《Worldforge Genesis》 Chapter 1 - Dawning Chapter 1 Dawning Hector Dawning was known as a crazy man by his colleagues, and today, his actions further emphasized this belief and added to his record of insane antics. ¡°Dawning, tone it down a little, won¡¯t ya?¡± a deep voice said. The crowd of spectators parted to reveal a huge bulky man with a face riddled with scars. Hector only gave the man a quick glance before ignoring him and leaving the hangar. The man¡¯s face twitched as he held his anger in. The crowd also ignored the man and were more interested in the baggage that Hector left in the hangar. A crew arrived a few seconds after Hector left and opened the baggage revealing a variety of horns, bones, flesh, and other materials covered in blood. The crowd were flabbergasted. These objects were proofs of the hunt that Hector Dawning had gathered. They were all from different species and were all classed as extremely dangerous ones. Usually, a group of at least five people was needed to take down one of those, but Hector Dawning did it alone, and he took down more than ten. Insane, truly insane. He was a complete madman with no regards to his life. ¡°Damn it, Dawning! You almost killed me with a heart attack,¡± said Officer Helena Allens. She was one of many personnel in charge of logistics, and Hector Dawning was under her charge. He had taken a scouting request this morning, and she almost puked blood after seeing Hector¡¯s PCS energy levels decreasing. She then almost slammed her head against her terminal after hearing his report of taking down High Danger Ranked beasts. ¡°It was within my abilities. I know my limits,¡± Hector said indifferently. ¡°I came here to report the completion of the mission and submit the scouting data.¡± He placed the data device on top of the table and turned to leave. ¡°Wait, Dawning. The higher-ups have decided to put you on break.¡± Hector stopped mid-stride, then turned around with a raised brow. ¡°They said that your actions were a bad example to the others, especially the newcomers. It might influence them and cause an increase in death-rates.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be nice? That would mean lesser consumption of resources.¡± ¡°Watch your mouth, Dawning!¡± She sent him a death-glare. ¡°Fine. How long is the break?¡± he asked with a resigned expression on his face. ¡°It¡¯s indefinite, but you¡¯ll receive vacation pay as the break was not on your request.¡± ¡°How kind of them.¡± The sarcastic tone was not missed by Helena. ¡°Be careful with your words, Dawning. You know what they can do.¡± ¡°I know, I know.¡± He then left after saying those words. ¡°Why is he so difficult?¡± Helena sighed as she took her seat. It was only then that she noticed the other personnel looking at her. ¡°You have it hard on you, Allens,¡± one of them said. ¡°Let¡¯s drink it out tonight. You need to relieve some stress!¡± ¡°Tch,¡± Hector clicked his tongue after checking his account balance. He remembered that time when he was starving and didn¡¯t have a single penny. That was when he took this job. Now, he had the money and had no way to spend it. Most of the time, it would be used to repair and upgrade his PCS and weapons, but the maintenance of his armory was still too little compared to the amount he received whenever he went out. His PCS, short for Powered Combat Suit, had survived for so long and had undergone so many upgrades. He could trade it off and buy a new one with better specs, but he had been too used to it, and breaking in a new one didn¡¯t seem attractive to him. He was alway tethering in the boundaries of life and death whenever he was out on a mission, and using a suit he was unaccustomed to would spell danger. Even though others think that he was unafraid of death, he was not doing this suicidal stunts because of that reason. He knew his limits, that was a fact. Whenever he fought, he always left a small room for error, but because of his extreme actions, people misunderstood his intentions. The way he fought was focused on efficiency, thus, making it look like he was risking it all. ¡°Now¡­ what do I do?¡± he pondered as he sat on a bench in a park. It was already afternoon, and the setting sun could be seen behind the buildings. This was only an imitation of the real thing. After the war four centuries ago, the outside world had transformed into a hostile environment. Animals mutated into violent beasts and plants turned into toxic organisms. This was the result of man¡¯s reckless actions. Fortunately, this type of future had already been predicted by the old world¡¯s scientists and researchers. Safe cities covered in special domes were built as the last refuge of mankind in the post-war world. The plan was successful, but they overlooked an important point. The resources inside the domed cities were limited. As a solution to that, the PCS were created to allow select people to go out of the city and scrounge for usable resources. There were two types: harvesters, those who focus on searching and gathering resources, and the hunters, those who fight the beasts outside to allow the harvesters to concentrate on their jobs. Hector Dawning was obviously a hunter, and one of the best in fact. It was soon dark and the lamps in the park lit up. Hector took it as a sign to leave and walked out of the park, encountering a few couples who were out on a date. He walked along the road, then followed a path he was familiar with. After leaving an alley, he was greeted by the bright lights of the business district. He went into a small decrepit shop with almost no customers, completely out of place in this lively part of the city. ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t it Dawning!¡± a loud voice said despite the gloomy atmosphere. ¡°I heard you took down a buncha monsters again. Still being reckless, huh?¡± A delicate-looking man with long blond hair said behind the bar counter. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Word travels fast,¡± was Hector¡¯s only reply as he sat by the counter. ¡°Indeed, and that¡¯s not the only thing I heard. News is that you got your ass kicked out the door!¡± the man said as he filled a glass and placed it in front of Hector. ¡°You need to check up on your sources, Clay,¡± Hector said as he downed the glass in one go, then added, ¡°I wasn¡¯t fired, just put on a temp leave.¡± ¡°Playing with words don¡¯t suit you. Indefinite means there is a chance of not coming back, and it¡¯s quite a high one.¡± Hector ignored what was said after that and focused his attention on the flat-screen television on one of the bar¡¯s walls. Drowning out Clay¡¯s useless banter, his interest was caught on the advertisement being shown. A huge colorful world people can explore without the risk of dying just from inhaling the air outside was what was being shown. Then, monsters appeared and were taken down by a group of people dressed in strange outfits, wielding fantastical weapons and magic. ¡°Worldforge Genesis,¡± Clay said. He had shut up after noticing that Hector wasn¡¯t paying attention to him. Seeing the other party¡¯s interest, he volunteered on making an explanation. ¡°It¡¯s a VR game.¡± ¡°VR?¡± Hector raised his brow with the unfamiliar term. ¡°Virtual Reality. I guess you¡¯ve been spending too much time outside seeing how not up-to-date you are with the current trends.¡± Clay tried to make a point by setting his eyes on Hector¡¯s common clothings. ¡°They¡¯re wasting precious resources on this kind of stuff?¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t put on that act now! I know that you don¡¯t really care about that.¡± ¡°Tch! I just don¡¯t like the way the higher ups do things.¡± ¡°Now that is soooo like you.¡± Clay laughed at the bitter expression on the other¡¯s face. ¡°Oh, well! Now that you don¡¯t have anything to do, why not try out this VR stuff? I¡¯m planning to play that one.¡± ¡°Worldforge Genesis?¡± ¡°Yep. It¡¯s a new game, and it will be launched the day after tomorrow.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see the point in it.¡± ¡°You say it¡¯s just wasting resources, but think of how the common people feel. Unlike you who gets to experience and adventure in the outside world, many of us here can¡¯t, and even if we did, we won¡¯t last a minute. VR games give us that freedom and joy.¡± Hector only silently yielded. He looked back at the television, but the commercial had ended and a weekly drama was being played instead. ¡°So, wanna give it a try?¡± Clay asked. ¡°Fine.¡± Hector lived in a condominium unit. It was not his choice but rather forcefully imposed upon him. The payment for rent was automatically deducted from his account. Looking around, it was rather extravagant for a single man with no living relatives. Furthermore, he spent more time outside hunting and he had left this unit unattended. Fortunately, the management sends someone to tidy it up for him, so even though he had not maintained the unit, it was without a speck of dust. He sat on the plush sofa and looked at the objects on the table. One was a helmet with a streamlined design. Its surface gave off a metallic luster. Beside it was a game box with the words ¡°Worldforge Genesis¡± printed over a beautiful scenery of a medieval castle surrounded by lush forests. Tonight was the launch of the game. Yesterday, Clay accompanied him in buying the gaming helmet needed for the game. He then made a gaming account and had the system unit installed in his condominium unit. Now, he could use the helmet anywhere inside the boundaries of his condominium unit. This morning, he and Clay lined up in front of a game store before opening hours. For almost five hours they waited in line to buy a copy of the game. There, he witnessed with his own eyes how crazy the people were about this VR games. VR technology began its implementation about six years ago. At that time, he had already been working as a hunter for a year at the age of seventeen. No wonder he had not heard much about this technology. During that time, he had been too preoccupied with earning money and surviving. Feeling the cold surface of the helmet in his hands, he relaxed in the sofa while inspecting the device. It was hard to believe that something like this could bring a person to a virtual world and experience things as if they were in the real world. For someone like him who had faced against monstrous creatures outside with his life on the line, his grasp on reality was a bit too strong, and so the idea of entering a virtual world, a fake world, was surreal. ¡°The stars themselves are already fake, how much faker can this virtual world be,¡± he said with a smirk as he looked out at the glass panels separating the living room from the balcony. The curtains were open so he could clearly see the night sky emulated by the city¡¯s under-dome. He had already installed the game earlier and performed the necessary calibration procedures. All that was left was to login to the game and experience it himself. There was a beginner¡¯s manual inside the game box, but he ignored it, thinking why would he need a guide or a manual if the virtual world was supposed to emulate the real world? With that thought in mind, he placed the helmet on his head. It was already past 10 pm. The time of the game¡¯s server launch was at 8:30, but he didn¡¯t really mind that. Unlike the others who were crazy about this game, Hector was still skeptical about it. He laid his back on the sofa¡¯s backrest and relaxed his entire body, letting himself sink into the soft cushions. Now that he was in a comfortable position, he uttered, ¡°VR Start.¡± Chapter 2 - Igniting Dying Embers Chapter 2 Igniting Dying Embers Almost two hours after the game launch, a new player spawned in the Half-orc beginner camp within the Driftcloud Alliance¡¯s borders. Dressed in shabby clothes and a huge rusty axe on its back, it looked around its surroundings. A blue name hovered above its head: Dawning. Clay had told him to choose Half-orc for his race. He realized why as soon as he got into the character creation screen. Half-orcs were ugly. Clay was trying to make a fool out of him, but he didn¡¯t mind. He didn¡¯t care what his race was or how he looked. The default appearance setting was how the player looked in real life. Hector now looked like himself, except for the orcish characteristics of slightly sharp ears, a pig-like nose, and protruding canines. His chosen class was warrior. It was described as a master of different arms. Since he was also a close quarters combatant in real life, he chose this class which seemed perfect for him. ¡°Now, what do I do?¡± he asked himself. Observing his surroundings, it didn¡¯t take long for him to notice the difference between players and non-player characters, or NPCs. Players had blue markers on their heads, while NPCs had white. As he stood there in the spawn point, a burly half-orc NPC approached him, its heavy steps producing audible sounds. It held a spear in its hand and a round buckler was on the other. It stopped right in front of Dawning, releasing an intimidating aura. ¡°Newcomer, what¡¯s your name?¡± it growled, sending spittle flying everywhere. Hector can¡¯t help but stare at the half-orc in front of him. It looked so real, yet he had never seen anything like it before. He was even tempted to touch its face and pinch its flesh just to be sure, but her remembered Clay¡¯s reminder: Act like it was the real deal, do not think that he was in a game. ¡°Dawning,¡± Hector answered firmly. ¡°I have a job for you, Dawning. Wild boars have been acting crazy for a while now. In the outskirts of the camp and within the farms, a bunch of them had been seen attacking wildly, both our kin and our crops! Kill at least ten of them and bring back their tusks as proof!¡± After saying that, the half-orc crossed its arms and stood there in an imposing manner while glaring at Hector. ¡°What are you waiting for?! Scram and get rid of those boars!¡± Taking the sign, Hector left the hot-tempered half-orc and went out of the camp. The camp was small, and along the way out he had seen most of what it had to offer. All the half-orc NPCs lived in small wooden huts, and those that offered services had small stalls built right outside of their huts. There were players in the camp, too, but they all seemed to be gearing up in preparation to leave. They were buying the best equipments and items that the camp¡¯s services could offer. ¡°Indeed, there¡¯s a bunch of them here,¡± Hector said as he stood in front of the farm. More than a dozen wild boars half as tall as an average man were uprooting and tearing the crops. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get to business.¡± Taking the axe from his back, he dashed at the closest boar and swung it horizontally. The boar noticed his approach and jumped backward to dodge the swing. Of course, Hector had already anticipated this. Taking three short steps forward, he let the handle of the axe hit his left shoulder. Using the same shoulder, he pushed the axe back and traced the same arc it had passed through earlier, hitting the boar on its right flank. The axe¡¯s rusty blade barely sliced through the boar¡¯s thick flesh. ¡°This will be tough,¡± Hector whispered under his breath while looking at the edge of the rusty blade. Nevertheless, he never thought that he would fail this job. At this moment, he had already taken the mindset he used whenever he went out on a hunt. Standing still, he steadied his breath while keeping his awareness on the boar¡¯s movements. The other boars in the area did not seem like they would attack unless they were attacked themselves. This was a much better situation than in the real world. With his attitude renewed, Hector once more went in for the kill. In the end, it took him almost an hour to kill ten boars. He got so into it that he kept on hunting them even when he already had the required amount of tusks until his axe broke. The boars respawned every few minutes so the amount of boars almost didn¡¯t decrease. ¡°What¡¯s the point of hunting them?¡± he thought as he watched the wild boars continue on ravaging the farm fields. Even if he wanted to continue on killing them, he had no weapon and it would be a folly to use just his bare fists. Taking a last look at the preys he was unable to completely exterminate, he returned to the camp. ¡°Well done, young warrior! Here is your reward!¡± The half-orc¡¯s attitude changed greatly after he submitted more than thirty pieces of wild boar¡¯s tusk. The rewards he received were silver and copper coins, an increase in his Arms Proficiency, and a twelve-hour buff which grants a small boost to his damage. Arms Proficiency was a skill unique to the warrior class. It increases the damage of melee weapons by 1% per proficiency level, and allowed him to learn warrior abilities and to equip melee weapons with levels not more than the proficiency level. In Worldforge Genesis, there were no character levels and stat distributions. A character¡¯s strength was determined by the skills learned and mastered, equipments, and a player¡¯s real ability. Furthermore, to avoid having those with actual combat skills in real life completely dominate those without, a combat assist system was developed. This system enhances a player¡¯s movements, matching their character¡¯s movement with their desired actions. This system does not make a weak player strong, but turns a weak player into something that¡¯s not cannon fodder. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Even if you have poor athletic abilities, as long as you can think of a way to fight, the system will give you the body to do so. If you have strong athletic abilities, but no combat sense, then the system can not do anything to help you. That was how the combat assist system worked. Hector Dawning, having both physical abilities and combat sense, was not able to utilize this system at all as there was no need to do so. Of course, he had no idea about it. ¡°Arms Proficiency?¡± He tinkered about with the translucent interface appearing in the edges of his vision. It was similar to the on-visor HUD he had on his PCS, so he got accustomed to it quickly. There was a Skills menu, so he opened it. He currently had two skills: Arms Proficiency Lv.19 - Increase melee weapon damage by 19% - Can equip melee weapon Lv.19 and below - Learned abilities: Lv.1 Power Swing Lv.10 Bash Heavy Armor Proficiency Lv. 1 - Increase heavy armor defense by 1% - Can equip heavy armor Lv. 1 These were the initial skills for a warrior class. Hector read the descriptions and the abilities he had. Power Swing was an ability he already had from the start. It allowed him to charge an attack by gathering his strength before releasing an attack. It consumes rage and stamina. Bash on the other hand was a simple ability that stuns an enemy by hitting their head with his equipped melee weapon. It consumes rage. Rage and stamina were common words but for them to be consumed was a concept a bit out of Hector¡¯s knowledge. That was when he noticed the four colored bars on the upper left corner of his vision. Highlighting them, he saw their labels and descriptions. The green bar was his Health Points. It was how much life he had left. Losing all Health Points meant death. The gray bar was his Stamina Points. It was how much energy he had left to move. Running, attacking, and other physical abilities will drain his Stamina Points. When this bar becomes empty, his movements will become sluggish. The red bar was his Rage Points. It starts as empty and will fill whenever he attacks an enemy or when he is attacked. The blue bar was his Mana Points. It is required for magic abilities. Hector analyzed these four ¡°resources¡± and tried to understand them. Obviously, health, stamina, and rage can be applied in real life, but mana was a bit out of his common knowledge. ¡°Magic, huh?¡± The magic he knew were tricks performed to entertain others. In fact, he knew a few using cards and coins, something he learned from his deceased father. He shook his head as his thoughts began to stray to a direction he didn¡¯t like. "I¡¯ve got a few more tasks for you, Dawning. Seeing your previous performance, I am a bit hesitant to hand them out to you. They might be below your level of ability and would put your skills to waste.¡± The half-orc NPC interrupted his thoughts, and he thought that it was fortunate timing. Memory lane was a path he did his best to avoid. ¡°I don¡¯t mind,¡± Hector replied. After accepting a few more hunting missions, he went and bought a new weapon and a few spares with the reward money from his first quest. The inventory system was truly convenient. No matter how bulky and heavy his luggage was, they could be easily stored and retrieved from the inventory. Once more, he left the camp to hunt. It was already 4 am when Hector logged out of the game. He had been engrossed with hunting monsters. To him, the AI of those monsters were impressive. They reacted to his movements like they were real beasts. Furthermore, his low quality equipments increased the difficulty level. He broke three more axes, and they were better quality ones than his first. His phone¡¯s light was blinking, and he checked it to see a few missed calls and a voice message left behind by Clay. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re still playing. You got into it pretty quickly, huh? And you were all skeptical at first. So, did you really make a half-orc? I was fooling with ya, man! Haha, sorry about that. If you want to change your character, you¡¯ll have to buy a new account. With all the money you have, that won¡¯t be a problem, right? Anyways, I just gave you call to tell you that my in-game name is Magiclay. That¡¯s Magic and Clay a single C. Add me up and let¡¯s meet up in Astoine, Driftcloud¡¯s main city. You¡¯re in the Driftcloud faction, right? Right? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re not!¡± The call ended with Clay¡¯s hysteric voice. It was all an act, though, and Hector knew that. There were three factions in Worldforge Genesis: Sunmarch Empire, Moonwaltz Rebellion, and Driftcloud Alliance. As planned, Clay and Hector started in Driftcloud Alliance. Stretching, Hector looked out the balcony. The deep blue sky littered with stars forming constellations were as impressive and beautiful as ever. ¡°It¡¯s fake, yet looks so real¡­¡± Hector whispered. ¡°Just like the virtual world.¡± He turned and walked to his bedroom. Before he entered, he took one last look at the streamlined device he left on the living room table, then said quietly, ¡°It¡¯s not that bad¡­¡± A small smile appeared on his lips and an absurd thought formed in his head. Maybe, just maybe¡­ His bedroom door closed with a click and the living room was left in silence. Chapter 3 - A Healthy Run, A Bloody Walk Chapter 3 A Healthy Run, A Bloody Walk Even though he slept around four in the morning, Hector still woke at exactly five. He took a quick cold shower then changed into a sweatsuit. He left his condominium unit and went for a jog. The sun was yet to rise, and the dark dawn was lit by the last quarter of starlight. Of course, all this was just a simulation, an imitation of what was recorded in the annals of historical astrology. With a uniform pace, Hector alternated between jogging and sprinting, while keeping a steady breath. This was his daily warm-up routine whenever he was not on a mission. It was less of a habit but more of an obsessive compulsion. There was a simple reason for this. No matter how much he tried to stay away from thinking about the past, it would always haunt him in the form of nightmares. Although he didn¡¯t show it, he was plagued by nightmares of memories he didn¡¯t want to remember. After waking up, this nightmares were imprinted in his mind and to take it off, he would resort to this morning routine. Mindlessly running in a set pattern always worked for him. On the other hand, when he was out on a mission, the nightmares would stop, as his awareness would always be on high alert when he slept outside. By six, he was back in the same park as yesterday. The sun had risen above horizon, yet hidden behind buildings. The few rays that managed to dodge the man-made structures lit parts of the park grounds. Hector was performing calisthenics when he noticed a girl sleeping on one of the benches in the deeper area of the park. She looked to be in her teenage years with short black hair. She wore a loose shirt and a pair of pajamas. A pair of black-rimmed glasses was on the ground beneath the bench. ¡°A runaway?¡± Hector thought. He was not some good Samaritan nor was he an evil-minded person. He ignored the girl and continued with his exercises. At around seven, there were other people jogging in the park. One of them had taken their dog for a walk, and it started barking at the girl on the bench, waking her up. The person apologized to the girl then gave her a kind advice in regards to her appearance and situation. This caused the girl¡¯s face to redden in shame. She gave her thanks and quickly dashed away. All this was seen by Hector, but he didn¡¯t pay it any thought. To him, it was just another uncommon incident on day-to-day life. Not like his was a common one. After cooling down, he took a ride back to his condominium unit. Once again, the half-orc Dawning appeared within the beginner camp. On his back was a Lv.10 Axe, the best quality axe available from the camp¡¯s blacksmith workshop. He was still clothed in a shabby robe cloth shirt and trousers, but on his left hand was a bronze gauntlet. It was a Lv.5 Heavy Armor type equipment. Earlier before he logged out, he luckily found a rusted iron breastplate during one of his quests. He donned it and managed to raise his Heavy Armor Proficiency to Lv.5. On a side note, his Arms Proficiency was now Lv.31 and learned a new skill: Frenzy. ¡°Thanks a lot for your efforts, Dawning. I think it¡¯s about time for you to set your eyes upon a larger stage. The Alliance needs someone like you. Here¡¯s a proof of recommendation and take it to the capital. This will let you get an audience with the Alliance Elders and they will assign you with the right tasks for someone of your caliber.¡± The hot-tempered half-orc had changed into a clumsy good-natured one. He tried to give the warmest smile he could to Hector, but it ended up looking like a sneer. Dawning respectfully accepted the bronze medallion. Engraved on it was a picture of eight different heads representing the eight different races. On the top-most was the head of a human, while on the bottom was the head of a half-orc. Discrimination was what he thought as soon as he saw this distinction. Keeping the medallion in his inventory, he left the camp and proceeded North to where the Driftcloud Alliance¡¯s capital city lay. On his way out of the camp, many NPCs acknowledged him with a wave of their hand while some said short words of encouragement. The few players who had just started the game and chosen the half-orc race were wide-eyed at this strange event. This had not happened to the other players who had left, while on the other games they had played, such treatment from the NPCs would only appear after a major event involving the game¡¯s storyline. Dawning had no idea what the other players were thinking. This sort of treatment was novel to him. He had always been treated like a madman by his colleagues, but hunting like a madman here, he ended up being treated like a hero. Unsure how to react, he left the camp while keeping his usual composed expression, giving the vibe of a cool hero departing on a grand mission. Unfortunately, his half-orc appearance ruined the mood. In fact, he looked more like an evil warrior out to hunt the hero down. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Oblivious to the image he was setting off, Dawning left the camp and followed the dirt path through the forest. The distance between this camp and the capital was not something to look down on. He expected it to be at least a three hour walk. Walking won¡¯t tire him out even if he walked for one week straight. That was because walking did not consume any of his Stamina Points. This convenient fact was something he learned in the game. About fifteen minutes away from the camp, shadows appeared from the woods on both sides of the road. There were six men dressed in shabby leather armor. They held an assortment of weapons: daggers, shortswords, and hatchets, small bladed weapons that could be held in one hand. The markers on their heads were neither green nor white. They were red, just like the marker color on top of the monsters after attacking them and drawing their hostility. It was the color of enmity. It was easy to guess the identities of these men. They were bandits, preying on lone travellers going through this desolate road. ¡°Thinking back, all I¡¯ve killed were animals¡­¡± A small smile subconsciously appeared on his face. Without waiting for the bandits to take action, he dashed toward the nearest bandit while drawing his axe. Catching the bandit off-guard, the axe fell vertically and split the bandit into two, killing him in one stroke. The other five roared in anger and lunged toward Dawning. He pulled his axe off the split corpse and stepped back, dodging the bandits¡¯ wild attacks and parrying the others with his gauntlet. Left open after their attacks, Dawning took this chance and swung his axe horizontally, hitting the bandit on the rightmost of the group. The blade chopped off his arm and buried through the side of his chest. He was then lifted off the ground and smashed toward the bandit on his left causing that bandit to stumble. Blocking the attack of the other bandits with his gauntlet, he stepped back once more. The axe¡¯s edge left behind a trail of blood and gore. Normally, Hector¡¯s combat style involved dodging and counterattacking, dealing massive damage while receiving none. As, Dawning, he was blocking and parrying attacks with his gauntlet even though he could dodge those attack. The reason for this change in combat style was the Rage Point resource and the abilities he got from Arms Proficiency. He wanted to try those skills out. After filling enough Rage Points, an ability appeared in his head: Power Swing. He jumped back after blocking an attack, then placed the axe over his shoulder. Gripping the handle with both hands, he felt power surge through him and into the axe. A chunk of red disappeared from his Rage Point bar and his Stamina points decreased as well. One of the bandits took this chance to attack only to be the first subject of Dawning¡¯s test. A dull red glow surrounded the axe as it reached the peak of stored power. Dawning took one step forward and let the unstoppable force unleash itself. The axe swung forward at an incredible speed. To Dawning, it felt like the axe was launched and flew by itself, and he was just dragged along. The bandit tried to block with his shortsword, which easily snapped into two. In just a fraction of a second, the swing was complete, leaving only a trail of red light behind. The bandit stood there with a surprised expression. Then, blood spilled from his mouth as his upper body from the chest up slid to the side. He was cleanly sliced through the chest. The sight left the other four bandits aghast. One of them turned tail and ran, but he became Dawning¡¯s next target. Chopped from behind, he fell down and spilt his blood on the dark soil. The other three tried to fight back. The conclusion was easy to predict: It was a massacre. Six corpses lay around the dirt road. The ground was stained dark red with their blood. Two of them were half-orcs, the one who ran was a half-elf, while the remaining three were humans. Dawning tried to salvage their leather equipments, but those were beyond use and repair. He managed to take some of their weapons; low quality ones at most Lv.3. Their pouches were half-filled with silver and copper coins which he gladly took. He then gathered the corpses and dumped them a distance from the roadside. If he had something to light a fire with, he would burn their corpses. For now, this would suffice. After cleaning up, he continued on his walk to the capital like nothing happened, except for the additional stains on his clothes and the scratches on his gauntlet.