children waiting to register their system IDs with their country¡¯s federal government. Registering one¡¯s system ID with the state was a legally mandatory thing that every child ¨C no matter their social class or ability - needed to do on the exact day when they first received their system interface. Likewise, the severe penalty exacted on those who did not register in accordance with the law was unique among legal penalties in that the same punishment was also applied regardless of whether one was a member of the [Copper] or [Gold] class. Peter, of course, was no exception to this universal law and upon waking up this morning and discovering that he now had a system interface of his own, and thus also that it was his 10th birthday today, he had scrambled to his two feet and run as fast as he could all the way from the slums in which he lived on the north side of town to the administrative district in the southernmost part of town so as to register. The queue that he was waiting in was for [Copper] class children, but even so Peter could feel the judgemental glances being sent his way from the other children in his long line. After all, though [Copper] class may have been the lowest social class recognised by the law, there was a distinct look about Peter that told everyone that his family weren¡¯t just poor, but non-existent. Everyone could tell by the torn clothes that he wore and the strange way that he talked that he was a slum rat, a member of the colloquially recognised [Dirt] social class and thus unworthy of even the most elementary and base kindnesses such as respect. After all, only troublesome criminal kids were kicked out of the state run orphanages ¨C so to be so obviously deprived meant he had to be a good-for-nothing criminal. Deciding that he needed to distract his mind away from thinking too much about the other kids¡¯ snide glares, Peter pulled up his status screen once again and began to re-read its contents over and over again to try and come to terms with what it all meant for him whilst he waited patiently for it finally to be his turn to be registered. STATUS Name: Peter Wilver Titles: [NONE] Age: 10 Class: Mage Rank: [Copper] Level: 0 ¨C Progress: 0/1,000 EXP HP: 25/25 ¨C Max HP regen: 0.01 MP: 45/45 ¨C Max MP regen: 0.075 AFFINITIES: STATS: PERKS: SKILLS: ¡°Rat! Get over here and register ¨C You don¡¯t have all day.¡± A man¡¯s voice shouted in his general direction, startling Peter out of his focused status reading session. Peter instantly bowed and walked forward, and once he was standing in front of the counter, a small blue rock was handed to him. He felt a slight prick on his palm before the rock began glowing, and the man then gestured for Peter to hand the rock back to him. Peter did so, and the man said, ¡°Now scram!¡± Peter quickly obeyed the man¡¯s orders, exiting the large-ish registration centre as fast as he could ¨C thankful that the whole process of registering was now over. However, now that he stood in the central plaza of the administrative district, the mid-day sun beating down on him, Peter was uncertain what he should do next. He had, in his panic this morning, made it very clear to every other slum rat in a one-hundred-mile radius where it was that he was heading which without a doubt meant that Fred knew for certain or at least suspected that Peter now had a system. Thus, if he went running back to his usual squatting spot, he¡¯d probably be strong-armed into joining Fred¡¯s gang as a runner ¨C a fate that Peter couldn¡¯t quite wish for himself, for obvious reasons. But, on the other hand, he didn¡¯t exactly have many other options ¨C he couldn¡¯t exactly change his whole situation overnight. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. In short, he currently had no family, very few friends, and a litany of irritating and unflinching moral principles, so there weren¡¯t many avenues to material prosperity ahead of him. So, like countless people in his situation had thought to do in the past, he brought up his status screen and started to try and formulate future plans based on what it said. Peter knew only the very basics about system stuff ¨C the extent of his knowledge having been acquired through overhearing conversations between the older slum rats. Thus, he doubted much of it was high-quality/accurate information. Yet, even with the limited knowledge Peter had, he knew that his status was a bit of a mixed bag overall. Sure, he was pretty sure that his stats were well above average ¨C a fact that did wonders for his self-esteem, but this positive aspect of his system was pretty effectively neutralised by the system¡¯s assigning him the [Mage] class, as learning magic of even the most basic kind was beyond out of reach for someone of his pathetically meagre social status. Thus, even if he had quite high mental stats compared to his peers, they were pretty much wasted on him However, there was a strange font of hope situated near the end of his status. Though he had yet to test it, this ¡®Idle Progression¡¯ perk held significant promise if it truly did what Peter read its description to say it did. Yet this potential source of hope seemed was also a double-edged sword in that the perk also seemed to place an exclusivity condition on Peter¡¯s future growth which would especially suck if the perk proved to not be as good as implied by the description¡¯s language. Realising that he¡¯d actually have to try assigning one of these ¡®bots¡¯ to discover whether or not the perk was all of what it seemed, Peter collected himself and took a deep breath in. Once his mind was calm and ready for disappointment, he mentally commanded that his bot be assigned to upgrade the rank of his Intelligence stat. A second passed before a blue panel appeared in his vision, and after a moment of brief hesitation, he glanced at the panel¡¯s contents and Peter¡¯s heart sank upon reading the first few words though this was quickly reversed as his heart was raptured up to cloud 9 upon finishing reading the panel. Cannot assign system bot to upgrade stat: [Intelligence] to [E+], because your perk: [Idle Progression]¡¯s rank is too low! With a building hope in his chest, Peter once again commanded his idle progression perk, this time, however, he commanded the bot to upgrade itself instead. In an instant, a blue panel appeared in front of him, and Peter felt his heart stop beating for a minute as the full theoretical implications of what was possible with this perk of his became all too real to him. You have assigned 1 system bot to increase Perk: [Idle Progression], to [F+] rank! Time remaining until assignment completion: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes! (Note: Once assigned to a task, a system bot cannot be reassigned until the assigned task has been completed.) Peter almost couldn¡¯t stop himself from laughing at the ridiculousness and absurdity of his perk¡¯s potential for exploitation. Was his perk for real? He¡¯d heard from the older kids that the [System] type system perk was always a bit of a wildcard on one¡¯s status screen in that there was an incredible diversity of different known perks with an equally diverse range of known effects, but his perk was in an entirely different league to any regular [System] type system perk. If Peter understood his perk and its limitations correctly, in effect, Peter could put in absolutely no effort over the course of the rest of his entire life, and so long as he simply remained alive, he could slowly but surely become a demi-god-like existence capable of rivalling in raw might even the strongest people in the world. What did it matter if he couldn¡¯t learn magic right now? With his perk, he could increase his physical stats to a high enough rank and then simply change class when he reached [Bronze] rank to a class with more physical-based attacks. Single-handedly, his [System] type system perk elevated Peter¡¯s assessment of his own prospects from decidedly uncertain to potentially incredible. Peter¡¯s fantasising about a future where he wielded limitless power was cut abruptly short by a heavy-handed whack to the back of his head that sent him flying forward onto the rocky road below. Peter did his best to scramble back to his feet in an attempt to try and run away and evade any more blows, but he had been heavily concussed by the first smack and so his vision¡¯s clarity and his mind¡¯s ability to focus was rapidly diminishing with every pain-inducing second that passed. However, it seemed whoever had assailed him had not been satisfied with getting off just the one hit on him and a litany of further strikes landed on various parts of Peter¡¯s body. Where a fist or foot met Peter¡¯s body, bones broke, and pain quickly became the only thing that Peter knew to be real as he lay completely defenceless on the ground.
Peter didn¡¯t remember which particular bone breaking or spot being hit that had finally proved the decisive injury to cause him to blackout, but now that he had regained consciousness, he could make an educated guess based on which part of his body was still pulsing with a pain that was uniquely possible due to the particularities of that one region and he was beyond angry. Not only had he been attacked out of nowhere, by an unknown assailant no less, he could tell from his surroundings that his unconscious body had been casually discarded in some random non-descript back alley in the worse-off parts of town. Whoever had attacked him clearly had done this sort of thing before, and so Peter could only thank his lucky star that he was still alive ¨C though barely. He tried moving, but his body was still completely unusable due to the sheer amount of damage he¡¯d sustained. Every attempt at performing even the most rudimentary of movements just caused more excruciating pain to flood through his body, and so quite quickly after beginning his efforts, Peter stopped trying to move once and for all. And, with nothing else to do, he decided to check on how far along his upgrade was. Time remaining until task: [Idle Progression] -> [F+] rank is complete: 5 days, 23 hours, 12 minutes! Peter baulked at the panel that appeared. Had he really been out for over an entire day?! Peter realised that this was pretty plausible as he finally came to grips with just how hungry he was. He guessed the pain from his injuries had kept him from noticing his own hunger until he had actively thought about his current state, but now that he had ¨C he couldn¡¯t get the desire for food to go away, even though he knew for a fact he wouldn¡¯t eat for a long time yet. Hungry, half-dead, and with no clue where he was, Peter felt that he was truly at rock bottom without much hope for quick improvement. His earlier fantasies about attaining true unrivalled power were just that, fantasies, because the one thing he had thought himself eminently capable of ¨C staying alive ¨C was obviously not so easily done, as the beatdown he¡¯d just received proved handily. However, despite his current miserable state, he couldn¡¯t seem to shake the desire within him to become strong ¨C if anything his current state made him desire power even more. So, he¡¯d just have to endure a few days of hunger and thirst as his body very slowly healed itself back to a reasonably good condition, and then he could begin to try and figure out who had attacked him and then, once he was strong enough, get some sweet, sweet vengeance. Chapter 2: Debt Peter could reliably move his fingers up and down by the end of the second day since waking up in the dingy back alley¡ªa good sign, all things considered. As although the system¡¯s ability to heal wounds and injuries was not limited by the wound¡¯s severity (unless you were outright dead), the more severe the injury the longer it took the system to heal it. And Peter, well, he had a litany of impressive injuries under his belt. Yet, partial digital function wasn¡¯t the only thing he¡¯d gained over the last two days. You have gained the [F+] rank trait: Survivor Description: By surviving an encounter with a foe with only 1 HP remaining, you have proven yourself to be a true survivor. Effects: +1% HP regeneration when HP is less than half. The Survivor trait was a pretty common trait among low-ranked adventurers as well as soldiers, and even more generally speaking many of the older slum rats he knew had it, or so Peter had heard them claim when he¡¯d spoken to them about the system whilst they were sufficiently drunk out of their minds to mean that they wouldn¡¯t remember the conversation the next day. After all, it was considered extremely rude, not only in the slums but in society more generally, to inquire about another¡¯s private status information, and Peter would have definitely got himself beat down super hard if any of the men he¡¯d asked his questions too had remembered everything they¡¯d confessed to him. With some of the men having even outright confessed to him to having the ¡®Murderer¡¯ trait, a horrible and criminal trait that only got given to a person who¡¯d intentionally killed over a dozen innocent people with their bare hands. Needless to say, after hearing such things he always did his best to avoid running into those people whenever possible ¨C which wasn¡¯t always the easiest thing to do in a slum. By the morning of the next day, Peter began to realise that if he didn¡¯t drink something liquid and quickly ¨C his thirst would kill him off before his body could fully heal. However, it hadn¡¯t rained in the last few days, and even if it had, Peter doubted that sticking his tongue out to catch rain on it or lapping rainwater off the gravel rocks on either side of his head would be enough to satiate his overwhelming thirst. Peter ground his teeth together as he tried his best to move one of his arms in hopes of perhaps crawling towards a water source but although his arm raised up off the ground somewhat, the pain was beyond intolerable, causing him to instantly cease his efforts and lay completely still once again. Any attempt to move his legs would probably yield a similar outcome, so he didn¡¯t event try, and instead Peter resigned himself to trying to call out for help. This was an inherently risky course of action. As so far as Peter could tell, no one nearby had noticed him and if they had then they¡¯d not made even the slightest effort to help him. That level of disinterest in a community indicated that he was in an area where if he called for help it was probably more likely that he would be beat up more and potentially killed for his trouble than him being given any material aid. But, at the end of the day, what other options did he have? His throat was bruised, and speaking was thus painful, but he tried to pronounce a call for aid as loud as he could, ¡°Help¡± he stuttered out after many minutes attempting to form words with his extremely uncooperative mouth and tongue. Unsurprisingly, no one answered his barely audible call for help. So, he tried again ¨C but his second call was hardly louder than the first and thus it yielded a similar result, i.e., nothing at all. However, Peter didn¡¯t relent, and by the time he had repeated his plea around a hundred times, his voice was just about at regular speaking volume. Yet, though he now was certain that people were around him and could probably hear him, no one came to his aid and so he just laid there ¨C his throat unbearably dry. By the time the sun set ¨C his minimal energy had been fully expended, and Peter fell into a shallow, long, and unsatisfying slumber.
When Peter awoke, he was not laid on his back in the middle of that dingy mouldy alley but on a crappy bed like structure. What kind of luxury accommodation was this? Had someone finally answered his call for assistance? But most importantly, why the hell was he no longer in any pain? Instantly, Peter thought to check the progression of his bot upgrade as that would tell him how much time had passed. But, when the panel appeared in front of him, he was quite surprised to see that it was only the following morning. Time remaining until task: [Idle Progression] -> [F+] rank is complete: 2 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes! Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. How could this be? He knew for certain that his healing speed was not this fast and that it should have taken another few days before he fully healed and yet as of right now, his body felt better in every respect than it had in years. Something wasn¡¯t right. ¡°I see you finally decided to stop lazing on that bed, rat.¡± A gruff male voice spoke from behind him. Peter¡¯s head and body instantly rotated 180 degrees to face the man speaking to him, and when he did, his eyes were met with a truly intimidating sight as the man stood at over 7ft tall with bulging muscles that perfectly complemented the man¡¯s all-around domineering look. ¡°You owe me a full silver for the healing potion I gave you; you know that rat?¡± The man said with no hint of mercy in his gruff and domineering voice. ¡®Fuck!¡¯ Peter cursed internally; it seemed his call for help may have gotten him the aid he wanted but it came at the cost of a debt that the man obviously knew he had no ability to pay. The man¡¯s nefarious intentions were as clear as day and Peter wouldn¡¯t bother indulging the man¡¯s selfless pretentions. He¡¯d ask the man straight up what he wanted, and if what he wanted proved to be too much for Peter, then he guessed he¡¯d just have to try his best to flee ¨C though, judging by the man¡¯s physique, that probably wouldn¡¯t work out too well for him. ¡°What do you want?¡± Peter asked, coldly. The man¡¯s muscle-bound face contorted to form a grin, before he said in a severe voice, ¡°You think you got some wits about you, don¡¯t ya rat?¡± He then gestured at a blade dangling at his waist and said, ¡°But wits alone ain¡¯t going to repay your full debt to me, you got that kid?¡± Peter simply nodded, and the man¡¯s smile grew wider, and he continued speaking. ¡°I¡¯ll give you two options ¨C because I¡¯m kind like that. Firstly, you agree to enter into a slave contract for a period of about 3 months or so where I¡¯ll give you to a friend of mine who¡¯ll put you to work, and upon the contract¡¯s conclusion you will probably have finished paying off your debts to me if you put in enough elbow grease and charm. If you know what I mean.¡± ¡°And my second option?¡± Peter asked, not at all up for effectively signing away any future he might have had just to repay this man for a potion he hadn¡¯t asked to be used on him. The man stroked his chin and then said, ¡°Your second option is that you work for me, for no pay, for a period no shorter than 3 months, and by work for me, I mean being my baggage slave and cannon fodder in dungeons that I get assigned to clear by the guild. And once those three months are up, I¡¯ll decide whether you¡¯ve worked hard enough to cover the debt you owe me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not fair! The second option doesn¡¯t even set a definitive end date to this arrangement!¡± Peter protested. ¡°Do you think you¡¯re in a position to tell me about what¡¯s fair and unfair rat?!¡± The man shouted back, quieting Peter¡¯s pointless protests in an instant. Peter didn¡¯t like either option being presented to him, but he¡¯d been effectively entrapped by this man into picking one. And, as he didn¡¯t even want to imagine the kind of ¡®work¡¯ he¡¯d be doing for this ¡°friend¡±, Peter resigned himself to his fate and spoke up, ¡°Fine. I pick to do the second option.¡± The tall man clapped his hands together, and said, ¡°Excellent choice, rat, I¡¯ve been needing a baggage slave for a long while ¨C I was sick and tired of hiring out those damn storage rings for an arm and a leg every time I needed to clear some dirt-poor dungeon. And now,¡± the man¡¯s eyes turned cruel as he continued, ¡°I don¡¯t need no storage rings no more to carry around all my loot for me, as I have you.¡± Peter could sense that beyond the surface-level cruelty of the man¡¯s words, there was an unstated threat. If he didn¡¯t do his job of carrying the loot properly and the man was ¡°forced¡± to hire out storage rings to supplement him ¨C the cost of hiring out said rings would be added onto Peter¡¯s already existing debt. Peter knew that the man had him exactly where he wanted him ¨C powerless and dependent. After all, if Peter tried to run from this arrangement, the man was in his rights to go to the city guard and get them to hunt Peter down and arrest him ¨C or worse. For it was clear that this man, regardless of his blatantly disgusting personality, was of a higher social class and that would be all that mattered to the guards who would be sent after him. So, for now, Peter would have to play the role of this man¡¯s baggage slave as best he could so as to avoid further indebting himself to the man and thus severing his chances of regaining his full freedom once the potion¡¯s cost had finally been fully paid off. The man got up and headed to walk out of the small room Peter was in, but he stopped before he left and said in a low voice that was full of an unfiltered murderous intent, ¡°Tomorrow, the crack of dawn, the old graveyard dungeon. And¡± He paused, before he said with an almost primal animalistic growl, ¡°Get the fuck off my bed and out of my house you filthy street gremlin.¡± Peter, not needing to be told twice to get out of the way of the vile man, got up onto his two feet for the first time in a long while, wobbled a bit at first, and then made his best attempt to run as fast as he could out of the door on the opposite side of the building to the man. As soon as he was out of the door, Peter didn¡¯t stop running, and if anything, he sped up ¨C he was in unfamiliar territory after all, and the beating he¡¯d received taught him a valuable lesson about loitering in places where he didn¡¯t belong. And, judging by the relative quality of the housing he was running past being pretty good compared to the slums he was used to, he was in the upper-end district of the designated [Copper] class residential district of the city. So, getting caught in this area, even if he was technically a [Copper] class citizen, would not be good for his bodily health ¨C a fact that sparked embers within him. Right now, he was seeing the luxury that some people within his own social class lived in and he wondered why he had been denied such luxuries. He wanted them. No. He deserved them, and as surely as one second ticked over to the next, soon enough, he¡¯d be able to claim everything that he was owed for himself through the sway of his own personal system¡¯s power. Chapter 3: Dungeon It truly was Peter¡¯s luck that right around the time he set off for the Old Graveyard dungeon in the outskirts of the city, that the heavens would open up and release a truly torrential amount of rain. He didn¡¯t know if it was just his personal spite at the world for how things had shaken out for him talking, but Peter was pretty sure that the rain today was not even that salty ¨C in other words, perfect for one to drink. He shook his head and did he best to clear his mind of such thoughts ¨C refocusing his full attention on the ticking countdown timer that he had affixed to the top right of his vision so that he could always know how close the upgrade was to completion. Time remaining until task: [Idle Progression] -> [F+] rank is complete: 2 days, 1 hour, and 30 seconds! Only two more days to wait until his first perk upgrade was finalised, and honestly, he was desperate for the wait to be over. Before receiving his system, he¡¯d never understood why it was that adventurers always seemed in a hurry to be everywhere, but now that he had a system of his own, he understood perfectly. Time wasted improving a non-useful skill was time not spent boosting one¡¯s power, and though Peter knew that the upgrade he was doing would help boost him in the long term, the jump from F to F+ was never a significant one and he knew deep down that his perk would not be an exception to that general rule. The only thing Peter could say to cheer himself up was that he was still in the early days and that once he got the ball rolling, as it were, he would look back on these times with pride. Though, as his rags began to waft a funny smell thanks to the rain and stick to his body, Peter began to doubt that this time period would ever be one he would think back on with nostalgia if/when he became a powerful person. This intuition was reinforced when he arrived at the dungeon to find that the man from yesterday was already there, waiting for him, and judging by the look on his face ¨C he was not happy with Peter. ¡°I said crack of dawn you good for nothing rat!¡± The man shouted at Peter as he approached, before doing something that Peter hadn¡¯t expected and delivering a harsh disciplinary slap to Peter¡¯s cheek. ¡°What the¡­¡± Peter was about to profane, but another slap to his cheek caused him to fall to the ground ¨C silent. ¡°Let me get something straight with you, rat, here and now. You follow my orders to the letter, or you get beat ¨C understood?¡± Peter only nodded in response, his body still in a state of shock from being hit by the man. ¡°Oh yeah, and when you address me, call me Sir or Master ¨C I don¡¯t care which, just make sure you¡¯re respectful with it. Is that clear?!¡± The man said in a voice that left no room for argumentation. Peter nodded once again, and the man seemed happy enough with that as a reply and walked away from the downed Peter and back towards the entryway of the dungeon. Though, Peter swore he heard the man mutter, ¡°Such fucking disrespectful brats these days¡±, under his breath as he walked away. ¡°You planning on sitting there in the mud all day rat?!¡± The man yelled whilst facing away from Peter ¨C instantly setting Peter onto his feet and rushing towards the dungeon¡¯s entryway. A tattered bag 2x the size of Peter was then thrown at the boy, and he caught it with his two hands. ¡°Every bit of loot we find goes in that bag, is that clear?¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± Peter grumbled back in response, earning him a slap. ¡°What did I tell you about being respectful?¡± Peter didn¡¯t say anything, yet the man broke eye contact anyway ¨C clearly wanting to get the dungeon run over and done with as quickly as humanly possible. The wind began picking up as the two stood before the strange doorway sat in the middle of what must have used to have been some kind of central marketplace, though like with most things related to how the world was prior to system integration, Peter was mostly clueless and so he truly had no idea what ruins he stood above now. ¡°Place your hand on the door, rat.¡± The man ordered, and Peter quickly obeyed ¨C causing a blue panel to appear in his vision. Dungeon: Name: Ethyl¡¯s Crypt Rank: [Copper] Type: [Slaughter] Difficulty: [F+] Would you like to enter? However, before Peter could properly read through the panel¡¯s full contents, the world around him disappeared, and he suddenly found himself standing in the middle of a field of bone white grass ¨C a crimson sky far above. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Peter was momentarily mesmerised by his surroundings, that was until he spotted that all around him a wave of skeleton warriors numbering in the hundreds were all charging towards both him and the man ¨C their bony weapons raised high in the sky. ¡°Stay still, and do not even think about stealing my kills. Your work comes after these weaklings are all dead.¡± The man said without any hint of uncertainty or fear in his voice before his body surged forward and moved at an incredible speed away from Peter, and towards the oncoming wave of skeletons. The man¡¯s towering 7 ft frame crashed into the line of skeletons with a flurry of fist-based attacks, all of which sent some skeletons¡¯ cores flying across the plains, and or caused their entire bone-built bodies to literally turn to dust. It was only as Peter watched the man fight that the full extent of the terrifying giants power became clear to him. This dungeon and its monsters posed absolutely no threat to the man, who dispatched dozens of skeleton warriors with every skill he deigned to use, and it looked as though the man¡¯s body hadn¡¯t even been damaged yet. Yet it wasn¡¯t only the raw power infused in every one of the man¡¯s attacks that impressed Peter, but also the incredible speed at which he seemed to move in between enemies. He would get into range of new opponents as if he were a gale of wind blowing through the bone-white plains, reaping death, and destruction wherever he went. In mere minutes, the battle was over, and the horde of skeleton warriors was well and truly dead. Thus, as the man so elegantly put it, it was now Peter¡¯s time to work ¨C and that he did, for what felt like hours. It seemed his job as a baggage slave consisted of searching for skeleton cores in the pale grass, which was like looking for a needle in a rather large stack of needles, whilst also keeping an eye out for any potential special drops given by the system on rare occasions ¨C though it seemed the system hadn¡¯t given any out today. All in all, after about 3 hours of being forced to meticulously scan the entire dungeon''s floor for anything and everything of potential value, Peter was struggling even to drag the bag of loot ¨C so full of stuff was it that it must have weighed at least a few dozen kilograms. However, remembering that his freedom was at stake if he couldn¡¯t manage to haul the bag by himself, Peter put every last ounce of his energy and strength into pulling the bag by himself out of the newly opened exit to the dungeon. Once outside, however, the man grabbed the bag from Peter¡¯s hands and smirked. ¡°We¡¯re back here again tomorrow, rat.¡± He said, before leaning in ¨C fist raised as if he were about to punch Peter square on the jaw and then saying, ¡°And if you¡¯re not here before the sun, then you won¡¯t live long enough to see the moon come up again.¡± And with that death threat levelled in a sufficiently terrifying manner, the man walked off with his loot in hand ¨C spoils he had done absolutely nothing to help collect. Yet, Peter had not left the dungeon totally without reward ¨C a fact that came as a surprise to him as he scanned his eyes over the many and varied system prompts. You have gained the [F+] rank trait: Determined Description: You have demonstrated determination in the face of physically strenuous circumstances. Effects: +1% Max MP You have gained the [F+] rank trait: Dungeoneer Description: You have entered a dungeon at least once. Effects: +1% Boost to EXP gain whilst in a dungeon. You have gained the [Active] [General] skill: [Inferior] Detect Objects (Lvl:1)! Description: When activated, objects within a 1mx1mx1m area are made known to you directly. Peter could hear his heart was beating very loudly in his ears as he dismissed the various system prompts. He never imagined that his crappy working situation would produce good fruit for him, but it seemed there would be a silver lining to his hours of unpaid labour after all. He almost wondered if, at the end of the contracted period, he might look back on this whole affair and think it worth the medium amount of suffering he was undoubtedly going to endure from now on, but hurriedly rejected such a possibility - primarily because he didn''t think he would ever be able to forgive the giant man for extorting him as he had. A moist gale of wind blowing against his face brought Peter''s attention back out of his thoughts and into the real world. He looked up into the sky and something just told him that it would rain soon, and that was bad news for him as he still hadn''t found a new place to stay in the long-term. He''d already been strong-armed by an overbearing goliath into doing menial labour one too many times recently and that made the prospect of returning back to his old spot and being press-ganged into running for Fred a complete non-starter for him, though he doubted Fred wouldn''t at least send someone to try and find him considering Peter''s kerfuffle a few days ago. In fact, a part of Peter wondered if the person who had attacked him that day was acting on behalf of Fred but then again, if the person attacking him had been sent by Fred then it made no sense that they would dump him haphazardly in a non-descript back alley after concluding the beating. Yet, although the person attacking him being a member of Fred''s gang was the only motivation that made any logical sense to Peter, he knew that it was possible that he may have been attacked by a complete stranger for an equally unknown or dumb reason. Perhaps he''d been attacked because he had been loitering for too long in a place the city guards felt he didn''t belong, or perhaps he''d made a weird face whilst fantasising about gaining power, or maybe it was just that a kid from one of the higher social classes had stuck one of their thugs on him on a complete and total whim or for the kicks. Whatever the reason, however, just as he had promised himself back when he''d first woken up in that back alley, Peter would do his best to find out the culprit and pay them back for not only the beating he''d received but also the crappy work situation that the beating had inadvertently put him in. A raindrop landing against his skin once more interrupted his thinking, and Peter at once began running back towards the centre of the city and away from the dungeon. He didn''t go too far as tomorrow he didn''t want to give the man any excuses to make the situation worse for him - though, inwardly, Peter doubted the man truly needed an excuse to do as he wished to him considering the humungous divide in not only physical strength but social status that existed between them. And, come the next day, and the one after that, and the many weeks of hard work ahead of him, he would come to know just how right his hunch was. Chapter 4: The Girl Peter¡¯s whole body was bruised, battered, and exhausted. The early morning beating had been less severe than the day before, but they happened with more frequency and by the time it came time for Peter to scan the dungeon floor for material once again ¨C his body was already nearing ready to give out on him. Every muscle in both his arms and legs contracted to drag the heavy bag full of loot felt as though it was being ripped and torn with every metre that Peter traversed. It was after realising that the man had intentionally spread out his kills so that it was as time-consuming and laborious as possible for Peter to collect the loot together into one bag that Peter began to just call the man Sadist (or Sadi for short). Due to Sadi¡¯s brutal scheme, it was closer to sundown than noon when finally, the man gave Peter his assent so that the two of them could, after almost 12 hours of torture, leave the dungeon. Then, after giving Peter a sadistic smirk and once again walking off with all of the precious loot, leaving Peter completely empty-headed and broken physically, Peter simply dropped to his knees and wept. He¡¯d put on a tough face in front of Sadi, as there was no way that he would let that man see him cry, but in all honesty, he was both physically and mentally devastated. His muscles felt like they had been shredded and his mind felt as though he had dumped it into hot magma. In other words, he felt like shit, and he briefly wondered how in the hell he¡¯d survive through the next few months. Then his focus happened to wander back up to the top right of vision where a countdown that had begun less than a week ago was slowly trickling down to zero, and he felt his strength rally slightly. As sure, right now he might be susceptible to the man¡¯s torturous schemes but given enough time ¨C he would grow his own strength until he was able to repay this humiliation tenfold. Peter wasn¡¯t quite sure how long he sat in silence outside the dungeon¡¯s entrance before something or more accurately, someone, disturbed his epicentre-less concentration ¨C a girl. ¡°What are you doing sitting outside the dungeon, slave?¡± Her voice said in a haughty and entitled tone that did not match the quality of her clothes, which seemed no better than the rags he was wearing. Peter rebutted her, ¡°I¡¯m not a slave. I¡¯m legally a part of the [Copper] social class.¡± The girl, who looked to be only a year or so older than Peter, looked him up and down once more before scoffing and saying, ¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡± Peter scoffed, ¡°Who gives a shit about what either of us do or do not believe about one another? I am a part of the [Copper] class, just like you, I don¡¯t see why you wouldn¡¯t simply just accept that fact and move on.¡± The girl seemed offended by this rebuttal and said, ¡°If you are not a slave why do you swear and speak like one, slave? Don¡¯t you think you should at least try and do right by your professed class if you wish to join the ranks of the free?¡± Peter looked up at the girl and took in her full form for the first time. She was a simple-looking girl, standing an inch or two smaller than Peter, with long flowing blonde hair, and though her skin sheened with dirt ¨C it was remarkably clean ¨C he¡¯d give her that. Though, her clothes were enough to give her away as a fellow slum rat ¨C albeit one he had never met before. Peter thought it ridiculous that this girl thought that she had the right to call him a slave and so he said in rebuke, ¡°Do right by my class? That¡¯s stupid ¨C the [Copper] class has no code of honour or conduct that I could theoretically or practically do right by. We¡¯re at the bottom of the social ladder because we¡¯re pretty much all powerless and weak, not because we don¡¯t wear fancy clothes or because we generally refuse to speak in ridiculous fake accents and not swear.¡± The girl, seemingly unfazed by this rebuke, retorted, ¡°Your ignorance is alarming and blatant, but I guess that is to be expected of a male slave. Though it is otherwise below me, I shall deign to show you the glaring flaw in your argument. ¡°Think, if you are capable, of the Office for Social Advancement ¨C the government office responsible for updating your registered social class in accordance with the law ¨C in addition to that most solemn of duties, is also the only legally licensed agency within this country with mages capable of initiating the very system rank advancement trials that are necessary to undergo if one wishes to progress from the [Copper] system rank to the [Bronze] system rank. In other words, if you do not appease the people at the Office for Social Advancement, it is impossible for you to become sufficiently strong enough to warrant that class promotion that you so obviously and desperately seek ¨C at least, that is, unless you wish to become the most heinous type of criminal, the system fraudster, despised by the good and fair everywhere.¡± With her lecture concluded, and Peter stunned sufficiently into silence, the girl who seemed to know way too much about how social advancement worked raised her head in satisfaction and without any hesitation marched straight up to the door of the dungeon and placed her dirty hand upon it. And, a few seconds later, she vanished from Peter¡¯s sight. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. However, Peter hardly took note of this development as his mind was too caught up thinking about the bombshell that the girl had just dropped on him ¨C her words single-handedly causing all of his somewhat thought-out plans of infinite unimpeded growth to implode underneath the weight of these startling new revelations. Although Peter was pretty certain that his Idle Progression perk would increase his system rank as advertised, this new information about an aspect of the law he had no idea about made him realise that going ahead with a system rank upgrade without taking the proper precautions would be disastrous for him. As, if he ever got caught with a higher system rank than he was permitted to have, then he had no doubt in his mind that the government would nip him in the bud really quickly. Peter wondered why he hadn¡¯t been told about this sooner and then realised he had probably never heard of this particular part of the law because he¡¯d never talked to anyone above the [Copper] system rank and thus he knew no one who¡¯d ever undergone a rank upgrade and or who¡¯d ever thought about such a thing. However, this rationale didn¡¯t make sense of how the girl, who looked no better off than he was, knew about how one increased one¡¯s rank. Such knowledge was not common, hence why Peter hadn¡¯t known it, but that raised the important question of how in the hell she knew of it. Such questions raised doubts about her credibility. Yet Peter couldn¡¯t quite bring himself to doubt the girl¡¯s words too much as they did go a long way to explain a lot of important things about why society was the way that it was. It first of all explained the unshakable stubbornness of the social class system. Now that he thought about it, it didn¡¯t make sense that such a rigid system could be maintained when every citizen within it had access to such a volatile and powerful tool in the system. However, if the government regulated access to the means through which one became strong enough to put up meaningful resistance against one¡¯s social betters, then that explained why there hadn¡¯t been a revolution to overthrow the current elite and bring about a freer, less ridiculous regimented society. As Peter further reflected on this thought, he realised that this revelation also shone a light on Sadi¡¯s attitude problems. There was no doubt in Peter¡¯s mind that the towering man stood at the very peak of the [Copper] rank in terms of level, and yet he hadn¡¯t progressed his rank ¨C which would be odd if everyone truly had the ability to progress to the next system rank freely. Perhaps the man had been stuck at the peak of the [Copper] rank, unable to progress, because he had such a rotten personality and or had, in his youth, made an enemy out of someone from the Office for Social Advancement and the bad personality had developed over time in response to being denied the ability to fulfil his potential. Peter shook his head clear of such thoughts. It didn¡¯t really matter to him why the bastard was a cruel sadist, what mattered to Peter was that he was a bad person right now and that in the future Peter would enact his vengeance against him. Yet this desire for revenge would have to wait to be satiated, as getting revenge would be impossible for him until he was strong and that, it seemed, would be impossible for him until he learned more about the whims and fancies of this strange government agency. But how would he go about learning more about this body? He, first of all, eliminated Sadi as a potential source of answers, as either the man would know the implications of what he was asking and just wouldn¡¯t tell him out of cruelty, or he wouldn¡¯t know, and Peter would have then unwittingly aided a man he hoped one day to punish. With both likely scenarios resulting from this decision being bad, Peter thought it a no-brainer that he shouldn¡¯t ask the towering brute of a man for help. With his cruel master eliminated, that left only one known entity capable of helping him further. His body physically cringed as he came to the realisation that if he wanted to grow stronger, he would have to figuratively, if not also literally, grovel before the girl who had just entered the dungeon and ask for her help. His sudden change in attitude towards her would undoubtedly reinforce the idea in her mind that he was nothing more than a runaway slave, but he didn¡¯t care about things such as pride as of now. At the end of the day, there was but one thing that mattered to Peter in the final analysis, the thing that Peter wanted more than anything in the entire world: power. Peter knew from the centre of his very core that he¡¯d do almost anything short of outright evil to ensure his ascent into the ranks of the strong. And, albeit humiliating, a bit of light grovelling was far from the boundary of what he thought unacceptable ¨C after all, he¡¯d done far worse in the past to keep himself alive and at least this time he had much to gain from it rather than something to lose. Thus, Peter decided to wait for the girl to leave the dungeon so that he could beg her for help when she eventually emerged. However, as minutes turned to hours, and a storm began to gather in the heavens above, Peter¡¯s dedication weaned slightly. Unfortunately for his body, his lust for power won out over his concerns for his own personal health, and so he stayed put sat where he was in front of the dungeon door despite the torrential rainfall drowning the nearby area in freezing cold water. Night quickly descended upon the world and yet still there was no sign of the girl that had entered the dungeon. ¡®Was she dead? Or just messing around in there for heaven''s sake!¡¯ Peter thought to himself bitterly, as he could already feel the cold that was building within his lungs. Tomorrow¡¯s dungeon dive would probably prove far worse due to it, and if the girl didn¡¯t make it out of the dungeon, then the pain he¡¯d endure wouldn¡¯t even be worth it. It was probably nearing 3 hours till midnight when Peter¡¯s resolve finally shattered as a terrifying amount of lightning began to rain down on the landscape nearby ¨C his childish fear of them being enough to finally put his desperation to get out of the storm at the very forefront of his otherwise power obsessed mind. Yet as he arrived at his newly discovered squatting spot, a mile or two away from the dungeon¡¯s entrance, he couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly pathetic for having run away. Though, he reminded himself, the fact that the girl hadn¡¯t left the dungeon after almost half a day meant that in all likelihood she was beyond dead ¨C a wrench in his newly concocted plans for sure. ¡®However,¡¯, he thought melancholically to himself, ¡®at least I¡¯m now dry.¡¯ Chapter 5: New People Peter hadn¡¯t really thought about what kind of state he would be in when the system prompt would appear before him. You know, the one he had been patiently waiting for over the last week, but now that it finally appeared before his eyes, he realised that comprehensive body pain was one hell of a miracle drug - perfect for ruining otherwise momentous occasions! Sadi had ¡°forgotten¡± to tell him yesterday that today they would be clearing a different dungeon, and that he shouldn¡¯t go to the crypt dungeon, and for this not seeing through this clear act of sabotage, of course, Peter was punished harshly. Even though the man hadn¡¯t broken a bone in Peter¡¯s body with his beating, so far as Peter could tell anyway, that didn¡¯t mean that the damage hadn¡¯t proved almost universally effective at crippling him. He¡¯d initially tried to ¡°walk it off¡± as the man had snidely suggested, but as even getting to his feet was a struggle for him, both he and Sadi had quickly come to the same realisation about his current state ¨C he wouldn¡¯t be able to do his work today. Thus, he had been granted a few ¡°days off¡± by the giant which Peter had no doubt was being added to the debt that he owed the cruel bastard, a fact that he hated ¨C but it wasn¡¯t exactly as though he had much say so in the matter. It had been whilst Peter was dragging his body across the floor in the general direction of his new squatting spot that he had received it, and honestly, he had only let out a slight sigh of exaltation. That was until he read the prompt in full and then a triumphant smile formed out of his chapped dry lips. Your assigned bot has completed its task! Perk: [Idle Progression]¡¯s rank is now [F+]! You can now increase system-related stats/phenomena beyond [F] rank! Updated Information: Idle Progression | Type: System | Rank: [F+] | Progress to Next Rank: 0/3 | Description: It is only by you assigning your bot(s) and waiting the designated amount of time for each improvement that you can improve most system-related stats/phenomena. ¨C Current Bots Available: 1/1 ¨C Upgrade Time Reduction: 1% Peter had thought his perk ridiculously OP before, but now that he knew that each upgrade to his perk would seemingly grant him a percentage cut to the time it took to upgrade something else ¨C he thought that his perk must have been granted to him as some kind of blessing from one of the system¡¯s many patron gods. Yet, as was typical for him, the excitement about this development quickly gave way to Peter thinking ponderously about what he should upgrade next now that his bot was free again. Immediately, the pain-hating part of his mind put forward the idea of upgrading his constitution stat ¨C mainly so that he could recover from beatings much faster, but something in his gut told him that it would be a bad move. It took a second for him to put a finger on what his gut feared exactly, and then it struck him, and if he wasn¡¯t almost disabled at that precise moment he would have physically recoiled as his mind vividly imagined what would happen if Sadi discovered he had increased healing capabilities. ¡®Yeah, not a good plan¡¯, Peter decided decisively ¨C even though he would definitely upgrade his constitution stat at some point. He was getting rather sick and tired of spending long periods of time almost completely helpless due to some sick bastard deciding to kick the shit out of him after all. He thought about his potential options for a few minutes, and he almost commanded his bot to upgrade his Luck stat ¨C as the system knew he needed some luck ¨C but before he said the words affirmatively in his head, a new idea formed in his head and Peter paused to consider it. In the last 2 days, despite using the skill almost constantly, at a great expense to his total energy reserves, his [Detect Objects] skill had not levelled even once. That in and of itself wasn¡¯t that suspicious, skills took a while to level after all, even at [Inferior] rank, but with Peter¡¯s perk¡¯s description in mind ¨C there was likely a more pressing reason for this lack of levelling despite strenuous continuous application. If he wanted to level the skill, he¡¯d need to use his one and only bot. Upgrading the skill would reduce its cost, even if only slightly, or it might even grow slightly more powerful ¨C allowing him to know about the objects that surrounded him in a wider area. That would probably help speed up his ¡®work¡¯ as Sadi¡¯s baggage slave, but Peter was conflicted about whether or not that was really that much of a good thing. A part of him wanted to intentionally drag out his work just to spite the man for his cruelty, but that part of him was quickly quashed with the crushing reality that the man seemed to enjoy prolonging his torture anyway ¨C so that method of ¡®revenge¡¯ would only give the man more time with which to beat him. However, if he got through the dungeon faster, then he could minimise the amount of time he needed to spend in the dungeon with the man. Though it did pain him that this was also a benefit for Sadi, he gritted his teeth and got over it ¨C mentally commanding his bot to upgrade his [Detect Objects] skill to level 2 and a new system prompt appeared in his vision displacing the old one ¨C its contents were very interesting. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. You have assigned 1 system bot to increase Skill: [Detect Objects], to level: 2! Time remaining until assignment completion: 1 day, 23 hours, 32 minutes! It seemed the time required for each upgrade depended on what was being upgraded. That seemed to be a no-brainer mechanic for a system perk such as the one he had to have now that Peter thought it over, but it was still an interesting thing to know about his perk, nonetheless. ¡°It would have taken exactly 2 days to upgrade the skill¡¯s level¡­¡± Peter mumbled to himself in thought, ¡°Interesting¡­¡± However, his thoughts quickly grew less and less fruitful, and once he had started seriously thinking about what method of torture Sadi would use against him the next time they met, Peter realised he was just wasting precious time and got back to attempting to crawl back home with his belly again.
It had been barely 12 hours since his last beating and already it seemed there was a group of scrappy-looking teens eyeing up his new squatting spot with jealous eyes ¨C and as soon as they realised the current occupier was injured and in absolutely no state to fight back if they were to attack, he doubted they would be just looking for very long. Or, even worse, they¡¯d recognise him and immediately run to rat on him to Fred. Peter pressed the side of his head up against the wooden walls of his semi-detached ruin of a home and he could make out the faintest traces of the conversation taking place between the young men, probably only possible thanks to his [Enhanced Senses] perk. ¡°It¡¯s taken?!¡± A squeaky but very loud voice exclaimed in an exasperated voice, ¡°But I hung around here nearly all of yesterday and the day before and no one came within a hundred metres of this ratified beauty.¡± ¡°And you wonder why you¡¯re not the scout of our party? The place is clearly currently occupied and has been for at least a few days now according to my skill.¡± A rough gravelly voice said with an impressive amount of gusto. ¡°As that wench from the guild says, never trust a pipsqueak to do a job meant for real men like the rest of us.¡± A remarkably androgynous voice said in a teasing manner. ¡°Hey!¡± The deep voice called out in response, ¡°Watch what you¡¯re saying Frank ¨C you never know if someone from the guild is watching us right now to determine whether we¡¯re worthy of that sweet dungeoneer licence yet or not. Don¡¯t go and cost us our future because you couldn¡¯t keep that foul mouth of yours in check.¡± ¡°Pfft! Dude, they¡¯re not omniscient, plus I am pretty sure the guild¡¯s local management is desperate to hire more dungeoneers around our level of power right now so that they can finally stop having to depend upon that creep Jared to clear all the low-level dungeons.¡± Upon hearing this last part, Peter instantly knew he had to get moving. The group outside was clearly a party of adventurers, and he was definitely not in any good condition to fight them off. However, there was a slight problem with getting moving, as although he may now be able to walk thanks to his body had healed somewhat, he wasn¡¯t exactly going to be able to sprint away at any speed fast enough to escape the group should they give chase. So, he¡¯d have to be extra stealthy, as Peter knew he¡¯d be unable to evade capture for long if they noticed him. However, as he was slowly and quietly crawling towards the back exit of the abandoned building he was in, his stomach started loudly growling at him like it had done many times over the last few days. Peter knew it was because he hadn¡¯t eaten in a few days, as bitter hunger wasn¡¯t an uncommon thing for him to experience ¨C though the fact he hadn¡¯t eaten in so many days kind of alarmed him. The only reason his body was still working properly, and he hadn¡¯t received the ¡®Starving¡¯ debuff was probably because of the potion that the man, Sadi, had given him a few days prior, as healing potions not only healed you, but they also restored your body¡¯s physical state to a healthy level. Peter, deciding that lingering too long on his hunger would only make it worse for him, pushed himself to keep moving forward whilst simultaneously promising himself that he¡¯d get something to eat after his wounds had fully healed, though from where he¡¯d get said food, he had no idea ¨C stuff like that could be worked out a later date. In the meantime, he¡¯d focus on staying alive. A knock on the front door of his ¡°home¡± caused Peter to freeze in place. Then, he heard the deep voice he¡¯d heard before calling out from behind the door. ¡°Whoever is in there, we only want to talk!¡± The voice claimed with its unbelievable booming quality, though Peter didn¡¯t believe the words were genuine at all so he decided to simply make a run for it out of the backdoor. As, surely, the teens outside would just take his spot for themselves and leave him be, right? Wrong. As soon as he had stumbled out of the backdoor, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps running in his direction. ¡®Dammit,¡¯ Peter exclaimed in his head as he tried desperately to hobble to the nearest hiding spot ¨C only for any hope of avoiding a beatdown to be instantly crushed by the sudden appearance of a slender pale ¡­ person, directly in front of him. He thought of them only as a person as the figure in front of him seemed almost entirely genderless in presentation ¨C a fact that was at the same time rather startling and perplexing. ¡°Oh, so it was a kid, huh?¡± The androgynous figure said in an unsettlingly neutral voice. Then, the figure gestured at Peter and asked blankly, "What is your name, child?" Peter, realising that the person in front of him was definitely stronger and faster than he was, and thus that escape was impossible, cursed internally, and then replied with a lie, "Samuel. That''s my name." The person before him didn''t visibly react to his response for a minute or so and then nodded their head in acceptance. Peter wondered what they were nodding about, and then he felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder - and he jolted forward but the teen''s grip was too strong and he only hurt himself in the attempt to escape from the guy''s grip. The leader of the party, the boy with a voice as deep as a cavern, walked in front of Peter and then turned to look down at him. Then, mimicking the characteristic posture of a dominant male lion, the musclebound party leader placed his hand on Peter''s head and ruffled his hair as if Peter was but a toddler and then he leant in way too close for Peter''s liking and said, "The name is Leonard and I was wondering what you would think about us sharing this place, huh?" On pure impulse, Peter did what he had always done when he felt cornered and threatened. He punched the boy in front of him in the face. Chapter 6: Focus Peter¡¯s fist hit its mark well but a few seconds after it had landed, it was undoubtedly Peter who had taken the most damage from it. As whilst the party¡¯s leader looked completely unscathed, Peter¡¯s hand was now numb and throbbing, and he was pretty sure that he was feeling a massive concussion coming on for some reason. ¡°Dammit!¡± He heard the party leader shout before Peter felt his knees buckle out from underneath him and he blacked out.
Peter writhed pitifully on the cold hard ground of one of the rooms within his new squatting spot as his consciousness returned. He was not in pain, far from it in fact as all he felt was a swirling unceasing ecstasy as delirious thoughts coalesced in his mind to explain the even more absurd hallucinations he was having. Occasionally he heard voices speaking around him, but in his heavily intoxicated state ¨C he could barely register his own desperate screams, let alone make out the words being spoken around him. However, at some point, a drop of a particularly viscous liquid had been dripped onto his exposed tongue, bringing the world into sharp uncanny focus for the briefest of moments before he vomited everywhere, and the delirium began up again. Strong arms held him firmly against the ground, but that didn¡¯t really matter as he had long ago given up resisting ¨C his willpower and sanity having disappeared shortly after he started seeing the vague form of his parents walking away from him in his peripheral vision. He had cried and screamed as he watched them leave, again, and then everything had once again gone black. He zigged and zagged in and out of consciousness many times over what felt to him like an eternity, until, at last, when he awoke for the 13th time ¨C he just about felt normal again. Certainly, his body and mind were exhausted, his thoughts were almost painful to have, and every movement of even the smallest of digits made him cry out in pain, but other than that, Peter had finally recovered the ability to focus. He couldn¡¯t quite rotate his head yet, but Peter did his best to look around him regardless. It looked like he was in one of the rooms of the house that he¡¯d been squatting in, and recalling them all, it seemed he had been placed in the smallest one. Peter didn¡¯t need to be a master detective to know that the door to the room had been altered from its prior regular state as it positively glowed with a layer of mana. The purpose of the magical enchantment also seemed clear to him, to keep him enclosed in the room until one of the party¡¯s members could deal with him. Though, for what purpose the group had kept Peter alive he didn¡¯t know, and he wasn¡¯t quite sure he wanted to find out ¨C especially now that he knew firsthand the limitless capacity the strong had to hold bad circumstances over the heads of those weaker than themselves so as to make themselves feel better and to satiate their own sadistic desires. Peter wouldn¡¯t allow himself to be entrapped a second time. However, in his current state, it didn¡¯t really matter what he would or would not allow, he wasn¡¯t strong enough to impose his will at this current time. His body was beyond weak after what it had endured, and there was therefore absolutely no chance that he¡¯d be able to break out of his make-shift prison cell if the enchantment on the door did what he thought it did. The thought of what was to come almost made Peter fall into despair. That was until he noticed in the corner of his vision that he¡¯d received a number of system prompts whilst he had been tripping on whatever it was that he had been tripping on. Instantly, his focus was located elsewhere than his miserable situation. Your assigned bot has completed its task! Skill: [Detect Objects]¡¯s level is now 2! Updated Description: When activated, objects within a 1.5m x 1.5m x 1.5m area are made known to you directly. You have gained the [E] rank trait: Resilient Mind Description: Your mind has endured much psychological punishment and has been made stronger for it. Effects: +5% chance to completely ignore [Mind]-targeting status effects You have gained the [F+] rank trait: Pain Tolerant Description: For one reason or another, you have endured a great amount of suffering in a very small amount of time and yet you do not relent. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Effects: All forms of pain are now 1% less physically and mentally debilitating Peter had no idea how long he¡¯d been writhing on the floor of this room but all he knew was that it had to have been for more than a day, as his system bot upgrade had finished, which meant that he likely was in for one hell of a punishment from Sadi should he not show up to whatever dungeon he was sooner rather than later. However, thoughts of that bastard and his needs were quickly pushed aside in favour of thoughts about what Peter wanted to use his system bot to upgrade next. Peter momentarily considered upgrading his strength stat to help him feel that he was resisting his current situation, but he knew that the upgrade wouldn¡¯t be done in time for him to make any good use of it ¨C so another stat it would be. And, after considering each stat carefully, Peter realised that the only stat that lying at the source of every single one of his current problems was one undeniable and objective fact ¨C he had a miserably terrible Luck stat. There was no other explanation for why all of a sudden, his catastrophically poor but otherwise tolerable life had suddenly turned into a remorseless cycle of terrible events resulting in shit personal circumstances that led to further terrible events in less than a fortnight. At the beginning of the cycle had been his receiving of the system, and that drastic a change had to be the result of the most mystical of all system stats ¨C the Luck stat. So, with no hesitation, Peter mentally assigned the bot to upgrade his luck stat and a system prompt appeared in his vision ¨C confirming his assignment. You have assigned 1 system bot to increase Stat: [Luck], to [F+]! Time remaining until assignment completion: 6 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes! A few minutes later, Peter grew tired of sitting in complete silence and stewing on his misery, and so closed his eyes and drifted off back into unconsciousness ¨C though unlike every other time recently ¨C this rest was somewhat peaceful.
Katie sheathed her newly acquired sword upon having finally slayed the last pathetically weak skeleton warrior that the miserable excuse of an undead dungeon would throw at her. ¡®Only 392 skeletons and I still got 6 levels huh?¡¯ She thought to herself as she mindlessly dismissed the hundreds of system notifications that had appeared in the periphery of her vision. ¡°Oh, to be this happily weak again.¡± She mused to herself in a chipper tone, the memories of how she had gotten her first levels in her former life playing on repeat over and over again before her mind¡¯s eye. Though, as usually happened when she allowed herself to recall her life in the former timeline, her mind quickly wandered into a dark and murky place ¨C where memory and prophecy became one - so her mood soured quite quickly. Suppressing her conscious thoughts, she opened up her void storage and pulled out a magical item that she had made prior to entering the dungeon ¨C a special kind of magnet. Flooding the former fridge magnet with the entirety of her remaining mana pool, Katie couldn¡¯t help but laugh as thousands of bones and monster cores flew towards her at an incredible speed only to then disappear from existence as they were all sucked into her void storage for safe keeping. Katie shivered as she recalled that around about this time previously the world had not yet discovered the [Loot-Magnet] enchant and so adventurers needed to manually pick up every bit of loot from the dungeon, and just the mere thought of wasting precious time like that was enough to make her glad that she had spent some time learning how to enchant particular items back in her former timeline. With everything with any value now safely stored away in her void storage, Katie began making her way over to the dungeon¡¯s exit. She was beyond elated that now all of her objectives had now been completed, and she could finally leave the dungeon. It had been about 5 real days since she had entered the crypt and now that she¡¯d obtained every possible bit of loot and experience that she could from this dungeon, she desperately hoped that she would never have to spend even a single second longer in the dungeon. Just these few days, necessitated by the fact that the hidden monster wave of the dungeon only appeared after that long of a time period, had made her outright sick of fighting with skeletons, and oh how she had longed with her heart to feel the true sun beating once again down on her skin and to breathe the outside word¡¯s fresh air once more. Then, an amusing thought popped into her mind. ¡®I wonder how that slave boy is doing?¡¯ She thought as she took the final step into the dungeon¡¯s exit portal. She pondered the question for a few moments as she once again appeared outside the dungeon¡¯s entry, but her mind quickly dismissed any thoughts of the young boy. As the question was a well and truly pointless one as though she was aware that the present timeline that she was in was going to be fundamentally different from the one she had lived through, as that was her explicit intention, she didn¡¯t know of anyone matching the boy¡¯s characteristics who¡¯d ever made a name for themselves in her timeline and thus doubted the boy¡¯s fate would be dramatically different. As, at the end of the day, those who had what it took to become great were few and far between and judging by the fact he hadn¡¯t shown himself to be among them in her former life, Katie felt absolutely no reason to lose sleep thinking about the boy any more than she already had. That was until, as she walked past a burly muscle mountain of a man, her super sensitive hearing picked up the unfamiliar-looking man mutter under his breath, ¡°Damned lazy rat. I can¡¯t wait to see the look on that rat¡¯s face once I hand him over to Jeremy and he has his way with him.¡± Katie felt the sudden urge to impale the man with her sword but resisted the urge. After all, she had no logical reason to assume that the man and she had the same kid in mind, nor any logical reason that the man was referencing the famed criminal and savage slave trader, Jeremy Foram. But that being said, she had the unsettling feeling that if she didn¡¯t at least try to find out whether or not the man and the kid were related, the kid would be in trouble. And despite it being an extreme inconvenience to her plans, her conscious wouldn¡¯t allow her to simply handwave away her supernaturally honed instincts and not try and help the boy ¨C even though she wasn¡¯t best pleased about it. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Mark,¡± She thought to herself, ¡°I¡¯ll find you and the others soon enough.¡± Chapter 7: Routine Peter chewed on the slightly stale bread in his mouth slowly and methodically, as if testing for poison ¨C his caution about the people who had given him this food remained high. ¡°It¡¯s good right?¡± The leader of the adventurer party that had accosted him only a few days ago, whose name Peter recalled as being Leonard, asked in a remarkably soft tone. Peter hesitantly nodded as he swallowed down the admittedly rather delicious-tasting brown bread ¨C though it probably only tasted so nice as he was on the edge of starving. He was about to go in for a second bite, but before he could, the androgynous teen, who¡¯d told him their name was Frank, slapped the bread out of his hand and onto the cold wooden floor. Peter looked at the far stronger teen with a look of both confusion and anger, but Frank simply ignored his glare and said in a matter-of-fact tone, ¡°It¡¯s obvious that you¡¯ve not eaten in a while, kid, so eating too quickly now will only result in you harming yourself more, and we¡¯ve already expended far too much time and money on keeping you alive for you to go ahead and kick the bucket due to eating too much too fast.¡± Peter¡¯s anger died down slightly as he realised that the teen was probably right, even though he hated to admit that his rational faculties had been slightly clouded by his overwhelming hunger. The party¡¯s leader then spoke, effectively shifting Peter¡¯s attention away from this Samuel person and to himself. ¡°Kid, are you sure you are alright? Being afflicted by my passive defensive skill¡¯s poison effect cannot have been painless.¡± The older teen said, guilt clearly present in his otherwise proud and deep voice. Peter simply nodded his head once again in response, even though he still found the question rather odd. After all, he had been the one to try and punch the boy, so he didn¡¯t get why Leonard felt guilty about his skill working as intended. If Peter had been in his shoes, he certainly wouldn¡¯t have felt guilty. ¡°See, Len, the kid¡¯s fine, which means we can finally get around to sorting out our living arrangements as it were.¡± A nasal voice chimed in, bringing Peter out of his thoughts and back into the somewhat cramped former living room that they were sitting in. Leonard sighed, before nodding his head, and looking Peter straight in the eyes and saying, ¡°So kid, we¡¯d prefer it if you would stay in this spot with u¡­¡± The boy¡¯s words were suddenly interrupted by that same nasally and squeaky voice from earlier interrupting him, ¡°I think you¡¯ll find Len, that is only that you¡¯d prefer it if the kid stayed, don¡¯t act as though we all want this random street rat hanging around where we live. You don¡¯t, and we don¡¯t.¡± The other teen stared daggers at the boy who had interrupted him and said, ¡°I am the one doing the talking here as I am the duly elected leader of this group. Isn¡¯t that right, Max?¡± The other boy rolled his eyes but didn¡¯t speak any further or argue back with the older teen which seemed enough to indicate his submission. ¡°As I was saying,¡± Leonard continued after turning back to face Peter, ¡°We¡¯d like it if you were to stay with us, all we ask is that you don¡¯t get in the way of what we¡¯re doing, and in return we won¡¯t get in the way of what you¡¯re doing.¡± Peter contemplated his current situation and though he couldn¡¯t quite shake his scepticism about the group¡¯s intentions, the fact was that they had seemingly helped him not die from the poison status effect that had been inflicted by their leader¡¯s defensive skill. Plus, they even seemed willing to supply him with food ¨C an invaluable thing for him if he wanted to live past the next few weeks. So, after a few long minutes of consideration, he reluctantly concluded that the arrangement that Leonard proposed was not altogether too objectionable. However, he would not let down his guard for even a second around these new people, and he hoped he would be strong enough to resist if the time eventually came when they decided they¡¯d had enough of stringing him along. ¡°Fine,¡± Peter said uncertainly, much to the delight of the party¡¯s leader, and once a few more minute details of the arrangement had been settled, Peter returned to his now unlocked room and laid down on his rather makeshift bed of tough cloth and blankets. And so began his time sharing his squatting spot with the group of adventurers.
The next day saw Peter leaving his squatting spot in search of his violent employer many hours before the sun would rise, though he doubted his punctuality would save him from the beating he would no doubt receive for having taken so much time off. However, to his great surprise, when he arrived at the dungeon where the man, Sadi, was waiting for him ¨C he received no beating. Instead, the man simply shouted at him for a few minutes, before they both entered the dungeon and the day¡¯s work began. Further surprising Peter, Sadi seemed no longer interested in prolonging Peter¡¯s work ¨C instead, he enforced such a rapturous pace that Peter could hardly hope to keep up with the man¡¯s orders. Yet, other than being totally physically and mentally exhausted, Peter was otherwise totally fine upon exiting the dungeon ¨C loot bag dragging behind him. The bag was taken from him, as usual, and he was once again left completely alone outside the dungeon ¨C slightly flabbergasted at the complete lack of violent abuse he¡¯d suffered today. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. This change in behaviour was definitely too much too quickly to be a genuine development in the man¡¯s furious temperament. However, Peter had no idea what would compel the man to be so much less brutal than he usually was, and thus his suspicion that something else was being planned for him began to fester in his heart. Being a violent, brutish, drunkard who enjoyed beating the ever-living shit out of those weaker than themselves was a personality type that Peter had encountered before and thus understood to some degree. But never, not even once, had he seen such people suddenly become nice to someone unless there was some malicious scheme at play. Though, what that scheme was ¨C Peter had no idea, but he¡¯d have to try and sniff it out and find out if he wanted to have any chance at surviving it.
Over the ensuing 3 weeks, Peter more closely observed the man¡¯s behaviours and tried to memorise and decipher each of the man¡¯s hate-filled rants for clues about what he was planning. However, no matter what he did he just couldn¡¯t seem to draw out any semblance of a plot from the limited number of interactions they¡¯d had recently. The brutish simplicity of the man¡¯s typical persona was an incredible veil that masked any inner treacherous thoughts very well. Furthermore, other than no longer beating him half to death, the man acted pretty much the same as he had previously. Peter was being driven insane by his own paranoia, and as he lay on his tattered bed in his room, he realised he needed to take a break from thinking about what potentially horrendous fate Sadi had in store for him, and instead focused his mind on sifting through his system prompts ¨C something he hadn¡¯t done very often over the last few weeks. Your assigned bot has completed its task! Stat: [Luck]¡¯s grade is now [F+]! Your assigned bot has completed its task! Stat: [Endurance]¡¯s grade is now [F+]! Your assigned bot has completed its task! Skill: [Detect Objects]¡¯s level is now 3! Your assigned bot has completed its task! Skill: [Detect Objects]¡¯s level is now 4! Updated Description: When activated, objects within a 2.5m x 2.5m x 2.5m area are made known to you directly. Peter smiled at his prompts and then decided to bring up his status page so that he could bask in his own progression. STATUS Name: Peter Wilver Titles: [NONE] Age: 10 Class: Mage Rank: [Copper] Level: 0 ¨C Progress: 0/1,000 EXP HP: 25/25(+1%) ¨C Max HP regen: 0.01 MP: 45/45(+1%) ¨C Max MP regen: 0.075 AFFINITIES: TRAITS (5/10): STATS: PERKS: SKILLS: Peter couldn¡¯t help but feel satisfied as he looked upon his own status page. It had only been around a month since he had gotten his system, and yet already he had increased two of his stats by a single grade, a perk by a single grade, and he had a skill almost halfway to the next skill rank. To put it mildly, his level of progress was quite incredible. And experiencing a stat increase first hand had felt unbelievably incredible, and Peter could only now daydream of all the stat increases he would experience in the future thanks to his idle progression system. Yet, a glaring deficiency significantly dulled his otherwise magnificent status screen ¨C his incredibly low level. He had hesitated up and till now to assign his bot to increase his level, not really knowing what he had to gain from level-ups as he didn¡¯t need stat points to increase his stats, but now that he looked at his status page, he felt that it was almost obligatory for him to risk it and find out. So, he assigned his bot to upgrade his level to level one, and he received a system prompt. You have assigned 1 system bot to increase Class: [Mage]¡¯s Level to 1! Time remaining until assignment completion: 23 hours, 45 minutes, 36 seconds Peter almost squealed with joy upon reading just how quickly his upgrade would be complete. However, he quickly calmed himself as he reminded himself that he was only now getting around to reaching level 1 ¨C a level that most kids would reach within the first two weeks of receiving their system. Therefore, he really shouldn¡¯t be too surprised that it didn¡¯t take that long for him to upgrade to it, and that it would almost inevitably take double the time per each new level up. Yet even knowing this harsh reality, Peter could not suppress his childish giddiness completely. The ball had begun rolling the day he had received his system, and though Peter couldn¡¯t know of the challenges that lay ahead of him, he could now dream, in relative peace and safety, of one day ¨C perhaps many years from now - attaining true and unlimited power and lifting himself out of his miserable impoverished existence. Chapter 8: Gang Sadi wasn¡¯t at any of the nearby dungeons the next day. Or at least he certainly hadn¡¯t waited for Peter before entering any of them and Peter hadn¡¯t seen him exit one. He didn¡¯t know whether this was the man trying to unilaterally stack up more debt onto Peter¡¯s shoulders, or him preparing some element of his elusive scheme, but whatever he was doing ¨C it gave Peter a lot of free time to do as he pleased. He thought about going back and sitting in his room, but he almost immediately dismissed the idea. He remembered that the adventurer party were returning from a dungeon dive of their own today, and honestly, he didn¡¯t want to be around them after they¡¯d spent the last few days in a fighting off hideous monsters in a dungeon ¨C an impulse that he presumed was a part of his survival instinct. Yet, other than sitting there bored in his squatting spot, Peter was quite unclear on what else there was for him to do. ¡°Slave!¡± A familiar female voice called out behind him, making him turn his head on impulse. He baulked for a moment as he recognised the girl from almost a month ago standing before him. He had assumed the girl was dead! Yet, here she was, standing in front of him in admittedly far superior clothes to the ones she had been wearing the last time they¡¯d met. Then, the word she had used clicked in his mind, and his surprise that the girl was alive turned into anger at being condescended to. ¡°I¡¯m not a slave, didn¡¯t I tell you that the last time we spoke?!¡± Peter called back to her as he neared her. The girl harrumphed in response and her following words hit home within Peter¡¯s very soul, ¡°What kind of non-slave stands listlessly outside a dungeon in such a wretched state ¨C as if awaiting a master or mistress to arrive?¡± If Peter weren¡¯t so affected by the words, he would have quipped back with some lie about how he was just waiting for a friend to arrive or something, but the truth was, the words had inflicted their intended effect, and it was as though his brain was semi-paralysed because of it. So much so, that his next words came out as a garbled muttering mess. ¡°I¡¯ve just had a bit of bad luck recently,¡± Peter said ¨C though not to her in particular. Though, somehow, she managed to hear his words and her face visibly paled for a split second before recovering its full vigour and lustre. ¡°Bad luck? Other than when dealing with system-related phenomena, and the particular system stat ¡®luck¡¯, the very concept of good or bad luck is illogical and maintained only out of some misguided fealty to archaic superstition.¡± The girl said, though her voice was markedly less superior in tone than it had been previously. Peter did his best to absorb what the girl had said, but honestly speaking, he was pretty lost as to what some of the words she had said actually meant. However, using his brain he could just about form the gist of what she was saying, and whilst he couldn¡¯t be sure he was right, he was sure that he didn¡¯t like her tone, nonetheless. ¡°Are you calling me dumb?!¡± Peter asserted more than asked. The girl chuckled and nodded her head at the same time, as if the question he had asked had the most obvious answer in the world. ¡°Of course. You stand around this here dungeon listlessly, it is clear to me that you are unable either to read and or write, and furthermore, it is evident that you¡¯ve never properly analysed the concepts and ideas that you throw around so casually, and to top it all off, our last interaction informed me you are fatally unaware of the social reality. So what other term but dumb could be applied to you?¡± Peter grumbled out, defeatedly, ¡°Ignorant.¡± The girl¡¯s chuckle turned into full hysterical laughter upon somehow hearing this. ¡°You confess your own ignorance?!¡± ¡°How funny!¡± Peter¡¯s fist clenched and then released. As although he was growing angrier and angrier with every second longer that this interaction lasted, he couldn¡¯t lose sight of the fact that it was obvious that the girl was here to clear the dungeon completely by herself. That meant that she would be strong enough to beat him mercilessly, and he¡¯d already had enough of being beaten up by those stronger than him for one lifetime. So, upon concluding that continuing this interaction would only lead to further bad situations being forced upon him, Peter began to simply walk away from the girl. However, his attempt at fleeing was ceased when the girl called out something unexpected. ¡°I can help you address that ignorance of yours you know?¡± Peter¡¯s rational part knew that he should just keep on moving, forget about the girl¡¯s existence, and go for a light jog or something to waste the time between now and his bot completing its task. But, the allure of knowledge, and thus the potential for greater power, as it had done after they¡¯d first met, made Peter halt in his tracks, and consider turning back around and begging the girl to help him. His ambition and rationality fought it out in his head, until, after a long and gruelling battle, his ambition won out. Thus, he turned around to face the girl and said rather sheepishly, ¡°I won¡¯t sign myself up to give you anything in return, understood?¡± The girl¡¯s smile turned into a smirk, and she said, ¡°What could you give me anyway?¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Peter swallowed down his pride and just nodded his head, it was the least he could do if the girl was serious about giving him knowledge. Seeing this act of submission, the girl seemed pleased, and she began stroking at her chin with her fingers before she asked rhetorically, ¡°Where, oh where, should I begin your training, oh young Padawan?¡±
Time passed at a quickening rate for Peter now that he¡¯d effectively made himself a servant of two masters. Once Sadi had tired him out in a dungeon, the even more ruthless taskmaster Katie would suddenly appear out of nowhere to drag him away to be taught the basics of how to read and write and how society truly worked. These two task masters¡¯ works combined consumed his entire day and he always returned to his squatting spot exhausted both physically and mentally. The evening of the day he¡¯d accepted the girl¡¯s request saw him lying on his bed more tired than he¡¯d been in weeks, but at the same time happier than he¡¯d ever been as reading and writing ¨C language in general really - just came quite naturally to him. He had been so na?ve in the beginning, assuming that the girl would be less demanding than Sadi, but that evening had also informed him ¨C via a system prompt ¨C what levelling up his class meant for him in particular. Your assigned bot has completed its task! Class: [Mage]¡¯s level is now 1! You have levelled up! Reward: Peter had felt a strange kind of arcane knowledge fill his mind as the system granted him skills that by all accounts, he had no right possessing considering that he had not actually gone through the whole process of learning magic from another mage. Regardless of whether he felt he deserved it or not, he could now feel the mana all around him and that night he had tried for the first time to manipulate it ¨C though it obviously didn¡¯t go very well.
However, come the first signs of the coming of autumn a few weeks later, Peter¡¯s control over magic had drastically improved ¨C not only because he had assigned his bot again and again to increase the level of both his magic-related skills, but also because his naturally high mental stats made for a very easy comprehension process. This was to the point where Peter was now able to accurately predict what each new level in each mana-related skill would afford him in terms of his ability to control and sense mana, and he had a high per cent hit rate so far. Of course, he had told neither Katie nor Sadi about his new magical insight ¨C wanting to keep this new strength a secret. Though he suspected that the girl somehow knew, as she had been very surprised to see him the day after he had acquired his skills. Though her knowledge or lack of knowledge of his secret had yet to be confirmed and he certainly didn¡¯t want to risk outing himself by asking the slavedriver if she knew about his most closely kept secret. Knowing her, she¡¯d use the secret against him ¨C threatening to tell everyone in the universe if he didn¡¯t finish her assigned reading on time. The reading and writing skills were truly unique skills among his skills, Peter discovered, as even without assigning a bot to level them, they naturally levelled in line with his actual progress which was unfortunately quite slow. He didn¡¯t quite know why the two skills were exempt from his usual restrictions, but he was happy that they were as that freed up time that he might have otherwise had to have spent on levelling them for other upgrades that he wanted to pursue. In the 4 weeks since he¡¯d accepted the girl¡¯s offer, Peter had raised both his [Mana Manipulation] and [Mana Sense] skills to level 3, his [Detect Objects] skill to level 6, and his Learning stat to [F+]. He had wondered whether he should increase his level once again, but fear that the girl could somehow read his status put him off doing something like that ¨C at least, not so soon after he got his first level. He didn¡¯t want his growth to be too suspicious after all ¨C especially whilst he was as weak as he was. However, he had eventually caved in and was now awaiting his second level thanks to the bot''s efforts. A knock on his room¡¯s door startled Peter out of his thoughts, and he quickly gathered himself together, before shouting, ¡°Come in!¡± He had gotten quite used to the adventurers¡¯ presence by now, though he hadn¡¯t spoken much to them even so ¨C they were quite often off exploring some far-off dungeon, so it actually came as a surprise to Peter whenever he did encounter them. And them knocking on his door was especially rare, so Peter braced himself for some big news. Leonard¡¯s form walked into the room, then took a step back upon seemingly noticing Peter for the first time. ¡°You¡¯re a mage?!¡± The lion-esque party leader asked astonished, the question stunning Peter into silence. ¡°H¡­H¡­How did you¡­¡± Peter eventually garbled out, much to the confusion of the knight standing in front of him. ¡°Your magical aura, kid. You know that thing that all semi-trained mana-users like you and I exude passively?¡± Peter felt chills run down his spine as he rested his head in the palms of his hands as he realised the implications of the man¡¯s words. If it was true that he had been exuding some kind of magical aura this whole time, then it would explain Katie¡¯s reaction that first time ¨C which meant that she also knew that she was a magic user. If that wasn¡¯t bad enough, it was also possible that Sadi also knew and just had hidden his reaction so as to lull Peter into a false sense of security. Leonard shook his head and then said, ¡°Regardless, that wasn¡¯t why I sought you out. The reason is, there are some not-so-nice-looking lads waiting for you outside.¡± Peter was momentarily brought out of his thoughts of Katie and Sadi, and back into the room by this latest bit of news. ¡°The leader is a man named Fred. Apparently, you know each other, and he¡¯s been looking for you for a while now.¡± Instantly, Peter wanted to slap himself. ¡®How the hell¡­¡¯ He thought to himself before the realisation that he¡¯d been sloppy over the last few weeks hit him hard and fast. ¡°I can tell by that face that this guy is not a friend of yours,¡± Leonard said, unhelpfully. ¡°Of course not!¡± Peter exclaimed, before jumping to his feet and attempting to bolt towards the door ¨C but he was stopped in his tracks by a hand that held him back with unwavering strength. ¡°Why don¡¯t you exp..¡± Leonard began, but a hand swipe from Peter made him release his grip ¨C definitely more out of concern of accidentally inflicting the boy with neurotoxins again than fear of being harmed by Peter¡¯s pathetic strength. However, that brief moment of being released was enough, and Peter set off at his fastest pace towards an open window on the ground floor and kept on running in the opposite direction of his squatting spot as fast as he could. However, judging by the clear sound of shouting from behind him, Fred must have suspected he¡¯d try and make a run for it and there were thus people ready to give him chase. Yet, unlike them, Peter¡¯s future depended on him being able to outrun them, and he¡¯d do whatever it took to keep himself from being captured. Anything. Chapter 9: Murder The autumnal wind blew against Peter¡¯s skin as he desperately ran through the cracked, abandoned streets of the old-world suburbs ¨C his breathing quickly becoming like the ruins, empty and rapidly disappearing. However, unlike the inanimate homes that had no choice but to decay over time now that no-one wished to sustain them any longer, through sheer willpower Peter forced himself to continue running. He would not give in; he would not stop running. However, the more distance that elapsed, the closer his pursuers got to him. It was clear that they had far superior physical stats than he did, and thus, in the end, they¡¯d be able to capture him once his body just failed to execute his mind¡¯s commands any longer. Realising what this meant, Peter felt his blood go cold as he realised that with the situation being as it was, it was either: fight off his pursuers, or just give in to them now. And, knowing that his pride would never allow him to do the second of those options considering its inevitable drawbacks, he prepared himself to fight the three older teens who were chasing him. With his only conceivable advantage over the three boys chasing him being his tentative ability to manipulate magic, Peter knew he¡¯d need to try and use magic if he wanted to have even the slightest chance of defeating his foes today. However, the use of magic had its own risks ¨C ones he carefully filed away into the back of his mind for now ¨C hoping he wouldn¡¯t need to face them now or in the future. His mind resolved, Peter suddenly turned on his heel, and ran straight towards a rather unsuspecting looking teen who seemed to be only a few years older than him. Peter strained every brain cell he had and formed a bolt of raw mana and, to the great surprise of the boy charging right at him ¨C fist charged and at the ready ¨C the bolt then flew from his hands and hit it¡¯s intended target with full destructive force, resulting in a medium-sized explosion of raw magical power. Peter didn¡¯t allow himself to witness the explosion of mana, as he quickly turned towards his next enemy ¨C however, this one had seen his attack and seemed to have abandoned any notion of taking Peter in alive to his boss. The red-headed teen withdrew a dagger from his belt, and at an incredible sprinting pace ran towards Peter ¨C dagger ready to cut open Peter¡¯s flesh. However, unfortunately for this opponent, Peter¡¯s use of mana had awarded him a particular skill and so the casting time and effort was reduced by a lot and thus a magic bolt hit him head on ¨C killing the boy instantly. This time, however, Peter¡¯s head didn¡¯t turn fast enough, and he watched as blood rained down on the asphalt road as the teen¡¯s chest had a hole torn in it by Peter¡¯s magical bolt. Yet as the bolt had left him, Peter had also felt his mind almost empty out of willpower, and he had dropped to his knees. He had expended almost all of his mana, and it was a terrible relief that he was even still awake considering that fact. Terrible because it meant he got to see first hand the full devastation that his magic had caused to the one he¡¯d fired at, but a relief as it meant that he potentially had a ¡°Arghhh!¡± Peter screamed in sheer agony as every bone in his right leg was crushed by what felt like the weight of a building. Then, his left leg, and after he¡¯d dropped to the point of lying on his stomach, his left and right arm were soon summarily crushed. Peter was certainly going to black out, or at least he thought he would, but then an eerily blissful feeling rushed through his body, and he felt his body almost instantly recover its former strength. Only for his appendages to endure crushing once again. Amidst the fog of sheer excruciating pain, Peter realised who his third pursuer was. The bastard, Fred, himself. There had never been any chance of escape ¨C not from the man who was called the strongest thug in the city. A brief respite from the crushing-healing-more-crushing saga, gave Peter the ability to make out the fact that Fred was talking. ¡°You¡¯re a mage now, huh? Whodda thunk it? A scrawny rat previously only good for wiping down tables and serving my customers, a powerful mage capable of dealing with two of my guys?!¡± The insane monstrosity mused, before bringing his foot down on Peter¡¯s right leg with full force, and screaming, ¡°DID YOU THINK YOU COULD HIDE FROM ME YOU FILTHY RAT?!¡± Peter felt his consciousness be pushed to its very limits of pain tolerance before he felt it. He had levelled up, his HP had been restored, as had his mana, and in the split second that Fred was confused about why Peter¡¯s leg had suddenly healed without a potion being applied, Peter managed to cast a mana bolt right at the thug leader ¨C it hit him square in the jaw. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The bolt exploded with an impressive amount of force, but unlike the others he had fought, Fred was no low-level grunt, and so was only sent flying back by the magical blast and not instantly killed, though he did seem disoriented. Peter used this moment of peace to check out the flashing notification, and he saw he had been given a choice of class spells, and not having enough time to properly think everything through properly, he simply selected the spell that sounded the most helpful in his current situation and cast it right away. His hand began to move in a clock hand-esque fashion, and suddenly the world around him froze though he could move ¨C but only slowly. He waded through what must have been temporal sludge, and eventually found himself behind Fred. Once he was where he wanted to be, he cancelled the spell, and cast a mana bolt that once again struck Fred right in the skull, but once again, it failed to do anything more than disorient him, but the mana exertion also caused Peter to drop to his knees as well. A confused, concussed Fred accidentally smashed his own supply of healing potions in his attempt to grab one from his pouch ¨C causing glass shards to shatter upon contact with his skin as he did so. Peter realised then that the man must have an incredible Endurance stat but pushed that thought to the side as he needed to focus on dealing with Fred. Using the thug¡¯s terrible state to his advantage, Peter managed to sneak over to the body of the thug with a dagger and take the weapon for himself. However, he was quickly spotted by Fred, and the hulking monstrosity of a man came charging at him, a boiling rage clear and present in his eyes. Peter, surprising the man, decided to meet the man¡¯s charge in a seemingly suicidal miscalculation. However, a moment before the thug¡¯s fist collided with Peter¡¯s body, Peter used the last remnant of his mana to cast his new [Freeze (User)] spell, and time slowed all around him. Peter¡¯s arm thrust up and forward ¨C the dagger held in his hand aiming for one place and one place only, Fred¡¯s mouth. The dagger buried itself deeply into the man¡¯s mouth and brain, but the spell cancelled as soon as Peter ran out of mana, and the boy felt teeth bite down hard on his arm and a punch crater his chest cavity. Both the mana deprivation and physical obliteration were enough to finally cause Peter to black out.
¡°How much longer are you going to stall Jar?¡± The obese slaver asked indignantly, before gesturing at the man in front of him with an open palm and saying, ¡°I am not saying I don¡¯t enjoy these weekly chats we¡¯ve been having, old friend, but we both know neither of us are going to budge when it comes to what we both are asking for in this dealt. So, maybe it¡¯s time we just void the whole idea altogether.¡± Jared snorted in response, ¡°Nice try, Jer, but you know as well as I do that a kid with high magical potential is far more valuable than the price we initially agreed upon in our first contract. The kid¡¯s value far exceeds what I¡¯m asking for in terms of payment and you know it. I¡¯m not one of your shady regulars unfamiliar with the business, I know what I have for you is worth its weight in pure adamantium and I ain¡¯t budging.¡± For perhaps the first time in his career, Jeremy Foram felt utterly floored in this negotiation. He didn¡¯t know if it was the other man¡¯s simplicity of intellect or sheer arrogance, but none of his usual mercantile tricks of the mind and or personal ploys ever seemed to have an effect on the brute¡¯s ridiculous boldness. Though, he guessed, he was dealing with a rather despicable man in a rather desperate situation, who was going to use this one bit of good luck to extract from Jeremy every ounce of worth he could get. He didn¡¯t know the specifics, but he was pretty sure that the man opposite him was close to timing out on his pact with the dark triad ¨C which meant that if he didn¡¯t rank up soon, he would suffer a horrific death. The two had been friends, or at least close acquaintances, ever since the fall of the old world had occurred almost a half-century ago, so the fact that death loomed over Jared as a vulture did not exactly please Jeremy, and with any other asking price he¡¯d have probably caved to the old adventurer ages ago as the boy he was offering up to him on a silver plater was indeed a fine specimen and he wanted to help his old pal out of this tight spot. However, the man wasn¡¯t demanding any other price, and Jeremy was thus hesitant. ¡°You¡¯re asking for a secret, but legal, rank promotion ceremony Jar!¡± He exclaimed in his own defence, before visibly collecting himself and saying, ¡°Such things take a lot of time, bribe money, and highly damaging blackmail material to even attempt to organise, and no matter how unique the child you¡¯re offering to provide me with ¨C it is impossible for me to say that the boy has equivalent value to what you¡¯re asking for without first inspecting the child with my own eyes. Something you¡¯ve outright refused to allow me to do.¡± Jeremy and Jared stared at each other intently for a great many tense minutes in total silence. Jeremy knew that the other man was prone to violence, and as he wasn¡¯t himself a combat-based class, being a [Slaver] and all that, he would be unable to defend himself if the man opposite him decided to beat the ever-living shit out of him. However, he doubted his old friend would be so stupid. ¡°I need that promotion, Jer, and you need a premium offering for that off-world convention that all you slaver types are secretly planning for,¡± Jared said in response, a smirk appearing on his face as he dropped his usual dumb-ass brute mask. Jeromy paled, he hadn¡¯t suspected his old friend would know about the convention and if he did then he really couldn¡¯t hold out any longer without losing the chance to attain the boy completely. So, effectively condemning himself to an empty wallet and busy schedule for the next year or so, he repressed his inner merchant and after months of failing to negotiate down his friend¡¯s absurd price, he relented. ¡°Fine! Fine! Fine!¡± He exclaimed, ¡°You got me pinned! I¡¯ll organise a secret promotion ceremony, but our exchange will be in 4 months¡¯ time, and you get nothing else ¨C deal?¡± Jared¡¯s cocky smirk grew unbearably smug, and he simply said, ¡°You know what, old chum, I think we have a deal.¡± Chapter 10: Regret Peter awoke empty. Not remotely hungry, of course, the healing potion he¡¯d been given before waking up had obviously satiated that particular emptiness of his, but instead he felt empty and void of his very humanity. For though no man, woman, or child could ever truly see their own soul, he just knew that he had at least 1 big black streak on his otherwise clean and perfect soul. He, who had prided himself on being a moral person only a few weeks ago, had taken the lives of not just one person, but three. As if his vivid memories of his second¡¯s victim¡¯s body being blow apart by his magic wasn¡¯t enough to remind him of his guilt, the system opted for this moment for him to receive some apparently delayed system prompts. Each one only made his heart wrench further. You have killed [Copper] Human (Lvl:4) You have killed [Copper] Human (Lvl:5) You have killed [Copper] Human (Lvl:9) Reward: 1x [4-hour Upgrade Time Reducer] You have gained the [Active] [Class] skill: [Inferior] Mana Bolt (Lvl:1)! Description: When activated, you form a bolt out of pure mana with your hands and can fire it at will in any direction. Your assigned bot has completed its task! Class: [Mage]¡¯s level is now 2! You have levelled up! Reward: Congratulations! Your [F+] trait: [Survivor], has upgraded to the [E] rank trait: [Advanced Survivor] Updated Effects: +5% Max HP Peter had been rewarded. He almost felt like laughing, but instead started crying profusely. The system had rewarded him for killing 3 people as if they were nothing more than the monsters in any old dungeon. The desolate part of him that still felt intellectual guessed he now understood the harsh reality of why many people chose to kill other people full time, the system down right encouraged it. Rewarding those who did it with sweet rewards, and with the gradual growth of Earth¡¯s monster population¡¯s strength, it was probably easier to kill humans than the monsters at this point. A knock at his door brought Peter out of his guilt-ridden reflections, however, the person on the other end didn¡¯t wait for him to voice his permission for them to enter, and simply entered his room a few seconds later. It was the androgynous fellow, whose name he now knew was Frank ¨C even though the name didn¡¯t suit him at all. ¡°You know,¡± The older boy started, before stopping and sighing, before saying, ¡°How did you do it?¡± Peter was startled by the question. How did he do what? It seemed his internal question was written on his face, and so the teen clarified. ¡°How did you deal with the near Peak-[Copper] guy? Even Leonard would have struggled against him ¨C hence why we didn¡¯t bash their skulls in when they turned up all suspicious-looking.¡± The teen said, as though killing people were something totally regular and casual to talk about. Peter didn¡¯t dignify the question with a response, which seemed to show a lot about him as something seemed to dawn on Frank, his rather feminine-looking face turned serious, and he asked in a low voice, ¡°Your first kill, huh?¡± Peter nodded. Frank said in response, ¡°Kid, I wouldn¡¯t brood on it too much. As long as you don¡¯t plan on massacring innocent people, it really isn¡¯t a big deal that you killed those 3. It¡¯s pretty normal among adventurers to have killed at least a handful of punks and savages along the way ¨C such is the tragedy of life post the collapse of civilisation.¡± The teen¡¯s voice sounded soothing, but his words couldn¡¯t have felt coarser to Peter¡¯s ears if the boy had tried. Murdering people, ok? No. Not even the evillest people deserved to be outright killed, especially not by some other random person. Even if he had convinced himself at the moment that it had been necessary to risk killing Fred and his goons to save himself from a life of slavery and or worse, Peter couldn¡¯t bring himself to be so cavalier about what he had been forced to do ¨C what they had forced him to do. His displeasure at having his feelings all but hand waved away must have been evident on his face, as Frank quickly blurted out, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m probably not the best person for you to have this conversation with. I suck at talking about first times ¨C mostly because I can¡¯t remember most of mine. Ha ha ha.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The teen chuckled at his own joke, but Peter didn¡¯t find the joke so funny. Awkwardness descended over the room like an oppressive weight, and a few seconds later, Frank disappeared out of the room ¨C leaving Peter alone once again. Peter was grateful to be alone. At the moment, all he wanted was to be alone ¨C at least, until tomorrow came.
Katie, for not the first time since she had all but taken under her wing, stared at her young apprentice with rampant, though reasonably well-masked, curiosity. He possessed an incredible intelligence for someone of his age, but other than that, seemed relatively talentless. Which made his growth extremely¡­ perplexing to her, as she had never encountered someone whose growth was so remarkably linear and steady in some areas, yet remarkably normal or even sub-par in other areas. For example, the boy was currently reading an old book she had just so happened to find in the city¡¯s library, and although his magic seemed tinged with sorrow, his aura¡¯s strength was near about the perfect level for his already existing skill level. Usually, one¡¯s skill level certainly was in the ballpark of one¡¯s skills, but there were people who were closer to the next level than others, whereas the kid in front of her seemed to be almost the dictionary definition of his skill¡¯s level. She also saw that he¡¯d gained a level since yesterday, which was odd, but she didn¡¯t think too much of it ¨C orphan children were typically desperate to level up upon first receiving the system, and so it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise to her if the boy had been braving dungeons by himself, or alongside that suspicious man. Speaking of, she had been contemplating how she should best counter act whatever plan the man had in store for the boy. As, whether she liked it or not, she had grown to admire the boy, if not for his intellect, then for his determination, and so she would not dare risk losing him to some creepy muscle head on a power trip. However, whatever she did, she¡¯d need to be careful. Jeremy Foram was no regular [Slaver] scum, and his connections in the city were deep ¨C despite only being in the [Bronze] class himself. She remembered it being said of him by her old friends that the old slaver had always preferred grinding out his skills¡¯ levels to their peak rather than boost his actual user level, or system rank, and because of this he exerted a greater influence over the slave market than his level would otherwise have permitted him due to the sheer quality of his ¡°product¡±. Katie recoiled as she even thought about the idea of other human beings being considered property ¨C even though, back in her former timeline, the practice had become pretty much endemic post-apocalypse. Apparently, disaster striking all of humanity was a call for many to re-embrace practices of the past to solve their problems ¨C an instinct and calling that Katie had just never understood. Getting rather bored of watching the kid read, Katie decided to pull up her own status page and bask in her current weakness. STATUS Name: Katie Phillips Titles: Age: 11 Class: Warrior Rank: [Copper+] Level: 10 ¨C Progress: N/A [System Rank Promotion Trial Required] HP: 281/281 ¨C Max HP regen: 0.281 MP: 281/281 ¨C Max MP regen: 0.075 AFFINITIES: TRAITS (5/5): STATS: PERKS: SKILLS: ¡®This is just the beginning¡¯ She reminded herself as she dreamed longingly of her former status page and its endless contents. She had once been an [Diamond] ranked user, and so being forced back to [Copper] rank was a real downgrade ¨C literally. In the grand scheme of things, [Copper] rank was basically the equivalent of being an ant ¨C one among decillions of other lifeforms stuck at the bottom rung of the ladder of power. Katie may have been given a chance to live again so as to serve a humble cause, but being this humble was a bit too depressing for her, and even just taking her first step into [Bronze] rank would suffice to appease her desire for more power. However, she somehow doubted that would happen anytime soon ¨C it had taken that event to occur before the damned entrenched hierarchy would budge and allow ¡°lesser¡± humans like her to join the next rank up in her last life. Though, even then, they had intended on only letting her and her comrades become [Steel] rank at most ¨C but the easy road to getting overthrown and cut down to size is placing unreasonable limitations on a class of newly powerful people. However, though the bastards had deserved everything that she and her fellow rising stars had doled out to them, their actions had inadvertently weakened the entire planet¡¯s fighting force, and so when they had come ¨C earth had been too weak to defend itself or properly ingratiate itself with the surrounding multi-verse. So, though it pained her greatly to admit it, her purging of the order of survivors that still ruled in this current timeline was one of her most steadfast regrets. She would need to manage things differently, perhaps bringing reform, rather than revolution, and then, maybe, the disaster that was to come could be averted with the full strength of Earth ready to defend it. She grunted as she realised just who she sounded like from her former timeline. Then she jolted forward as she realised that the woman was probably in the exact city that she was ¨C but did she really want to meet that soft speaking lunatic? Maybe. Though that would have to wait, as it seemed the odd boy was up to something ¨C something she suspected was perverted. Chapter 11: First Steps The emptiness at the core of Peter¡¯s very soul never lessened in its size, though it did occasionally slip to the back of his mind when he was particularly focused on something else. And, in the two months directly following his battle with Fred, his time and focus had been almost exclusively dedicated to improving and studying the implications of the [Freeze (User)] spell. As after the battle, he no longer felt comfortable playing around with basic magic, and only ever upgraded his mana manipulation skill when his time magic skill all but explicitly required an improved control of mana. What Peter had learned over these two months had been groundbreaking for him. He discovered that at the expense of his mana pool, using his Class skill, he could cause the upgrade timer for his bot upgrades to¡­ slow down tremendously. That in and of itself was not that great news, but the implications of the fact that his subjective experience of time determined the count down of the upgrade timer, rather than the objective view of time being what mattered, meant that if he ever received a spell that sped up his experience of time ¨C he¡¯d be able to blitz through his upgrades by simply expending mana ¨C a resource he had a theoretically unlimited supply of. Just the mere thought of such a spell had made him giddy. However, he had encountered a slight problem a few days ago. His currently F+ rank Idle Progression perk had reached the end of its usability. Cannot assign system bot to increase Class: [Mage]¡¯s level to [6], because your perk: [Idle Progression]¡¯s rank is too low! Cannot assign system bot to increase Skill: [Detect Objects]¡¯s level to [9], because your perk: [Idle Progression]¡¯s rank is too low! Cannot assign system bot to upgrade stat: [Strength] to [E], because your perk: [Idle Progression]¡¯s rank is too low! Peter grew giddy at just the mere thought that he had now gotten all of his stats, levels, and skill levels, to a point where he needed to upgrade his Idle Progression perk for a second time. Thus, 2 days ago, he had done it and had been met with at one and the same time an incredible, and rather foreboding system prompt that now counted down in the top right corner of his vision. You have assigned 1 system bot to increase Perk: [Idle Progression], to [E] rank! Time remaining until assignment completion: 25 days, 9 hours, 13 minutes! The upgrade was going to take an entire month! This was by far and away the longest upgrade he¡¯d yet had to wait through, but he doubted this would be the last as so far, the amount of time needed to upgrade a stat to the next rank was the same as the amount of time needed to increase the bot¡¯s rank to that same rank ¨C which meant his future stat growth would be rather limited and time-consuming. Peter chastised himself. He¡¯d known from the beginning that the time needed between each upgrade would probably increase in a non-linear fashion and he would just have to deal with that. Plus, as of now, he was extremely young ¨C only being about 10 and a half ¨C and so he had plenty of time to waste.
The weeks that it took the upgrade to complete were Peter¡¯s most challenging yet. Winter was now well and truly in, and thus every time he would go to walk back from his miserable study session with Katie, he would half-freeze to death due to the snow and ice-cold wind that blew almost 24/7. Furthermore, though he couldn¡¯t be certain, both Sadi and Katie seemed to be acting far more suspiciously lately which he assumed meant they whatever that had been up to until now would reveal itself in due time. Peter had continued trying to derive some hint as to Sadi¡¯s potential plot, but the man was good at hiding his intentions, and the boy just couldn¡¯t see through them. More than this, however, without his special perk able to increase his strength, he was pretty much a sitting duck ¨C so Peter had felt incredibly vulnerable as the month progressed. So, when the ding rang out in his ear, Peter had inwardly squealed with joy ¨C and his eyes immediately focused on the large system prompt that he had just received, scanning it quickly with his eyes to see whether or not his long wait had been worth it or not. Your assigned bot has completed its task! Perk: [Idle Progression]¡¯s rank is now [E]! You can now increase system-related stats/phenomena beyond [F+] rank! Updated Information: Idle Progression | Type: System | Rank: [E] | Progress to Next Rank: 0/5 | Description: It is only by you assigning your bot(s) and waiting the designated amount of time for each improvement that you can improve the majority of system-related stats/phenomena. ¨C Current Bots Available: 2/2 ¨C Upgrade Time Reduction: 5% - Chance of Successful Bot Stacking Upon Attempt: 8% (Note: Bot-stacking is what you can do when you assign more than one bot to cut the upgrade time in half. However, at your perk¡¯s current rank, assigning more than one bot is not guaranteed to succeed and you thus risk disabling each bot >1 that you tried to assign for a period equal to the upgrade time requirement as a penalty for your incredible failure.) This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Peter almost couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. His perk was now absolutely preposterous. He could upgrade two things simultaneously, which was just simply absurd! Further, though it came with a significant risk of backfiring on him if Peter ever got lucky enough to successfully stack his two bots onto the same task ¨C it would be finished in literally half the time it would have taken otherwise. In other words, there might not be a need to wait a month to see a stat increase from [F+] to [E], instead, he might only have to wait 14 days. However, once again, there was an overwhelming chance that he simply failed a luck check and lost the use of his second bot for the entire upgrade period ¨C a terrible loss to be sure. However, this petty restriction did not restrain his enthusiasm for assigning his bots once again after so long for long, as after a few moments of thought, he had assigned both bots ¨C to two different tasks and basked in the incredible sight of two system prompts appearing before him. You have assigned 1 system bot to increase Stat: [Luck], to [E]! Time remaining until assignment completion: 26 day, 14 hours, 24 minutes! You have assigned 1 system bot to increase Perk: [Genius]¡¯s rank to [F+]! Time remaining until assignment completion: 6 days, 15 hours, 36 minutes Peter couldn¡¯t help but feel giddy as he dismissed the system prompts with a wave of his hand and marched out of his room with a smug-esque grin on his face. He honestly felt at the top of the world right now, so, of course, that meant that everyone else in his home had to be in a sour-looking mood of course. The group of adventurers he shared this particular ruin with were all gathered around in a small circle ¨C serious expressions on all of their faces. It was probably only thanks to his somewhat poor [Enhanced Senses] perk that he was even able to hear what they were saying, but the more he overheard, the more he realised that it would have been probably better if he hadn¡¯t of even tried listening in. ¡°It¡¯s fucking bullshit.¡± Said Frank in a voice that was far more cold and bitter than Peter had ever thought the teen capable of. ¡°That pre-exam was a fucking scam!¡± Max concurred, which was odd as he usually went out of his way to disagree with his androgynous teammate. The other teen, whose name Peter had never bothered learning, chimed in with a haughty voice, ¡°Maybe we should file a complaint or something, there is no way that the exam we did was meant for peak-[Copper] ranks like us.¡± The only teen whose voice Peter could not hear was Leonard, though whether that was because the team leader was out of hearing range or just not speaking Peter couldn¡¯t immediately tell until the older boy started speaking. The deep and rich voice of the party¡¯s leader was low but it positively vibrated with power and anger that sent shivers down Peter¡¯s spine upon hearing it, and he¡¯d only said a few words, ¡°They didn¡¯t want us to succeed.¡± Peter couldn¡¯t see it, but he just knew that all had slowly nodded their head in assent to their leader¡¯s words. ¡°Bastards.¡± Leonard cursed almost under his breath, before he roared, ¡°What did we not do that they wanted us to?!¡± The man¡¯s building rage was obvious in his voice and suddenly Peter felt it wouldn¡¯t be safe for him to continue eavesdropping, so he carefully made his way back to his room. It was as he sat in his room in silence that he realised that there was no reason he couldn''t return to his old squatting spot and live there again - though that would mean working at that damn tavern again to eke out a living. However, that was honestly far superior in his opinion to his current situation - ''at least he''d be free then'' He thought bitterly to himself as he recalled his current miserable situation. The thought of one day breaking free of the terrible bondage his bad luck had shackled him with drove Peter forward and was the sole warmth that comforted him into his deep and restful slumber this cold winter''s night.
The hood of Katie¡¯s cloak flapped in the winter evening breeze as she stood atop the wall that separated the [Bronze] social class¡¯s main housing from the rest of the city. From her vantage point on the wall, she observed with some amount of both pity and disdain the rather quaint accommodations afforded to those in the [Bronze] social class. In truth, though it was certainly a step up from being in the [Copper] social class, the predominant sense that one got from observing [Bronze] social life was this overwhelming feeling that these were people well and truly mediocre in both quality and stature. Being in the [Bronze] class meant that either the people inside the walls had kissed enough ass, or greased enough palms to be promoted, which could only take one so far. Or, as accounted for over 90% of the [Bronze] social class, the people were the direct children of the first generation of survivors ¨C who had reached the [Bronze] rank long before it had ever been necessary to kiss ass or blackmail some shady government official to get promoted. However, them still being in [Bronze] class meant their parents had been mediocre ¨C probably amongst those who just about survived the first few months of integration and had then been wiped out by the first appearance of [Wild-Bosses] a year into integration. Such people were widely considered martyrs of a bygone era by the poorer elements of society, but Katie considered them all to be nothing more than glorified failures, and so she found it odd that this class of people got to live off the meagre glories of said failures. They almost all considered themselves superior to those who weren¡¯t so different from them in either level or ability in the [Copper] class, even though they really weren¡¯t destined for a much superior fate. However, she brushed such thoughts to the side for now. Tonight was not supposed to be about her passing judgment on the ridiculousness of the system rank based class system, but instead, it was about her delivering a more ultimate form of justice to a certain malicious slave trader by the name of Jeremy Foram ¨C even though she had yet to definitively locate the man¡¯s base of operations. It seemed the man was good at more things than just being a dick, that was for sure. Then, she saw him. The man whom Peter slaved away for on a daily basis ¨C a peak [Copper] rank adventurer she had come to know was called Jared. His outward appearance told her that he had almost certainly invested heavily in his Strength stat, and from what he¡¯d heard of his personality, his inner self was perhaps even more repulsively grotesque than were his bulging muscles. Katie had always found muscles to be gross ¨C hence why she always modified her look using magic to hide the powerful muscles that came along with her high strength stat, though hiding her real abilities also factored into that decision, but even with that being said, the man¡¯s muscles took disgustingly large to a whole new level. Katie almost gagged as she imagined the man flexing, but she quickly caught herself as she noticed the man suddenly take a right turn and dash into a poorly lit alleyway. ¡®Aha!¡¯ She exclaimed inwardly, ¡®Gotcha!¡¯ Chapter 12: Raid Dungeon A week after his [Idle Progression] perk had reached [E] rank, Peter was being led by Sadi far from the usual trio of dungeons that the man alternated between each day. Initially Peter had found this sudden change in plans suspicious, but just judging by the fact he had seen other adventurer parties heading in the same direction as they were ¨C something big had happened, and for some reason they were heading right towards its location. Peter¡¯s interest was peaked but thought better than to ask the man directly as though he had largely refrained from beating Peter half to death for the tiniest mistakes, it wasn¡¯t as though his personality had gotten much nicer over the months Peter had known him ¨C so it honestly wasn¡¯t worth risking. Further, the man had been visibly more angry in recent days, though it seemed today was an exception ¨C which did heighten Peter¡¯s suspicion. At least 3 hours after their walk had started, it came into view. In the middle of what looked to be a former graveyard, a grand copper door the size of a large building came into view. Peter¡¯s jaw dropped to the floor in awe of the massive dungeon entrance ¨C as that had to be what it was. Peter¡¯s knowledge of dungeons mostly came from his own experience, and the small amount of information that Katie had reluctantly shared with him, but he had never heard of a dungeon with such a big entryway before. A massive group of about 150 adventurers stood gathered in front of the door in a makeshift camp ¨C all 150 of them seemed to look up from whatever it was they were doing to stare at Sadi warily. It seemed Peter wasn¡¯t the only one afraid of the monstrous barbarian who led him, which made sense given the man¡¯s repulsive personality. None dared openly look at Peter, though he could have sworn he felt at least a couple sympathetic eyes look upon him momentarily before hastily averting their gaze back to what they had been doing before he and Sadi had arrived. An Amazonian bodied woman noticed Sadi approaching the door, and she smirked before making her way towards him. ¡°I see you chose to join the raid party after all, what happened? You break that precious club of yours.¡± The woman said, openly insulting the brute ¨C to Peter¡¯s great astonishment. Peter swore he heard the man growl in response, followed by a quick verbal retort, ¡°Unlike your man, Elizabeth, my stick works just fine again after heavy use with the aid of some tender ministrations.¡± The woman didn¡¯t visibly react to the comment, and simply decided to move the conversation along. ¡°The dungeon has a ¡®party¡¯ limit of 250 but we¡¯ll be running it with only the 198 of us. It¡¯s a [Copper+] ranked raid dungeon, so I recommend you leave your baggage boy outside with the rest of the deadweight and useless people.¡± Peter almost recoiled from the sudden and uncalled for insult, but just about manage to reign himself in enough to simply let the comment go ¨C something about the lady in front of him felt off. Plus, Peter really wouldn¡¯t mind some extra time off. However, Sadi had other plans for him it seemed. Sadi snorted before saying, ¡°He¡¯s coming in with me ¨C after all, aren¡¯t raid dungeons famous for giving out impressive loot once defeated ¨C if anything, the boy¡¯s presence is thus even more important. I sure as hell ain¡¯t going to be carrying my own loot for weeks through this damn dungeon.¡± ¡®Weeks?!¡¯ Peter¡¯s mind raced with pure terror at the idea of spending more than just a few hours with the man beside him. Elizabeth gave Sadi a stare as cold as ice, but the cruel bastard held her glare and won out as she relented and said, ¡°Fine. But, considering his low level, are you even certain the kid can handle the dungeon¡¯s time distortion?¡± The man laughed, ¡°No, of course I am not certain. But if he isn¡¯t then I guess I¡¯ll just have to have you carry all my stuff for me. Back like how it was in the good old days.¡± Elizabeth rolled her eyes and then said in a voice that left no room for argument, ¡°Jared, since you¡¯re being so demanding, and you¡¯re probably one of the only people in this group who has cleared a raid dungeon in the past, why don¡¯t you go and inform the others of some handy tips in return for my generosity in allowing you to bring an extra mouth to feed along to our raid.¡± Sadi/Jared simply grunted in response before he turned to face the camp of 100+ adventurers and smirked as he began to shout out a lecture on the particulars of raid dungeons. Most of the impromptu speech was not heard by the majority of the camp, but unfortunately for Peter, he got to hear all of it. It was unfortunate only because most of the speech was just the man uselessly swearing and making lewd jokes, however, there were a few crumbs of knowledge that Peter could extract from the man¡¯s chaotic and otherwise barbaric words. Raid dungeons were seemingly dungeons that allowed for parties who size was greater than 100 members to enter them. They were like regular dungeons in so far as they were usually full of legions of deadly monsters. However, unlike regular dungeons, depending on the rank of the raid dungeon, and the number of people who entered it, a raid dungeon could be far more deadly than the average dungeon for a single reason: [Boss] monster waves. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. From what little information Sadi included in his speech, at some point during the dungeon run, there would be a wave containing an overwhelming number of powerful monsters led by a monster in the rank above the dungeon¡¯s own rank. Such a thing was an impossibility in regular dungeons, but due to the system expecting more from a large group of people, raid dungeons allowed there to be superior ranked monsters charging at a horde of lesser ranked people. However, the upside of this risking this danger was immense as if one of the party¡¯s members managed to kill the superior beast in a solo-fight and or landed a decisive killing blow on said beast then they would almost certainly ascend to the [Bronze] rank if they were already at the peak of [Copper] ¨C even without having been given a formal trial by the system mages. Plus, the killing of a superior beast in one-on-one combat was a legally endorsed way of a person ascending through the ranks, or at least it was according to what Katie had told him, which made the palpable excitement that coursed through every adventurer present in the camp understandable. This was an opportunity for the best of the [Copper] class in the city to prove themselves worthy of social advancement; to show their potential as warriors. Thus, the dungeon¡¯s potential rewards couldn¡¯t have been greater in the eyes of every adventurer, as further adding to the importance of this raid was that raid dungeons disappeared after being conquered, and almost never did they appear in the [Copper] rank. However, the mind-blowing uniqueness of the opportunity combined with the strict conditions necessary to fully snatch it made Peter suspect that not everyone who entered the dungeon would leave it alive ¨C and not all who would die will have fallen to the maws and or claws of a dungeon monster. A few minutes after he had began his curse-laden speech, Sadi simply stopped shouting nonsense and began making his way over to the dungeon¡¯s entrance. Peter followed behind him warily. However, once they were only a couple meters away, the man turned and look down at Peter with an unreadable expression on his face. ¡°You know what, rat, since I¡¯m feeling generous - if you live through this dungeon wave ¨C I¡¯ll forgive all of your debt.¡± Peter was momentarily stunned but quickly collected himself and thanked the man ¨C though the other didn¡¯t seem to enjoy being thanked very much. Peter had no idea why the man had decided not to continue hanging his debt over his head, but he honestly couldn¡¯t be happier to hear that once the dungeon was complete ¨C he would be free. ¡°Stay here, I¡¯ve got to go speak to someone.¡± Sadi ordered Peter in a harsh voice, before running off in a direction that Peter couldn¡¯t quite make out. A few minutes later, a system prompt appeared in the periphery of his vision and a smile formed on his face. However, before he could check it, a familiar female voice rung out from behind him. ¡°Hmm? What are you doing here?¡± Katie asked worriedly, causing Peter to turn around instantly to face her. ¡°What do you mean?¡± He asked, confused ¨C he had suspected she knew about his arrangement so why would it be odd for him to be at a dungeon. ¡°You¡¯re nowhere close to the peak of [Copper] rank in terms of level, and the plus is not included in the dungeon¡¯s rank for nothing you know. If you join the raid as weak as you are now, you will almost certainly die in a matter of days if not minutes considering your abysmal physical stats.¡± She responded in her usual biting, lecturer tone. Peter was about to defend himself, then suddenly, he realised that this situation was far more absurd than even he thought. ¡°You¡¯re at the Peak of [Copper] rank?!¡± Peter wondered aloud, astonished by this information. ¡°Of course. And, after I easily dispatch with the dungeon¡¯s main boss, I¡¯ll raise my rank to the [Bronze] rank.¡± Katie replied smugly, her voice did not even hint at there being some doubt in her mind that she would succeed in doing the preposterous and defeating a monster a system rank above her. Peter looked at her with some amount of wonder and amazement, and then a trickle of dread began to seep into his bones as he realised that in all likelihood his two taskmasters were aiming for the same prize and neither one would let the other have it easily. He gulped as he realised that he would most likely get caught in the middle of any dispute between them, and so would very quickly have to pick a side and hope he picked right. And, honestly, though he despised her slavedriver work ethic, Katie¡¯s education provided him the means to attain true power for himself and it wasn¡¯t as if Sadi had done much to ingratiate himself with Peter. So, he decided, if the two were to come to blows, he would have to tentatively side with the slave driver over the sadist. He shivered as he realised what he was essentially signing himself up for more of, but, in pursuit of ultimate power, what a pitiful price it was. Then, in the corner of his vision he noticed a group of 4 approaching him with confused looks on their faces, and Peter felt his mind start to race as he wondered what the hell was going on. However, before either he or the group of adventurers he lived with could interact, Elizabeth¡¯s voice boomed throughout the entire area ¨C her command was simple, and for some unknown reason no one felt able to disobey. That command was: gather, and suddenly every adventurer in the nearby area gathered in a large circle around her central desk, and she smiled and waved ¨C before she began giving a speech of sorts. ¡°Alright, listen up. For those of you who didn¡¯t hear Jared¡¯s pre-dungeon-dive tips, I¡¯ll give you the basics of what you morons and weaklings need to know to not be a burden to those of us who are actually competent at what we do.¡± She paused, implicitly daring anyone to whisper to those around them in response to her words ¨C none did. Assured that no one would undermine her authority, she continued, ¡°The dungeon we¡¯re about to enter is a raid dungeon and that means it¡¯s going to be tough. So tough in fact that most of you will regret ever stepping one foot inside, but even if you think you are going to die on the battlefield, you will fight on with full force otherwise you will be killed for insubordination and your families will receive no compensation due to your cowardice. This group, if anyone of us is to survive, we cannot waste our limited resources sustaining human dead weight, is that clear?!¡± Everyone in the crowd nodded solemnly, and Elizabeth continued, ¡°There will be serious time compression in the dungeon ¨C probably in the range of 2-4x faster time though it will not feel that way for us. So be ready, we shall be in the dungeon for at least 2, possibly 4, months ¨C and there shall be no exiting the dungeon until either we or the boss is dead. Does everyone understand my words?¡± Everyone nodded again. Elizabeth¡¯s serious expression turned into one of pure sadistic glee as she then gestured at the massive dungeon gateway and said, ¡°Well then, it seems we¡¯re all ready to get going ¨C you have 30 seconds to get the door or we¡¯re entering the dungeon without you.¡± A massive mess of a scramble ensued. Chapter 13: Hells Porch The scramble to the door had led to much pushing, shoving, and if Peter had sensed correctly, a lot of skills being activated ¨C but in the end, everyone who had intended to enter the dungeon ¨C unfortunately including Peter ¨C had reached the door in time. Elizabeth then smacked her hand against the door, and as every member of the massive party was zipped from their spot outside the dungeon to its huge exterior ¨C a system prompt appeared in all of their vision, warning them of what was to come. Dungeon: Name: Hell¡¯s Porch Rank: [Copper+] Type: [Apocalypse] [RAID] Difficulty: [C+] Would you like to enter? When the world stabilised once again, Peter and the rest of the hundred and a half or so adventurers were all standing in a black sand desert ¨C a crimson sun overheard whose heat was as intense as a flame on everyone¡¯s exposed skin. Peter almost yelped in pain as it felt like his exposed skin was being seared by the sun, but then, suddenly, a wave of magic washed over his body, and it were as though he were standing under a regular sun. He looked around for the caster, but no one around him seemed to be paying him any notice ¨C that was, except Katie who simply smirked in his direction a hundred or so metres away at the other end of the group. ¡°We need to find shelter!¡± Elizabeth called out in a loud shout. However, before she could organise anyone into scouting parties and other types of smaller groups, a loud shrill was heard from off in the distance. Then, only 30 seconds later, a ginormous feathered giant appeared on the horizon, it¡¯s metallic beak and claws glimmering beautifully in the crimson sun¡¯s cindering light. Elizabeth began trying to give out orders, but before she had the chance, a group of about 10 idiotic adventurers had already began running towards the beast at their top speed which was pretty fast as they were at the peak of the [Copper] rank. It seemed they were betting that this monster was the [Bronze] ranked one, and thus the one they needed to focus on killing to get the all-important reward. However, these adventurers were soon stopped straight in their tracks when the rest of the horde of monsters appeared over the horizon. There had to have been at least a thousand of them running straight towards the large group of adventurers, and Peter felt his heart begin to pound loudly in his chest as he realised, he was about to die. Yet, in a strange twist of fate, Sadi snapped him out of his impending doom spiral. ¡°Don¡¯t go getting weak in the knees now rat. After all, this is only the first wave and I¡¯m bound to need your assistance in collecting all the loot from the monsters I¡¯m going to kill in just a second. You got that?¡± Peter simply nodded genuinely, somewhat stupefied that he was getting comfort from the man¡¯s words. However, that feeling quickly faded away as he watched the cruel but powerful man begin walking away from him, with a look in his eye that was almost unreadable. Then, Sadi¡¯s body began to visibly glow with power, and he shot off from his leg in the direction of the monster wave, and in only a few seconds, he had closed the distance between him, and the wave of monsters and a downright slaughter began. The ten idiotic adventurers managed to gather themselves once they¡¯d seen Sadi surge pass them, probably more out of a fear that the man would take the all-important prize from them than any newfound bravery surging within them, but whatever the case, they then charged and joined the battle ¨C killing the birdlike monsters one by one as a team. Peter saw Elizabeth shake her head and sigh. Momentarily Peter felt bad for the women as the situation had very quickly gotten out of her control, but upon recalling that she had not so long ago insulted him, he realised he didn¡¯t really care that much about her suffering this once. With monsters now having appeared, and the order that had once existed already having been broken, the remainder of the adventurers present including, it must be said, Katie decided to charge towards the oncoming wave of bird monsters. Peter remained solitary - standing right where he had been this whole time, watching as powerful magic flew and exploded in the distance and impressive looking swords cut into monster flesh ¨C all the while thinking that everyone who had entered this dungeon with him were complete idiots. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking kid and you¡¯re right, they¡¯re all morons.¡± Elizabeth said simply ¨C causing the boy to suddenly realise that she was now standing right beside him. Peter looked up at the woman, a knowing look in his eye, and she laughed hysterically. ¡°You really do got quite the head on your little shoulders, huh?¡± Peter didn¡¯t respond, at least not verbally ¨C though he did feel a slight smile form on his face from the woman¡¯s praise. His opinion of her was very quickly changing as he couldn¡¯t deny that being praised ¨C after spending his entire life being insulted everyday ¨C led to a very, very pleasant feeling indeed. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Since you¡¯re a smart kid, you probably already figured this out by yourself, but you should do your best to get out from Jared¡¯s thumb as best you can kid. That man will be the death of you if you don¡¯t.¡± Peter nodded in response, a gesture that the woman reciprocated before muttering under her breath, ¡°Heck, he might even be the death of this whole raid group if a battle ensues over the right to fight the [Bronze] rank.¡± Peter was about to respond, but a system prompt appearing in his vision forestalled him. Your assigned bot has completed its task! Perk: [Genius]¡¯s rank is now [F+]! Updated Information: Genius | Type: Mental | Rank: [F+] | Progress to Next Rank: 0/3 | Description: Far from simple minded, you possess a mind suitably capable of comprehending even the most obscure, inaccessible aspects of reality. Upon dismissing the system prompt, Peter felt a strange new depth of reality open up to him as the upgrade took effect. His mind seemed to be somewhat faster, and each thought he had seemed less fuzzy somehow, but what really astounded him was the connections he was starting to form between seemingly unrelated data that he had stored in his head. ¡®Note to self¡¯, Peter thought ¨C astounded, ¡®Remember to upgrade your other personal perks and not just your stats and the idle progression perk.¡¯ With that bit of advice to himself in mind, he struggled to decide what he should assign his now unassigned bot to do. Sure, he had just realised the full importance of what he had already known prior to receiving his system ¨C that personal perks were important, but on the other hand, so were the other parts of his status screen. For example, he was currently level 5, and if the system followed the pattern, it had thus far seemed to follow for him, if he chose to assign the bot to increase his level to the next level, 6, he¡¯d possibly receive his second class skill ¨C something he might need to survive in the dungeon he suddenly now found himself in. However, equally important to his survival were his [Detect Objects] skill, to not to piss off his current master; the class skills that he already possessed, to grow better at controlling time; as well as the more general mana manipulation and utilisation skills that he also knew he needed to keep raising the level of if he wished to learn magic skills outside of the ones the system all but gave him for free every other level up. That final thought set off a chain reaction that led to Peter trembling in excitement as he lambasted himself internally for not having thought of doing something like what he was thinking of doing sooner. Eventually, the ridiculousness of the idea pushed him over the edge, all but forcing his hand, and so with a thought, he assigned his bot ¨C causing a system prompt to appear in his vision confirming his mad idea would work. You have assigned 1 system bot to increase [Epic] Affinity: [Space], to [F+] rank! Time remaining until assignment completion: 13 days, 7 hours, 12 minutes! Peter almost let out a squeal of excitement but noticed that Elizabeth was looking at him with a curious glare and quickly did his best to suppress his excitement at the ridiculous development that he could upgrade his affinities just as easily as he upgraded anything else. Though, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t seem to manage to wipe the childish, knowing smile from his lips as he returned his focus to watching the battle going on far off in the distance.
To say that his joy was short-lived was to understate the case quite considerably. Mere minutes after Peter had assigned his bot to increase his affinity for Space magic, the large group of adventurers ¨C minus a few who had somehow managed to die ¨C came running back towards the position where both Peter and Elizabeth were standing. Both had a pretty ominous feeling about what had caused them to flee from the battle with the oncoming wave ¨C a feeling that was soon confirmed as Sadi yelled at Elizabeth, ¡°A WHOLE 3 MORE WAVES OF THE FUCKERS INCOMING! RUN YOU MOTHER FUCKING STUPID BITCH!¡± Elizabeth¡¯s face paled a bit, but she quickly recovered from the shock, and she too began running in the same direction that the group of adventurers was running in. Peter did his best to keep up with the group, but the group ended up running at top speed for what felt like hours in an attempt to escape the clutches of the bird-like monsters whose numbers only seemed to multiply as time passed. Peter¡¯s lungs, as well as the rest of his body, were burning with exhaustion by the time the group finally encountered some form of shelter in which they could bunker down. The speed at which every adventurer moved so as to fortify this new location was downright impressive, and just about fast enough that by the time the waves of bird monsters had caught up to them, they had already established a defensible perimeter. The dungeon was now going to be a test of endurance and a war of attrition between the small group of elite humans and the seemingly endless monstrous hordes. However, thanks to the newly erected defences, combined with the shelter they had found ¨C a pretty rundown sandstone castle atop a massive sand dune ¨C that was located on an extremely defensible cliffside, the birds having endless numbers didn¡¯t matter as much and the expected casualties from any future battle diminished dramatically. Yet, nothing could ever be truly that easy in a Raid dungeon, and a new problem quickly emerged. Well, it wasn¡¯t as much a new problem as it was an old problem displaying a newly discovered problematic aspect ¨C the problem being at the root ¨C the heat of the sun that hung above. Though at this point the mages in the group had been assigned to constantly apply their magic to prevent everyone present from burning alive due to the sun¡¯s heat, the sun¡¯s heat was so great that the water that had been brought along as a part of the supplies almost instantly began to boil if exposed to even an inkling of direct sunlight. Yet not even the shelter provided by the castle provided sufficient shade and dark and cool spaces to stop this heat from impacting most of the water supply, and so the water supply of the raid party was very quickly diminishing as the days passed, and this water insecurity was making people extremely jittery and irritable. And, naturally, this irritability made some in the party start to look at other members in the group as nothing more than leeches who were effectively in their eyes a waste of water. And being the lowest level participant in the raid, as well as someone who had been exempted from needing to defend the fort due to his perceived weakness, Peter knew he would bear the majority of the brunt of the murderous sentiment. As a result, Peter felt as though if he wasn¡¯t careful, he might end up as one of those unfortunate people who were going to be killed by ¡®accident¡¯ at the hands of one of his fellow raid party members. Despite this seemingly inevitable fact, whatever amount of suffering he had to endure to survive he would do it as at the end of the day all he needed was time and then he¡¯d conquer the whole world. Chapter 14: Buried, Not Dead The many days that followed passed slowly as wave after wave of monstrous emu-like monsters charged up against the solid defences of the party¡¯s fort, and with each battle, hundreds of the creatures were slaughtered and their corpses began piling up outside the walls ¨C a visible sign of the raid party¡¯s progress. Though, with the rumours spreading in the fort that there had to be at least a million of the monsters remaining, no one ever seemed satisfied with the relatively small number of monsters that died each die. This was especially true when, on occasion, a member of the raiding party also lost their life during the day¡¯s struggle. Though, of course, some in the group secretly thanked their lucky stars when someone died ¨C it meant fewer people for the dwindling supply of water to go to after all which meant a longer life for everyone, at least in theory, though Peter suspected that they were already running thin on water as it was and that desperate times were ahead. His theory was all but confirmed as by the time his Space affinity had finished upgrading, not only had all the prior enthusiasm for the raid fully dissipated ¨C replaced by a bottomless bitterness, but as Peter had expected the rations of water had summarily been reduced to less than a few drops for everyone. Peter¡¯s status as a pariah from that point onward had all but forced him to not take his rations, lest he risk an angry mob of peak [Copper] ranks beating him in such a way that he would not survive, which led to Peter¡¯s current miserable state of not only being extremely hungry, thirsty, and frustrated ¨C a mood that was not helped by Katie¡¯s insistence that she instruct him in proper grammar 24/7. Thus, Peter¡¯s usual excitement when reading a system prompt was practically non-existent when he checked the system prompt he had received, sighing with some amount of resignation in his voice. Your assigned bot has completed its task! [Epic] Affinity: [Space]¡¯s grade is now [F+]! Peter didn¡¯t really feel anything change from this upgrade of his [Space] magic affinity. However, his miserable mood seeped into his thoughts as he pondered what he should assign his bot to do next, and he felt his optimism for the future waver slightly as a solemn realisation struck him. Sure, his [Idle Progression] perk made it inevitable that he would grow more powerful given enough time, but Peter now began wondering just how long each upgrade would take once he got things to a high enough level. If upgrading something from the [F+] grade to the [E] grade took a whole month, then just how long would the upgrade from [E+] to [D] take, and so on and so on up and up the grade scale. Would it take years? Perhaps decades? Although he knew that increasing one¡¯s [Constitution] stat was said to increase one¡¯s lifespan considerably, the prospect of having to wait a number of years, if not decades, for a single upgrade to one¡¯s stats felt extremely daunting and distant to Peter who had barely lived for a decade in total so far. Just thinking about the new time scale that he would have to think in terms of so as to plan his future most effectively made Peter reconsider his entire perspective on almost everything related to his system. Somehow Peter suspected that these new realisations came about as a result of his [Genius] perk¡¯s most recent upgrade and felt awestruck by the level of depth that the single upgrade had added to his thinking. Deciding to check on how long was left on the timer for his other upgrade before deciding about what else to upgrade, Peter focused on bringing up the necessary system prompt and it appeared right in front of him. Time remaining until task: [Luck] -> [E] grade is complete: 6 days, 13 hours, 23 minutes! Peter simply smiled upon finishing reading the system prompt as a clear option for what to upgrade with his other bot became obvious to him and he assigned the bot thusly. You have assigned 1 system bot to increase Class: [Mage]¡¯s Level to 6! Time remaining until assignment completion: 5 days, 16 hours, 48 minutes! With his bot once again assigned, Peter let his mind wander until his body gave into his famished exhaustion and he fell into a shallow, and not all-too-satisfying slumber.
Peter awoke to the taste of sand falling into mouth. He tried to jolt upwards but hit his head hard on a wooden ceiling of some sort and the coarse and sizzling sand kept falling onto his exposed tongue. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. His eyes opened and he realised his new situation. He was trapped in some kind of wooden box, sand pouring in from a small hole in the lid, and Peter instantly guessed what had happened. As he had slept, he had been ¡°died¡± and had thus been ¡°buried¡± by the other members of the raid party. Thus, he had no doubt that as it stood, there was probably 6ft of sand pressing against the lid of the coffin that he was laying in. Peter felt panic begin to surge within him, but it was quickly suppressed and the emotion that he had been supressing within himself for the last few months finally made its way to the surface of his mind until his mind was nothing but a maelstrom of fury. Peter felt anger unlike he had ever before. Ever since he had received his system, he had been beaten, all but formally enslaved, looked down upon by some random girl, and been forced to play kid to a bunch of dumbass adventurers. Peter hated feeling so powerless, as if no matter how far he progressed with his [Idle Progression] perk there would still be those above him capable of suppressing and oppressing him. He hated everything about his current situation. As it was only now that he had finally hit rock bottom ¨C almost literally ¨C that Peter could finally bring himself to admit to himself that he had been a pathetic weakling up and till now. He had felt relief when Sadi had said he¡¯d let him go should both of them survive the dungeon ¨C as if he trusted the sadistic man to keep his word, and even worse, it was as if Peter didn¡¯t want deep down to get revenge against the man which he did. However, so far, he had been too weak willed to even consider attempting to get revenge against the brutal man, fearing the man would beat him or again ¨C or worse. In other words, he¡¯d let himself be cowed by another person due to a fear of pain and thus he had lost the war before it had even really begun. Peter had thought himself strong because he had been able to endure the man¡¯s beatings and survive till the next day. However, that was not real strength ¨C if anything that was just him being a particularly durable punching bag, and now Peter was experiencing first hand where that kind of ¡°strength¡± got him. No. Real strength was the ability of Sadi to do as he pleased, without any fear of repercussions. It was the capacity to stand up for oneself and not to ever need to be subservient to another, damned be the consequences. That was the kind of strength that had been denied to him ever since his birth, but that his true soul cried out for. Yet, stuck beneath a few feet of sand, what could he do to correct his past mistakes, get revenge on all those who had done him wrong, and walk the path of true strength? The seeming lack of answers to his question fuelled his anger until his mind was hazy at best ¨C simply being drowned in hatred and fury. Then, it appeared like a north star in the endless expanse of his mind. A thought. Or more like, a memory. He had gained a time reduction token from killing Fred and his two companions and had used it to reduce one of his upgrades by a couple of hours. Peter had no idea why he hadn¡¯t thought of this until now but suddenly he could see a path forward. It seemed that if he killed things such as monsters or other people, unlike everyone else who gained experience and all that stuff, Peter would gain upgrade time reduction tokens. And it just so happened that he was in a desert brimming with powerful monsters. However, despite this new path offering him some hope, his body¡¯s state was very much not ideal for fighting anything or anyone ¨C given that he was starving and dehydrated at the exact same time. Plus, there was the slightly more pressing issue of still being buried alive and all that. ¡®One problem at a time,¡¯ Peter thought, determined. Peter hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to fully test the limits of his [F+] grade strength stat but now it seemed that he would have that opportunity confronted as he was by the lid of his coffin just above him. Peter took a single deep breath in, and then pressed his hands against the lid of the coffin and pushed with all of his might but the lid felt like it was as heavy as a boulder thanks to all the sand that was pilled on top of it. Peter relented and began breathing in and out at a faster pace as he recovered his reduced strength. However, with his rage burning like a wild conflagration in his chest, he recovered his will quickly and this time as he pushed Peter infused his entire body with his somewhat miniscule mana pool. This time the lid did budge up a little, but the opening created only meant that more sand poured into the coffin and instantly Peter stopped pushing as thousands of searing hot grains of black sand torched his skin from all angles. The spell Katie had placed on him had to be renewed, and it seemed it had run out and now the heat of the sand touching him made his body feel as though he were laying in the middle of fire. Peter screamed in agony for what felt like hours. He knew for certain that no one would hear him or come to help to him even if they did and eventually his throat could no longer even continue screaming, and that was when a certain system prompt appeared in his vision, making Peter want to punch whoever had made the system right in the face. You have gained the [C] rank trait: Fire Resistant Description: Your body has been forged in heat and made tougher from it making heat less brutal to your body. Effects: Your body is 25% more resilient to heat (Note: You may only have a limited number of traits above the [C] grade at your current system rank (Currently:1/5)) Peter felt a large portion of the man simply vanish as his new trait took effect and suddenly, he felt as though he could think again despite the pain that still seared his skin ¨C though, still, that was only barely. However, due to his [Enhanced Senses] he felt and heard that there was slight movement on and in the sand immediately above him. His heart skipped a beat as he wondered if maybe he would be saved after all, but upon hearing the sound of claws scratching against the wooden lid, Peter realised what was going on. Peter¡¯s mind scrambled a plan together of what to do, and thankfully so as just as a metallic claw broke through the wooden lid ¨C time all around him slowed and a slight grin formed on his youthful face. He would survive. Chapter 15: Combat The emu-looking monster had been given no time to react as the wooden surface it had been standing on suddenly surged upwards, and a bolt made out of pure mana flew towards its head small beaked head. Upon impact, the explosion sent the bird monster flying out of the small hole it had dug to try and reach its subterranean prey. Peter did his best to scramble up and out of his coffin, but his legs were weak, and his arms were atrophied beyond usage ¨C so he more resembled a worm desperately squirming out of the rapidly refilling hole than a human child. However pathetic he looked swimming up the sand, it proved enough of an effort to get him out of the hole, and he soon was on all fours above the ground ¨C able to breathe good, oxygenated air for the first time in hours. The monster he had hit with his [Mana Bolt], on the other hand, was not looking good ¨C even if it was clearly still alive. Its feathered head was bloody and cindered, and Peter momentarily admired his own magical power before realising that the monster had noticed that he had now emerged and was running right at him. Unable to move, Peter did the only thing he could and that was to fire as many bolts of mana as he could until the damn monster died. Thankfully, it had only taken another mana bolt for the monster to drop dead, and Peter felt himself sigh in relief as a system prompt appeared in his vision informing him of his kill. You have killed [Copper] Baby Fury (Lvl:8) Reward: 1x [2-hour Upgrade Time Reducer] Peter felt a grin form out of his chapped, cracked lips. His theory had been right and now all he had to do was kill a few more of the monsters and find some kind of water source ¨C no matter if it was monster meat or not ¨C he now had some kind of food in front of him and he was not currently able to be picky. Peter crawled over to the Baby Fury and began tearing at its limbs, eventually managing to rip one of its legs off and instantly the sun¡¯s heat began to sear and cook the meat ¨C though quite slowly. Starving and desperate, Peter began pouring the searing hot sand onto the meat ¨C speeding up the process of cooking tremendously. Barely a few minutes later, Peter bit into the fleshy leg he had in his hand and, ignoring the crunch of the sand he was also heating, he felt complete euphoria as cooked meat slid down his throat. However it was also more than just any old, cooked meat, it was meat from a kill that he had made, which made the meat taste ever so much more delicious. He was full after only a few bites and didn¡¯t push his body anymore, instead deciding to go hunting for more monsters to kill as well as water to drink. Despite his crippling dehydration, as well as the sun still burning away at his back, Peter felt as though he had been reborn, and that thus this dungeon was his to conquer. So, with a struggle, he got onto his two feet at last and began stumbling off in a random direction ¨C a hopeful glint burning in his tired dry eyes.
A few hours of ceaseless walking later, Peter stumbled upon what looked like the ideal picture of an oasis ¨C a lake of pristine, beautiful water surrounded by an ocean of black searing sand; the bank of the oasis home to a number of palm trees. Why hadn¡¯t he begun slurping up all the water to quench his thirst? At least a hundred different variants of the Baby Fury monsters were all drinking eagerly from the oasis and there had always been such a group for so long as Peter had watched them, as he saw when one group of the monsters moved on to some unknown new location a new group seemed to arrive seconds later to take their place. Peter had to drink water, or he would die, but if he just marched up to the lake and initiated a battle with the monsters then he would also die as though he could confidently kill one of the monsters with his mana bolt he doubted that a pack of 100 monsters would charge at him one by one in slow motion, neatly lining up for him to kill them all. Thus, he needed to come up with some kind of plan. However, thoughts of plans quickly left his head as a ginormous version of the Baby Fury ¨C perhaps an adult fury ¨C appeared at the head of the incoming group that would replace the monsters currently drinking. Peter didn¡¯t need to possess a scanning skill to know that this monster was the [Bronze] rank boss monster. There was no doubt in his mind as the monster¡¯s mere presence seemed to intensify the scorching heat in its nearby area ¨C almost setting the air around it on fire as it walked, the heat waves visibly denser than everywhere else. Peter calmly pushed himself away from the dune he¡¯d been hiding behind to gather intel on the monsters drinking from the oasis as no matter how strong he was now or wanted to be in the future, there was no amount of determination that could overcome the difference in strength between him and a [Bronze] rank. Thus, he came to a harsh conclusion. In the world he lived in, he had no inherent right to continue living should he remain as weak as he was. As was shown by the fact that at every step the universe had seemingly made his survival extremely difficult by placing absurd obstacles in his way, thus if he wanted to earn the right to drink water again, and thus continue living, he would have to earn it through killing enough monsters to boost his power. If he wanted to drink, he had to become able to kill hundreds of monsters at a time which meant only one thing ¨C he needed to get started killing as many as possible before he ran out of time.
The next two days were the most physically strenuous he¡¯d ever experienced. He didn¡¯t exactly know whether it was because of the dehydration, or because he hadn¡¯t slept much, but what he did know was that he had killed exactly 49 Baby Furies since discovering the location of the oasis. How did he know that? He had received a system title that told him so of course. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. You have gained the [F+] rank title: Trivial Avian Slayer Description: Slay a total of 50 monsters or more who are categorised as avians. Effects: +1% more damage dealt to Avian monsters Peter found the process of killing the Baby Furies to be incredibly simple now that he¡¯d done it more than once. Sure, they liked to hunt in big groups, but the vast majority of their number were focused on besieging the fortress where all the other raid party¡¯s members were, and so Peter had quite the easy time sniping the weaker ones among them who were usually abandoned by the bigger groups if they were just too slow or too weak. However, even the weakest monster he¡¯d seen so far had been 1 level higher than he currently was ¨C at level 6. Yet, thanks to the dozens of upgrade time reduction tokens he¡¯d farmed over the last two days from all the killing he¡¯d been doing, the bot that was upgrading his level had finally finished a few seconds ago. He smiled whole heartedly as he felt a surge of nourishing energy fill his body as the level up system prompt restored his body and satiated his hunger and thirst. You have levelled up! Reward: Peter couldn¡¯t help but laugh out loud as, now fully healthy, he looked through the list of his class skills and realised that for some reason he was only being offered [Time] magic affinity related skills, but he was fine with that if he was being honest ¨C time magic seemed to be his path, especially as it meshed well with his [Idle Progression] perk. However, the more he thought about each option, the less certain he felt about any one of the choices. For example, the [Freeze (Target)] skill seemed like it would be very useful in a 1v1 combat scenario and would probably help him out in a major way in the short term against the birds he hunted, but Peter suspected its utility would very quickly reach a ceiling in the later levels. However, the second option, the [Wither] skill would provide him an incredibly powerful attack skill ¨C but at the cost of almost all of Peter¡¯s mana pool in one go. It would perhaps help him deal with more powerful opponents later on, but as of now he was fighting against monsters and people who mainly focused on boosting their physical stats ¨C so them having a high constitution was likely, which would also likely mean the skill may end up proving pointless in his current situation. The third option, on the other hand, the [Combat Foresight] skill seemed incredibly useful as well as being cost efficient, but Peter thought that he needed some more firepower as of now, and choosing the skill would not help with that in the slightest. It was thus only after some internal strife that Peter ended up making his decision ¨C his long-term future having been the deciding factor. You have gained the [Class] [Passive] skill: [Inferior] Combat Foresight (Lvl:1) Description: You can see 1 second into the future and divine any incoming attacks and or defensive failures whilst you are in the midst of combat. With his decision made, Peter decided that now was probably a good time to check on his status page and his progress. STATUS Name: Peter Wilver Titles: [NONE] Age: 10 Class: Mage Rank: [Copper] Level: 6 ¨C Progress: 0/7,000 EXP HP: 89/89 (85x1.05) ¨C Max HP regen: 0.05 MP: 106/106 (105x1.01) ¨C Max MP regen: 0.075 AFFINITIES: TRAITS: STATS: PERKS: SKILLS: Chapter 16: Dual Lives Katie was beginning to regret ever entering this damn dungeon. She had joined the dungeon raid more out of curiosity than necessity, as though she definitely fancied killing the [Bronze] ranked monster and begin ascending up the system ranks, she knew that there would be plenty of opportunities for that kind of stuff in the near future regardless. Instead of that, what had made her curious was the fact that she did not remember ever hearing about there having been a [Copper] ranked raid dungeon near where she had grown up, but now she was starting to have a sneaking suspicion as to why that was. Firstly, there were far too many monsters in this dungeon ¨C making it very likely that the party that had entered in during her old timeline had all died out due to the relentless onslaught from the seemingly endless monster waves. Secondly, every single person that she was being forced to party with seemed to be dumb, arrogant, pricks. Except for maybe the leader of the whole group, Elizabeth, who seemed reasonably competent, most of the people who surrounded her basically asked for death every day just in the way in which they comported themselves. Now she was also pretty sure she could add being a whole load of murderers to the list of pejoratives she would use to describe the company she found herself in as she couldn¡¯t seem to locate the boy that she had entered this dungeon with anywhere and that made her furious. She had spent months of her precious time educating that kid and for all of her hard work to be wasted just because some sadistic moron had had it out for the kid made her want to kill the guy in return. And yes, she was pretty certain that it was one of the men in the camp who¡¯d done it ¨C though she would still punch the ever-living shit out of the person who¡¯d done it if they ended up being a woman. A loud cry called out ¡°Incoming!¡± and suddenly the whole atmosphere around Katie changed as the morning people took up their positions on the wall ¨C their weapons ready. Katie had no doubt in her mind that many of the defenders would die this morning, as their grips seemed shaky and their energy all but non-existent. Thus, she readied herself and her weapon as well as she was pretty sure that she would need to help out the defensive effort or risk the whole fort being overrun and everyone else dying ¨C which would be a pretty shady story to tell the adventurer¡¯s guild and probably end up with her getting a bad reputation again, making her salvific mission far more difficult. So, with her divine mission driving her forward, Katie flooded her body with mana in preparation for the battle to come. And come it did.
Peter panted heavily as he lay, bruised and bleeding everywhere, the bodies of 5 Baby Furies surrounding him on each side. However, despite knowing that he¡¯d made a pretty big gamble in picking a fight with a group of 5 of the emu-like monsters at the same time, the fact that he had ended up emerging out of the exchange as the victor made Peter almost want to smirk, but he had so far refrained from doing so. After all, any movement of his facial muscles somehow made his broken nose pulse with excruciating pain so avoiding moving his muscles in general seemed like the best plan to Peter. 3 further days had passed since he had reached level 6, and he only had a few more hours left until he would reach level 7 thanks to a combination of his bot¡¯s hard work and his own efforts in slaughtering the baby furies on a much grander scale. However, this effort had grown much more dangerous as it seemed that the Baby Furies had wizened up to the fact that the weaker scavenger members of their group were being picked off and now no scavenger hunted without a number of their fellow monsters by their side. This had made each fight far more difficult for Peter, and he was now regularly in need of rest and healing after each fight, but all of the intense fighting he had been doing had also done him wonders. As it had granted him leagues of valuable combat experience, as well as new combat related skills such as the [Evasion] general skill that he had gotten after the fight he had just had. Plus, although he wasn¡¯t keeping an exact count, Peter reckoned that he had killed at least 120 of the monsters since entering the dungeon, and that meant that probably in the next day or so, he would see his sole title receive another upgrade as it seemed that alongside traits and his reading and writing skill, titles didn¡¯t require a bot to be upgraded. Time passed slowly as Peter¡¯s body recovered over the course of the next few hours, and, as he tested whether or not he could stand again, a system prompt appeared in his vision, and he felt a rush of nourishing energy flood through his body and he smiled as his body fully healed, and his hunger and thirst were once again satiated. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. You have levelled up! Reward:
Peter felt on top of the world as he dragged the body of one of the avian monsters he had just killed away from the location of their fight, and further away from the spot of the oasis. He had just received the prompt telling him that his [Luck] stat had reached the [E] grade, and that had boosted his already high spirits. As, for perhaps the first time in his entire life, Peter felt powerful and in control of his own fate as well as his quality of life. There was no Sadi or Katie ordering him around as if he were their slave. Out in the desert, it was just him, his system, and his intoxicating need to survive, and Peter felt as though he had finally found where it was that he belonged. Him feeling that way had made him realise that he¡¯d been too harsh on the group of adventurers that he shared a squatting spot with. Dungeon diving was just simply¡­ incredible, and it was only now that he had actively been forced to try and survive in one that he understood their previous passion and drive. With his level already being slowly upgraded to 8, Peter briefly wondered what he should do with his newly freed up bot. That was until he reminded himself that his ¡°level to satiate your thirst¡± trick would soon become impossible as he would reach the peak of the [Copper] rank, and thus he needed to strength to allow him to drink from the oasis or his situation would quickly return to being a miserable one. So, he assigned his bot to increase the level of his [Mana Bolt] skill to level 3 ¨C hoping beyond hope that the upgrade would reduce the mana cost somewhat as that would mean he could engage with larger and larger groups of monsters and yet still come out on top.
A week had passed, and Peter¡¯s heart was beating loudly in his chest as he once again peered over the sand dune he was hiding behind and took a look at all the Baby Furies drinking from the clear blue water. He was level 9 now, and his [Mana Bolt] skill was level 4, and thus Peter felt that it was time to try and test himself against the currently resting group of Baby Furies that sat leisurely on the shores of the oasis. The [Bronze] ranked goliath was in the previous group, and so wouldn¡¯t return to the oasis for a while ¨C he hoped ¨C and so with only a hundred or so regular Baby Furies to deal with, Peter felt that this was probably his best shot at being able to drink from the water that he would get. So, steeling his mind away from at least some of his nervousness, he began sneaking towards the closest small group of Baby Furies and once in range, he let off a [Mana Bolt] at them. In seconds, the bolt of mana collided with the ground near the group ¨C and the powerful explosion of mana that followed blew the monster¡¯s limbs from their bodies and covered each of the 5 or so monsters in the group in a large amount of searing hot sand that caused them an immense amount of pain as it touched their newly exposed flesh. Peter ignored the system prompts he was receiving and focused his attention on trying his best to hide once again from the now very much alert pack of 90 or so baby furies. His heart pounded as he snuck around to the other side of the dune and saw a group of baby furies and let loose another [Mana Bolt], killing at least 3 more of the monsters, before his [Foresight] passive skill just barely allowed him to dodge a Fury that had gone over the top of the dune and was now trying to peck him to death. Peter, panicking, shot a [Mana Bolt] at this new attacker, killing it instantly, but also draining his own mana pool by another 20 MP for very little relative benefit. Realising that he had just made a seriously wasteful mistake, Peter infused his legs with his mana, and began running in the opposite direction of the oasis ¨C his mind racing thanks to both the incredible amount of adrenaline coursing through his veins and a deep need to constantly criticise himself for being an idiot. Whether by sheer luck, or due to the monsters¡¯ sheer stupidity, Peter managed to get far enough away from the oasis to feel somewhat safe to sit still and rest his legs. His attempt at storming the monsters¡¯ head base and taking what he needed had failed, primarily because he had been wasteful with his mana, but he was still alive ¨C which, considering that he was a weak kid less than a week ago, was a feat in and of itself, and honestly, Peter was amazed with himself. He¡¯d just have to try again tomorrow ¨C unless the [Bronze] rank was there, of course.
Katie dropped to her knees, the pounding in her skull having now reached a truly unbearable level ¨C she had well and truly run out of mana after she had been conscripted to function as a healer for all the morons who had gotten themselves injured ¡°defending the walls¡± today. She scoffed at the jokers who lay barely alive with her in the infirmary. They had all thought themselves capable of fighting against a [Bronze] rank, and now look where they are. This morning, for the first time since entering the dungeon, the remnants of the raid party had caught a glimpse of the behemoth that was the boss of this dungeon. To say that some in the fortress had very quickly jumped over the walls to ¡°defend¡± the fort was to understate the level of idiocy that had been displayed by the raid party¡¯s veteran members. In fact, Katie was pretty sure that some of the wounds she¡¯d been healing with her magic had been caused by other notable members of the party. However, the sight of the [Bronze] rank monster had lit a match in Katie that she honestly hadn¡¯t imagined such a relatively weak monster would be capable of lighting. It had made her excited due to its clear and obvious strength, and the only way she knew to satiate this feeling inside her was to conquer that monster. Plus, given that most of her competition for the privilege was now half-dead, she would be able to go full out and honestly, she couldn¡¯t wait to fight something that she didn¡¯t need to hold back against as so far nothing in her new life had given her any challenge. She prayed to her divine patron that this [Bronze] rank beast would change that fact. Chapter 17: Goals Peter had now probably attempted to access the oasis¡¯ water over a dozen times in the last 4 days, but even with the [Bronze] rank titan never being present, the sheer number of enemies that always sat around the oasis had proven an almost impossible barrier for Peter to overcome. Furthermore, with each level that he gained on the monsters he killed, the less potent rewards that he had received per kill, and thus his fast-tracking of his upgrades had also diminished significantly ¨C forcing him to need to kill more and more monsters with each attempt. Yet, Peter had no choice but to succeed now, as the newest system prompt he had received all but confirmed that his little rejuvenation trick had run out of uses for now and that was all the system prompts he needed to know it was time to get serious. You have levelled up! Reward: Peter felt his entire body flooded with new life, and his mana pool inflated significantly inside him, as the effects of this level-up became realised. Katie had told him some information about what it was like to reach the peak of any rank, but she had definitely not mentioned that one received a retroactive increase to HP and MP. That was a downright ridiculous bonus. And if one got such an incredible increase upon reaching the peak of [Copper] rank, what kind of retroactive bonus would one receive upon ascending from the [Copper] rank to the [Bronze] rank. The thought alone was enough to almost tempt Peter into wanting to fight with the [Bronze] rank monster himself, so as to ascend, but he tempered such thoughts with the harsh but true reality that he would almost certainly die if he attempted to fight that thing one on one. He had grown stronger, no doubt, but not so strong that he could take on a beast a whole rank above his by himself. With a sigh, he dismissed the prompt and continued making plans for his next ¨C hopefully successful ¨C attack on the oasis. This time, however, there was a sense of urgency about his planning, as if he wasted too much time planning ¨C he¡¯d end up losing his ability to utilise his full strength due to dehydration. It really was a do-or-die affair, and Peter wouldn¡¯t let himself die.
Peter put his fear, anxiety, and nervousness away as he prepared to finally take on the avian domination of the oasis and win for once. Despite it being close to dusk, and some Baby Furies already sleeping, it seemed that the avian monsters had wizened to his attack strategy and a barebones guard and watcher schedule seemed to have been implemented by the emu-like monsters. Peter grinned at the absurdity of the situation, then readied a [Mana Bolt] with his right hand. Sustaining the bolt, and not firing it yet, Peter crept close to a pack of unsuspecting Furies and then unleashed a bolt at them whilst also pretending to run in the opposite direction of the oasis as he had done many times before. His bolt¡¯s power had improved significantly upon reaching level 5, meaning that when it struck the earth, every Baby Fury within a 5m radius instantly died, and every Baby Fury within a 10m radius was somehow injured by the blast. In reaction to the blast, about a dozen furies began circling the perimeter of the oasis whilst running at their top speed, and with each lap they expanded the circle in which they were running ¨C they were definitely looking for Peter. Peter smirked as he slowly crept onto the open shore of the oasis and began lobbing [Mana Bolt] after [Mana Bolt] at groups of somehow still resting Baby Furies and killing many of them without that much effort in the least. Peter just about managed to move his leg out of the way of a kick from a previously unseen Fury ¨C thanks singularly to his [Foresight] skill. However, even knowing the future doesn¡¯t help if you are not able to do anything about it, as was proved by the Baby Fury then proceeding to launch an attack that Peter was unable to dodge as the monster was just far too close. Peter heard his ribs crack as he took a Fury foot to the chest, and he was sent flying towards the lake at the centre of the oasis. However, though he was in excruciating pain, Peter forced himself to focus through sheer willpower upon crashing into the ground once again and then he managed to cast [Mana Bolt] in time to prevent a number of Baby Furies from attempting to finish him off. However, his mana pool was quickly diminishing, and the covert aspect of his plan completely fell apart as the Baby Furies who had just seconds ago been running around the perimeter searching for him once again returned to the oasis area and began charging at his helpless prone body. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Knowing that he couldn¡¯t run, and that if he stayed where he was, he would almost certainly die, Peter gritted his teeth as he desperately began to crawl towards the lake. He heard the heavy thuds of avian hooves thumping against the sand all around him, but he kept on pushing himself forward despite the fact he knew he was all but screwed regardless of whether he reached the lake or not. However, if he was going to die, he would do it whilst technically achieving the goal he had set for himself. Yet, upon successfully entering the water, Peter felt a cold so low and biting envelop his entire body that he began to panic. With desperate and painful leg movements, alongside some assistance with arm flailing, Peter managed to keep his head above the water ¨C though he did take a bold swig of the oasis¡¯ water. At first it tasted like normal water, but then it seemed to almost explode in his mouth ¨C filling it with immense magical power. Peter did his best to swallow, but no matter how hard he tried, the water or mana or whatever just seemed endless. He felt himself begin to drown as his lungs were filled with an endless stream of water, and his mind began to also feel submerged. Time, place, identity, all such things became utterly meaningless as everything turned black, and Peter began to fall into the bottomless depths of the oasis¡¯ lake.
When Peter awoke again, the world around him was black, and he felt a monumental pressure pressing down on him. Yet, he didn¡¯t feel threatened, nor did he feel as though he should be concerned ¨C it was as if his entire mind was just¡­ at ease. He was confused, certainly, but that confusion was cleared up somewhat when he focused on a number of strange flashing system prompts that had appeared in the top right corner of his vision. CONGRATULATIONS! You have claimed the Hidden Dungeon Treasure: [Font of Water Affinity]! Treasure Absorbed: [Font of Water Affinity] Treasure Grade: [B] Treasure Description: Before there was land, there was but an endless sea and from the depths came all life that now dares to exist. This font allows you to receive a strong Water Magic Affinity, and water related traits, making you understand this fundamental element of the universe. Reward(s) Received: Peter felt a slight tug pull at his lips. Had upgrading his luck stat really led to this much of a difference? Previously he had seemed to go from worse situation to worse situation, barely managing to survive. But now that he had a pretty decent [Luck] stat, Peter almost felt as though his life had taken a complete 180 thanks to this raid dungeon. Peter let a smile form on his face and then, with a strong push against the lakebed, he surged upwards ¨C and, to his great surprise, he emerged only a couple of seconds later. All around him, there were obvious signs that the lake had retreated significantly in the last few days. Now, it was probably only about a fifth of its original size, and judging by the dozens of dried-up corpses of Baby Furies that surrounded him ¨C this reduction in the quantity of water had hit the monsters pretty hard. Peter wondered why all of a sudden the lake had started receding, but quickly guessed as to why ¨C he had taken the treasure, which meant the water was no longer flooded with mana, and thus no longer protected against the heat from the sun. Peter almost felt a little bad for what he had done but realised that he may have single handedly caused the raid dungeon¡¯s monsters to start to die out in the thousands and thus instead of feeling bad, he felt¡­ pride swell up in his chest. He had not only done what he had planned to do ¨C drink from the oasis ¨C he had also, very unintentionally, managed to find and absorb a hidden dungeon treasure. He almost pumped his fist in celebration of his incredible change in circumstances, but then a massive thud coming from the shore of the oasis quickly made Peter reconsider celebrating. Fear swelled up within him as he turned his head, and sure enough, the goliath that was the [Bronze] rank monster stood right there on the shore ¨C killing intent radiating off its entire body, with all of it focused intensely on Peter. In short, he was fucked.
Katie stood atop the walls ¨C using her advanced perception skills to try and scout out whether or not any waves were going to come today. ¡°No sign of them today either, huh?¡± A familiar woman¡¯s voice said from behind her. ¡°Nope. Something is definitely not right Liz.¡± Katie responded, making sure to use the name that the woman found most embarrassing for her ¨C who looked like a teenager ¨C to call her. However, instead of complaining, Liz simply sighed and said with no hint of happiness in her voice at all, ¡°A search party it will be then.¡± Katie nodded at the woman¡¯s words, and then added, ¡°We should only send the best ¨C I think you should know better than anyone bar me by now just how good most of this party are at fucking up.¡± Liz sighed again and nodded, before she proposed a party ¨C more to herself than to Katie, but still, aloud, ¡°So that¡¯s you, Jared, Patrick, Frank, and Joe.¡± Katie frowned at the inclusion of that guy named Jared in the group, as ever since she had shown off some of her powers a few days ago ¨C the man had looked at her with barely concealed murderous intention. He must have sussed out who she was from seeing her fight against one of the waves and he thus likely wanted revenge for what had happened back at Jeremy Foram¡¯s place. She had to admit, the man was definitely one of the best fighters in the whole raid party and he clearly knew what he was doing and didn¡¯t often make stupid decisions. Though, of course, she was still pretty confident that she could beat him in a fight as that was precisely what she had done the last time they¡¯d faced each other in combat at the slaver¡¯s shop. Katie simply smiled as she recalled ending that bastard slaver¡¯s life, before shaking her head clear of thoughts and replying to the frantic, paranoid Liz. ¡°No there isn¡¯t a monster wave coming. I was just spacing out for a bit. Alright?¡± Liz sighed a sigh of relief, before muttering under her breath, ¡°Monster.¡± Which only caused Katie to smirk in response. Chapter 18: Boss Battle The scouting party had left a few hours after Liz and Katie¡¯s conversation, and to Katie¡¯s great relief they had been given a couple packs of rations just in case they got lost out in the wilderness whilst searching for the dungeon¡¯s monster population. Katie almost found it funny that after weeks of the monster population willingly rushing towards them, it was now the raid party ¨C and her in particular ¨C who was now going out in search of them. She honestly had no idea what had changed in the last few days that that had made all the monsters disappear and she was honestly curious to find out. As the party that she was travelling with were all peak [Copper] rank experts, they covered ground quickly, and if they had encountered any monsters, she was pretty sure they could¡¯ve killed a wave of thousands of monsters all by their lonesome. So, the fact they had yet to encounter a single bird after 3 hours of searching was honestly starting to make her jittery as she had anticipated an epic battle to the death with the boss and its wave of minions, and she was being severely disappointed with every passing second of running through an empty desert of boring black sand. Then, after a further 2 hours of running, they came upon it ¨C an oasis, where a familiar giant bird stood on guard on the shore. And, just like that, all party cohesion broke down and every member of the group simply began surging towards the [Bronze] rank with an eagerness in their eyes ¨C even Katie was not immune to wanting to snipe this particular [Bronze] rank, surprising herself. The giant monster, showing itself far superior to its minion, detected all of their approaches and it let out a hideous screech and it surged towards them in turn, and a mighty battle between man and man and man and beast began. The first to fall dead was the adventurer whom Katie was pretty sure was called Joe ¨C courtesy of a dagger that had mysteriously appeared in his back, probably from the person whom Katie was pretty sure was called Frank. However, the first to hit the [Bronze] rank, that was Katie. Every single one of her stats was at a ridiculous level for her current rank and so she was an incomparable in terms of her raw power to those within or around her current rank. Plus, she had decades of combat experience from having lived her former life and combined with her OP starting stats, she could with all modesty say that she was currently a monster among monsters. So, when her fist smashed into the skull of the beast, and she heard the cracking of bone ¨C the last thing she had expected that sound to mean was that HER FIST had been broken by the monster¡¯s metallic feathers. However, the pain that throbbed from her broken fists confirmed what she thought impossible, and her failure quickly led to her being unable to avoid being smashed by the [Bronze] rank monster¡¯s beak sideways ¨C flying for a few seconds before crashing hard against searing hot sand. She recovered quickly, her body healing at a speed others could only dream of in the [Copper] rank, but now her fighting spirit had been fully activated ¨C she lost control of herself, embracing the thrill of sheer, unadulterated violence. With her in her battle mode, she no longer cared whether her enemy was human or monster, she delivered an uncompromising barrage of attacks on anything or anyone that even slightly hinted at wanting to battle or kill her. She cast powerful magical spells that each hit the monstrous boss monster like meteors did planets ¨C causing the giant tremendous pain and inflicting a heavy amount of damage. Katie vaguely saw the other members of her party trying their best to inflict damage, but failing due to the monster¡¯s unbelievable defences, and so she doubled her efforts in killing the beast. Seeing that the [Bronze] rank was close to death thanks to her attacks, Katie unleashed her most powerful spell, and an explosion whose destructive power should not have been possible from a [Copper] ranked warrior barely old enough to wield the system was let loose, and it sent body parts, both human and monstrous, flying everywhere. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Katie felt her mind relax as the dust cleared, and she saw the dead body of the [Bronze] rank laying in pieces not too far away. Then, she felt killing intent from beside her, and swiftly dispatched of her would-be assassin with a punch to the head that sent their head flying away from their body. However, almost immediately upon the man¡¯s death, her mind was beset by poison and as she had let down her guard, the poison began to seep into every crack it could find, and her world began to swirl like a whirlpool and then all turned green, then red, then¡­ cyan? She swore she heard a man¡¯s voice droning on and on about something nearby, but she was too busy trying to resist the poison that was trying to destroy her mind ¨C but it seemed that the poison was no simple one and she cursed her bad luck. Then, a flash of light appeared and then an explosion was unleashed right in front of her sending her flying backwards, and as she turned her head to look in the direction that the explosion had come from, she noticed a strange boy exiting the lake.
Peter scrambled onto land as quickly as possible as he saw that though his [Mana Bolt] had charred Sadi¡¯s body tremendously, he was still alive, and he was pretty sure that the man wanted to kill Peter like 5 seconds ago. Peter forced himself to hold his ground as the man who had beaten him relentlessly all those times surged towards him at a speed that Peter could barely follow with his eyes, killing intent radiating off every pore of the man¡¯s body. However, unfortunately for Sadi, Peter¡¯s [Combat Foresight] skill revealed the man¡¯s feint for what it was, and before the man could quickly stab his knife into Peter¡¯s throat ¨C time froze all around Peter. Then, after getting out of the way of the man¡¯s attack, Peter released his time spell, and instantly readied a [Mana Bolt] and shot it directly ahead of the man¡¯s path ¨C subsequently hitting him directly in the face, exploding the man¡¯s head on impact. Peter dropped to his knees clutching his chest with his hands ¨C otherwise he felt his chest might explode as his heart thundered away due to the adrenaline flooding his body. He had just killed Sadi! His mind was racing as he realised what he had just done. However, his minor heart attack was overshadowed almost instantly, as Katie began to radiate an aura that no [Copper] rank could ¨C she had ascended, but Peter had already experienced far too much excitement immediately after waking up and he had to focus to keep himself breathing steadily. Peter was aided a second or so later as a hand gripped his shoulder gently and soothing energy trickled into his soul. He looked around him, and upon looking up, he saw the androgynous face of Frank smiling down at him. ¡°Fancy seeing you here, kid.¡± The teen said, his gallows humour not in the least bit funny to Peter as of right now. ¡°It seems your friend has just ascended passed us plebs, huh?¡± The teen continued, and Peter was now starting to get the distinct impression the teen was using Peter as an excuse just to speak to himself. That impression was confirmed when the teen said, in a low and not quite jokey tone, ¡°Pat is really dead, huh?¡± ¡°First the rest of them, now Pat too. I guess I am all alone again.¡± Frank said, and Peter knew tears were streaming down the young man¡¯s face. Peter remained totally silent as he shakily got back up on to his feet and upon successfully doing so, he felt stable enough to read the ginormous system prompt that he, and every other member of the raid party, had just received. DUNGEON CLEARED! Cleared Dungeon Name: Hell¡¯s Porch Rank: [Copper+] Type: [Apocalypse] [RAID] Difficulty: [C+] All Objectives Completed: Specific User Reward Generated: 3 x [1-Month Upgrade Time Reducer] 4 x [1-Week Upgrade Time Reducer] 10 x [6-hour Upgrade Time Reducer] (Note: User Rewards are generated based on your contribution to the completion of the dungeon¡¯s objectives.) Would you like to exit the dungeon: YES / NO Peter almost couldn¡¯t stop himself from laughing as he selected yes and a smile appeared on his face as he zipped out of the dungeon and appeared back standing alone in the outside world ¨C standing right where the door to the dungeon had been but no longer was. His smile didn¡¯t fade, even as he saw everyone else pop out right next to him, and even as he realised that those who had tried to bury him alive were probably among those who had made it out of the dungeon safe and sound. Regardless, he had left the dungeon fundamentally different from how he had gone in. He had changed dramatically, and in his view, it was all for the better. He had gone in a slave afraid of his master but exited a liberated boy who¡¯d slain their cruel and despicable master in direct combat, saving a useful ally. He¡¯d entered weak and afraid of pain, and through misery had tasted the first morsels of the true power that awaited him if only he reaches out and takes it for himself. In short, he had entered Hell¡¯s porch shackled and afraid, and came out free and powerful. And no one would ever take his freedom away from him again, and in time, those who had tried to do just that would get their dues paid to them. His wrath was inevitable, and it would it come; All in good time. Chapter 19: Home Invasion Once everyone still alive had managed to exit the dungeon, Elizabeth gathered all into a large circle and began giving a speech that turned out to be something equating a eulogy for every fallen adventurer. Peter found this odd, as he was certain that many of the adventurers who had died had been killed by other adventurers, and yet everyone in attendance bowed their head in solemn acknowledgement of the dead, and tears flowed from almost every eye present. Peter watched on, slightly uncertain how to feel. Sure, the group of adventurers he had lived with for a bit had nearly all perished in the dungeon, but he hadn¡¯t quite spent enough time around them to truly be saddened by their individual deaths. So, whilst he knew it was sad, he didn¡¯t exactly feel bereaved by their loss ¨C unlike Frank. A vice like grip tightened around his shoulder and pulled him back, Peter almost began firing off a [Mana Bolt], but a quick smack to his face informed him that it was Katie dragging him away. And, once they were a couple hundred metres away from the impromptu funeral, the girl began to lecture ¨C as was her usual. ¡°You really are a barbarian, aren¡¯t you? Have you seriously never heard of manners before? Show some respect for the dead for goodness¡¯ sake!¡± Peter was astounded that after ascending to the [Bronze] rank, the first thing that the girl in front of him felt like doing was lecturing him on proper funeral etiquette. After she had fully gotten off this particular lecture off her chest, her eyes had narrowed onto Peter¡¯s own and she asked, ¡°So, are you going to explain to your great and glorious teacher where exactly the hell you wandered off to and why you were swimming in a lake near the [Bronze] rank boss I had to kill for you?¡± Peter shrugged, before saying casually, ¡°Someone tried to bury me alive, I survived, killed a bunch of the monsters, levelled, and then claimed the hidden treasure that was in the lake after killing a couple more dozen monsters ¨C then, because I am nice like that, I saved your life from my sadistic former master who was going to kill you.¡± For the first time, ever, Katie seemed flustered by his words. Primarily because they were true. He had saved her life. However, of course, she didn¡¯t want to focus on that part of his words, so picked up on something else instead. ¡°Wait?! Hidden treasure?! What hidden treasure?!¡± Peter smugly tilted his head upwards as if to say ¡°I¡¯m not telling you¡±, before actually saying, ¡°I am not telling you.¡± His newly ascended grammar teacher seemed frustrated that her question hadn¡¯t been answered but dropped the subject pretty quickly. ¡°I recommend heading back and getting some rest kid, but now that you¡¯re free of that Jared bastard for a master I¡¯ll be sure to assign you more homework to make best use of that spare time of yours.¡± She said, almost making Peter stagger back in fear. She laughed at his reaction and then said, gently, ¡°Though, you have the next week and a half off from any work from me as I am pretty sure that updating my social class to match my new system rank will take at least that long to organise.¡± Peter snorted, ¡°Snob.¡± ¡°Slave.¡± Katie snorted back, before looking at Peter with what almost resembled pride in her eyes and she said, ¡°You did well to survive and thrive as you did. You really might be a genius after all.¡± Peter blushed at suddenly receiving some praise, but just as soon as the girl had said the words, she disappeared in a sprint and Peter was left standing all alone in the middle of a strange old world-y marketplace ¨C kind of hungry. Peter looked around questioning where or what he should do next, before deciding that it was time. He would return to his old squatting spot and ask if he could potentially get a job at the old tavern, and by the system did he have stories to tell the place¡¯s clients.
Peter walked down the familiar back alley with a hint of nostalgia infecting his ability to see clearly. After all, it had been so long since he had last seen the spot where he had all but lived ever since he got kicked out of that last orphanage when he had been 6. It was in a pretty populated part of the slums, up some rickety wooden stairs and to the right. A half-broken door is the only protection from the elements you get, but in return for being a bit chilly in the winter, he had managed to get about as much privacy as a slum rat could ask for thanks to the building being surrounded by the city¡¯s newest defensive wall. As Peter ascended the stairs for the first time in over half a year, he felt nervous excitement build up in his chest. Would his old spot still be in the same terrible condition that he left it in, or even worse? If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. He hoped that the door was still at least half-broken, and no more than that ¨C otherwise, he really would have to work hard to afford to get a new door. However, upon turning the corner, he was confronted with a sight he very much hadn¡¯t expected to see upon returning to his old squatting spot ¨C a sight that he hadn¡¯t even considered a possibility up and till now. Sat where he had sat many times over the years, humming to themselves absent-mindedly while nibbling carefully on some rather nasty-looking bread, was none other than a pale, frail-looking beast kin boy, who looked to be about 9 years old, with grey, wolf-like ears sprouting from the top of his head. Their pairs of eyes met and Peter realised that his homecoming might not be such a predestined thing by fate after all. ¡°W¡­Who are you?¡± The boy asked, clearly frightened. ¡°Uhh, I am Peter.¡± Peter replied, his confusion evident in his voice, ¡°Who are you?¡± The boy looked him up and down, sniffed the air, then said stuttered out, ¡°W¡­Why do you w¡­want to know?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a greenie, right?¡± Peter asked, starting to picture together what was happening. ¡°Greenie?¡± the boy asked, fear now fully permeating every word he said. ¡°Yep, that confirms it, you¡¯re a greenie,¡± Peter said with certainty. ¡°No, I am not!¡± The boy cried out desperately before literal tears began to stream from his eyes as he began to cry. Peter was slightly taken aback by this kid¡¯s emotional fragility, considering that he was a slum rat, and that usually meant being an uncontrollable menace of a child and being such a child usually came with some fortitude ¨C something clearly not true in this kid¡¯s case. Peter sighed as he approached the younger boy and patted him on the head and said softly, ¡°I was not insulting you, nor am I going to hurt you. You being a greenie just means that you¡¯re someone who has only recently found themselves living the slum rat lifestyle.¡± The boy almost immediately calmed down upon hearing Peter¡¯s words which also struck Peter as odd. The boy was both fragile and trusting, very much not qualities typical of most slum rats ¨C Peter very much included. ¡°If that is what that word means, then yes, I am a greenie.¡± The boy said between sniffles. Peter found this whole situation incredibly odd. The boy was almost like the ideal adoptive kid candidate. Though the apocalypse had meant a lot of orphans, it had been 50 years since then, and there were still a small number of couples who chose to adopt rather than have children of their own. And, from what he remembered of the stuff that the orphanages had tried to force him to be like, prospective parents wanted kids who were innocent, polite, and big hearted. Plus, Peter remembered that kids who were beast kin usually got adopted far faster ¨C apparently, such children were considered far cuter because of their animalistic appendages than were regular human children like Peter. So, that left the question, why was this kid out on the streets like an adoption reject like Peter? A question that Peter swiftly asked. ¡°What led to you being put out on the streets?¡± Peter asked, in as soft a voice as he could manage whilst still being blunt and direct. The kid wiped the tears away from his eye with the back of his hand, before answering, ¡°When I said I didn¡¯t want to wear this strange metal thing t¡­the k¡­kind mistress started to¡­ uh¡­¡± The boy couldn¡¯t finish any more words after that, and he began crying again. Peter nodded his head as he got the basic idea of what the kid had gone through. The people who ran the orphanages always loved showing you their nice, loving, and innocent side when you did as they said, but quickly they would reveal who they really were deep down once you disobeyed them ¨C even just once. Then, the boy¡¯s specific words clicked in his head, and Peter looked at the kid and realised ¨C something had happened to this kid, and it definitely wasn¡¯t just regular orphanage management being manipulative and controlling type stuff, instead Peter felt it went far deeper and was something far eviller if this kid was punished so harshly for disobeying only once. However, Peter¡¯s experience with the kid up and till now had revealed that the boy simply couldn¡¯t talk about this as of right now without tearing up and so he¡¯d save further questioning him until later. As of right now, the only thing that Peter wanted to know was: ¡°Can you tell me your name now, greenie?¡± ¡°Adrian.¡± The boy said between tears. Peter smiled and then sat next to the boy and tried his best to do what he sucked at the most ¨C comforting another human person.
Peter sucked at helping people with emotional stuff. However, now that the kid had cried himself to sleep, Peter was sat effectively alone and thus he focused in on his sole unchecked system prompt ¨C and it appeared before him in all its ominous glory. You have killed [Copper+] Human (Lvl:10) Reward: 1x [1-hour Upgrade Time Reducer] Despite the reward being hardly fitting the significance of the deed, Peter felt this system prompt was perhaps the most significant one he¡¯d yet received. The prompt represented that he¡¯d officially cut ties with his former weakness and killed the man who had held him in chains, and damn did it feel good to know that he had been rewarded for doing so. And, as a final nail in Sadi¡¯s coffin, Peter did not linger on the prompt for more than a few seconds before dismissing the prompt with a wave of his hand and his thoughts quickly turned instead to what he should use his upgrade time reduction tokens to upgrade. After all, he now had quite the haul of the free upgrade tokens due to the dungeon being so generous in its rewards. In effect, he had approximately 4 months¡¯ worth of upgrading to do in a single interval and he honestly had very little idea about what to and what not to prioritize. Other than the obvious fact that upgrading his stats and perks came before upgrading anything else in terms of priority, as those were the upgrades that otherwise took the longest to finish and had the most profound impact on Peter¡¯s life. Yet, the more that Peter considered the question of what to do with his new rewards, the less compelled he felt to make the decision right away. After all, it wasn¡¯t as if he was in a hurry anymore, and he no longer had to worry about what Sadi might do if he found out about some aspect of his status screen, so Peter was pretty much free to do whatever he liked and that included saving making important decisions about how to allocate his dungeon rewards until a later date. So, that was exactly what Peter did. Instead of taxing his tired mind even more pondering what to do, Peter simply let his eyes wander upward toward the night sky and gaze at the endless expanse of blackness in which the vast number of stars twinkled in. Chapter 20: The Ropes Peter hadn¡¯t intended to walk accompanied to the tavern when he¡¯d woken up the morning after, but it seemed that the kid, Adrian, really hadn¡¯t spent much time trying to get to know people and was close to starving to death ¨C and so Peter was going to try and do the right thing and show him the ropes of how to survive as a slum rat. Which was to say, he was going to try and teach the kid how to barely survive until he¡¯s 10 and then the kid will probably be in the exact same position that Peter had found himself in upon receiving a system ¨C and then he¡¯d truly have to shape up or die trying. Peter realised that was harsh, but then again, so was the world they were in. Peter turned the corner onto the strange back alley that led into the tavern where had worked many a time in the past and where he now hoped to find employment once again. Peter grimaced as he noticed that the tavern¡¯s owner, a one Mr Bobby, had still not decided to replace the rotting sign that hung above the shoddily constructed tavern door. The sign, which must predate the apocalypse by a couple decades it was so old, read in bold text: Bobby¡¯s Bar, but underneath the professionally carved text an obvious amateur (Mr Bobby himself) had scratched onto the sign the words: Under New Management ¨C Now called Bobby¡¯s Tavern. Peter had always detested the sign. First of all, the place had never changed management ¨C Mr Bobby had just decided to change his establishment from being a bar to being a tavern upon being told that his establishment being a tavern better fit ¡®the setting¡¯ or whatever that meant. Of course, nothing had changed about the tavern¡¯s services with this new development ¨C only the name. Peter sighed as he pushed open the door and was met instantly with the warmth of a strong hearth, as well as the smell of sweat, blood, and the stench of alcohol. The tavern¡¯s interior was quite large considering everything, and it had at least a dozen or so tables and could probably seat around 80 or so people. And, in the far corner of the open floor tavern, stood the large and chubby form of Mr Bobby ¨C playing at cleaning a glass with a dirty rag, though Peter was pretty sure that neither the glass nor the rag had ever actually been cleaned. Mr Bobby saw Peter walking over to him, and his eyebrows raised almost instantly. ¡°Well, well, well. Looks like my favourite old rat has made something of himself and gotten to the peak of [Copper] rank. Be careful lads, this one might be our town¡¯s first super genius.¡± Mr Bobby announced in his typical warm and gusto-full voice. Peter ignored the glances that were sent his way by the shady clientele who currently populated the tavern, as he took a seat on one the stools in front of the bar ¨C Adrian taking the one next to him. Peter had hoped the tavern owner would keep what his Analysis skill told him to himself, but he should¡¯ve that the man famous for oversharing would overshare about Peter¡¯s status as well. ¡°You here to celebrate reaching the peak, kid?¡± The tavern owner asked curiously. Peter smiled, before shaking his head, ¡°I think the both of us need a job so that we can eat.¡± The fat man laughed hysterically, before looking at Adrian, nodding slightly, and then saying, ¡°Say, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen you around before ¨C what¡¯s your name kid?¡± Adrian struggled but eventually told the man his name. Peter then chimed in with, ¡°He¡¯s a greenie Mr Bobby, real new to the lifestyle if you know what I mean.¡± The man nodded, before saying in a serious voice, ¡°I can probably hire the greenie ¨C but ain¡¯t no way I can afford to feed you too lil Pete, sorry.¡± Then, he gestured at a table of 5 people all dressed in armour and said, confused, ¡°Plus, you¡¯re a peak [Copper] rank now, shouldn¡¯t you be trying to become peasant rich like those other [Copper] ranked adventurers do through clearing dungeons and the like?¡± Peter thought about the man¡¯s words and realised that his reason for coming to the tavern was kind of silly now that he had such strength ¨C perhaps he had let his nostalgia cloud his judgement too much. However, it seemed that the kid next to him was happy with this new development, and so Peter guessed that something good had come of this trip to the tavern after all. The proceeding hours passed by quickly as Peter and Mr Bobby chatted, and the man explained some of the rules of the house to Adrian. For all his flaws, the big man had a soft heart, and he clearly had decided to help out Adrian as much as he could and that included providing him whatever the only protection the man could offer ¨C the badge that certified that he worked for Mr Bobby. Mr Bobby was a universally beloved man in the slums, and no one raised in the slums ever dared mess with him or his establishment ¨C as at some point in almost every slum rat¡¯s life the man had helped them survive through a tough spot even when he himself was obviously struggling to keep everything afloat. This adoration the slums had for the man also partly explained why the tavern still had patrons, despite the sign outside, and despite the fact that the alcohol served was objectively bad tasting, and the glasses were dirty as all hell. All of it because at the end of the day, those in a poor situation had to look out for one another. Though, as the hours passed by, and his mind turned more inwards, Peter could only wonder if he truly could leave this life behind as he had so wanted to for his entire life. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. He shook his head ¨C he was being far too nostalgic again. He had to ascend up the social ranks otherwise he would remain weak, and that was a fate he couldn¡¯t suffer for even a single moment. So, no matter what part of his current life he had to give up now, he would do it in a heartbeat if that meant he could attain the true power he was looking for. And, potentially, when he had enough power and wealth to do with it as he pleased, he could help those currently sat in Bobby¡¯s Bar to become powerhouses just like him. One day. Come the next morning, Peter received a system prompt that woke him out of alcohol induced sleep and into a hungover hazy state of semi-consciousness. Your assigned bot has completed its task! Skill: [Mana Bolt]¡¯s level is now 6! Updated Description: When activated, you form a bolt out of pure mana with your hands and can fire it at will in any direction. Cost: 45 MP | Cooldown: 4 Seconds Peter coughed violently as he dismissed the prompt from his vision, before sighing and pushing his back up against the wall his formerly former squatting spot. Peter now had both of his bots available to utilise, as well as his upgrade time reducer tokens and he wondered what to upgrade. Whilst making such important decisions whilst experiencing a hangover wasn¡¯t exactly the smartest move, Peter didn¡¯t really care, as he had two upgrades that he knew he had to do thanks to some thinking he¡¯d done the previous night. With a thought, he assigned one bot to upgrade his [Enhanced Senses] perk, and with another he assigned the other bot to upgrade his [Shy] perk. Then, ignoring the system prompts he had just received, at least for now, he mentally commanded his system to apply one [1-week upgrade time reducer] token to each task ¨C instantly finishing them. Peter positively groaned with glee as he felt all of his senses heighten incredibly, then his nose twitched in disgust as he swore that he could smell the sewage that ran under the city walls in pipes. It was only after everything normalised somewhat that Peter grinned and brought up his system prompts into view. You have assigned 1 system bot to increase Perk: [Shy], to [F+] rank! Time remaining until assignment completion: 6 days, 15 hours, 36 minutes! You have assigned 1 system bot to increase Perk: [Enhanced Senses], to [F+] rank! Time remaining until assignment completion: 6 days, 15 hours, 36 minutes! Your assigned bot has completed its task! Perk: [Shy]¡¯s rank is now [F+]! Updated Information: Shy | Type: Social | Rank: [F+] | Progress to Next Rank: 0/3 | Description: [Basic] skill grade scanning skills shall not yield up your status to others. Your assigned bot has completed its task! Perk: [Enhanced Senses]¡¯s rank is now [F+]! Updated Information: Enhanced Senses | Type: Social | Rank: [F+] | Progress to Next Rank: 0/3 | Description: Your senses are inherently much better attuned to the nature of reality than others. You have gained the [F+] rank title: All-Rounded Description: Have One of Each Type of System Perk Above the [F+] rank. Effects: +1% potency boost to all perks and their effects. Peter grinned despite his throbbing headache as the he read through each and every one of his new system prompts, and his mind began racing upon reading the final system prompt. He had never heard of the trait he had received before, though he guessed that was because he hadn¡¯t met many people who had used 4 perk points before as most only got to be able to use that many upon reaching [Bronze] rank ¨C or at least that was what Katie had said. Though, according to her, there were such things as ¡®Perk Point Dungeons¡¯ that gave out perk points as a reward for clearing it, but such dungeons were extremely rare. Plus, just due to the absurd nature of their reward, they had a high likelihood of already having been monopolised by the already powerful and their overbearing factions. This was because being in possession of such a dungeon gave a faction the ability to entice promising new talents to join their faction as well as shore up their already existing members until they were unstoppable demi-gods. However, thanks to Peter¡¯s [Idle Progression] perk, he had no need of perk points at all and just the thought of not having to rely on anyone else to become strong made Peter the happiest slum rat in the whole entire galaxy. Peter¡¯s mind quickly found itself wondering what to upgrade now that all of his perks were at least at the [F+] grade. He could upgrade his stats, but as his mental stats were already at or above the [E] grade, he wouldn¡¯t be able to upgrade them with his current [Idle Progression] perk¡­ wait, a crazy idea came to him and wondered, ¡®could he¡­ no?¡¯ Sure, it would be a gamble, but if he actually got his [Idle Progression] perk to the [E+] grade then he wouldn¡¯t have to wait as long for each future upgrade thanks to the time reduction percentage increase that came with each new upgrade of the perk. Feeling ambitious, Peter commanded a bot to upgrade his [Idle Progression] perk to [E+] but his hopes and dreams were shattered as he received a new system prompt in return. Cannot assign system bot to upgrade Perk: [Idle Progression] to [E+], because your User Rank: [Copper+] is too low! Peter almost cursed out the system for this roadblock being put in the way of his progression, but quickly calmed down as he knew deep down that he was just being too greedy. Plus, if Peter had anything to say about it, soon his system rank would increase, and this injustice could then be rectified. But, for now, he would just have to upgrade something else. Returning to thinking about which stats would be best to upgrade, Peter eventually reached some conclusions about which stats he wanted to upgrade. The first stat on his list to upgrade was his [Constitution] stat, for obvious reasons. Peter had endured far too many beatings recently to think he would not need far better self-healing than he currently had as he moved forward and fought with more monsters. Plus, having a higher [Constitution] stat extended one¡¯s lifespan and made on look far healthier and more beautiful. To Peter, whose whole method of progression involved waiting for long periods for growth, the time that a high [Constitution] would buy him was priceless ¨C thus it was an obvious choice for him, and he assigned his first bot to upgrade it right away. The next stat Peter decided he needed to upgrade was his [Learning] stat. To put it simply, the sole reason that Peter desired so strongly to see it reach the next rank was because he wanted to be finished with Katie¡¯s lessons as quick as possible so that he could reach the [Bronze] rank in short order. So, thinking of it as a long-term investment in his future, Peter commanded his second bot to upgrade the stat as well. Then, with a thought, both upgrades were instantaneously finished, and a second later Peter let out a bone-curdling scream of pain as it felt like everyone of his bones were cracking inside of him, and his skin felt as though he had been set on fire. It was sheer and utter agony, and Peter soon blacked out from the pain ¨C totally unaware of what had just happened. Chapter 21: Storm Katie had walked straight to the Office for Social Advancement¡¯s office upon exiting the dungeon, and upon the officers in the room confirming that she had been one of the registered party members on the raid ¨C she had formally been granted the right to use and access resources and locations meant solely for the [Bronze] social class. She had drawn some disbelieving glares from some of the Office¡¯s workers as clearly, every single worker in the high-status office thought that [Copper] ranked people were worse than good for nothing. So even the notion of a person of such a humble class managing to defy the odds and be brilliant made them have to either requestion their entire world view or, instead, engage in the far easier option and try and downplay that person¡¯s achievement as being not equivalent to their achievements. Katie¡¯s incredible physical stats naturally boosted her senses and so she was able to pick up even the faintest whispers from anywhere in the entire building. ¡°From lice to rodent. Big deal!¡± A man¡¯s voice had said. ¡°How does this rude and vulgar girl even dare be in the same class as my sweet little Larken.¡± A woman¡¯s voice had exclaimed indignantly above her. Katie dismissed every insult as ridiculous ¨C especially because she knew, literally better than anyone else in existence, the level of power that she would soon attain. Then, a second later, she heard something she truly had not expected to hear ¨C she was pretty sure that at the very edge of her ability to hear, she could vaguely make out a man paying her a compliment. ¡°To be able to beat a [Bronze] ranked monster who is also a [Raid-dungeon] boss whilst only being 11 years old. The girl is undoubtedly a true talent.¡± Katie was somewhat taken aback by these words but let their meaning seep into her thoughts as she reminded herself that she had been sent back in time not to get revenge on all those who looked down on her, but to save the world. Whoever this man was, he had unknowingly reminded her of her mission, and given her hope that maybe, just maybe, the ruling class could be redeemed so as to aid in her mission. After all, Earth needed all the powerful people it could get if it wanted to even dream about warding off the descent of a [God]. Peter jolted forward upon waking up, breathing heavily ¨C and let out a sigh of relief upon realising that his painful dream had all been nothing but a terrible nightmare. He glanced over at the sleeping form of Adrian, who slept remarkably peacefully despite the winter evening chill, then looked out of the massive hole in the half-broken door and saw that it was now nighttime. Peter only then recalled what he had done before he had passed out, and grimaced as he remembered the pain that had enveloped his entire body. There was only one explanation for the pain he had endured: going up to the next letter grade in one¡¯s physical stat hurt like mad. ¡®Though¡¯, Peter grumbled to himself, ¡®that really should have been obvious from the start considering the benefits of physical stat increases.¡¯ Peter now had 2 more stats in the [E] grade and that was what he had to force himself to focus on. He was making a lot of progress, and he smiled as he recalled that he still had a single [1-month upgrade time reducer] token left and after giving it some thought, he decided on a particular course of action. Two system prompts appeared in his line of vision upon finalising everything. You have assigned 1 system bot to increase Perk: [Genius], to [E] rank! Time remaining until assignment completion: 26 days, 14 hours, 24 minutes Your assigned bot has completed its task! Perk: [Genius]¡¯s rank is now [E]! Updated Information: Genius | Type: Mental | Rank: [E] | Progress to Next Rank: 0/6 | Description: Far from simple minded, you possess a nimble mind suitably capable of comprehending even the most obscure, inaccessible aspects of all of reality. Peter felt a familiar deepening of his thoughts to the time when he had upgraded his [Genius] perk to [F+] rank, but this time the upgrade was doubly as profound. Instantly, Peter lost any doubt about whether he had made the right decision, as his newly enhanced mind began to wholesale clear out all of the clutter from Peter¡¯s mind ¨C leaving him in a pseudo-meditative state after only a few minutes. So profound was this new feeling of calmness that Peter didn¡¯t even notice when his pseudo-meditative state transitioned into outright meditation. Time lost all meaning as Peter simply sat in place and pondered about well, time. He had noticed from using his current class skills quite a lot of strange aspects of time, and though he couldn¡¯t quite articulate in his head what those aspects necessarily were, nor what their impact was. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. His knowledge of time was like his knowledge of the sun and its rays ¨C he didn¡¯t quite know what they were, but he could certainly feel them. And, whilst in this meditative trance, he felt as though he was leaning into that feeling of the presence of true knowledge and thus it felt as though the secrets of time were being seared onto his skin. Peter felt pure bliss as he pushed deeper and deeper until he felt like his mind was swimming in a lava bath of knowledge. However, upon going a bit too deep, his mind screamed in pain and his eyes were forced open ¨C his peaceful meditation was completely broken. A single system prompt hurtled into his still somewhat blurry frantic vision. Major Mental Feat Achieved! Description: By whatever means, you managed to exit the merely physical world of appearance and driven solely by your pure desire for knowledge your mind managed to sneak into the eternal realm of the ideals and was subsequently scorched by knowledge beyond your capability to understand. Reward: Peter stared at the system prompt in awe. However, he didn¡¯t have that much time to thank the system for this new gift before a monumental thunderclap in the sky above informed Peter that there would be one hell of a storm tonight. Looking over to Adrian, Peter noticed the boy was still asleep. He sighed. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll fill in the holes in this door by myself then,¡± He muttered under his breath, before smiling. He had always liked thunderstorms. Peter hadn¡¯t known what to expect upon entering the new [Bronze] ranked home of Katie for his first lesson since exiting the dungeon, but to be honest, he was kind of disappointed. ¡°This house looks almost identical to the ones in the elite [Copper] rank district,¡± Peter noted out loud. Katie laughed appropriately and said, ¡°Of course it is, silly. The [Bronze] social class is just the [Copper] social class with far more pretentiousness and pomp, so don¡¯t go and get too excited to become a part of the [Bronze] class expecting some massive upgrade in your quality of life.¡± Peter simply nodded, still dazed by this new revelation. It was almost comparable to being told that the sky was a couple hundred thousand metres higher up above you than you thought it was. In other words, it was extremely disorienting, especially to Peter who aimed to one day reach the sky as a demi-god. ¡°Speaking of quality of life, have you started making the necessary moves to acquire yourself a house?¡± Peter froze, before shaking his head. ¡°Why the ever-living hell not?¡± Katie asked dramatically. Peter collected himself before saying indignantly, ¡°Houses cost a lot of money, and being a recognisable slum rat, I don¡¯t exactly have a lot of earning potential.¡± Katie cupped her face in her palms, before muttering under her breath, ¡°Where would you even be without me?¡± and then speaking up and declaring, ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s figure out a way for you to earn money, and once that¡¯s sorted, we can continue your regular education programme.¡± Peter was a bit astounded by the girl¡¯s words but didn¡¯t start speaking as she had adopted one of those ¡°thinking poses¡± that she always did whenever she wanted to be left alone to think. Until, a few minutes of total silence later, she clapped her hands together and said, ¡°Have you ever thought about becoming an enchanter?¡± Needless to say, Peter had never thought about becoming an enchanter ¨C primarily because becoming an enchanter required someone to teach you how to enchant things, a service that Peter was definitely unable to afford. However, if the girl in front of him could teach him how to become one, then he simply couldn¡¯t say no. After all, he knew that enchanters were a highly valued type of magician whose enchanted products often garnered extreme interest from the elite of society, and thus extreme profits for the enchanter ¨C given that their work was considered good enough of course. ¡°No, but I¡¯d like to become one,¡± Peter said, slightly nervous. ¡°Excellent.¡± The girl said, before summoning a dagger out of literally nowhere and saying, ¡°I¡¯ll only explain myself once, so listen up.¡± Thus, Peter discovered to his great displeasure that there was a duller subject to hear being droned on and on about than the science of linguistics ¨C that subject being, of course, the particular grammar rules of non-elemental rune-based enchanting. Peter was now beyond frustrated. Everything about the enchanting process just never seemed to go right for him, and as that was the case, he was not able to unlock the skill and thus he had made absolutely no progress in it in the 2 weeks that had passed since Katie had began trying to teach him the skill. He knew it was because he had neglected to increase the level of his [Mana Manipulation] skill so his mana control was just not good enough to properly pull off a successful enchant, yet, still, even after the skill had been upgraded thrice ¨C bringing it up to level 6 ¨C he still had yet to be successful in enchanting even the most mana conductive material. To make things worse, in his frustration with this whole process, Peter had tried, and summarily failed, to assign both bots to upgrade his mana control to level 7 and now his second bot was disabled for the next 7 days. The situation only got worse, however, as Peter had thought himself a true genius in thinking up a workaround for this bot time-out that had ended in him wasting a precious resource. He had thought that because the time that the bot had been disabled had been determined by the upgrade Peter had started, if he used one of his two remaining [1-week Upgrade Time Reducer] tokens to instantly finish the upgrade, then he¡¯d also simultaneously restore his second bot to full functioning. However, it seemed that the system did not link the two things at all, and so whilst his [Mana Manipulation] skill was now at level 7 ¨C his second bot still had a 6 and a bit day wait until it would be ready to be utilised again. The filthy cherry on the top of the whole miserable shit cake? Even with this upgrade in his [Mana Manipulation] skill, Peter had still failed over and over again to gain the [Enchanting] skill. However, his overwhelming sense of pride would not let him give up on becoming an enchanter, as he needed the money that only becoming an enchanter could provide. Not only did he need the money so that he could stop leeching off of others for food and water, but also because apparently one of the requirements for being granted the chance to ascend via a system trial was that one owned a home. Peter found the superfluous requirement imposed on people like him who wanted to ascend completely ridiculous, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about it as of right now, and if he wanted to be strong, then he would just have to put up with them. At least, for now. Thus, with future power as the goal, Peter took a heavy breath in and then out, and refocused his mind on mastering enchanting. Chapter 22: Attaining Skills Peter let out an animalistic, hoarse holler as the system prompt that he had been striving for finally appeared in his vision. The one he had spent a total of three whole weeks trying to attain. You have gained the [Active] [Class] skill: [Inferior] Runic Enchanting (Lvl:1)! Description: Through careful mana control you can imbue objects with mana giving them, or strengthening already existing, magical effects. Peter wasted no time and assigned a bot to upgrade his newest skill, saw the system prompt informing him it would take less than a day to upgrade, utilised 4 of his [6-hour Upgrade Time Reducer] tokens, and then assigned the bot to upgrade the skill again ¨C but decided that waiting for this upgrade out would be fine. Peter looked at the small glowing object in his hand and discarded it without a second thought. He was not a sentimental person, and he was honestly sick and tired of the living room in which he sat, as Katie ¨C though she pretended to be all civilised ¨C always made the place smell like crap as she often returned from dungeons covered in blood and gore and rarely cleaned up after herself. ¡®I¡¯ve known Slum rats cleaner,¡¯ Peter muttered under his breath. ¡°What was that?¡± A knowing, smug voice rang out from behind him. ¡°Nothing.¡± He lied. ¡°Hmm, took you long enough to get the skill. Honestly, a whole month to learn basic runic enchanting ¨C here I thought you said you were some kind of genius.¡± The girl said, not a hint of congratulations in her voice. Peter simply muttered, ¡°Oh yeah and how long did it take you to learn the skill?¡± Katie smirked before saying, ¡°Oh, only a couple of hours. Though, it only took that long because I made sure to take lots of breaks.¡± Peter scowled in anger ¨C not doubting in the slightest that the girl¡¯s words were 100% true. He had no idea how or why the girl knew what she knew, or who in the hell her parents were to have been able to teach her all that she knew, but Peter had come to realise that Katie was a monstrous individual with an impossible level of talent that he couldn¡¯t hope to match as of right now ¨C a fact that she never ceased to lord over his head to embarrass and deride him. However, in time, Peter hoped, all gaps in power and ability between him and her would close and he would finally be able to show the girl up in something so that he could rub something in her face in his talent for once. Oh, how he longed for that day.
Over the next three weeks, Peter raised his [Runic Enchanting] skill to level 6 and whilst he had done so he had also finally managed to raise one of his core skills from the [Inferior] skill rank to the [Basic] skill rank. Your assigned bot has completed its task! Skill: [Mana Manipulation]¡¯s level is now 10! Skill: [Mana Manipulation]¡¯s skill rank has been increased to [Basic]. Updated Description for [Basic] Mana Manipulation (Lvl:10): By focusing your mind and applying your will you are now able to control and manipulate mana to a small extent. Peter hoped that he wouldn¡¯t need to upgrade his [Mana Manipulation] skill for a while now thanks to this skill rank upgrade, but he doubted he would be so lucky, and he had already learned to an excruciating degree just how important having a high [Mana Manipulation] skill level was to improving his [Runic Enchanting] skill. So, he would probably have to continue improving both simultaneously, or he would risk having to constantly play catchup with one skill or the other. Peter caught in the glimpse of his eye the frame of Adrian walking closer, and he was brought out of his thoughts as he smiled as he could tell that the boy was eating well ¨C judging by the fact he no longer looked so bony and frail. It seemed that Mr Bobby had kept his promise and had been extra good to him, which was exactly what the younger boy needed as of right now. Peter felt weird thinking of the other boy has someone he had to look after and take care of, considering the other boy was only probably a few months younger than Peter, but then again, he guessed that gaining his own system had matured him considerably and that made him feel responsible for his junior slum rat. Upon walking through the now somewhat boarded up door to their shared squatting spot, Adrian seemed ultra excited as he asked Peter, ¡°Did you see them arrive today?¡± ¡°What?¡± Peter asked, confused ¨C not really knowing who the boy was talking about. ¡°I saw a merchant carriage earlier today; don¡¯t you know what that means?¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Peter shook his head. The boy looked astounded at Peter before saying, ¡°It means that it¡¯s nearly springtime and that means candy!¡± Peter had barely realised it ¨C but yes, now that the younger boy mentioned it ¨C the winter frost had been slowly fading away in recent weeks, though some snow could still be seen in the outskirts of the city where fewer people were milling about going about their daily lives. Peter suspected that it was sometime in January, which though not exactly the end of winter, still was closer to spring than it was to the beginning of winter and so he could understand the boy¡¯s excitement ¨C though he wasn¡¯t quite sure about the last part of the boy¡¯s sentence. ¡°Candy?¡± Peter asked, curiously. ¡°You know the sugary chewy stuff that tastes amazing? Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t know about candy?!¡± Adrian exclaimed as if what he was saying was, or at least should have been, totally obvious. Peter shook his head, but smiled as he remembered how shy the younger boy had been during their first meeting and how much the boy had opened up since then. ¡°If you don¡¯t know about candy then we¡¯ll have to go and get you some when the spring market open up properly.¡± Peter laughed and agreed and then proceeded to chat with Adrian for a few hours until the sun set, and Peter then fell asleep ¨C happy.
¡°You want to know the date?¡± Katie asked, clearly amused by Peter¡¯s sudden unrelated question. Peter nodded. ¡°Well yesterday was the 18th of January, so today is the¡­?¡± She replied, condescendingly. ¡°19th.¡± Peter said, not bothering to get mad at the girl for teasing him about his lack of knowledge. He was just grateful to know that the date as now that he knew the date ¨C so long as he kept track of days passing ¨C he would be able to figure out the day of his birthday. Though not important for most, Peter, and most other orphans, had very little clue about the day on which they were born, and it wasn¡¯t as if one could very easily find out about such things either. Neither an adequately high-skilled system mage nor particular records of their birth were often readily available to orphans like Peter with barely a credit to their name. So, opportunities to learn precisely when you had been born were non-existent. That was, until the moment you reached the age of 10, and received your system as that always happened on your 10th birthday ¨C obviously. However, Peter had not known the precise date back when he¡¯d received his system ¨C only that it was in the middle of summer ¨C but now, with the aid of his system, he could finally hope to figure out a precise day. And, now that he knew the date, he could also help Adrian figure out when his birthday was as he was doubtless going to receive a system of his own in a few months. Although the boy himself seemed quite nervous for that day, Peter was excited for the boy as he knew first-hand just how life-changing receiving one¡¯s system could be. Though thinking back to his system reception day, Peter remembered that he hadn¡¯t fully paid back whoever had beaten him up that day. Whoever had done it had, undoubtedly, even if inadvertently, caused all the misery that had followed ¨C his thankfully illicit slavery to Sadi being the most wretched of the consequences from that beating. Peter had initially suspected Fred and his goons as being the culprits behind his beating, but then his being dumped in some back alley afterwards to die made no sense. The thug had wanted Peter to run drugs for him, not kill him. At least, not at the time. Thus, Peter now suspected that the gang leader had had nothing to do with the affair. However, that conclusion provided more questions than answers, and Peter grimaced as he realised that the path to achieving vengeance would be a long and meticulous one. However, that suited Peter just fine as it meant more time for him to consolidate his strength so that even if the person who attacked him had high status ¨C it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for Peter¡¯s revenge. All that mattered to Peter was that justice was served, no matter how long it took.
Over the proceeding weeks, Peter focused exclusively on advancing his [Runic Enchanting] skill. The money he would earn from selling his enchanted items would be the catalyst he needed to advance his [Rank] and thus improving the skill was his top priority. However, that didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t do other things. While he waited for his bots to do their thing, he had taken to trying to unlock the [Stealth] skill. Why? Well, even with his new levels, the heavily armoured men who guarded the central plaza were not exactly lacking in suspicion as they glared at Peter. Thus, if Peter wanted to even have the slightest chance of talking to some people and seeing if they knew who had attacked him, he would need to sneak past the extremely prejudiced guards. Yet, once again, he was confronted with perhaps the only problem that his broken [System] perk couldn¡¯t help him with ¨C the acquisition of difficult to attain skills. But no matter how many times he received strange looks from the other people going about their day, Peter was determined to attain the skill and thus hopefully get a bit closer to figuring out who had attacked him. The daylight hours quickly slipped away, and the sun was already setting on the horizon and everyone, including clearly exhausted adventurers, headed home for the evening ¨C no one liked to be outside when the monsters were at their strongest. Which made the fact that a strangely dressed man was dragging a sobbing but bound child through the streets at such an hour beyond a mere eyesight. The few other pedestrians out also seemed to think it was odd, but upon sensing the man¡¯s aura ¨C that of a [Iron] ranker ¨C they quickly turned a blind eye and went about their day. Peter felt his fists clench, and his teeth grind in his mouth. Instantly, he began to follow the man ¨C unsure about what the hell he was getting himself into. However, before he had even followed the man for a few kilometres, the man turned around blasted his aura and shouted, ¡°I know someone is following me, reveal yourselves!¡± Peter knew he was no match and so stayed perfectly still. He somehow purposefully reduced his heart rate. Minimised the space that he took up behind the building he was hiding behind. A long few tense minutes passed as neither Peter nor the man made a move ¨C the only noise either of them heard was the sound of the bound boy sobbing to himself. Then, the man scoffed, and muttered something under his breath, before he staggered on with the boy firmly in his grasp. Peter felt his heart begin to race in his chest ¨C he had managed to remain hidden, the sudden flashing prompt in the top right corner of his vision confirming that fact. You have gained the [Active] [Class] skill: [Inferior] Hide Presence (Lvl:1)! Description: Through careful control over your physical body, you can hide your presence from others ¨C making you a little harder to spot than others. However, even after reading his new prompt, Peter felt nothing but a lingering sense that he¡¯d failed that boy somehow. Thus, Peter walked back to his squatting spot ¨C the sound of that boy¡¯s cries and the image of his face wet with tears playing over and over again in his mind as he did so. Chapter 23: New Paradigms Peter¡¯s empty gaze did not falter as he sat in his usual squatting spot in the slums and observed the boy sleeping nearby. If he let his mind wander too much, he could almost imagine the boy next to him being the same kid who had been taken by that man. The thought of what he had been forced to accept unsettled his newfound confidence. As his interaction with the man had proven one thing ¨C he might be free now, even if only barely, but that didn¡¯t mean everyone was free nor that he could help them no matter how much he wanted to. Whether he liked it or not, the world had existed before him, and there were those who just by dint of that fact were far more powerful and important than he was and they practiced things that he found abhorrent. Yet, who was he to stop them? Even now, in his ¡®freedom¡¯, he was back in the slums toiling away everyday making crappy enchanted items to fool a girl into continuing to teach him whilst he waits for his [Idle Progression] perk to finish whatever upgrade its assigned to. His previous sense of optimism about the future was now tainted, but it did endure as Peter reminded himself that given enough time ¨C nothing would be able to stop him. However, he couldn¡¯t help but clench his fists every time he imagined the sleeping boy, or even his younger former self, being dragged away by that man and everyone in the city just being completely fine with it ¨C not daring to put up even a symbolic and empty fuss. Yet, he couldn¡¯t help everyone like him as he was, and he doubted he would be able to help them any time soon either, but Peter¡¯s moral compass, despite it being frayed in recent months, refused to do nothing in the face of what he had seen. Something was happening in the state-run orphanages and Peter would figure it out and do his best to fix it ¨C though, he knew, that fixing the problem entirely would probably take the rest of his life if what was happening was what he suspected. The sound of the rain battering against his squatting spot¡¯s frail roof growing harder and harder broke him out of his thoughts about the potential slave ring in his area and transitioned his focus towards thinking back to the conditions that Katie had said were necessary to be met if he wanted to legally ascend the standard way.
  1. He had to own a house.
  2. He had to not be visibly poor when he turned up to the social advancement office.
  3. And, finally, he had to have someone of the [Bronze] rank or above there to vouch for him as a worthy candidate for ascension.
Peter had the final condition sorted with Katie saying she would vouch for him. But, he was still months away from being able to sell any halfway decent enchanted items and thus make the necessary money to buy the mandatory house. Though, honestly, Peter didn¡¯t understand why the house was even necessary. It wasn¡¯t like he was buying a house for him to live in permanently, as once he ascended, he would have to then buy a [Bronze] rank house to ascend any further. And he very doubted he¡¯d make so much money that he could afford to keep his [Copper] rank house and form some kind of property empire. Katie had offered to lend him money, but Peter wasn¡¯t so keen on the idea and would do his best to avoid borrowing as much as he could. He would earn his money through his enchanted item sales, and then only if he truly had to, he would borrow a small amount of money from the girl. That was his solid position on the matter.
2 weeks later, Peter had caved into the girl¡¯s not-so-subtle peer pressure and borrowed a massive amount of money from her to buy himself a house in the upper end of the [Copper] district as well as some new fancy-ish clothes to wear. Katie was far keener on his ascension than he thought ¨C as she seemed to be in a hurry to get his ascension over and done with. Peter had no idea why she was in such a rush, but he had run out of the patience necessary to deal with her incessant nagging and thereby put off borrowing money any longer. Though, if he was being fair to her, he also couldn¡¯t deny that he was probably the keenest of them both to ascend, for obvious reasons, and so perhaps it had taken far less convincing than he liked to admit getting him to do as he had done. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Regardless, now he ¡°owned¡± a home. The home itself was quite similar to every other home in the [Copper] class district; meaning there wasn¡¯t much decoration but there were a few basic rooms with a few basic bits of furniture that all served to create a somewhat liveable space. However, from Peter¡¯s point of view, this was way luxurious and it kind of disoriented him, and adding to his vertigo was the fact that Peter had barely spent a few minutes inside his new home before Katie had dragged him out by the length of his rags to get moving towards the nearest seamstress to get him some half decent clothes. The seamstress had recognised Katie at first but looked utterly shocked to see that the teen had already ascended to the [Bronze] rank ¨C something that most people never did, and especially not when they were in their early to mid-teens. Whilst Peter could somewhat relate to that feeling of astonishment when it came to Katie¡¯s absurd growth and talent as an individual, the more time Peter spent with her, the more he realised that her abrasive personality dragged down her image in his mind and the less he thought that much of her. The seamstress¡¯ shop itself had been rather cramped, with racks and racks of half-finished clothes crowding the already small room. The floor had been covered in dust, and Peter had coughed quite heavily the whole time that the woman had tried her best to measure Peter¡¯s proportions carefully and precisely. After an awkward interaction as the woman tried to measure his upper thigh¡¯s width, the measuring had concluded, and he and Katie were told to wait in the main compartment of the store as she had decided that their order was her current top priority. This had initially confused Peter, but Katie had been quick to give him a hint, ¡°Legally speaking, those of a higher social [Rank] have to pay more for services in establishments in districts below their rank ¨C as a form of noblesse oblige as it were.¡± Peter had no idea what the last few words of Katie¡¯s sentence meant, but he nodded his head anyway as he very much understood being driven to extreme loads of work in the pursuit of greater profit. He had put in quite a lot of work at the tavern as a younger kid to keep himself fed, and so he understood the woman¡¯s passion and drive ¨C one¡¯s prosperity and survival were one hell of a motivation multiplier. A mere hour later, the clearly tired woman wiped her forehead of the sweat that had built up, and stretched out her back a bit, all as she walked into the main compartment of the store to hand Peter¡¯s new clothes to him. Katie thanked the woman, then paid the exorbitant bill, and then looked at Peter with a glare that screamed ¡®I am about to give you an order, and you dare not disobey it.¡¯ Finally, she spoke, and her usual commanding tone rang out, ¡°Now, get changed, we¡¯re going to head to the social advancement office right away ¨C there is no point in waiting any longer. We¡¯re already days behind schedule and we¡¯re swiftly running out of what little time we have left.¡± Peter blinked once, then twice, then looked down at the clothes in his hands and then at the clothes he was wearing. Katie stared daggers at him expectantly, and after a few seconds more resistance, Peter gulped before he ran to the back compartment of the store and hurriedly did his best to put on the new clothes he had just been ¡°graciously gifted¡±. The clean white shirt and silky black trousers were of a quality unlike anything Peter had ever experienced before, and they felt remarkably comfortable on his skin and he thus swore that he would never let these clothes be ruined. ¡°Would you hurry up in there?!¡± Katie¡¯s voice shouted from the main compartment, and Peter hurried back to her ¨C now fully dressed, and having completely forgotten about his old set of rags. Once he was back in the main compartment of the seamstress¡¯ store, Katie had given him a once over with her eyes and said ¨C ¡°You look passable, now let¡¯s go.¡± And with that, she had already started walking out of the seamstress¡¯ shop at a fast-walking pace. Peter scrambled after her, rushing through the thin gap that acted as the door to the shop and after a bit of running he caught up with Katie ¨C whose eyes were filled with an unfamiliar intensity of dedication. The two walked down the main road of the city, passing by some decent-looking shops that seemed to be franchises of one larger guild or another, as well as those stores that were quite obviously being run by desperate people barely getting by in this harsh new reality. The sun hung low in the afternoon sky, and a cool late winter evening wind began to caress Peter¡¯s face as he fast-walked towards the very centre of the still remarkably busy city. However, something felt¡­ off. Whether it was that the wind blowing against his face felt oddly weak, the smells from the street vendors that seemed far too metallic to be normal, or the sky above that began to imperceptibly dim with each second that passed, the world itself seemed to be whispering words of warning to each of Peter¡¯s senses. Yet, whilst this new set of phenomena seemed to unsettle Peter a little, they downright seemed to terrify Katie who stopped in her tracks and her head shot upwards to look into the sky before she began to mutter meaninglessly. A few seconds later, the ground beneath everyone¡¯s feet began to shake, and the sound of screaming could be heard as people ran around in fear that this was the first of many future earthquakes that would hit humanity since the apocalypse had begun. However, in time, the earth''s trembling would prove to mean far more important than this as a minute or so later the sun in the sky suddenly turned green and it shot back up to the central position in the sky ¨C and the whole world was soon bathed in this new star¡¯s sickly pale green light. Then, a roar that shattered the sky echoed through all of known creation, straining the limit of the human ear to hear, and then, like the fire revealing itself from within the smoke, it appeared and began to descend from the highest heavens ¨C its jaws wide open, as if it was going to swallow the earth itself. And, unable to handle the emotions running through him, Peter blacked out ¨C falling face-first onto the pavement below. Chapter 24: Broadening Horizons Katie beheld the endless phantom jaw descending towards the Earth at alarming speed with her best attempt at a resolute and calm expression ¨C a type of facial feature she had mastered in her past life. For the roar that had shaken the heavens and the jaw that was about to swallow the Earth belonged to a creature beyond the comprehension of regular mortals. He was a deity born aeons before most universes, and yet whose hunger for power had not ever been quenched in all that time. The otherworldly tomes that she had read in her past timeline had spoken of the monster as the Divine Jade Dragon Emperor and whole libraries existed detailing the endless list of his foul machinations. Though no one would perish today, as that wasn¡¯t the god beast¡¯s aim, many happy illusions of mortal power would be shattered and nothing, and no one, would ever be the same again after this day. Every powerful faction and pseudo-nation alike with any kind of interest in progressing would soon start the scramble for any bit of knowledge about the evasive multiverse that they could get their hands on. After all, they thought, if god beasts of the Divine Jade Dragon Emperor existed out in the multiverse ¨C there might also be a way to attain the power of godhood for themselves, and what ego maniac wouldn¡¯t give up everything they had to become a literal god. The worst part? They were right to be greedy. One could actually become a system-recognised god if one managed to surpass level 100, but none of the current ¡°powerhouses¡± of earth had reached even beyond the [Titanium] rank in Katie¡¯s past life ¨C she and her fellow revolutionaries had made quite sure of that. However, she had to remind herself that she had come back in time to prevent what had happened in her timeline from going down the way it had. As the harsh truth was, she and her friends had proved inadequate last time ¨C proving unable to succeed in preventing the Jade Dragon from descending for real. She felt her face grimace as she recalled her friends¡¯ dead bodies strewn lifeless across the battlefield ¨C the giant serpentine god floating above them without a care in the world. Not even a scratch had run along the beast¡¯s ancient scales as if killing a group of over 100 [Diamond] ranked humans had been light work to it. In other words, it had been as though all the group¡¯s hard work, their straining night and day to get stronger, had all been for nothing. Her memories of that day gnawed at her as she once again felt the familiar presence of the Jade Emperor wash over the entire globe as he showed off his tremendous power with a justified flourish and extravagance. She then spared a glance to the boy who was supposed to be standing behind her but instead found him lying face first on the pavement, unconscious ¨C his new clothes soaked in a new weight of human waste. Katie couldn¡¯t blame the boy for being so terrified that he shit himself and blacked out ¨C the projected form of the Divine Jade Dragon Emperor had inspired pure terror in everyone back in Katie¡¯s original timeline. However, unlike back then, Katie wasn¡¯t a scared little girl desperate to get revenge on those who had wronged her and her parents, nor a fool desperate to ascend the ranks no matter the cost to her future. She had a mission, a divine one at that, and she had decades of experience from her past life to help her to finally defeat the Jade Dragon for good and keep Earth free of the meddling gods of the multiverse. At the end of her former life, she had been a [Diamond] ranked powerhouse at level 99, on the cusp of achieving the illusive [God] rank and becoming the most powerful person native to Earth¡¯s universe. So, why, oh why, did she feel a pang of anxiety as the sky was finally fully swallowed into the Jade dragon¡¯s mouth? Then, her eyes once again focused on the boy who lay unconscious behind her. He must be the reason that she felt this way she concluded as he filtered through her memories of the past few weeks. She had been spending far too much time worrying about the boy and his problems, whilst seeing to his education and social advancement ¨C seeing too much of her former childish self in him to be able to resist helping. She had been suckered in by his sad appearance and uncannily steady growth and had almost forgotten her mission, and that this boy hadn¡¯t amounted to anything in her former life so what was the point in helping him in this one? The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡®He saved me from dying¡¯ She reminded herself, trying to justify her actions to her clearly panicking mind. However, whilst she had been helping this boy, she had all but neglected the search for her friends whose memory she had sworn to avenge and restore in this second life of hers. As the jaws appeared to start to snap shut around the world, Katie couldn¡¯t help but feel the full consequences of her own thought process begin to catch up with her. She felt anxious not because she thought herself weak, but because deep down she felt that she hadn¡¯t been doing everything right up till now ¨C she had been wasting far too much time, and that was a luxuriant failure that she couldn¡¯t afford. As the world was momentarily swallowed by darkness, lost in the endless gullet of the jade dragon, Katie recalled each of her friends¡¯ faces in her mind as well as memories she had with them, and she couldn¡¯t help but weep as she imagined letting them down. She couldn¡¯t let that happen. She had to hurry before this illusory attack became the real thing and she failed for a second time. However, as the world once again regained its colour, and the illusory jaw and gullet of the god beast vanished ¨C she couldn¡¯t help but stare in awe as the boy whom she had dismissed moments earlier glowed with an ethereal grey divine light. ¡®What the fuck is happening?¡±
The world around Peter was an endless crushing darkness that seemed determined to smother his life away. He had no idea how he had ended up where he was, but that this was no dream was such a certainty in his mind that he barely entertained any opposing thoughts. Unlike in a dream, in this realm of darkness, neither his mind, body, nor magical skills seemed to produce anything other than an odious smell or searing pain. Though, he needed not to do anything at all to feel pain, as felt like he had drowned repeatedly in the endless coarse grey sand-like substance that entombed him for aeons upon aeons. Yet, amidst the torture of drowning in the sand, his mind flickered on and off again ¨C stray thoughts occasionally flashing into view before the agony wiped his mind clear again. However, after who knows how long he felt, between the feelings of his insides being eroded and his body being compressed by an untold number of layers of smouldering sand, he could now vaguely make out whispers that spoke incomprehensible words. The voice that spoke did so at such a low volume that Peter could almost convince himself that the voice was not external at all, but his own primitive thoughts slowly gnawing away at him and driving him mad. But something about the feeling of each word spoken into his ears told him that these words could not be his thoughts. Something about the silent whispers¡¯ words gave off an air of profundity that caused his mind to shiver in delight upon hearing them even though he had no idea what each word was or meant. Time stretched endlessly before him as his suffering continued, and the whispering torturously tickled at the remnant of his conscious mind ¨C until something clicked. His mind came roaring back to life as instead of struggling against the sands inside his lungs, he tried desperately to understand it as an element able to be manipulated by his mana. Earlier, he had tried to blast the sand away from him ¨C not control it. He hadn¡¯t even thought about trying to make use of his [E] grade Earth element affinity to free himself but now that he had he put everything he had into the attempt. Yet, despite all his efforts, the sand filling his body didn¡¯t truly move an inch. It wasn¡¯t that he wasn¡¯t successfully tapping into his earth affinity, at least not after the millionth of his attempts. No. It was that the sand, for whatever reason, just wasn¡¯t responding to his earth affinity. Either the sand was of too high a grade to be controlled by him, or¡­ it wasn¡¯t sand. But, if it wasn¡¯t sand, then what was it? It was coarse and rough and quite literally everywhere, so what else could it be but sand? His mind racked for answers but even with his [Genius] perk thrumming at full force in search of an answer to his query, nothing came to him. Until, like an arrow being fired directly into his heart, a bellowed word pierced through the dull and endless non-sand substance and penetrated through the muffling barrier of his ignorance and that word echoed in his mind. ¡°Time¡± The word sent euphoric shivers down his spine as his mind reeled as if he had just been made hundreds of times smarter than before ¨C dwarfing in potency any of the empty whispers¡¯ effects from before. The sand that surrounded and drowned him was not true sand at all, but his mind¡¯s feeble attempt to grasp the omnipresent incomprehensible reality of time itself. However, realising that fact didn¡¯t cease the pain he felt, nor did it magically vanish the endless volume of time-sand that eroded his inner organs like the waves of the sea eroded every cliff face. However, what this new burst of insight gave him was a lead ¨C a hint at what he had to do next. With every bit of focus he had left, he drew upon his time affinity and instantly the sand around him began to vibrate as his time affinity filled each grain of sand with mana. Yet, even with his time affinity being one of his best, that did not mean his affinity was perfect ¨C not even close. Thus, reaching out with his mana and trying to control the sands proved to be an effort equivalent to if he had tried facing the [Bronze] rank beast from the dungeon by himself. In other words, as his mana reached its limits, and his affinity proved lacking, absolute failure seemed to be the only possible result of his benign efforts. At one point, he had exhausted all his mana, but he had no choice but to push past the pain and nausea that came with mana exhaustion and keep trying to exert his will on the endless sands of time. With nothing else to draw upon, his willpower began sucking away at his life force to power his pitiful attempts at a level of chronomancy whose sheer affrontery to the laws of reality defied mortal comprehension. And as the writhing body of Peter began to fail him, and it seemed that the sands of time would claim his soul forever more ¨C a deep resounding laughter sounded from beyond the constraints of time and space. The laughter had come from a being who was elated that it had finally, after all these years, found a mortal with whom it could speak ¨C even if only in faded whispers. And so, for the first time since it had ascended to [Godhood] those trillions of aeons ago, the Eternal Squid, Pertinax, Supreme God of Time, had the closest thing to a genuine smile that a universe-sized squid could have on his endless visage. An Abrupt, Disappointing End Alright, I''m going to give it to you straight. When I began writing on Royal Road I didn''t have a plan for what I wanted to write. I didn''t have a backlog. I kind of just sat down and wrote whatever shit came to my head for the next day. I had a vague idea of where I wanted to go with everything, and I enjoyed exploring system and narrative ideas and themes enough that I could keep myself going at a not ideal pace. That was, until, uni life hit my body of available time and motivation to write like a truck. Add on to that the fact that I am a perfectionist who looks back at something I wrote like 2 minutes ago with cringe the likes of which is usually saved for far flung youthful indiscretions, and you might be able to understand my lack of updates. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Recently, however, I''ve been wanting to write again, but I can''t find any desire within me to continue this story. So it is thus "dropped". This world is rather choatic, however, and so I may pick it back up again, but not any time soon and not without significant aesthetic revisions. However, I''m in the process of writing another story - and I''m nearly finished with the first draft of the first volume, so once that is done, I will be definitely returning to Royal Road in a much healthier and durable way. All I can say to those who enjoyed this story is: I''m sorry. Truly. But, I hope you''ll enjoy what I will be putting out even more. But, if you don''t or won''t want to... well, I guess this is some closure at least. Anyway, have a good rest of your day/night/afternoon/morning, -HippioScipio.