《Omniverse System Wars》 Integration Period It happened all in a single second, everybody world-wide was going about their own business and daily lives. Then a voice spoke inside every single person''s head. [Stage1: Zombie Apocalypse - Integration Period. 30 Days. Treasure Chest drop rates increased 2x. Survivor Coin drop rates increased 2x. Quest Rewards increased 2x. Experience Points increased 2x. Skill level up rates increased 2x. Mana Regeneration increased 4x.] [Welcome all of humankind to the Zombie Apocalypse, difficulty rating E+ tier. humanity Is too weak, the point of your new reality is for powerhouses to emerge. But as an undeveloped world with no Mana or Qi Cultivation, humankind is too weak to survive in this new era. You have all been blessed with increased attribute points gained for the first 25 levels, and amazing benefits to make up for the lacking power of your Race as a whole.] [Every human being will be granted 1 Offensive Skill, 1 Defensive Skill, 1 Movement Skill and 1 Weapon Mastery Skill that you may choose from an expanded list. Before you all pick your desired Skills, I recommend that you think in RPG terms of what you want to be. A Tank, DPS, Healer, Debuffer, Long Range, Burst DPS, PvE, PvP and so forth. Your selections will now begin. All of humanity will be given 1 hour to make their decisions.] Fenrich was in the middle of a sparring session with his fellow disciples when the change began. It was also at this moment everything came to him and made crystal clear sense. The lucid dreams he has been experiencing, slaughtering zombies, mutant beasts, fellow humans and then later on vampires, werewolves, draconian, merman races and so forth. Those dreams that he "experienced" no longer seemed as if they were just dreams. Every time when he awoke, something changed inside him, the experiences he gained he was able to replicate in his daily life. It was also why Fenrich was now sparring in a gym against various martial artists of varying styles. None were so-called Cultivators, but their unarmed and armed combat were able to help him in his "dreams." A screen appeared in front of Fenrich. But unlike the others, he did not choose to take the assistant Skills that were being provided to all of humanity. They were all trash, and would only help their race adjust to the new reality, there will be superior seedlings appearing, times of chaos brought rise to those with talent and hardwork beyond the norm. Everybody was isolated so no one would be aware of the others'' choices, and it was at this time Fenrich chose to make his counter offer. "I offer to refuse the great overseers'' generosity to give my humbled being a well-rounded foundation. May this humble one make a request of the great overseer?" Fenrich questioned, and began waiting. 1 minute¡­. 3 minutes¡­ 7 minutes¡­ 20 minutes¡­ Then the screen in front of him changed once more. [You seem determined and have thoroughly thought things through. What kind of a request would you make of me, Fenrich Albaston?] Fenrich gulped, the screen changed but now he was also much more aware of the "sense" that something was watching him. His ears could even pick up on the slightest of amused chuckles. "I would like to request two things actually, great overseer." Fenrich spoke out testing the waters. He knew he had "somethings" interest, and he was always told by his father. It was easier to ask for forgiveness than it was to ask for permission. [You may make your requests, I will decide whether they''re worthy enough or make a counter proposal.] "I would like to exchange all my Skill options for an evolvable Bronze tier Divine Body, and an evolvable G tier Soul Weapon." Fenrich said but was unable to feel any kind of immediate regret or second guess himself. [Interesting¡­ very interesting Fenrich Albaston. I also made a similar choice all those trillions of years ago, I can approve of the evolvable Bronze Divine Body, but for the evolvable Soul Weapon¡­ the zombie apocalypse difficulty will go from E+ to D- now, let me inform you E+ is already enough to eradicate all of humanity even with these boons and bonuses. The D- difficulty is able to wipe out the Milky Way Galaxy, do you understand the weight of what you just requested?] Fenrich took a long and controlled breath in, then slowly breathed it out through his mouth. "I do, I believe in my fellow humankind that with chaos, my brothers and sisters will rise in the face of this game." [Very well. I will be keeping a personal eye on your growth, and the growth of humankind. You have just made this a make or break situation, please do entertain me and one day, I will appear before you in my physical form.] [You have been awarded with the evolvable Void Blade Asura, Bronze Tier Divine Body.] [You have been awarded with the Blank G tier Soul Weapon. The Soul Weapon will appear before you in the form of a seed. It will be necessary for a germination period in which the seed will enter your Soul. You will be given an Uncommon weapon of your choosing for the meantime until your Soul Weapon Seed is done germinating.] [You have been awarded with Abyssal Soul Cultivation Manual.]This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. [Farewell for now Flame Bearer, may your race evolve and survive the Game to ascend to the 7 Layers.] Fenrich was given freedom of movement, he sat down cross-legged with the back of his hands on his knees open palms upwards to the ceiling. "It''s time to begin as the Origin Essence is now integrating Earth." Fenrich entered the perfect Cultivation state, making his mind as empty as the "void" itself. Inhaling a deep breath in through his nose, Fenrich expanded his senses and began projecting his Will outside of his body. Fenrich used his Will to begin circling around him at rapid speed, forming a cyclone that was slowly sucking in tiny motes of azure blue lights. At the end of the cyclone, his Soul formed the shape of a funnel that was directly above his head where his brain was. Sweat began falling from Fenrich''s body as if he were sitting in a sauna, steam began emitting from his body as all his organs were put onto turbo mode with no internal cooling fans to remedy the situation. "Only when a muscle is torn can it rebuild and grow back stronger. I will risk my life to complete a Gold Mana Body. I was always told diamonds are made under pressure, let''s prove it!" Fenrich''s eyes snapped open as his eyes within the sockets exploded, blood gushing out staining his clothes and the floorboards beneath himself. The pain was transmitted to his soul and multiplied beyond the norms any human being could sustain. But for he, who knew the tortures that would soon appear. Pain would not become his master, Fenrich would master the pain, find solace within and embrace it! Fenrich further urged his Will going from 1 to 300 instantly, making it circulate around himself faster. Despite his empty eye sockets, nose, ears, mouth, anus blood gushing out as his flesh gave way. Fenrich was willingly destroying his body and "committing suicide" to push himself to evolve. The damaged Soul will take time to recover, but with a 30 day period, it was impossible for there to be no natural treasures to heal the Soul. "I will not let you all die!" Fenrich smiled wickedly as a shroud of demonic-white aura began radiating out from within the depths of where his Dantian would be. Within the vast emptiness, there was an 1 inch tall flame, and above that flame was an old scripture that looked like it would be held within a museum for ancient history. On it words written in an unknown language read Holy River Demonic Art. The scripture was releasing the demonic-white energy, it was then being purified by the flame to later be released through his inner circulatory, muscular, skeletal and endocrine system. Forming a yin and yang of destruction and creation. Unknowingly a demonic-white and azure blue cocoon formed around Fenrich in the shape of an egg. Body, Soul, Will were being stressed to the limits and further enhanced even when they reached the breaking point many times. The only thing that stopped Fenrich''s body from blowing up like a watermelon dropped from a 10 floor building was his force of will. This on its own was a form of tempering that could only be achieved by the enlightened and Cultivators. "Crack" Forty minutes quickly passed, the full hour given to humanity ended. All of those who made their "locked in" selections were awarded their Skills. "Crack!" Fine spider-web-like cracks formed on the eggshell. A holy demonic white aura tinged with azure blue burst out in ripples invisible to the naked eye. Numerous notifications popped up within Fenrich''s vision, he smiled successfully despite the complete feeling of emptiness that pervaded his body and Soul. Fenrich muttered softly so as nobody else could hear him. "Status Page" [WARNING!!!!!!!!! INJURED SOUL: 0/100%] Name: Fenrich Level: 0 Race: Human, ??? Health: 350/350 Stamina: 350/350 Mana Points: 0/300 Strength: 10 (35) Endurance: 10 (35) Vitality: 10 (35) Agility: 10 (35) Intelligence: 0 (35) Physique: 10 (25) Mana: 0 (25) Luck: 10 (25) Undistributed Points (10) After seeing his own status page, Fenrich then moved to his notification. [Congratulations! You have successfully created a Gold Mana Body. All attribute points increased by +80. Advanced attribute points increased by +50. Mana Body is temporarily locked. It will be unlocked after your Soul is fully recovered due to Mana being a stat based off of the Soul. Attributes will be distributed after gaining your Mana Body permanently.] [Congratulations! You have succeeded in the initial stage of Body Refinement. All basic attribute points +15. All advanced attribute points +10.] [Congratulations! You are one of the lucky few out of 8 billion to be a quadruple stat natural awakener. Strength, Intelligence, Vitality and Agility gain a base +5 per level on top of bonus attributes for the first 25 levels [Congratulations! You have performed 2 minor achievements. Your Class choices has been upgraded from Common to Uncommon choices.] [Congratulations! You have earned the Title - Mana Body Progenitor (Locked.) The Title System will be unlocked 10 days into the Integration period. All attribute efficiencies gained by titles will be applied to basic and advanced attributes. Note: Not all Titles give attribute points as rewards, there are some Titles that give other benefits outside of attribute points.] [Congratulations! You have earned the Title - Death Seeker. You have willingly pushed your life into the gates of Hell before your new Hell even began. The grim reaper smiles at you and has given you the Reapers Blessing (Locked.) The Blessing System will be unlocked after the integration period is lifted. Gods, God Queens, Deities, Primordials will then be able to give out Blessings to humankind.] Fenrich held his head within his hands after reading through his notifications. A soul-splitting headache assaulted him intensely, reminding him of his damaged Soul more than loud enough. Physical pain was one thing, pain on the soul level was something nobody would be able to withstand until getting their first Class evolution. "Inventory." Fenrich spoke out loud this time, arousing the attention of his fellow peers. Within his inventory was an Uncommon Weapon Selection Coupon. Mentally tapping it was a real pain in the ass, as even that stressed his Soul. Fenrich made his choice and chose the Steel Greatsword option. Steel Greatsword [Uncommon] Level: 0 Durability: 300/300 Strength +3 Passive Ability 1: Auto Repair. Every hour regains 15 points of durability. Passive Ability 2: Adds an additional 25 kilograms of weight to the weapon. Fenrich stood up and wielded the Steel Greatsword. It was 4 meters long in length, and had a thickness of 20 inches. With his 35 Strength, it felt just right within his hands. The added weight was a bonus, as without it would be too light. Even wielding it one-handed was not an issue, Fenrich got into a form visualizing a copy of himself 12 feet away, then began a shadow boxing spar with himself. It was time to condition his body, turning those memories from "theory" into honed muscle memory. After thirty minutes passed, Fenrich spoke out loud, grabbing the attention of his peers. "For any of those who have chosen Greatsword, Sabers or Longswords, I can give pointers and assistance with those weapons. As for anybody else, sorry. Those are the weapons I''m specialized in." Out of the 40 individuals, only 3 had taken those weapons as their choice. The majority were a mix of spears, bows, and staff. Only two were more specific as one had sadanaga and the other, also like Fenrich, had a greatsword and a shortsword In his offhand. These two in particular are known as the "elite" of their gym, they both originated from asian countries and had expertise in their weapons and dual wielding style. They neither showed superiority or raised their nose in the air towards the others they spoke and interacted with. "Ren, Chiaki, you all heard the voice that sounded within our heads. After getting people familiar with the weight and way of handling their new weapons, Skills and so forth. We should form a group to go out scouting for food and resources. We seem to be lucky, electricity and power is still a thing. So we should aim to get crockpots, woks, pans, pots, portable cooktops and so on." Fenrich said aloud, knowing full well it would take them everything they had to survive, and to include all those around them. They were all brothers and sisters that would nearly beat the shit out of each other during sparring, then go for drinks afterwards. They had become a tight knit family, at least Fenrich hoped that they could remain that way. Gathering Groups Fenrich spent the next 3 hours with the small group that chose Greatsword, Saber and Longsword, their gym had training copies of each weapon, so Fenrich used those instead of his Steel Greatsword. It saved on durability, and was ultimately successful as they had all upgraded their Weapon Mastery Skill from level 1 to level 3. Each increase in Skill level made them deal 1% more damage while they gained a set of forms and stances for further training and comprehension at level 3 in their Weapon Mastery. When they started sparring it was 7 in the morning, with the 1 hour choice time they were given, it was now 11. Everyone was getting hungry, and for Fenrich he was starved now after close to 3 hours of continuous practice and guidance. He had also learned the Longsword and Saber Weapon Mastery Skills. For those who chose bows and or staffs with magic based Skills, they were told not to waste their limited stock of arrows and Mana pools. Without any potions or resources it''d be foolish to waste what they had been given without raising their levels to gain more attributes. Fenrich then went and grouped up with Ren and Chiaki. Both were Awakeners, Ren awakened Strength and Agility, while Chiaki awakened Intelligence only. Putting them above others as each level will be all the more rewarding for them. "Fenrich, what are your thoughts on how we do our groupings? Ren asked, while Chiaki stayed silent as she would only give her input when it was required. It was due to her traumatic childhood, she only spoke when she deemed it worthy of her input, otherwise she stayed silent and moved with the flow. "The three of us should each take a group of 10 individuals, 1 person specializing in magic, 2 long range, and the rest being close combatants. Far more people chose cold weapons, only 5 chose long range weapons and 3 for magic. The rest will remain here for now, they will barricade the windows and doors. All lights will be turned off and they will be in change rooms away from windows after the work is done." Fenrich said Chiaki nodded her head giving her ascent, while Ren mulled over things, they did not have any specific information except for the screens of font and the voice that spoke in their heads. "We will have to figure things out the hard way, there is no way around it." Ren sighed as he was not the biggest fan of the unknown, doubly so for their new reality. "Alright, let''s get our squads made up and go on a conquest." Fenrich smiled as he patted Ren on the shoulder. "You''ll be fine Ren, this is like a video game turned into real life. You excel at RPGS, let your game knowledge and uncountable hours keep you alive and make you stronger. Don''t worry about the unknown for now, we have no choice but to slowly learn and accumulate." Fenrich walked away as he cupped his hands to his mouth and spoke out. "Chiaki, Ren and myself will be group leaders taking 9 other members with us. We will have 1 mage, 2 long range dps, and the rest will be close combatants. Those that want to be in Chiaki''s team will have to go knowing that communication is strictly on an as needed basis. You heard the voice and saw the notifications, 1 month is neither long nor short. Now is the time to make it count most!" After ten more minutes and a few squabbles as not all wanted to be left behind, the three groups were formed. "Ren, you will take College Square Mall down to Baseline and Merivale. Chiaki''s group will take care of the industrial side of Merivale. My group will be going a further distance to start with Barrhaven to Cedarview. For now these are our main priorities. Food, water tools, cooking utensils, clothes, pots, pans and portable cooking setups. Our inventory has 100 slots to begin with and has an item stacking option with up to 99 units per slot. Keep that in mind, grab as much of the important stuff as possible. As for the rest use your own discretion without giving up the priority items. Do not be aggressors to our fellow humans, your survival is more important." Fenrich led his group out, all of them going at a fast but controlled pace. As they all were athletes and had been going through conditioning for many years, it was not hard for them to maintain. And with their attribute points making them feel stronger than they were previously, they were able to push themselves far harder. There was also the side benefit as they could all gain an additional 15 attribute points to their base points before needing Cultivation manuals to improve further. 10 minutes went by peacefully, they were after all in an area with high traction, the only difference was there were no stranded cars, or any vehicles in general. Their group had come across slain zombies, and also dead humans, there was no need for combat yet, so their stamina had remained high, only going down 2-5 points despite crossing 4 kilometers by foot. It was only when they passed west hunt club and got to the path past the Nepean Sports Plex going towards Barrhaven when they met their first group. Fenrich used the basic Identify Skill; they were all given for free and shared its attributes with his group.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Zombie Level: 1 Health: 225 Skill: N/A "The zombies have very slow movement, so far there seems to be no mutants like the Resident Evil series or any other surprises. Watch for their nails and bites, we don''t know if anyone can become infected yet." Fenrich reminded the group as he took out his Steel Greatsword and wielded it with one hand. Fenrich took charge as he called out "Archers aim for their heads, mages don''t let your spells cause any friendly fire." Coming face to face with his "first" zombie, Fenrich dodged to the back of the zombie avoiding its wild swing. Fenrich kicked down on an angle breaking the zombies right leg, causing a -44 to float above its head then chopped the zombie splitting it in half from head to waist, a lethal attack emptying out its health points. [You have gained 15 (30) Experience Points.] [You have gained 5 (10) Survivor Coins.] The others, after seeing how easy it was for Fenrich to dispatch one zombie, began hyping themselves up as they also began breaking off and picking off their own targets. They quickly realized the difference as their attributes were 10 across the board, making it a lot harder to kill their targets. But with their training and martial arts, it didn''t take them more than twelve seconds to take out their targets. Fenrich watched as he saw the members of his group gain their confidence at successfully killing their targets. Some were more shaken then others at fighting zombies and had gotten scratched. They''d lost 13-20 health depending on their stat allocations. None were infected or gained any negative debuffs, because they hadn''t taken enough attacks to gain said debuffs. Those that got hit losing a good 7-20% total health became a hell of a lot more careful, killing their targets with less nervousness and getting used to their "new" bodies and weapons. The long ranged went for the headshots, missing 3 out of 5 shots, but gaining a smaller portion of the experience since the kill wasn''t completely on their own. But with 10 stacks of 99 basic arrows, they had some wiggle room but not a lot. The sole mage in the group sent out a fireball, hitting between 40-70 damage as well as 20 dot damage over 5 seconds. But with fireball taking 10 Mana a pop, and she invested all points into Intelligence, the caster relied on a mix of close combat and fireball. Fenrich saw everybody was starting to gain order to their movements, some formed groups of twp and began working together, whereas he alone had triple the attribute points and so he went on his own. The path they were on had a lot of trees and bush with a mix of open forest space, not wanting to take any chances, the group moved over to the open road. After going three quarters of the way to Barrhaven and everybody leveling up at least once, they all sat down catching their breaths. Their Health, Mana and Stamina were all topped off to full, but their acquired exhaustion was not magically wiped away. Not the mental kind at least. "Everybody take 20 minutes. We''re not far from entering Barrhaven, we will have a gas station, Timhortons and McDonald''s all within 50 meters of each other. We will clear out all the surrounding zombies first, then go and get water and food to replenish and fill ourselves. I will go ahead and see what it looks like ahead of us." Fenrich went ahead as he said, seeing the welcome to Barrhaven sign and the huge numbers of zombies ahead of them. At a quick glance he''d seen no less than 200, all with a mix of levels between 1-3 which was not an issue at all. But there was a more unique zombie that had a blood red aura surrounding it and had the word Elite above its head. Elite Zombie Level: 5 Health, 4,500 Skills: Claw, Bite, Poison Breath, Tough Body (passive) Fenrich was not expecting to see an Elite so soon, their were several tiers for all zombies, mutant beasts and so forth despite the zombies numerous mutations. They were the common moobs, Uncommon, Rare, Elite, Silver, Gold, Dark Gold, Epic, Ancient, Legendary, Mythical, Divine and God tier. The scariest thing about these unnamed but Elite and above enemies was that they had begun forming basic intelligence, luckily their world had only changed 4 and a half hours ago, so this Elite had close to no time to develop its intelligence or its unique sense. Otherwise, for scanning this single Elite zombie alone, Fenrich would have aggroed the entire mob since the Elite would have mobilized every zombie within a certain distance of itself. "Tabernacle" Fenrich spoke his favorite french slur before he carefully retreated, slowing his heart down as he "erased" his presence, not willing to make any mistake that could cause a small hoard to be on his and the group''s asses. Rejoining the group, Fenrich told the group about what he''d seen, and instead of the expected fear, he instead saw resolve and the faintest whiff of killing intent from those that enjoyed the slaughter. It was a long time before they would be capable of forming their killing intents, but seeing these combat maniacs that he called brothers and sisters, it too roused his own hunger. "Those of you that haven''t assigned your rewarded attribute points from levels yet should do so now. We will slaughter to our hearts content, then we shall feast!" Fenrich raised the morale of his group, but did nothing over the top. They all knew it for themselves, going overboard would only dampen their spirits instead. "Status Page." [WARNING!!!!!!!!! INJURED SOUL: 0/100%] Name: Fenrich Level: 1 Experience Points: 850/1,700 Race: Human, ??? Health: 500/500 Stamina: 500/450 Mana: 0/500 Strength: 25 (50) Endurance: 20 (45) Vitality: 25 (50) Agility: 25 (50) Intelligence: 0 (50) Physique: 15 (30) Mana: 0 (28) Luck: 13 (28) Undistributed Points (25) AN: For the first 25 levels all humans gain +5 to their basic attributes, on top of the base +3 attributes they gain to all basic attribute points per level. Everyone also gains +5 undistributed attribute points per level. (+3 to all basic attribute points past level 25. +8 for now until level 25.) Due to the Bronze Void Blade Asura Divine Body, Fenrich is gaining +5 base attributes (+2 more than those without a Divine Body) and +10 undistributed attribute points (+5 more than those without a Divine Body.) On top of that he is also gaining +5 Physique and +3 Mana and Luck. (Without the Divine Body, Fenrich would not be gaining any of those bonuses to the advanced attribute points.) Due to being a natural Evolver, Fenrich is gaining +5 to Strength, Intelligence, Vitality, Agility. Song Recommendation: Kryn - Risset Loot Roulette Fenrich added 15 points to his Agility and the remaining 10 to his Endurance, for what he was planning to do was kite the entire mob of zombies cutting off access to Barrhaven. The extra 10 in Endurance made it so his body was much more resilient and could take more damage. His Physique with his latest level up had even reached 30, so he could now push his body to exert self-created Movement Skill and also some weaker Combat Techniques. Combat Techniques were ways to amplify and make more use out of the total sum of his attribute points, while also being extremely Stamina draining. They were usually the aces a Cultivator had when their Mana ran out making their Skills become negligible. Fenrich took in a deep breath through his nose, and slowly exhaled it from his mouth. Fenrich was now clearing away the "fog" inside of his mind. With every single breath he let go, the intensity of his gaze and surrounding presence around himself multiplied. This caused the hairs on the back of one''s neck, or even arms to raise. Fenrich was currently entering the space where his instincts and unwavering spirit operated the car. He was like in a state of possession, but a far more feral, berserk and instinctual side of him tapped Fenrich out as he entered the ''back seat,'' but still was able to communicate and operate with the new driver. Fenrich''s cold and emotionless voice aroused the group, when they all looked over in his direction, due to the increased attribute points they had. Some were able to notice that in the surrounding 3 meter radius around Fenrich, the air was slightly rippling like a mild autumn day with turbulent winds making calm water surfaces chaotic. "The hunt¡­ begins." Fenrichs body tensed as he gathered all the momentum from his body and relocated it to his feet, where Fenrich used the road like a springboard, there were two slight foot indentations left in his wake. Fenrich''s body shot forward like an arrow being released from a bow of a seventy-five pound draw. Crossing twenty meters in a single instant, Fenrich ran full speed towards the mob of zombies. When he arrived before the closest level 2 zombie, Fenrich used his left foot as a pivot snapping his waist as he thrust out with his right arm, piercing through the throat of the nearest zombie. Blood sprayed as droplets landed on his left cheek, Fenrich paused momentarily as a demonic smile slowly made itself noticeable on his face. Fenrich then in rapid succession, used downwards and upwards momentum with two chops of both his hands, severing both arms from the zombie, he then used the now truly dead zombie as a battering ram, holding it by its feet to smash away the others that approached. The level 5 Elite zombie was the fastest to react, its sharp elongated claws tore through Fenrichs throat like a hot knife through butter, but it showed no reaction as that was merely an afterimage of Fenrich due to his explosive speed. "Silver Movement Technique - Void Steps" Fenrich manipulated his essence in a spiral replicating the motions of a beating heart. On top of his explosive movement speed, it showed a live afterimage of himself, tricking the yet to be matured intelligence budding within this Elite zombie. "Silver Combat Technique - Formless Slash" Fenrich''s Steel Greatsword had a shadow copy that shrouded the weapon itself, Fenrich cleaved down with all his might attempting to split the Elite zombie from head to foot. The Elite quickly brought up its guard, relying on its passive body enhancement to tank the full brunt of the damage. But unlike what the Elite believed to happen, it felt no slashing or crushing momentum from the weight of the clearly bulky weapon, when it lowered its guard to look at the human, it was already too late. The greatsword was like a specter as it pierced through its chest from the back, Fenrich then widened the now gaping hole as he rotated his wrists carving out a perfect 360 degree circle in its chest a red -650! floated above the Elites head showing it was a critical hit. But this was nowhere near enough to kill an Elite, the Elite''s red aura exploded in intensity as it grew to be a shroud that elongated 15 meters into the air, and 6 meters wide in width. The aura condensed before being sucked into the Elite zombies body, its body growing in size, muscles popping like a fitness freak on steroids. It''s already razor sharp claws now looked like sickles. The Elite smiled as it looked at Fenrich who had backed up, and was now clearing the brainless undead mobbing him. "Hu¡­man. you¡­ be¡­come¡­ food!" The Elite spoke slow and chopped up English, then dashed towards Fenrich, but unlike Fenrich, who used a Silver tier Movement Technique, this Elites speed had easily tripled and was creating after images based on its own monstrous speed. In this time of "peril" Fenrich closed his eyes, cutting off his visual sense. With the Elite''s rushing speed, Fenrich could feel the air currents brushing against his right shoulder. Fenrich side stepped to the left in a crunch like position, then exploded upwards with momentum as his right elbow smashed into the jaw of the Elite zombie, a -55 floating above its head. The Elite''s eyes widened as if its eyes were about to be like a cartoon characters and nearly popped out of its sockets in shock.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "Bull¡­..shit!" The Elite roared in fury and pure hatred. It began a rapid succession of slashes, which Fenrich all dodged by rotating his feet as his body swayed in and out of its rapid slashes, Fenrich didn''t let the chance go to throw in counter attacks. But each counter attack was done with the touch of his index fingers finger tip. Blood began leaking from his mouth as what Fenrich was doing was now rousing a Mana Technique, but due to his injured Soul instead of using Mana, it was using his Health as the medium of delivery. Twenty-five long seconds passed, Fenrich hit 35 spots on the Elite''s body in total, while still delivering damage adding up to a total of 1,000. Fenrich squatted his body down to his feet almost curling his body up into an almost fetal position, dodging two sickels that would have dismembered both of his arms. Fenrich used his feet to launch upwards as his index and middle finger pierced through the enhanced flesh and bone structure of the Elite''s skull. "Gold¡­ Mana Technique¡­ Mana¡­. Body Annihilation!" Fenrich''s entire right arm blew up from his hand up to where his forearm ends as it connects with his elbow, blood, muscle, and gore splashed the ground around them, whereas where the Elite was once standing, now looked like it entered the vacuum of space. The blood running through its system evaporated from the inside out, leaving a charred and blackened husk that flopped down onto the pavement, then shattered as if turned into dust and was taken with the wind being scattered along the forested area and open land hugging both sides of the road. Where the Elite''s corpse was a pile of loot there were 2 chest pieces, 1 set of arm guards, 1 pair of boots, 1 necklace, and a silver cape. The cape was midnight black with a holy white fabric engraved pair of wings connected to an incredibly thin but long Longsword. There was also a 4 by 4 Iron Treasure Chest. Fenrich bit his tongue to remain conscious as he opened his eyes, the vision around him and only him was beating red, his vision was shaky and he could hardly hear the sounds of battle, let alone Alex who was now supporting his weakened body as he collapsed forward. [Ding! You are the first person to slay an Elite during the Integration period! You have gained the Title - Elite Slayer.] [Ding! You have been awarded with 1 spin for the Silver Prize Roulette Table!] [WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! YOUR HEALTH IS AT 5%] [WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! YOU ARE INFLICTED WITH THE BLEED STATUS] Fenrich, fueled by the human instinct for survival, roused his Will once more. Despite the soul-shattering headache he just willingly placed upon himself, his fingers blazed blue that had the slightest tints of an unlively gray colour, showing the further damage he was causing to his Soul by forcibly using Mana. Fenrich hit all the muscles and meridians remaining from his right side shoulder down to the decapitation, the muscles tightened as if experiencing period cramps and forcibly clotted the blood. [WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! YOUR HEALTH IS AT 1%] A massive flood of notifications rang in his head. [You have gained partial Experience Points, you have gained 4 (8) Experience Points.] [You have gained partial Experience Points, you have gained 9 (18) Experience Points.] [You have gained 2 (4) Survivor Coins.] You have gained 76 (152) Survivor Coins.] [You have gained¡­..] Fenrich let the encroaching blackness take him, knowing he had stopped his bleeding and believing in his higher attribute points, Divine Body and his own strength of Will, Fenrich faded into the blackness entirely. The sole single flicker of resolve and Will flickering like a flame that was surrounded by chaotic winds. Fenrich''s Will wavered, and wavered, and wavered as the approaching chill of death pervaded his body and Soul. "You¡­. are foolish, mortal!" A grating voice like that of a fence with heavy duty chains and locks being forcibly heaved upon sounded. "Your valiant effort for survival is commendable, but you will die nonetheless. Unless¡­. that is¡­ you''re willing to accept an offer?" Right before him was a gigantically tall Black wolf with crimson red eyes, staring into the wavering flame that was Fenrich''s remaining Will and life force that was in a rapid state of abandon. "Your arm is missing, but from our side we have an invasive species of Symbiote. Like a parasite¡­ they suck on the life essence of their host. But your sleeping Bloodline¡­ is of the Abyssal Void God King. Will you risk the Symbiote lowering its head to rebuild your self-imploded heart, organs and bodily functions? Just know the moment you merge, your race will divert from Human into something unknown within the Omniverse Alpha System." "Sssssss¡­. Y¡­.e¡­..s¡­." The word escaped from Fenrich''s soul, gurgled, hoarse and shivering. The invasive "frost" of death already caused his flame to be partially frozen as the ice crawled up the remains of the partially exposed flame. "Magnificent!" The black wolf''s smile was like that of a trickster having gotten what it wanted. A solid form of purple-black smoke revealed a baby eldritch horror, that was oh so ''cute'' in the eyes of the beholder which was the black wolf. "Survival, or death. It is all up to your force of Will now, mortal!" The life form invaded Fenrich''s Soul, in the real world his right arm had poison-like purple veins spread across his body, his eyes opened up as unholy screams ripped itself out from his throat like a newly summoned fiend from the depths of Hell itself! Fenrich''s body convulsed and twitched rapidly, his nearly conscious body spasming and contorting into shapes straight out of the Exorcist movies. Where his elbow was, black rotten pustule filled flesh began growing out forming the missing limb. The flesh was cracked leaking a mix of yellow runny pus and black blood. The sight alone horrified the rest of the group as they watched on in horror. They watched as Fenrich''s opened eyes were slowly turning, the white sclera was turning midnight black, and his originally blue eyes were turning crimson, and there was even a second eye forming out of both present eyes. Fenrich''s hair turned a snow-white ashen colour, his flesh was turning from a healthy pinkish-white colour to that of a darkened char. Then the convulsions stopped, Fenrich''s eyes remained open, lifeless like. Alex watched on in horror, not knowing how to respond to the various is he dead, and has he turned questions being aimed in his direction. "I don''t know guys, honestly. He looks like he''s dead, but due to my Skill I can still hear his heartbeat weakly beating. His blood on the other hand, sounds like what you''d expect the rapids to sound like when kayaking. For now, I can determine Fenrich is still alive, but whether that means as a zombie or human, that is currently unknown. Let''s continue with the plan, we''re not far from where we can get supplies and food. I''ll stay and monitor Fenrich, while the rest of you acquire what you can." Alex said as he heaved Fenrich''s burning hot body overtop his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. With his back turned to the crowd, sadness flashed by his eyes. "You have to survive this, Fenrich. Your older sister will kill me if she knows I let you die on my watch. And¡­. the fate of mankind rests upon your shoulders, you who came from 100 years in the future." Alex stopped his thoughts and shook his head, not knowing how to truly decipher what Fenrich drunkenly spoke of that night less than a month ago. "Move out people!" Alex ordered with a stricter and much heavier voice than his usual calm and kind demeanor. Mutation, Loot, Lottery Table After an unknown time, Fenrich gasped in an exaggerated method, startling the absolute shit out of the unexpected group nearby. Things were¡­ different. Fenrich could feel their pulses and adrenaline spike, he could hear their pounding and anxious heartbeats. He could¡­ taste the fear that they unknowingly and knowingly emitted. The world from what he could see, one side had colour and a clearness of that of someone with beyond perfect vision, and the other side was a lifeless gray colour. And on the opposite lifeless gray side, Fenrich could see the inside of the group''s bodies. He could see the crimson blood running through their bodies, he could see the heart beating and all the various other organs doing their work. And it was also getting darker now, where others could only see five meters in front of them, Fenrich could see up to three hundred meters away with crystal clear clarity as if it was daytime still. A firm voice pulled Fenrich''s attention back, "Are you still with us, boss? Or are you one of them, now?" Alex asked with a new kind of steel in his voice that wasn''t there before, Fenrich noted. "Other than appearances¡­" Fenrich looked at his darkened skin not at all bothered, but more in fascination as he saw his own clumpy murky blood flowing through inside himself. "I feel fine. It''s more like I had a¡­ mutation of sorts. My body feels lighter than a feather, literally. My body weight is non-existent, my hearing is enhanced, I can see three hundred meters away from myself with crystal clarity. And¡­ I can see my own, and your guys'' organs and blood flow through your flesh. I can even taste the uncertain fear that you all are radiating. Not that I blame you all." Fenrich smiled light heartedly, but with his new appearance and fang like teeth, it did not convey what he wished to. Then it clicked with him, there were only four of them instead of the 10 he arrived with. "Jena and the others¡­?" Fenrich questioned, letting it travel longer than necessary to let it go unassumed on his end. Alex let out a long and exhaustive sigh, it gave Fenrich the answer without the follow up being necessary. "They died due to an ambush from a bigger group of humans after we finished off the zombie mob, and the ones in the surrounding area that was called for by the Elite you killed. Right now, we are within 2 kilometers of the Rideau Carleton Casino. After we killed the ambushing human group, Jena remained with Marco to buy us time to escape from another zombie hoard. Jena¡­ she called out that there was a King tier Hunter variant. She identified it as level 15, but there was no other information, stats or Skills displayed." Fenrich digested what Alex said, but then Alex continued dropping an even bigger bombshell. "You also died¡­ or we at least thought you did. A woman with bat wings in over revealing clothes appeared, she used some kind of ritual magic with the dead and our blood to revive you. She told us her name was Alarune, and that you would understand why she did what she did. You would also owe her a favor for using Ancestral Blood Magic." Fenrich audibly gulped, it was the first time Alex and the others had seen Fenrich with a serious expression, outside of his calm and collected demeanor. "Look, guys-" Fenrich was cut off as Alex jumped in once more. "There is no need to say anything, boss. We know there are things you cannot share, or are unwilling to since we have just had our reality changed. When we have adjusted, I will ask you what needs to be asked then. For now, let us adjust to our new lives before you say something that would destroy our spirits. Hope is more dangerous than outright being told the inevitable." Fenrich swallowed his words, there was indeed a lot he desperately wanted to say, but he knew better than to let the cat out of the bag yet. Alex approached and undid Fenrich''s bindings of lock and chains. "We know you are a part of us and will not put us in needless danger. The rest of us are recuperating and absorbing the attribute orbs Alarune used Soul Forging on. She didn''t bother to do one for you since it would have been weaker overall, and that she deemed it unnecessary since you''re already ''broken'' as she described it." Alex left to regroup with Sasha and Julia, sitting down cross-legged as an orb appeared in the middle of his hands cupped together against his chest. Fenrich saw the hoard of notifications, canceled out all the experience and survivor coin ones and began reading the important ones. [Ding! You have been revived with Ancestral Blood Magic, no Karma or Soul attachments have been formed.] [Ding! You have undergone Mutation. Your race has changed from Human to ???] [Ding! Your soul has undergone Mutation. Your Soul has become the Abyssal Void Baron Soul.] [Ding! Your damaged Abyssal Void Baron Soul has recovered to 45/100%. You now have access to 20% of your total Mana, and can now practice Soul Cultivation. Your Intelligence stat has been unblocked.] [Ding! You have opened the first out of 9 locks of your Abyssal Void God King Bloodline. Achieve your first Class Evolution of at least Rare rarity or higher to unlock the second lock. +30 Physique, Luck, Mana, Sense. [Ding! All your basic attributes have gained +20% efficiency. All your advanced attributes have gained +10% efficiency.] [Ding! All your basic attributes have gained +40. All your advanced attributes have gained +25.] [Ding! You have awakened the advanced attribute - Sense.] [Ding! You have successfully formed a Soul bond with the Abyssal Symbiote.] [Ding! You have received the Passive Skill - Enhanced Regeneration.]This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. [Ding! You have received the Passive Skill - Enhanced Physique.] [Ding! You have awakened the Berserk Skill - Metamorphosis.] [Ding! You have received the Offensive Skill - Abyssal Weapon Enhancement.] [Ding! You have received the Offensive Skill - Abyssal Swords.] [Ding! You have received the Offensive Skill - Abyssal Sword Assault.] [Ding! You have received the Offensive Skill - Abyssal Sword Forge.] [Ding! You have unlocked the Party System for being the first group to slay an Elite. When in a party, all your members will gain +200% Health, Stamina, Mana Regeneration. All party members will receive +25% Loot drop. All party members will receive +15% to all basic and advanced attributes.] Fenrich''s mouth hung open after he finished reading all of the notifications. "Holy fucking shit. I need to die more often!" Fenrich began cackling to himself, there sure was a sadistic enjoyment to seeing his suffering and gambit pay off. Of course this time he had plot armor fuckery to save his ass. The next time¡­ No, there wouldn''t be any next time. This was a wake up call. Alarune, his past fianc¨¦, saved him despite the huge sacrifice she made. Nobody else would give enough of a damn soon enough to do so, even if they had the required magic or spells. Fenrich got up and then began going through the equipment and various loot Alex and the others gathered and left in a pile near him. Thorns Chest Plate [Uncommon] Level: 4 Durability: 225/225 Endurance: +7 Vitality: +5 Passive Effect 1: Damage reflect 2.5% Passive effect 2: 10% of received damage is turned into Thorns Damage. Iron Chest Plate [Common] Level: 3 Durability: 150/150 Endurance: +3 Vitality: +1 Mana Enhancer Gloves [Bronze Artifact] [Evolvable] Level: Adjusts to user, maximum growth level: 40. Durability: 1,000/1,000 Strength: +3 Vitality: +3 Endurance: +3 Intelligence: +3 Agility: +3 Passive Effect 1: Deals +20% damage to Mana Barrier type Skills. Passive Effect 2: Increases the equippers Intelligence and Mana by +10% Passive Effect 3: Regenerates 85 Durability per hour. Passive Effect 4: Stores a maximum of 225 backup Durability. Active Skill 1: Mana Burst - Increases all basic and advanced attributes by 25% for 30 seconds. Enters a state of Mana exhaustion after the activation time ends. Cooldown: 1 day. Flowing Moonlight Greaves [Uncommon] Level: 4 Durability: 170/170 Agility: +10 Necklace Of Broken Bonds [Rare] Level: 5 Durability: 350/350 Intelligence: +14 Mana Points: +250 Mana: +7 Passive Effect 1: Decreases Mana Point requirements of all Skills by 20% Passive Effect 2: All magic damage done by Skills increased by 15% Passive Effect 3: All magic based Skills gain +1 level. Eternal Flame Cape [Silver Relic] Level: Adjusts to user, maximum growth level: 60 Durability: 1,700/1,700 Fire Magic Storage: 7,500/7,500 Strength: +15 Intelligence: +15 Endurance: +10 Vitality: +10 Agility: +10 Passive Effect 1: Strength, Endurance Vitality gain 15% to equippers stats. Passive Effect 2: Eternal Flame - Instantly recovers 33% of equippers maximum Health, and gains 140 Health over a period of 7 seconds. Cooldown: 2 hours. Passive Effect 3: Restores 125 Fire Magic a hour Passive Effect 4: Daylight Savings Time - Fire Magic Storage has 200% regeneration speed during daylight hours. Passive Effect 5: For every 500 Mana Points invested into the Eternal Flame Cape gets converted into 100 for the Fire Magic Storage Active Effect 1: Eternal Flame Spear - Depletes the stored Fire Magic within Eternal Flame Cape, creating a storm of Fire Spears dealing 140% area of effect damage within a 15 meter radius. Causes 450 additional burning damage over the course of 3 seconds. [Fire Manipulation Skill Book] [Fire Slash Skill Book] [Chain Lightning Skill Book] [Mana Burst Skill Book] [Enhanced Intelligence Passive Skill Book] [Enhanced Mana Points Passive Skill Book] [Beginner Blacksmithing Manual] [Beginner Alchemy Manual] [Beginner Formation Arrays Manual] [Beginner Mana Theory Manual (multi use)] [Beginner Qi Theory Manual (multi use)] [Beginner Dao Theory Manual (multi use)] [Beginner Whetstone Blueprint] [Beginner Health Potion Formula] [Beginner Mana Potion Formula] [Beginner Stamina Potion Formula] [Long Range Communication Orb (single use)] Fenrich let a pleasant coo escape as his eyes flashed with avarice as he read through the haul of loot they all gathered. For the first Elite slain and 2x loot increase for the 30 day period was no laughing joke. This reminded Fenrich, he had 1 draw for the Silver Lottery, it was in the form of a single use coupon inside his inventory space. [Would you like to use the Silver Lottery Coupon? Y/N] Fenrich impatiently tapped on the Yes button, and in front of his vision popped up a lottery while about the size of the one from Wheel Of Fortune. There were multiple copies and various categories such as Equipment, Skill Books, Single Use Items, Pet Eggs, Soul Weapons, Mana Weapons, Formulas, Blueprints, Legacy Items, Survivor Items and the smallest of all was of course the jackpot. Fenrich manipulated his Mana to form a small azure blue hand, grabbed onto the handle of the wheel and spun it. All while muttering to himself, "no whammy, no whammy, no whammy, STOP!" The wheel spun round and round, making a repetitive tick tick tick sound. After fifteen seconds it began slowing down, and in another three seconds it landed on the Survivor Item category. [Ding! You have received the Silver Artifact Tree Of Life.] Fenrich, like a kid who had just spent all of the summer vacation doing chores to buy Dragon Quest 8 all over again, hurriedly "loaded" up the status page of his newly acquired toy. [Silver Artifact - Tree Of Rejuvenation.] [Base Item. Cannot be planted outside of the territory of an A.I Smart Base. [Passive Effect 1: Creates 10,000 liters of clean drinking water per day. Maximum storage limit of 10,000,000 liters.] [Passive Effect 2: Creates 600 Health Potions per day. Maximum storage limit of 70,000] [Passive Effect 3: Creates 600 Mana Potions per day. Maximum storage limit of 70,000] [Passive Effect 4: Creates 600 Stamina Potions per day. Maximum storage limit of 70,000] [Passive Effect 5: Creates 4 Foundation Enhancing Droplets per month.] "FUCK YA!" Fenrich pumped his fist up into the air, then realized he probably should have controlled his excitement more. Alex, Sasha and Julia jumped up like a bunch of cats that got their tails stepped on. Fenrich started howling as he held his stomach from laughing so far. "I hope you get skull fucked by a zombie daddy!" Sasha, the one who could make a french sailor blush, yelled at Fenrich. Alex looked over more out of interest than anything else. Julia simply shrugged it off, knowing both Fenrich''s and Sasha''s antics. Both individuals went out of their way to scare the living daylights out of each other. Given their penchant to cause chaos to one another, especially now that zombies were around. Julia was expecting one of them to force their way into a zombie''s corpse and jump scare the other. "Sorry, sorry for the outburst. We have gotten some damn good stuff here!" Fenrich said, walking over to the group as he dropped off all the equipment, formulas and so on. The only things he kept were the Beginner Blacksmithing Manual, Beginner Formation Arrays Manual and Beginner Whetstone Blueprint. "All of you have suffered because of a single moment of my carelessness and my own arrogance. The equipment and everything else here is yours to distribute and use, whatever you all don''t use will be later distributed to the others. No questions asked, I have received enough benefits, I will not take away what can make your chances of survival higher." Fenrich said, as he waved his hand in the air. "I''m going outside to get some fresh air, when you''re all done we will make our way to the Rideau Carleton Casino." Fenrich exited the house they were all taking shelter in, easily jumping the 13 meters it took to land on top of the roof. Fenrich pulled out the Long Distance Communication Orb and activated it. Visualizing Ren within his mind and saying his name aloud a couple of times, a prompt appeared before Fenrich''s eyes, and he began entering a short but sweet to the point message. There were no filler details, just the change of plans, the events that happened, and what they planned to do next with their much lower numbers. [Message sent. The receiver will receive the message within 10 seconds. The receiver will also be able to send back their own message.] Not too long passed, seven minutes or so. Ren''s over analytical mind had to have dissected, and formulated a dozen or so scenarios as visual aid within his mind, and a half dozen of plans to help assist them in whatever way he could. [Ding! Return message received from Ren.] [Do your best brother, the safety of you and the others are far more important than setting up another base. This is the interior description of the Rideau Carleton Casino, it''s floor plans and sections are as such¡­. Your safest way to enter the building is from the emergency exit doors on top of the roof¡­. The key areas to look for are the Casino Managers Office¡­.] After reading for 20 minutes, Fenrich couldn''t help but smile and be relieved Ren has not had "those" events happen yet that made him descend into madness. Thank fuck for his eidetic memory. Due to his increase in Intelligence, even without an eidetic memory, Fenrich could remember all 38,000 words and the planned steps from step 1 through 15. There was the follow-up and also last ditch effort parts mentioned at the very bottom. Given Ren''s intelligence and what he''d seen today on his groups'' exploration, there were multiple predictions but no concrete educated guesses. Ren was not the type to be fully certain until he had learned enough to guarantee all possibilities, and even the bullshit possibilities where shit hit the fan. Mini Game Dungeon Five hours passed by in the blink of an eye, Fenrich had gotten some shut eye for three of those hours, and when he awoke he felt completely refreshed, more so than when sleeping for 10+ hours. Hunger assaulted him, not the hunger for food. Raw flesh, blood, guts, kidney and heart. Fenrich currently had an unquenchable thirst that could only be filled up by blood. Fenrich felt his hands twitch and tremor, his hunger made him think of the three tasty morsels that were undefended against himself. "SMACK!" Fenrich slapped himself across the face so hard it made his own ears ring. "Hun¡­.ger" A gravelly voice sounded inside his head. "Flesh. Blood. Organs. Devour them¡­ Consume them, partner! No one would be any the wiser. Those two women, can you smell it? They''re virgins. Their blood essence is far more potent than the sullied blood. It will make us stronger!" Fenrich could feel his heartbeat rapidly increasing, sounding like the fury of thunder being unleashed from the sky above himself. "Sniff sniff." A demonic grin split Fenrich''s face apart, his eyes gaining in intensity and a visual chaotic red aura trembled causing the air around Fenrich to distort and seem as if the fabric of reality was warping and twisting. "DEVOUR THEM!" Fenrich launched himself off from the roof, shattering it in the process as a demonic howl ripped its way out of his throat, announcing to the world that there was a hungry fucking predator on the loose! "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRYAH!" Alex, Julia and Sasha instinctively reacted, jumping out of the windows avoiding the fallen shrapnel of the broken roof. "What¡­. What the fuck was that just now!?" Sasha panicked, when she heard that demonic roar she and the rest of the group got a level 6 Fear debuff, lowering their stats and mental resilience by 30% Alex could hear the howling of the zombies in the distance, and if he didn''t know better it sounded as if the undead bastards were in actual fear! "Fenrich is gone guys, I can''t sense his presence at all right now, he is nowhere near us. And even if I could, my gut tells me I''d die." Alex said as he was most shocked and terrified, Sasha and Julia had been passed out when it first happened. They didn''t see Fenrich in an unconscious blood frenzy. Out of 1,000 zombies and the seventy ambushing humans in that group, Fenrich devoured all 1,070 lives. "Follow me from a distance, we won''t know if Fenrich is in a sane state of mind by the time we find him." Alex was geared up in the Eternal Flame Cape and the Thorns Chest Plate, plus his own Uncommon dual swords that he picked up. Alex had the most "confidence" he could handle and hold down the frenzied Fenrich for enough time to buy Sasha and Julia breathing room to escape with. "Don''t let it consume you, Fenrich!" Alex thought internally, not at all affected by the Fear debuff or mental resilience dropping. Ten minutes passed as they quietly made their way through the cover of midnight, now they were arriving in an open expanse area. There were zombie corpses everywhere and black thick tar like blood staining the grass polluting the soil. Numerous of them had huge missing chunks of flesh from their throats, heads, chests, whereas the rest were literally torn into ribbon like shreds of freshly butchered meat. The cuts were clean and with the delicate ease of a killers touch. Then they found Fenrich, he was currently tearing the limb off from a still living zombie, and like a mighty caveman or barbarian in the coliseum, he tore into that fat and juicy morsel ravenously. Both of Fenrich''s pupils split apart, there was a chaotic red aura surrounding him that caused the grass to whip and lash about like it was in the middle of 120 kilometer an hour winds. Fenrich looked like fifty whole pack of red fruit gushers blew up above him and covered him in black chunky blood. All that could be seen of him was that demonic face splitting smile and those pearly white fangs that reflected the moonlight off of them. Fenrich then killed off the remaining zombies that had kowtowed around him in a circle like a bunch of cultists worshiping the demon they just summoned. Fenrich''s jaw unhinged itself, taking out massive quarter chunks out of the zombies. In under four minutes, they watched on with a morbid terror as they watched Fenrich devour thirty entire zombies. But they had missed the heads leaking blood that he left as if they were extra strong motts clamatos. Fenrich sucked those heads dry of all blood before squashing them into oblivion within his hands. "GASP!" Fenrich let out a long winded breath of air, his chest rising and falling like the tumultuous waves out in the sea. They watched as Fenrich closed his eyes, and took deep calming breaths. "I''m sorry you all have had to see me like this, I am¡­ fine." Fenrich said with uncertainty in his voice, the cause for it was unknown to the others. But to himself, he knew full well. He could feel the development of a second heart forming inside of him. "There''s a small creek two hundred meters north of us, I am going to go clean up." Fenrich stated as he soon vanished from his spot, none of them present even being able to see the disturbance or sense the movement of gusting wind. Fenrich stripped his clothes off of him in a hurry, and dived into the creek''s water without any fear, for with his heightened senses he knew there was nothing "alive" lurking inside that could be of any danger to him. Fenrich began scrubbing the luckily still mostly damp blood off of himself, otherwise if it had dried up and caked onto him, it would be a real son of a bitch to scrub off. After feeling like an entirely brand new man, Fenrich let out a sigh of relief and then entered the farm house not too far from himself. He quickly cleaned up the three zombies that were inside the house, presumably a family once upon a time. Then began the search for a set of clean clothes. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Being fully clothed, bathed and having a scrumptious feast, Fenrich could now let go of some of the smaller concerns, it was now time to begin making their way to the Rideau Carleton Casino. Fenrich regrouped with Alex and the others, they had also chosen to find shelter in the nearby barn, whatever animals were there once, were now nothing but splatters of blood and meat paste. "We should get a move on, I have a feeling that I can keep my control for the next 8 hours. I don''t know if there''s anything that can trigger me outside of hunger, but I should be fine. And even if I do get triggered, I can wrestle back enough control to stop myself." Fenrich said while scanning his motley crew, Julia avoided his gaze, still shaken up as he could hear her thundering heart pound like a hammer on steel. Alex and Sasha kept their gazes locked on Fenrich''s eyes, searching for anything that could counter what he had just said. They quickly gave up and nodded their heads. "You''re the leader, we follow you willingly and without any fear in our hearts." Alex stated, this caused a soft whimper to come out from Julia as tears started to stain her face. "Fenrich, I''m sorry. I don''t fear you or have any disgust or any kind of hate towards you. I fear the unknown, I fear this new life we are living." Fenrich approached Julia, causing her to tremble but she did not move away. Fenrich hugged the woman, with one hand wrapped around her head and the other her lower back, pulling her into his chest. "You''re not wrong, Julia. There is a lot I also fear, there are an uncountable amount of horrors and terrors awaiting for us, this is just merely a small part of the game. I promise that I will not let myself hurt you or the others, you all are practically extended family, the good kind that I actually give a shit about." Fenrich gave Julia two soft pats on her shoulders, pushing her away gently and with his thumbs, wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Dry your eyes girl, you''re one of the tomboys of our group. What would you do if the others knew that you have cried like a little girly girl?" Fenrich flashed an easy smile, this time not exposing any of the fangs. "Alright ladies, and presumably a guy, because we can''t assume anything anymore. We''ve had enough setbacks, time waits for nobody! You either move with it, or you get swallowed up by it." Fenrich and the group made their way to their destination, unaware that they were all walking into the crossroads of Fate. The swirls of Fate surrounded the four of them and swirled up in the sky, gathering the Fate of other individuals as their group acted like magnetism that would attract numerous other key players and future betrayals that left mankind weakened and slaughtered. Another hour passed and they had finally stood on the outside perimeter of the Rideau Carleton Casino. All the lights were on and looking inviting for a deathtrap in plain sight. Loud and shitty rave music could be heard playing on the high quality speakers, there was also an azure blue Mana barrier not allowing them to enter the premises of the casino. The sound of which affected Fenrich making him unsteady and irate. Or well, the Abyssal Symbiote was irate and started sounding like uncle Ruckus in his head. "Abyssal God King Azh''Kirantu damn it! What in the fuck is that foul sounding hellspawn I hear!?" The Abyssal Symbiote roared within Fenrich''s head, "It sounds as bad as when you''re trying to go down on a female Abyssal Symbiote only to find out she''s packing a cock! You know, some Jack and Jill went up the hill kind of vibes, partner!" "Too much information mate, tmi!" Fenrich winced, as he got some nasty ass images he couldn''t un-visualize. "That''s right, partner. Picture that shit some more. Don''t forget to look for a bathroom to jack of-" Fenrich cut connection with the other voice in his head, bringing him temporary peace and quiet. Fenrich''s ears twitched and he looked to their southeast position, another group of people were approaching and stood about seventy-five meters away from them, looking their gear and members up and down. Snickers and catcalls came as they acted like punks who didn''t know their place. And before long, several other groups and individuals began appearing en masse. There was now one hundred people outside of the Mana barrier, when they reached the required numbers, the Mana barrier went down and a series of prompts filled their visions. [Welcome, humankind to the very first Mini Game since your Integration Period has started. You all will enter in groups of 10 for a total of 10. Your objectives are simple, survive and evolve. As the very first Mini Game and also Dungeon combined all into one. The difficulty setting has been upgraded to Hard difficulty. You will be fighting against of course, your new denizens, the zombies and also some other races that are widely found out in the greater Omniverse. All loot has a 300% increased drop rate, Survivor Coins has a 200% drop rate, Experience Points has a 200% increase.] [The overseer and current owner who has bought Earth and activated the Integration Protocols will be watching, please make sure to excel and show that your humankind has the potential and will to survive. There will be no infighting allowed between members of the same race inside the Mini Game Dungeon. There will be leaderboards with all kinds of goodies and rewards for the top performing teams and individuals. Good luck, don''t die you cute little critters.] [You have been injected into the Mini Game Dungeon: Evolution Royale - Hard] Fenrich looked around observing his surroundings and his allies, thankfully Alex, Sasha and Julia were present. The other group were mainly unknown to him as they had either died, or never crossed paths. All except for one single person, Lukas the future to be War God. Fenrich decided it was time to put his begrudgingly obtained political and networking skills to good use. "Good evening to you all, I''m Fenrich and this is my group, Alex, Sasha and Julia. Since we''re all in this together and have become a combined group, why don''t we start off with some introductions?" This caught the attention of all those present, nobody was willing to come up to the plate and take bat with Fenrich''s offer. "I''m Lukas, my only goal here is to fight strong opponents and grow stronger." The future War God stated bluntly and said no more afterwards. A meek voice sounded out like a quiet squeak, "I am Isabella, I am not good at combat but I have healing magic, and group buffs. I do have some weaker spells that are highly effective against the undead." "Hey all, you can call me Ryan. I am purely a glass cannon. If you want to clear hoards or strong zombies, I''m your guy, but don''t ask me to tank or fight in the frontline, I''m not your guy." A lanky redheaded youth said. "You all can call me Jackson, I''m a retired sniper for the military. Since we have no guns, I chose the next best thing, bow and arrow. I can claim headshots within 350 meters on moving or stationary targets, it matters not." "Garen, I''m a fisticuffs up in your face kind of guy. High Strength, Vitality and Endurance build." "Laura, I practice Kendo and was a ballet dancer for 17 years before I got bored of it. I much prefer the sword as it has never failed me once. All my attribute points are in Strength, Agility and Endurance. I''m a triple stat Awakener in Strength, Agility and Endurance." Laura was a tall athletic and fit woman. She had long cascading black hair, hazelnut eyes and the aura of someone who has killed before. The others could not recognize it yet, but to Fenrich, she was like a solitary flame in the darkness that could not be engulfed. "It is a pleasure to meet you all and make your acquaintance. I am about to send you all party invites, as I have a pretty neat buff that will help give us an edge over the other groups and our enemies. [You have sent a Party invitation to Lukas, Isabella, Ryan, Jackson, Garen, Laura, Alex, Sasha, Julia.][Garen has joined your party] [Alex has joined your party] [Sasha has joined your party] [...] "Now, with that over and done with, what do you all say we raise a little hell?" Fenrich smiled the kind of smile that only someone like Laura would recognize, her gaze lingered on him before she too let out a smirk. Her hazelnut eyes intensified as the unkindled killing intent within her began stirring. Fenrich gave Laura a knowing look and winked. [Your group has been deemed to be the strongest out of all of the gathered groups present. You will be crowned as the King, you will have the crown icon on the Minimap for your fellow humankind, and for your enemies you will be constantly highlighted giving away your position at all times.] [Ding! You have received the Mini Game Dungeon Minimap.] "It looks like we have just become public enemy number one." Fenrich said as his eyes intensified and the jovialness he showed was overtaken by the killer''s calmness. All those in their group felt the hair on the back of their necks raise, unknowingly the aura that Fenrich leaked out was that of an Emperor. His aura alone demanded subservience, the only ones unaffected were Lukas and Laura, instead their gazes landed on him as both nodded their heads in approval. Whereas the others were visibly shaken and began kneeling as they let their heads touch the ground towards Fenrich''s position. Fenrich brought out his Steel Greatsword and slung it over his shoulder as he began walking towards the exit of the safe room they spawned in, "What are we all waiting for? We have leaderboards to dominate!" Fenrich licked his lips as he reread the previous prompts he had, "There will be no infighting allowed between your own race." Well, wasn''t that just something. My race happens to be a bunch of question marks. This was a perfect opportunity to prematurely set off the ticking time bombs. "The Dark King, Emperor Alexander, Warlord Anderson, Empress Yasmine, Thunder Magus Alannah, Apostle, Nihility, Midnight Reaper. You are all on my shitlist!" Crimson aura began emitting out from Fenrich''s body as he led his group that would later on be known as the Flower Of Seven Sins. Song recommendation: Obey The Kraken - Haunting Echoes Of The Sea Wild Wild West Fenrich and group entered out into their groups designated area, the first thing they noted was how expanded the inside of the Rideau Valley Casino was. Not only that, since their group was marked as the King, they had additional features on their Minimap. First, it showed the positions of the other King groups from the other races involved in the Mini Game Dungeon. Secondly, it showed where there could be potentially hidden rooms or Treasure coves. Thirdly, it labeled the level of their area, as well as had miniature and large sized skulls on the map. Fenrich assumed this represented Rare and Elite mobs. Fourthly, there was also one target moving that was marked as Lord, and it currently was¡­. Right above them. ¡°BOOM!¡± ¡°GRAAAAAWL!¡± The roof above them exploded as a 10 feet long mutant beast appeared before them. Dungeon Raid Boss [Lord] Level: 15 Health: 275,000 Mana Points: 25,000 Main Attributes: Agility, Strength, Intelligence Skills: Enhanced Agility [Passive level 5,] Enhanced Strength [Passive level 5,] Dark Dash, Shadow Flame, Wild Hunt, Berserk, Triple Claw, Shadow Metamorphosis. [Abyssal Symbiote Physique Enhancement level 1 has been activated. All basic attributes gain +30, all advanced attributes gain +10] Fenrich slashed his Steel Greatsword vertically as his blade connected with the paws of the raid boss. Fenrich enhanced his body with his Mana as he rotated his wrists, countering the flow of momentum and absorbing it as he turned it into his. With his Mana, he formed small azure blue hands that grabbed the hind legs of the raid boss, and supported him as he swung his blade downwards. A damage number of -130 floated above the raid boss¡¯ head. Fenrich pushed all the Mana he could muster into bolstering his physical body, then with his left foot as an anchor, he shot off of it as his right hand flashed out sucker punching the raid boss in the snout -325. The raid boss snarled as it leaped forward, Fenrich bent backwards dodging underneath its claws, and leaned his body vertically and came up with an uppercut into the raid boss¡¯ chin, causing it to snap shut and cutting off its tongue in the process -800! Fenrich then delivered a quick open palm strike to its chin while the pain temporarily stunned the raid boss, -110 a row of birds began spinning around the boss¡¯ head as it entered a level 1 Stun state. Fenrich heard a loud beeping sound in his mind, and his senses screamed danger. He dodged to the right and put the Steel Greatsword vertically across his chest, a massive impact from a blunt tipped arrow pushed him back causing -30 to float above his head. ¡°Not a bad reaction there, King! It''s wild wild west up in this bitch! Fuck those humans up!¡± A group of half human half beast men appeared on the Minimap, it also registered their new arrivals as a King group. Obviously due to some cloaking ability or artifact, they were able to surprise Fenrich''s group by covering themselves, despite their dead giveaway as a fellow King group, given none of their attention was on their Minimap as they were fully focused on the raid boss. ¡°Sasha, Chain Lightning now!¡± Fenrich rushed forward as he met the incoming group, right as he ordered the Chain Lightning, it hit his outstretched Steel Greatsword, he endured the static shock and his muscles going numb. With his outstretched right hand, he slapped one of the beastmen across the face, causing the Chain Lightning to ricochet off him and into the enemy group. Multiple damage numbers floated up with him taking the lowest amount. -225 -275 -340 -172 -94 -540! ¡°Abyssal Swords level 1¡± Fenrich used 140 Mana Points, and gained a medium headache that caused his eyes to twitch. Around him three red-black swords floated, with his Will he arranged the three Abyssal Swords to hone in on his closest target. -250 -283 -300 -150 -224 The first three numbers came up from the Abyssal Swords, the remaining 2 damages came from his leg chopping the beast men''s left leg breaking the bone, then he followed it up with a straight elbow blow to the beast men''s head. Splitting his flesh with ease and causing a level 1 Bleed debuff. -20 -20 -20 -20 -20 -.... 15 ticks of -20 ticked off and brought the beastmens health to low, all the while Fenrich had been reflecting and parrying blows one-handedly with his Steel Greatsword that looked like a paperweight in his grasp. He''d also taken various numbers of damages -35 -60 -24 -120! -80 A timely heal came in, topping him off to full health and a few buffs his way. +450 [Ding! You have received Enhanced Strength Blessing level 3 +12 Strength, lasts for 2 minutes.] [Ding! You have received Enhanced Body Blessing level 2 +10 Endurance, lasts for 1 minute thirty seconds.] [Ding! You have received the Rejuvenation Blessing level 5 +75 health gain per second for 4 seconds.] ¡°Exploding Arrow level 3¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Jackson called out as the assassin about to backstab Fenrich from the beastmen group took a headshot from his skill, blowing his head up in a shower of gore and blood. -1,000! Fenrich then pushed the remaining Mana he had into his Steel Greatsword, and beheaded the leader of the King group. -560! The world around Fenrich spun as he received a debuff due to burning all his Mana that had not recovered fully from his injured Soul. [You have gained Disoriented level 5] [You have gained Weakness level 2. Reduces all attributes by -15] [You have gained Crippling Momentum level 3. Reduces movement and reaction speed by 15%] Fenrich let his body fall backwards as he narrowly avoided a pair of twin short swords that would have taken his head off. A beam of condensed Light magic as thick as his two adult legs combined blasted down onto the beastmen group causing area of effect damage. [Judgment level 6] -400 -375 -500 -340 -270 -380 -170 Fenrich got caught in some friendly fire damage, but it was far more acceptable to take that than losing his head. Alex shot forward as he grabbed Fenrich''s hands, and heaved back, gliding Fenrich back to safety through his legs. Fenrich used both his hands as a base and launched himself upwards off his hands, he threw his Steel Greatsword into the air, imbuing it with [Abyssal Weapon Enhancement level 1] and kicked the pommel of the Greatsword, rocketing it forward piercing through three beastmen''s stomachs that were lined up in a straight line 10 feet part. -400 -450 -385 The three beastmen were stunned and gained Level 3 Bleed as they were pinned to the concrete wall. Sasha took the chance to use [Chain Lightning level 1] to empty out their Health pools. -275 -250 -400! ¡°Retreat. Fucking retreat you dumb bastards!¡± The vice-leader of the King group shouted and as a mage he was a squishy mother fucker. [Exploding Arrow level 3] -1,340! In the meantime the future War God Lukas had been acting as a dodge tank, kiting the raid boss as Fenrich and the others cooperated to deal with the opposing King group. Isabella had been acting as the group Healer, with an experts hand and calmness nobody dropped below 50% Health once. Laura was even more monstrous as between her, Garen, Ryan and Lukas, they shaved off 25,000 health from the raid boss in under a minute, its natural regeneration negated 8,000, making it 17,000 total damage done in under a minute which was mind blowing. With the leadership of the beastmen wiped out, Fenrich, Jackson, Isabella and Sasha made quick work of the remaining beastmen that were still alive. At the exact same moment as the last beastmen died, a series of notifications rang out. [Ding! Mini Game Dungeon Announcement: The Human King group has annihilated the Beastmen King group.] [Ding! Mini Game Dungeon Announcement: The Human King group has been rewarded with 30,000 Dungeon Points, plus an additional 15,000 for slaying the first opposing King group. The Human King group has been awarded with a 10% increase to all sources of Dungeon Points.] [Ding! Mini Game Dungeon Announcement: The Human King group has ranked 1st amongst the Group Leaderboards.] [Ding! Mini Game Dungeon Announcement: The opposing race that annihilates the Human King group will gain 135,000 Dungeon Points, plus a 25% multiplier to all sources of Dungeon Points. After reading through all the announcements made, Fenrich called out to his group, ¡°Alright everybody, round up all the loot from the beastmen. Distribute it amongst yourselves first, whatever is left I will take.¡± ¡°Son of a bitch!¡± Laura cursed, ¡°That damnable raid boss escaped the moment it saw the distraction for our group was annihilated. Pity¡­ it probably would have dropped really amazing loot.¡± Fenrich smiled as he listened to the rant. Turning around, he folded his arms over his chest as his gaze pierced through a blanket of Illusion magic. ¡°Would you all like to reveal yourselves, or should I reveal you all my way?¡± Fenrich spoke out, drawing confused gazes as everyone watched as he talked to himself. That was until the saw shimmer and ripple as a group of level 30+ Vampires appeared, all of them had their first Class evolution, Rare Classes, while their leader was level 65 with an Epic Class. Fenrich was familiar with the leader of the Vampires, it was Alarune after all. His group became cautious and got themselves into a prepared formation, despite identifying their butchers, they all remained ready for anything. Fenrich raised his hand to his group and ordered firmly, ¡°Stand down.¡± Alarune smiled at this, then her gaze turned to her people and then Fenrich''s, ¡°Could you give the Human King and myself some privacy please? We have some things to discuss, King to King.¡± The Vampires left without question or need for a forceful boot. The remaining side from the Humans hesitated, but quickly gave in exiting the ruined room through the various sized holes in the walls. After putting on a show of an intense stare down, the groups truly removed themselves but still remained within the general vicinity. Alarune gently smiled as a look of relief became present on her face. She made her way over to Fenrich, wrapping her arms around his lower back and rested her head against his chest. ¡°You have a growing heart, hubby.¡± Fenrich wrapped his arms around Alarunes upper back, hugging her tightly and remained like that for a couple minutes of shared silence and bliss. ¡°Alright you big teddy bear, I am still alive and there''s no harm done to me. Our past enemies shouldn''t know about us yet, and even if they did. They are In a completely separate Multiverse an unknown distance away from the Multiverse the Milky Way Galaxy resides within.¡± There was a lot that Fenrich wanted to say, but he was stopped as Alarune held her index finger up to his lips. ¡°There''s no need to struggle to find the words, your memories have been sealed within your Soul. All your Karmic connections and Soul bonds from your previous life have been wiped clean. And no, do not think about our past relationship from the previous life burden your actions. You need to properly prepare yourself and your new allies. We can confirm what our relationship will be after the Integration period is done for humankind.¡± ¡°First, we have no interest in claiming the A.I Smart Base that is the main reward of this Mini Game Dungeon. Secondly, I come bearing information about the other races that are part of this Mini Game Dungeon. Thirdly, we Vampires will be leaving as we were never meant to be part of this challenge. And lastly, this is to give you all the extra fuel you will need.¡± [NSFW WARNING] Alarunes luscious and soft lips plastered themselves onto Fenrich''s, her tongue intertwining with his. She dug her nails into his back. Fenrich moved one of his hands under Alarunes shirt, to her breasts, kneading and teasing her nipple between his thumb and index finger. Soul bewitching moans escaped Alarunes lips between their passionate kisses. Alarunes left hand removed itself from his back, her open palm rubbing up against his hardened cock over top of his pants. Their kisses became more passionate and sensual. Fenrich picked Alarune up, and pushed her up against a nearby wall, licking up the right side of her neck to nibble on her earlobe. Alarunes legs tightened around his waist as she moaned, and began grinding on the bulge that was Fenrich''s cock. Alarunes hand snaked down, unzipping the zipper to Fenrich¡¯s pants, reached her hand inside the hole and pulled his boxers to the side as she whipped his cock out. Licking her palm and making it wet, she clasped her hand on his cock and began jerking him off. Fenrich got himself busy as he used the wall and his right arm to support Alarune, his left hand easily went into Alarunes skirt, pulling her panties to the side as he began gliding his index and middle fingers up and down her sopping wet lips. He used his thumb to apply pressure to her clitoris, rubbing it in circular motions as he inserted his two fingers into her vagina. ¡°Ahhhn, hubby, it''s been so long since I''ve felt your fingers inside me and played with this meaty cock.¡± Alarunes fangs sunk into Fenrich''s neck, drawing blood as a natural aphrodisiac entered into Fenrich¡¯s blood stream. His erected cock hardened and bulged some more as the aphrodisiac acted the part of 4 viagra pills. ¡°Fuck me, hubby.¡± Alarune stopped stroking Fenrich''s cock as she pulled her skirt and panties to the side with one hand. She then used her remaining hand to maneuver Fenrich''s cock to rub up and down against her vagina. Fenrich didn''t wait anymore as he thrust his waist towards Alarune, slowly. Letting her feel his pulsing hard cock push her labia apart as he entered inside her, inch by inch. When he was fully inside Alarune, he lifted her top up, removed both breasts from her bra and pushed his head into them. He began sucking on one nipple as he pulled his waist back slowly, then gave a fast and hard thrust. ¡°Ahhhn, don''t tease me. Mark me as yours!¡± Alarune moaned into Fenrich''s ears as she licked his ear. Fenrich responded as he moved both his hands to her waist, lifted Alarune slightly as he pulled out and then pushed her down as he thrust his cock back deep inside her vagina. Increasing his pace and the force in which he thrusted, he could feel the tightening as his cock was squeezed and clung to for dear life. Their shared actions were quickly noticed as their moans and the ¡°plap plap plap¡± sounds were not bothered to be covered, it only got louder with time. The Vampires looked over into the human camp, seeing many of the guys giving each other fist bumps, while the ladies all were shaking their heads with looks of disbelief on their faces. That was, all for except one that was no longer part of the human camp. Laura was slowly creeping her way over to one of the nearest holes to peep through. A Vampiress appeared as she wrapped her arm around Laura''s waist, teleporting away. The Vampiress and Laura reappeared as she had Laura pushed up against a wall dozens of feet away. The Vampiress held Laura''s chin up with her index finger. ¡°Behave now, little lady. Don''t interrupt our leaders'' reunion.¡± The Vampiress pecked Laura on the cheek as she giggled seductively and reappeared beside the Vampires camp. The Vampiress¡¯ gaze was hungry and lingered on Laura''s figure as she licked her lips teasingly. ¡°Ahhhn¡± a loud moan caught both groups attention as the climax of their leader''s intimate session arrived. Alarunes legs were tightly clung around Fenrich''s waist, still connected, there were droplets of semen as it overflowed out from Alarunes vagina. Fenrich''s cock hardened once more seeing the look of pleasure on Alarunes face. He went in for another deep and passionate kiss. As their mouths left one another, a string of saliva pulled apart as they both stared into each other''s eyes. No words were spoken, their eyes conveyed all their unspoken words and emotions for one another. ¡°Well¡­¡± Alarune said in the middle of bated breaths, ¡°that was a thrilling and ¡®filling¡¯ experience.¡± She giggled but it shortly turned into a gasp as she felt Fenrich pull his still hardened cock out of her. ¡°We should clean up and reconvene with our respective groups.¡± Fenrich spoke despite the clear gaze of lust and longing for Alarune. ¡°Am I chop liver now after you blew your thick load of semen inside of me?¡± Alarune said as she still had an overwhelming urge to take Fenrich for round 2, 3, 4 and 5 back to back with no rest in-between Seeing that Fenrich was now pouring a bottle of water over top of a clean towel he pulled out of his inventory space, he brought it to her and then left the room giving her privacy to clean herself and tidy up her now disheveled appearance. ¡°Forever the caring teddy bear despite how hard and ruthless he acts around others.¡± Alarune said to herself as she held her stomach with a loving look, the ¡°flame¡± inside her stomach still hot and leaking out of her vagina, further igniting the lust within her. [End of NSFW] Fenrich came out of the room, he was looking up at a rather particular spot on the roof, Sasha and the other ladies had noticed there was a single speck of dust. ¡°So¡­¡­ do we get a expla-¡± Laura¡¯s mouth was quickly covered by Isabella, as the woman still tried to finish her sentence getting muffled mmf mmf mmf sounds instead. Fenrich kept his gaze locked onto the single speck of dust as if it was a God ranked raid boss. Alex, Jackson, Garen and the others snickered as they cupped their hands to their mouths imitating the moans they had all just been subjected to hear. Alarune came out shortly after with a visible ¡®glow¡¯ and bounce in her step she laughed melodically correcting the men by saying, ¡°I think it sounded a little more like this.¡± followed up by an audible demonstration. ¡°Anyways¡­. Your King has been given all the detailed information we have gathered, as well as how this Mini Game Dungeon is spatially expanded by the Space Dao. Each ¡°expansion¡± is a separate dimension that is layered together like how a sandwich has different layers of ingredients smashed between two pieces of bread. Meaning, that when you guys push further up, or descend further through the ¡°expansions¡± you will be literally crossing the ¡°void¡± of Space. And there is a chance to see some truly nightmarish cute fucks that can shatter your Soul into millions of pieces.¡± Alarune finished explaining as she began laying down a teleportation formation. The teleportation formation began glowing, Alarune stood back up, kissed her hand and put it out flat as she blew on it. ¡°Don¡¯t die, Fenrich, we will meet again after the Integration period ends. Make sure you reach level 50 at the minimum with a Rare Class and at least 1 Dao Seed. You will find you have a book of advanced Dao theories and multi-layered Dao comprehension. Although it is from the perspective of Vampires relaying around Blood, Rituals and Forbidden Arts, it will still benefit your people and is only to be read to increase individual comprehension. It is not the end all be all. With a bright glow of light, Alarune and all the other Vampires were gone. [Mini Game Dungeon Announcement: The Vampire King group has forfeited and left the Mini Game Dungeon. Remaining Races: 10. Number of groups: 93 ¡°Hey, partner. Fun fact, a drop of semen has more life in it than blood, so why didn¡¯t she suck your dick?¡± Fenrich cut connection right then and there, knowing his new allies track record it would be safest that way. ¡°Status Page¡± Name: Fenrich Level: 1 Experience Points: 12,500/18,000 Race: ??? ??? Health: 900/900 Stamina: 1,050/1,050 Mana Points: 180/900 Strength: 65 (90) [20% Efficiency] Endurance: 75 (105) [20% Efficiency] Vitality: 65 (90) [20% Efficiency] Agility: 80 (105) [20% Efficiency] Intelligence: 65 (90) [20% Efficiency] Physique: 45 (60) [10% Efficiency] Mana: 30 (58) [10% Efficiency] Luck: 43 (58) [10% Efficiency] Sense: 30 [10% Efficiency] Dao Of Sharpness Fenrich and company spent the next 3 hours traveling through their expansion layer, they had killed upwards of 4,000 zombies so far, and had a minor scuffle with a relatively strong Elven group that must¡¯ve been a close contender for King group status. The leading Elf was a lean and thin man who dual wielded daggers and also had a sword reminiscent of a katana hanging from his waist. Fenrich exchanged blows with the man, there was a particular invasive energy from the man, every time they exchanged shared exchanges, a sharpness would cut into Fenrich disturbing his Mana channeling and clogging his Mana pathways. The fight only lasted for five minutes, neither of them went for the kill, instead they were rapidly unraveling each other¡¯s combat styles. The elven man was leagues above the current Fenrich, already stepping into the boundaries of Integration combat style with his own set of self-created forms and Combat Techniques that had been approved by the System. The Elven man¡¯s speed tripled in an instant, Fenrich¡¯s enhanced attributes and eyes could no longer pick up on the trajectory of the opponents daggers and now katana in play. Fenrich closed his eyes, a 4 by 4 grid appearing in his mind with him in the center. With his vision cut off, this 4 by 4 grid highlighted itself in red on parts of his body where there were significant ripples and air currents touching upon, where most times being 8 out of 10 were correct. Fenrich¡¯s body bobbed and weaved as with his feet being the conductor he moved in multiple directions in a pentagram like formation. Fenrich did not once step out of this pentagram; klangs and dangs sounded more than five times a second at set intervals as sparks burst out from the point of contact between Fenrich¡¯s and the elven man¡¯s weapons. ¡°You swing that unwieldy weapon with the practiced ease of somebody who has already become one with their blade, and yet you have no Dao comprehension or Sword Qi to speak of, even your killing intent is thick enough to rattle a veterans hardened nerves, and yet you have no killing intent manifestations. You¡¯re an odd one, Human. With our battle just now, I¡¯ve gained more by fighting you for 5 minutes, than I did in solitary meditation and practice for the last two years. I would ask if at all possible if you could show mercy to our other groups, and not slay our King group. I know the leader¡¯s personality, she is a cocky and arrogant individual because she is the elven tribe leader''s daughter.¡± The elven man broke off with their last exchange and looked at his treasured katana, there was a single mark of blemish from their combat, the man scowled as he noticed Fenrich¡¯s greatsword was still pristine despite taking over 1,000 attacks onto itself. This was further a testament to Fenrich¡¯s skill as a swordsman. ¡°I can make no promises, but I will be lenient as long as it is not at the risk of my ally¡¯s lives. We are in a Mini Game Dungeon after all, and this dungeon wants one supreme group to rise above to claim its riches through unrivaled power. If you have any communication methods not blocked by this Mini Game Dungeon, tell them we will stay our hands if they don¡¯t antagonize us first.¡± Fenrich said as he let his greatsword lean across his shoulder. Fenrich put his hand up as he sensed Laura¡¯s killer instinct flare up. ¡°I will not have anyone''s actions be a contention to my given word. Reel it in, Laura.¡± Fenrich snapped verbally as he let his killing intent wash over Laura as if a bucket of ice cold water. ¡°Calm yourself and relay your flare ups to become a visual manifestation of your blade, master it as you embrace the truest form of yourself and there will be nothing else capable of stopping your progression.¡± Fenrich¡¯s voice softened while he gave pointers from his own personal introspections, the building blocks that developed his past Sword Heart. ¡°Wise words, Human King. We will be taking our leave now to communicate with our fellow brethren.¡± The elven group dismissed themselves, despite it being light or severe injuries there were no deaths on their side, while Fenrich¡¯s group of star studded elites dusted themselves off and began their own form of introspection. They were all newly integrated, and this elven group were the most capable in combat standards without overwhelming strength over all of them. They had all earned their fair share from this exchange. ¡°Alright, everybody back to the safe room. We have already cleared out this spatial expansion, tearing through everything and anything to look for hidden loot caches.¡± Fenrich and company returned back to the safe room, Laura was taking point of the group as she was most anxious to absorb what Fenrich had pointed her towards. When she noticed the elven man''s brows rise in comprehension, there was no telling how valuable what Fenrich had casually dropped truly was. Fenrich was in the back of the group walking the slowest. His mind was wholly focused as his Will was slowly sharpening itself and cutting his palm open repeatedly. Every time he did so, Fenrich sank his consciousness into his palm following the ¡°sharpness¡± as it drilled into him, cutting apart muscles and tendons with ease. The others could not see it as the Abyssal Symbiote made it so, but he appeared as a black-red liquid like blob that amalgamated into a miniature husky. ¡°Mate, I realize you might be going through a rough time. You can always reach out to me if you need to talk.¡± Fenrich spared a single moment of time to say ¡°Shut it you parasite¡± internally. An over exaggerated gasp came out as the ¡°huskies¡± eyes narrowed dangerously. ¡°How dar-¡± ¡°Awoooooooooooroooooagh!¡± Angry as fuck husky noises started sounding off at an alarming pitch that physically hurt Fenrich. ¡°You did not just cross that line you bastard bitch! I will fuck you up. Nobody. And I mean absolutely fucking nobody calls this imperial one a parasi-¡± Fenrich shut off the connection temporarily, the manifested husky disappeared, and he peacefully sunk back into his self harm practices. However, the Abyssal Symbiote was not so easily stopped. Especially when it was in a rage. A humongous billboard that read bastard bitch popped up behind Fenrich, a giant sized arrow that looked a lot like a dick was aimed downwards at him. Fenrich smiled as he shook his head and entered their safe room. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Garen already had a fire lit and was currently roasting what looked like venison, the young kid applied various spices as he rotated the skewers of meat and vegetables. Fenrich made his way over to where Laura was already sitting cross-legged with her Zanbato resting on her lap. Fenrich sat in front of her as he spoke softly. ¡°Clear all the distractions in your mind and shut off all of your emotions. Visualize this, in an open starry nebula you are your Zanbato. Feel the slightest ripple of space brush up against the blade of your Zanbato. Your body is the sheath that contains your Sword Intent, and the blade is your Heart and Soul given shape. You are one with your Zanbato, and the Zanbato is one with you.¡± Laura¡¯s brows creased, and just as they did, Fenrich began radiating small portions that made up the concept that was his previous Sword Intent. Heaviness, Sharpness, Killing Intent, Fire, Madness, Supremacy and last but not least Order. For each portion of his previous Sword Intent, he created them to appear as different colours that contained their truths and spiritual meaning. All the while as he explained this and gave a visual aid in the Soul realm to aid Laura¡¯s understanding, he split a second portion of his Void Baron Soul, and began radiating the concept of Sharpness and used it to inflict damage upon his own Soul. What doesn''t kill you, makes you stronger. What tortures you, you grow to embrace and find solace in the pain that reminds you that you are still alive. For as long as you are still alive, still have boiling blood and wild ambitions, your flame will never waver in the face of adversity. Fenrich strained his already injured Soul further, causing blood to trickle out from his eyes, mouth, nose and ears. This gained the attention of everyone, he raised one hand and then lowered it to cut the tension of him suddenly bleeding from orifices caused. With his Mana, he controlled his blood to write out the word ¡°safe,¡± underlining it twice. He then radiated a separate strand of Sword Intent to circle the 8 meter radius of him and Laura, and wrote out ¡°meditation.¡± All activity came to an end, Fenrich¡¯s orifices kept bleeding an unhealthy amount due to overloading and pressurizing his Soul, but this in itself was another form of Cultivation. Muscles became stronger as they were torn and repaired, the Soul had to be done much more carefully but could also be exercised. Silver light slashed at his Soul continuously, was absorbed and then recycled as the same strand of Sharpness evolved and switched to a different meaning that translated to Sharpness. [WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! ABYSSAL VOID BARON SOUL IS WEAKENING 40% > 39.5%]. [WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! ABYSSAL VOID BARON SOUL IS WEAKENING 39.5% > 39%] [Abyssal Void Baron Soul is being refined 39% > 39.1%] Fenrich shut off all of the notifications, only allowing the notifications to come back when his Abyssal Void Baron Soul reaches 5% or lower. In the outside world, silver light occasionally burst out from Fenrich¡¯s body, digging and piercing through the walls and ceiling. The ¡°sharp¡± lights never affected him and Laura or the others. It was still kept under tight control, circling around the barrier of gradually strengthening Dao surrounding the two of them. Both individuals sank deeper into comprehension, the Dao in the safe room noticeably thickened as it now looked like a blanket of fog. The silver lights from Fenrich began taking shape in a colossal sized Phoenix. Hints of azure blue Mana, and regal golden-red outlined the trim of the Phoenix''s form, the main aspect was still the silver Sharpness. Silver swords, greatswords, and sabers began circling around the barrier, each weapon was their own individual part that added up to Sharpness. Whether it be through apex speed, or absolute strength to cleave through all that stands before you, or the intensity behind the Sharpness that could sever another''s Karma. The three aspects began clashing, enhancing the potency of Sharpness. Meanwhile, Laura was in her world of comprehension, Fenrich shared the various aspects of his past Sword Intent, it was not showy or flashy. It was a kill or be killed mindset, but what Fenrich did not know, various parts of his life were shown in glimpses to Laura. The various scenarios, life and death battles, one man against 10 billion, a single mortal defying thousands of Gods, Goddesses and Divine Beasts before his inevitable end. The most brilliant part was at the end of Fenrich¡¯s past life, the concepts of Life and Death merged together with his Sword Intent, that single scene imprinted itself into her Soul, leaving a gigantic scar that contained all aspects of Fenrich¡¯s Sword Intent. The scene replayed itself as Fenrich slashed his greatsword Angruar downwards, Time, Space and Reality was cleaved and turned into Oblivion, thousands of Gods and Goddesses died to the blade of a mortal. How was their divinity torn asunder by a mortal? Laura would probably never find a proper answer to it, or be given the proper answer itself. It was only for a single second, but she saw the evolution that was Fenrich¡¯s path to Godhood. Before divinity could replenish and allow him to ascend, a massive eye covered in archaic runes opened in the sky above. The rightful divinity was stolen from Fenrich, and caused his death. The eye in the vision turned its sights onto Laura herself, she felt her Soul sputter like that of an old car trying to start but didn''t have the juice to do so anymore. Within the pupil of that eye. Was the Vampiress that shared intimacy with Fenrich earlier that day? Before Laura could fully comprehend the scene, an unimaginable pain clouded her Soul causing her to lose the vision she just saw. All that remained was the scar in her Soul that radiated various forms of Dao that made up the Sword Intent. Laura felt a great sense of unease¡­ Something vitally important was like sand that slipped through her hands, it was not the Dao vision or the Sword Intent, but more like she caught a glimpse of something she shouldn''t have. Laura¡¯s vision came back together as she heard a series of notifications ring in her head all at once. [Ding! Your Soul and Comprehension are lacking to fully access the God Realm Sword Intent. It has been watered down to start off as a comprehensive set of Bronze Combat Technique. All the Dao¡¯s have been turned into a set of Combat Techniques, when your Comprehension and Soul has adequately improved, you will unlock higher tiers of the Combat Techniques.] [Ding! God Realm Sword Qi has been converted into Mortal Realm Mythical Sword Intent.] [Ding! You have created the path exclusive Skill - Blade Of Mortality. Through life and death you have seen the beginning of life, and the end of a life. Your Soul has been touched by death¡¯s frost, you have learned in the depths of death life can begin anew.] [Ding! You have created the Dao Seed of Rebirth. Strength +20, Endurance +20, Vitality +20] [Ding! For being the second person to awaken a Dao Seed you have gained the Title - Dao Touched (Locked.) All basic attributes gain +20, all advanced attributes gain +15. +20% efficiency to basic and advanced attributes [Ding! You have created a path exclusive Skill that will evolve as it follows you to the apex, becoming the foundation for which your Class is built upon.] [Ding! You have gained the Title - Prodigious Scion [Locked.) Basic attributes +50, advanced attributes +40. +30% efficiency to basic and advanced attributes.] When Laura''s eyes opened to the world, the first thing she saw was the excessive amount of blood that painted the ground scarlet. Fenrich looked as if he became a blood person, his eyes were open as if seeing through herself and his breathing was ragged. ¡°Good job, Laura¡­ You''ve done¡­ great.¡± Fenrich flashed her a proud albeit weak smile. Sometimes to progress you take a single step forward only to be pushed backwards multiple more times. If it weren''t for his mutated Soul, this time he would have succumbed to his risk taking. Through his blood drenched shirt, Laura could see Fenrich¡¯s chest expanding all the while his heart hammered against the cage that kept it inside his body. Fenrich scanned his notifications [Ding! You have created the Dao Seed of Sharpness. Strength +30, Agility +30] [Ding! Your Dao Seed of Sharpness (Early) has evolved to (Middle) Strength +60, Agility +60] [Ding! As the first person to have created a Dao Seed you have gained the Title - Dao Child (Locked.) All basic attributes gain +35, all advanced attributes gain +25. +35% efficiency to basic and advanced attributes.] [Ding! Bronze Void Blade Asura Divine Body has been upgraded to Iron Void Blade Asura Divine Body. All basic attributes gain +8 per level, Physique +8 per level, Mana +6 per level, Luck +6 per level, Sense +2 per level.] Ding! Iron Void Blade Asura Divine Body has unlocked the Void Blade Asura Sword Methods (Greatsword.)] [Ding! Iron Void Blade Asura Divine Body has unlocked the Black Wings Iai Style.] [Ding! Iron Void Blade Asura Divine Body has unlocked Purgatory Physique Enhancement (Passive. +30 Physique.) [Ding! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! ABYSSAL VOID BARON SOUL HAS WEAKENED TO 0.5%] [Ding! Mana Points have been reduced to 0. Regain use of Mana Points at 30% Abyssal Void Baron Soul recovery.] [Ding! Abyssal Void Baron Soul has gone through a significant Soul refinement through Dao rinsing. 2.35%/100% to evolve to Abyssal Void Viscount Soul.] Fenrich''s attention was stolen away by Laura as she, Lukas, Alex, Sasha, Jackson, Garen, Isabella, Julia and Ryan were standing before him. Fenrich smiled as he asked, ¡°What''s up, gang? Did something mess with somebody? If you mess with one of us, you mess with the whole gang. Gang gang!¡± Fenrich shot finger pistols and blew on them afterwards for emphasis. ¡°Fenrich. This is important. You need to take this seriously, and you need to answer us honestly. For you may hold the answers to humanity''s current plight.¡± ¡°You''re¡­ not from our current century. Or as the Dao would explain it, Era, are you?¡± The safe room became still and absolutely silent that you could hear a pin drop. What Laura just asked, flipped their current understanding upside down on their heads. Void Crossing "I see, are you all as a group on the same page? I am not afraid to share with you all what I know, but you all must be ready and willing to accept the fact of my words." Fenrich said, releasing his recently acquired Dao of Sharpness. Silver beams that were as thick as an adult bodybuilder''s legs danced around Fenrich. His eyes gaining a silver tint, minute cuts appeared on all 9 individuals cheeks. "This is what Masterclass control over one''s Dao looks like, all nine of your heads would fall before you even felt the pain. And yet with strength like this, a fancy Title to boot, I by no means have the power to ensure my own survival, let alone the survival of us as a whole. If you want answers you will get answers, but I do not want to see the looks of despair and hopelessness after the fact." Fenrich said coldly, his entire presence going under a complete change. Gone was the mild mannered calm and collected Fenrich, what replaced it was the cold killer side that had seen humanity''s demise. He alone out of 8 billion survived. Even humanity''s apex powerhouses had fallen, but he, as a mortal, had slaughtered the divine like a bunch of headless chickens. Laura steeled herself as she too began countering Fenrich''s Dao despite it being a losing battle. "We have the right to know Fenrich, diamonds are made under pressure. You have seen how we all fought, and how we''re far more superior than the others." Fenrich cut Laura off as he began name dropping those present. "Garen, you created a martial sect known as the Burning Sun Constellation, you were a single step away from achieving Godhood. But, you were struck down by more than 50 Gods who feared your potential and slayed you early." "Lukas, the War God of humanity, you alone entered the gates of Hell and achieved divinity by slaying uncountable devils, devil lords, devil Gods and rose to challenge Satan himself. In the end, your only friend and ally Seraphina, plunged her sword through your Cultivator''s core, stealing your divinity and Internal God Realm as she replaced Satan as the Empress of Hell. They later marched on Earth and was the beginning of the fall for what humanity remained. In 2 days, 15 million of Humanity''s strongest survivors perished "Isabella, you have the natural Holy Priestess Divine Body, you were murdered by the foreign races before reaching level 30 in a past lifetime. You had too much power without the proper time to establish yourself. Your entire family tree was enslaved and sold off as war slaves so another "you" wouldn''t appear." "ENOUGH!" Laura shouted as she stabbed her Zanbato mere inches away from Fenrich''s seated position. "You telling us of how we previously died before is not helping the morale, Fenrich. You who have taken the leadership of our group, you must bear the weight of the crown you wear! Enough with the bullshit, tell us how it is without the flavorful words!" Fenrich was not at all surprised by Laura''s outburst, instead this was his goal all along. Those minds that had the seedling of fear grow inside them, vastly accelerated their growth and further stimulated the potential sleeping within. Nonetheless, his goal had been achieved. At first everyone''s eyes remained unfocused and their Will had not been kindled by another''s yet, now looking at those present who had their deaths told, and those who hadn''t yet. The joviality and ignorance was gone, what replaced it was cold-blooded determination to take control of their own lives going forward. "Good. The change in all your eye''s is what I wanted to see. Only when you know the stakes will you all truly grow the fastest surpassing one hurdle after the next. Let''s continu-" Fenrich condensed his Dao of Sharpness on his index and middle finger of his right hand, aimed it 3 centimeters away from Laura''s left cheek and fired it off. Just as the whole group was about to go up in arms, they audibly heard a loud squelch. Moving away as they all took to behind Fenrich, a dwarven corpse with a 2 centimeter hole through his skull fell from the ceiling. "Discussions will have to wait, Isabella you''re level 10 now. You should have gained your first spell that can heal an injured Soul, correct?" Fenrich turned his gaze to Isabella as he could not hide the gleam of hope within his own eyes. "Yes, that is correct, Fenrich. However, it will put me into a weakened period for 24 hours." Isabella answered truthfully with no fear in her voice. "Garen, you''ll be tasked with guarding Isabella for the next 24 hours." [Ding! You have received the Soothing Soul Rejuvenation Spell level 1)] [Ding! Your Abyssal Void Baron Soul has recovered to 12.5%] [Ding! Your Abyssal Void Baron Soul has gone through Soul refinement, 2.35% > 3.07%] [Ding! You may now use the full extent of your Dao without Soul backlash.] Isabella turned a ghastly white colour, her clothes were drenched in sweat and sticking to her body. All the energy in her body had been completely sapped away, this was a major faucet of Isabella''s power. But the terrifying part only appeared after level 25, when she achieved her first Class evolution, gaining a 1-winged Angel Of Death Spirit Guardian. Plus all the other Enhancing Soul magic, Offensive Soul magic and her own Soul based Dao from her Holy Priestess Divine Body. [Hey, partner. I know you''re way smarter than this, but you technically don''t have to fight crippled by your lacking use of Mana anymore. If you''d checked my Status Page sooner, you''d find I have 10,000 Mana Points and can use one of my Skills - Symbiote Mana Transfer, you''d be using my Mana to strengthen your body, Skills and Dao further. Dumb ass.] Fenrich felt a slap on the back of his head both physically and mentally. [Now get your ass in gear and be smarter going forward. I don''t want to die a pathetic death because of a retar- not a smart person.] [Ding! You have received the Symbiote Mana Transfer level 1. "Hey, look at me, I''m not a dumbass!"] That last notification was followed with the laughing of the Abyssal Symbiote inside his mind. Fenrich''s previous weakened self was reverted by a 10th, the only signs of it was the dried blood caked onto his body. Fenrich was about to take the lead of the group until he felt a hand pull him back. Laura had steely determination in her eyes, "Let me take the reins this time, captain. I can still feel your weakness through my Dao of Rebirth." Fenrich merely smiled as he nodded his head, not saying anything more or less. "Everybody, go!" Laura launched herself forward as she horizontally slashed her Zanbato upwards with a thin sheen of Dao encompassing her weapon, a loud "klang" resounded as she blasted the opponent backwards bursting through the wall of the safe room. On his Minimap, Fenrich saw 4 Crowns, and 15 smaller red dots surrounding them from all directions. "Ryan you''re with me, don''t worry about friendly fire. I can withstand all the firepower you can throw at the enemies, hold nothing back!" [Abyssal Symbiote Physique Enhancement level 1 has been activated. All basic attributes gain +30, all advanced attributes gain +10] [Metamorphosis level 1 has been activated. All basic and advanced attributes are doubled for the next 5 minutes, twenty-four hour cool down.] [Mana Points 7,500/10,000] Metamorphosis used a quarter of the Abyssal Symbiotes Mana Point, given the buff he''d just gained from it was more than a fair price. [Abyssal Sword Forge level 1 - creates an Abyssal Sword every 8 seconds and holds a maximum capacity of 10. Costs 250 Mana Points per minute.] [Abyssal Swords level 1 - creates 3 controllable Abyssal Swords that deal 45% damage based on your Strength attribute, and deals 25% Chaos Damage that cannot be mitigated. Costs 125 Mana Points, and an upkeep of 2 Mana Points per second for each sword in active control.]This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Fenrich shot his Abyssal Swords forward as he entered melee with a Golem like creature wielding a Scythe. Fenrich increased his capabilities further imbuing his body with Mana and strengthening it. Fenrich clashed with the Golem, surprisingly both were of equal strength and couldn''t gain an advantage over the other. Fenrich twisted both wrists as he created momentum as his Steel Greatsword was on the back end of the scythes blade, and slammed it downwards embedding it into the concrete floor. Stepping on the scythe, Fenrich used it as a runway as he flashed forward the 10 meter tall giant, imbuing his knee with Mana and smashing it into the golems nose. Two crunches sounded out as he felt one being his knee bone shatter into shards, the other came from the golem. Not losing this opportunity Fenrich''s hands reached for the golems head and heaved himself upwards and over, in-between his feet was his Steel Greatsword. And like a bee readying it''s stinger, with his core muscles he pierced through the golems right eye socket going through the back end of its head. With his remaining good leg, Fenrich used it to launch off as a massive blue fireball bigger than 3 combined soccer balls lit the golem up in flames ending its misery. Fenrich willed one of the Abyssal Swords to appear in his left hand, and javelin threw it as a mage was in the middle of casting a big spell. The sword tore through the mages Mana Barrier, impaling him through the chest to the ground. His casting was successfully interrupted and his life began draining away. A set of Fire Spears was launched at Fenrich, which he managed to deflect 2 but took the remaining one to his abdomen. Thankfully for a thick coating of Mana, it did not pierce through but it did scorch his abdomen up to his chest. Causing a critical -675 to float above his head, even with a Berserk ability and heightened stats bolstering him. Taking a quick glance around Fenrich quickly found the one responsible for dropping his 30% in a single shot. Fenrich''s speed accelerated as he left after images to his left and right, intermittently changing sides keeping the images "physical," when the mage King from a Fairy race targeted one of the copies. Fenrich smashed his left foot down, exploding forth with speed causing a tunnel of wind to blow everyone to both sides. "Silver Combat Technique - After Shadow Slash!" The room visibly darkened, shadows popping out in the form of miniature blades of condensed shadow. These all did a small percentile of Fenrich''s total Strength and Intelligence -240 -180 -150 -370! -74 After all the shadows dispersed, a greater shadow sword wreathed in flames slashed downwards, "splitting" the Fairy King Mage in half, when he opened his eyes and realized no damage happened, they world began chaotically rotating, then he realized as his head came to a stop seeing the headless corpse crumbling. "Ho-" Fenrich stomped on the head of the Fairy King Mage, Fenrich figure exploded into an azure blue with his right hand, and the silver beams of condensed Sharpness Dao with his left. He pushed both hands together causing both energies to mix, and in the middle of both hands a small lotus flower. "Mana Combat Technique: first page second verse - Ultyrs Tears!" Two mystical eyes opened up as the roof of their safe room and spatial layer was torn off. Gigantic silver blue eyes hung above enemies every body 100 meters into the air, nearly passing through the layer of Void. One silver and one azure blue arm cupped the lotus flower, and squeezed it together as it obliterated into petals and motes of light. Fenrich expanded his Will out in a 75 meter radius, "marking" 130 enemies instantly and a suction force began pulling them all together. The flesh on Fenrich''s forearms began lifting up as if a sushi chef fileting salmon. "Gold Mana Technique - Orbital Resonance!" Blood burst out from Fenrich''s back as the skin opened up to both sides, exposing muscle and bone within his internal system. Azure blue and silver Sharpness lit up both palms like flames, Fenrich clapped both hands together and as he did, the pressure on his body skyrocketed causing 80 bones to snap simultaneously. "Epic Combat Technique - Void Shattering Palm!" A massive orb of chaotic energy blew up, incineration 70 of the people caught, and the beams of Mana and silver Sharpness erupted as the pillar of combined energies tore through the Void layer. "Run! Everybody now!" The moment the Void layer separated, Fenrich felt the gaze of an archaic entity so vast it nearly extinguished his Soul, if It weren''t for him forcefully severing the connection at the last moment, his existence would have been like sand castles on the beach. Taken away with the waves. Fenrich''s force of Will kept his body moving forward, with the last bit of the Abyssal Symbiotes Mana, he formed an azure blue hand cupping all of his team, and throwing them through as he shouted at the top of his lungs "We will meet in the upper spatial expansion layers. This will quickly become a dead zone! Laura, tag! You''re the temporary leader. Ensure Isabella''s and your guys'' safety! I-" Before Fenrich could finish, a gigantic hand came down like divine retribution "squashing" him as blood burst out everywhere Laura, who had seen this scene at the last minute, slapped herself across the face and wiped her eyes with her fingers. "What the fuck are you all standing around for! Move your asses NOW!" Laura exploded as she hauled the unconscious Garen and Isabella over her shoulders and began running at top speed. Tentacles burst through the walls as they began playing a life and death game of tag with Laura and the rest of the group. Then arms emerged, Laura quickly fired off her Balor''s Gaze to get a better look at this Abyssal Fiends status page. The Collector (Emperor) Tier: D Grade Level: 750 Health: 75,000,000 Mana Points: 525,000,000 "Son of a fucking bitch!" Laura gasped in horror, then she realized her vision was gone completely. A mind-numbing stinging pain resonated from where her eyes were. She put her hands over quickly and came to another horror of her own, her eyes had exploded just from looking back at The Collector to use Balor''s Gaze "The price to use the Karmic Eyes Of Yves was one eye¡­ I have no choice but to risk it, Fenrich left me in charge." Pushing aside the pain and fighting through the blood tears and goop that was once her eyes, Laura activated Karmic Eyes Of Yves. Inside her Soul, Laura saw 4,000 possible "futures" And out of 4,000 only a single one showed their survival, but doing so would mean sacrificing a part of her own humanity. Gritting her teeth as she took Fenrich''s trust in her to heart, Laura commanded as she said aloud, "Jackson, Exploding Arrow on the ceiling 245 meters ahead of us! Ryan, follow it up with pouring all your Mana Points into your Fireball spell. When the roof comes down we have to jump through and enter into the Void! Twenty feet to our left inside the Void is our ticket to survival!" Ryan began pouring all his Mana Points into his Fireball spell, when he drained his whole pool of 1,300 Mana Points he called out "Ready!" Jackson had been calculating the distance as they kept running, the arms and hands getting ever closer to their group. With 75 meters left, Jackson took aim and shot out with his Exploding Arrow level 3. As soon as he let the arrow fly, Ryan added an Enhancement level 2 onto the arrow and cast his Fireball. Both spells tore the ceiling down, and out of the ceiling came a group of innocent Elves, Laura had been using her Dao of Rebirth so far to recover her eyes, but it was too weak just yet. At least it successfully paid off to shave off a small portion of the pain assaulting her. Lukas jumped first as he used his heels as anchors into the remaining rubble of the ceiling. "Quick, all of you jump and reach for my hands, trust me and I will not miss fire, you all will get to safety!" Sasha emptied all her Mana Points using a Group Teleport level 1 to appear just below Lukas. Alex took point as he put his two hands together and yelled, "Use my hands as a launchpad to reach Lukas'' hands! Laura you first! You have Garen and Isabella." Before Alex could react, Laura''s figures grew out 9 arms sprouting from her back, she grabbed hold of everybody and Lukas by his feet. Using all the strength and power of her Rebirth Dao, Laura jumped upwards of 10 meters with a combined amount of 842 kilograms, entering the void she began tossing everybody into the foretold survival point. After everybody vanished while in the middle of the Void, Laura went to jump but she realized a veiny undead-like arm grabbed her right leg the moment she began to jump, and then it heaved back as it ripped her entire right leg off from her body. "Grrrrrrkh!" Laura ground her teeth together grunting as the immediate pain nearly knocked her out unconscious. She bit through the tip of her tongue, the various nerve endings firing as it shocked her brain to move from the fact of the chill of death she began feeling crop up on her. In the Void, losing that amount of blood was a much scarier version of fishing; she could already feel the overwhelming aura of other monstrosities as they locked onto her position. With a last ditch effort, Laura calmed her mind and focused intensely as she felt for the most minute fluctuations, nothing could be felt but she could feel as if her Soul was being hammered by a Grandmaster Blacksmith. Feeling the nape on her left side heat up the slightest bit compared to the Void and creeping embrace of deaths chill. Laura used what remained of her Mana Points to make a small combustion moving her body a single inch to the right. Billowing winds struck her as her Soul "saw" what looked like something written out of Lovecraftian horror and failed to split her in half from the waist. Using her left foot she kicked off its fleshy appendage and shot herself forward. Laura exited the Void as she burst through the opening between Void layers, entering the spatial layer that the rest of the group made it through. When she appeared, her body was half frozen and blood was still gushing out of her right side where her entire leg was missing. "Laura!" Sasha and Julia gasped in terror as they shouted the half unconscious woman''s name. The two girls froze on the spot and were only reawakened when Lukas was yelling at everybody. "Pull your shit together girls, unless you want her to truly die get the fuck out of the way! Ryan! Use your Fireball spell and keep it active in your palm, cauterize it before Laura dies of blood loss." Lukas busied himself pulling out a small piece of wood from his inventory space, and wrapped it around in cloth, opened Laura''s mouth and put it in between her teeth as he yelled at her as loud as he could. "You''re going to feel an uncanny fuck load of pain momentarily, bite as hard as you have to. You''re going to survive, you''re not dying on my watch Laura!" "NOW!" Lukas shouted at Ryan as he held Laura''s shoulders down with all his might. Laura''s eyebrows jumped as a blood curdling screech ripped itself out from her throat, Laura''s body spasmed and jumped as she grabbed onto Lukas'' shoulders clenching so tight the man could feel his shoulder bones begin to cave in. Then all the pressure vanished, Laura''s arms went limp as the severe pain override all the willpower the woman had left and she passed out. The shock to her system from her eyes bursting, right leg being entirely ripped off from her body and then the cauterization. Lukas was stunned at just how strong Laura''s mentality was, not even he could guarantee he could keep himself from going insane at the loss of an entire part of his body. "Heads up we have a crown approaching us!" Jackson called out as his Minimap blared warnings at him. Jackson already took aim down sight, Ryan was pulling Mana Points out of his ass as his reserves were completely dried up. What appeared before them was a Pixie like figure that was far more diminutive, it was the size of a small stuffed toy with 4 wings flapping to keep it airborne. "Peace. Smell blood. Humans are close to dying. I will help." The pixie spoke broken English as it seemed as it was mulling over the word to pick. "Not enemy. Promise. Want to help humans. Human King saved my people. Now I save yours" The pixie began floating off, then stopped as it looked frustrated. It then did the most human thing they''d seen so far, it raised its middle finger and made come here motions with it. "Bahahahahahahaha! I can''t tell if it''s trying to tell us to fuck off or follow it." The pent up anxiety and fear for his life finally broke Ryan as he began cackling like a witch. Ryan pushed his glasses up before he grabbed them and threw them to the ground, and stomped on them. "FUCK IT ALL! FUCK THIS WORLD!" If they weren''t all injured, deathly exhausted or traumatized in one way or another, they weren''t far from losing what made them sane. They all felt it, that unspeakable kind of all encompassing terror as an Eldritch horror stared them down, attempting to destroy and scatter their Soul. Lukas chopped the back of Ryan''s neck, giving the young kid as much freedom from his own demons as humanely possible. "We follow the Pixie. Laura is still near death, Isabella has possible Soul damage, and Garen is in an unknown state. If anyone has an issue with me making commands, speak up now." Alex shook his head as he spoke up, "Nobody has anything to say after what we all just experienced, we''re barely keeping it together now. We will follow you and react as necessary afterwards." Alex gently picked Laura up and carried her unconscious body in a princess carry. "Very well, we move as one now, one step forward, eyes alert and madness ready to kill whatever gets In the way of our way!" Lukas'' hands clenched into a fist, drawing blood as his fingernails pierced through the flesh, never had he felt so powerless and useless in his whole life. Never again! NEVER! Lukas'' eyes turned a shade of crimson as his own mentality began warping and twisting for the worse. When a butterfly flaps its wings, it causes catastrophic changes to happen across the known timeline. Allies, Recovery, Dao Fruits Lukas took point as the group followed after the pixie, every now and then it turned its head to make sure it was going at an acceptable pace. That Human King had saved their people while using Dao control to keep his body from being completely split in half due to injuries. The pixies are a kind hearted and peace loving race, they had powerful Soul magic, ritualism, array formations, and alchemical skills. They were once hunted down to be turned into slaves, but the one thing that always kept them safe was their tightly held secret of their mastery over the Dao of Fate and Karma. When that Human King ran into them, the current leader of the pixie''s got several flashbacks through her Karma Dao. It showed a very bloody time, tens of years away in the future. When the rest of the Omniverse was unraveling itself to go on a manhunt for a single mortal, that mortal shared empathy and saved their race from total annihilation. Now that the same human mortal had rescued their people from captivity while slaying hundreds of enemies and thousands of mindless zombies, they would be ungrateful not to help him and his people in their time of need. Their Dao hearts alone would shatter and that would lead to a truly horrendous death sentence. Sentient and non sentient beings that went against their Dao heart always received the wrath of the Dao. After another fifteen minutes the pixie returned to their previous area of enslavement. It brought back horrible memories and deeply saddening emotions as their people had been experimented on, and studied thoroughly by their captors in this Dungeon. Lukas arrived with the rest of the group, they all let out a collective sigh of relief as they entered a medical lab, inside were rows of medical equipment that far outstripped Earth''s current standards. There were medical pods with unknown liquids inside, after taking in their sights and calming their stressed nerves, a familiar voice brought them all back together. "I''m glad you were all able to survive and make it here. For those that need to enter the medical pods to heal, that will be the first step. After everybody has healed and relieved their exhaustion, we will be having a Mana Pool surgery performed on all of us by the pixies. It will greatly benefit your Mana Cultivation, provide more attributes and greatly improve the rather unremarkable foundations we have as Humans." Lukas'' eyes widened in shock at the current state of Fenrich, it was a marvel that their leader was even still alive and breathing. There were several gaping holes and missing chunks of flesh from their leader''s body. Lukas could see the Dao of Sharpness that Fenrich used as butterfly bandages to hold his upper body together. From the injury, black globs of murky blood were pooling out of him. From right shoulder all the way down to the left side of his hip, it looked like Fenrich had been split apart, his Dao keeping his body from falling apart into two separate halves. "Yes. Human King right. All need to recover. Best mental and physical condition before surgery." The pixie spoke with her soft child-like voice. Various pixies came out from hiding as they began opening 10 recovery pods one by one, and guiding each individual to their respective pod. Fenrich took the weight off from Lukas'' shoulders and clapped the man on the shoulders. "You''ve done good Lukas, I don''t know what it is that you all have suffered. I see the madness and Chaos deep within your eyes, the next time you meditate on the Dao you should do so on Order. Controlled Chaos is far more lethal than uncontrolled Chaos. Rest well, you have earned it." Lukas stared Fenrich in the eyes, no words were exchanged before he nodded his head and went with his guide to his recovery pod. "You bear heavy weight, King. We remember good and bad. Do good for your people as you did for ours. You also recover." The pixie leader sat herself on Fenrich''s left shoulder, kicking her feet. "Strong is good. But you not strong to carry their burdens." The pixie spoke matter of factly, Fenrich sighed as he balled his hands into fists and struck the wall beside him. "I will take responsibility for them, they suffered because I was fishing in bloodied waters. I want you to use these nine Dao fruits on my comrades with the higher tier of the Foundation Building Elixir." The pixie gasped softly. "Expensive. They worth the cost?" "They are my people, just as you are my people now, they will always be worth the cost." Fenrich turned to look the pixie queen in the eyes. "Thank you. I will go now, my Dao cannot hold me together anymore." The pixie queen got off from Fenrich''s shoulders, applied a Divine Breath - tier 3 level 2 to Fenrich as he made his way into his recovery pod. The other pixies began connecting all the medical tubes and oxygen mask to his face. Beside the pixie queen was a bag that had nine baseball sized Dao fruits. [Dao Seed Treasure - Tier F. Produces the required Dao energy and Enlightenment for the user to acquire an Early tier Dao Seed.] Fenrich kept his eyes open as he watched the pixie queen turn all the Dao Seeds into a smoothie-like liquid with various other herbs, metals, natural treasures, and a single drop of blood. [The Collector (Emperor) Abyssal Blood Drop x9. Purifies the foundation and successfully raises one''s foundation an entire tier without any backlash or contaminants to the user. All basic attributes +50 upon consumption.] [Foundation Building Elixir (Rare.) Cleanses the impurities of one''s body, bringing them a step closer to a clean and untainted body. Successfully advances the unevolved into F Tier.] Fenrich shut his eyes after he watched the pixie queen pouring the Dao smoothie and Foundation Building Elixir into the 9 other medical pods. The all-consuming blackness swallowed Fenrich, this time he had gained a lot, but it was at the cost of his own people and hundreds of innocent lives. Progress had nothing to do about morals, it was a dog eat dog world in the Omniverse. Tragedy brought out the most potential, and he used The Collector and Void crossing experience to sharpen his group. But Ryan, and Lukas had too much pressure applied onto them. Although it was true that pressure created diamonds, it also shattered them. Fenrich dreamt a dreamless dream, he was like a sailor in the middle of a crimson-black ocean during a savage storm on the high seas. This crimson-black sea was the weight of sin on his very Soul. For with his hands, he had claimed the lives of quadrillions, an uncountable amount of lesser and true Deities fell to him. Now, in this crimson-black the screams and curses polluted his Soul. The waves rocked the single boat back and forth, from deep within the depths of the sea, two piercing gold-purple eyes stared into him. Piercing through the fog of war that clouded Fenrich''s past Karma engraved on a small portion of his Soul. Outside in the real world the pixie queen was fluttering her wings as she stared at Fenrich, her eyes clouded by indecision, in the middle of her tiny hands was an emerald green gem fluctuations condensed from Soul Qi with the Nature attunement and Cleansing aspect. "You wish to help the Human, Lanshire?" Asked an elderly pixie. "You are the clan leader and the descendant that has awakened the God Queen Progenitors Bloodline and Divine Body. If you wish to sacrifice the Soul shard she left behind, I will support your decision. This Human has saved us twice now with a sincere heart and no ulterior motives." This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. The elder pixies eyes glowed a mystical white. "His Soul is tainted by the residual souls and hateful spirits that are nibbling away at his Soul piece by piece. In the coming future, a calamitous event will cause his Soul to completely dissipate. The God Relic hidden inside his Dao Heart will not be enough to reverse his preordained death." Lanshire nodded her head. "It equivalent exchange. Protection for us. We provide means of empowerment. If make Human strong we live. If let Human weak we die." The elder pixie visibly aged as his aura flickered violently "You are a smart one child. My time has come, let me warn you as the previous leader to the newest generation. Not all Humans are good, not all Humans have what it takes to be completely and overwhelmingly strong. But, Fenrich does. With us pixies specialties, and the Humans endless potential despite their more humbled origins, the future Empire of Humanity will be a glorious one indeed. Please, keep my corpse and bury me on fertile lands so I can keep giving to the future Human Empire in my death." The elders Cultivation disintegrated, a lofty Demigod existence just outside the doors of true Godhood, split his Soul and Cultivation 9 ways. Imbuing himself into the spot where Laura and the rest of the groups Cultivation cores would later be. This single act alone, would birth 9 future Gods that would later become the embodiment of their respective Dao peaks. Lanshire got the last wisp from the Demigod existence, it contained the knowledge of all their created alchemy Skills, formation array Skills, knowledge and more. Most important of all, it contained the intelligence of the pixie elder himself. Lanshire went from the mental age of a 2 year old child, to that of someone who lived for thousands of years. Lanshire ran through all the possibilities with the newfound intelligence she had gained. She nodded to herself before opening the hatch of Fenrich''s medical pods, and crushed the gem from their ancestor into it. The emerald green dust particles were absorbed into Fenrich''s body, his tightly knit brows soon relaxed and an expression of peace was shown on his unconscious face. "For two lifetimes you have supported us and bled for us pixies. I give you peace so that you may live without the demerits of your old tainted Karma. Sleep well, Human." Meanwhile, inside Fenrich''s soul world, the tiny boat that was himself was now being surrounded by the emerald green motes of light. They were rapidly refining the crimson-black into a refined energy. At the most northernmost position of his soul world, there was a small obsidian gem with quintillion fine cracks spreading throughout it like a spiderweb. That refined energy was recovering the obsidian gem, its bleak colour was quickly gaining a luster that was far more healthy in nature. After three quarters of the energy had been used to repair his Soul core by one-tenth, the rest drilled into the brain of his physical body. The Dao of Nature flooded his brain turning into enlightenment, while his murky blood due to his unknown race evolution began becoming an emerald green colour itself. His blood was still thick like jelly and far more condensed and still "tainted" by the Abyssal Symbiote. But in return, this Nature energy was also cleansing the impurities of the Abyssal Symbiote, causing Fenrich''s blood to become healthier, and the Abyssal Symbiote to also have its blood evolve towards an unknown Abyssal Life attunement. Deep inside his chest, a second heart was rapidly forming as an emerald green flame of Nature Dao burned off the black and purple sludge. After a quarter had been used to clean the much smaller baby hand sized heart, the remaining Nature Dao flame began cleansing his much bigger and more polluted human heart. The environment on Earth was ruined by factories, illegal sea dumping, smog, and various other man-made or caused issues to dirty Earth. These impurities were now being removed from Fenrich''s human heart. His fleshy heart in the meantime, was like a piece of metal being put under high pressure by the Nature Dao flame, pushing his heart into a crystallized state of evolution. His human heart turned mostly emerald green, while still keeping its red colour to a much smaller surface area. Due to this process, Fenrich''s skin visibly became more jade white as more time passed, his flesh becoming far more elastic, purer and strengthened. His hair, nails, teeth, eyes and all other features were improved on a fundamental level, causing his DNA to rapidly evolve to a higher form of Life. Six hours rapidly passed, inside Fenrich''s medical pods, a thick gaseous emerald green hid what was happening within. Due to Lanshires high affinity to Nature and Life, she could feel and see the evolution Fenrich was going through. Even that far more "tainted" and disgusting part of him was becoming cleansed and more appealing to her Nature and Life Dao. The rest of the humans were not getting such a significant evolution or change to them on a fundamental and genetic level like Fenrich, they were however, having their foundations rebuilt to the point their race of Human would change to Alabaster Human, skipping two entire steps of Awakened, and Ascended Human. Alabaster Human was a step down from the High Human evolution state, where small to medium amounts of concentrated Dragon and Phoenix Blood would be surging through a High Human. For the truly blessed and lucky their blood would become a condensed mix of Dragon and Phoenix blood. Lanshire watched with a smile on her face, it was always appealing to watch people go from their lesser forms to higher stages of life and evolution. And since her Dao of Life and Nature was about evolution, observing the process increased her comprehension and benefitted her. Lanshire had never seen lowly life levels evolve to higher states before, each being more qualitative than the last. Especially that human, Laura, was she called? Her Dao of Rebirth was working in overdrive pushing her to the initial phase of a High Human, joining Fenrich although she herself did not know where his Life Rating would end up. Fenrich hadn''t evolved yet, and with his circumstance with the Abyssal Symbiote, there would be no known record after his evolution ends. Lanshire called for the remaining elders of the pixie clan through their magic that linked them all up like a hive-mind. "Can nine elders who are not in seclusion come to the experimental lab, please. The Humans are done with their Dao enlightenment allowing us to begin the Mana Core surgery. Please make haste as long as your tasks are not at a delicate stage. Contact Ol''Garand the chief blacksmith of the Ashen Dwarves, his Mana Body Forging techniques would also benefit the Mana Core surgery." Without any need to wait long, less than 4 minutes in total. Ten pixie elders and 1 honorary guest elder appeared. The pixie elders were in a rush since they heard Lanshires perfect English and more mature voice; it was a sign their eldest guardian of the Demigod rank had passed on. "We give condolences to the queen for your fathers passing, may he be at rest and return to Nature." The lead elder bowed as he spoke, followed by the nine others bowing quickly. The Ashen Dwarf bowed his body, and shocked the others by also bowing his head. He was only an honorary elder of the pixie clan for research and strengthening their race. "My condolences. May Klainshire stir Nature as his Life bestows it with the bounty of his generosity, kindness and empathy." Ol''Garand said as he then raised his head and scanned a curious gaze over the ten medical pods and peered into the leylines of their Dao, Karma and Fate. As a God himself there was nothing that could be done to stop his gaze unless a higher ranked God masked them from scrying eyes. "Endless potential, resolve, chaos, order, ambition and humility. These are some fine saplings, I understand my task now. I will deal with the physique and Mana Body foundations, the Mana Core and brain enhancement is up to her majesty and elders to perform." Ol''Garand summoned a 100 meter long, 30 meter thick hammer that was glowing in azure blue Mana so intensely it caused the Mana in the entire Mini Game Dungeon and Earth itself to visibly thicken 30 times. "A fire burns in my heart. My hammer craves to forge excellence from the materials we have before us." In Ol''Garand''s passion as a Blacksmith and Mana Body Blacksmith, Fenrich and the rest were no longer living beings, but material that his skills would pull the utmost out from the raw materials and push it beyond what could have been. The medical pods opened, Laura had her right leg completely grown back, Isabella had her drained Soul replenished, Ryan''s insanity was diminished, the chaos that drove Lukas insane from powerlessness was fused with his ambition for power with the Dao of Order to pull it into a state of controlled-chaos for expansion, consolidation, and reintegration. Despite healing the most severe of the group''s mental inflictions, it was not completely removed for a single reason, calluses built character. "Godsmith Hephaestus Progenitor Forge." "Godsmith Flame Of Eternal Blaze." "Godsmith Hammer Of Nephaelic Hymns." "Godsmith Inner World - Divine Bestowment." The ten Humans were sucked into Ol''Garand''s inner world, where he would forge the outlines, pathways and foundations for their Mana Body. In the future, they would have to attune the Mana to their desired element of choice. This would awaken the initial phase of the Mana Body, but the quality would be leagues ahead of those who spent decades or centuries building their Mana Body''s foundation. Granting higher attributes, higher sensitivity to Mana and higher control over Mana as a whole. Ol''Garand used his divine sense to scan the materials he had for him, each scan came back more impressive than the next. He had known that Fenrich had already built a Gold Mana Body, and in his eyes as a God and Mana Body Blacksmith it was absolutely perfect. "I understand now why he didn''t push for an Epic Mana Body, doing so would have caused his Soul to completely shatter. The kids Gold Mana Body has already surpassed the quality of an Epic Mana Body by 4 times. I guess that''s the benefit of being a regressor and someone who lived life by the edge of the blade. Even if I had 1,000 years to replicate this in my youth, I wouldn''t compare to the quality of this kid." Ol''Garand eyes lit up with excitement and wonder. The hammer in his hands was already buzzing and vibrating intensely as it felt its master''s anticipation. "The quality is beyond impeccable, but 100 years of knowledge is still too little for a Perfected Gold Mana Body, I will iron out the kinks the kid couldn''t do. Then the rest will get a Perfected Silver Mana Body." Ol''Garand decided as azure blue Mana surrounded Fenrich, and from inside of his body came out the pathways, and foundation of his Gold Mana Body. Ol''Garand enveloped it with his Flame Of Eternal Blaze and began hammering the Mana Body he had pulled out from Fenrich''s body. Ol''Garand began humming a tune as he began working on his craft. "Dang dang dang" "Both towers are now leaning. "Cling cling cling" "Fell in love with a girl in Thailand but she turned out to be Steven." "Klang klang klang." "Cops on my back yeah they stopped me from breathing." "Cling dang klang!" I don''t get mad I get even violence is something I believe in." "Klang klang klang!" Reborn & Improvements The process for Fenrich¡¯s case took Ol''Garand twenty minutes, pushing his Gold Mana Body to the perfected standard. As for the other''s Ol¡¯Garand would prefer taking his time to build perfected Silver Mana Body. But given they were in a race to claim the A.I Smart Base, Ol''Garand began working on nine individuals at once. Having long achieved Godhood through Blacksmithing, there was no possible way for him to create a failed product on those below his current level. The only way for him to fail was to forge above his True Godsmith rank. Ol¡¯Garand put each human into individual spaces within his Inner World. Billions of atom sized azure blue Mana hammers were pounding the physical body of the humans. The hammers transmitted the Mana into their bodies, while he manipulated his Will to form Mana pathways, meridians, gates, channels, core and heart. With his True Godsmith status he could see the mortals newly attained Dao¡¯s, Ol''Garand created custom Mana Body foundations on the fly that would perfectly fit their Dao. As for elemental affinities that would be their own work by cultivating their respective elemental Mana Body Manual. The Omniverse Alpha System was an interesting thing, it awarded Titles to people for achieving things beyond the natural order they were expected to do so. But in a way this also caused cultivation to be level blocked. It wasn¡¯t like it was free range cultivation, the OAS put a lock on different stages of cultivation. For example, there was no Dao until level 50, no Cultivation or Mana Body Manuals until level 25 and only after achieving the first Class Evolution. Soul Cultivation came at level 100 and beyond, the Dantian didn¡¯t form until level 75 after second Class Evolution. Although level blocked, the OAS did give out the most basic of Cultivation Manuals that gave general pathways, meridians and so forth making it easier to upgrade to a higher tiered Manual. What came next was harder, once one chose their elemental affinities, they were locked to those elemental Manuals. Yet, if they did not choose to take a major in elemental Manuals, they were left with the upgraded versions of basic Cultivation Manuals. The Cultivator would then have to learn how to manipulate the elemental Dao without being attuned to it. This created way more freedom than being trapped to one single elemental Manual, but for those who did not put in the work to learn cultivation outside of the OAS and went to free range cultivation. They never made it past their second Class Evolution. Sure, you could argue there are those with god gifted talent and those naturally blessed by the universe. But that amounted to dog shit if you didn¡¯t put in the hard work to further your natural talents. And if you lacked talent, the answer was simple. Run headfirst into a wall millions and billions of times until you tear it down and achieve what others do because of their natural talent. Ol¡¯Garand spent eight hours in total creating Silver Mana Body¡¯s for the remaining group, afterwards they were brought out where Lanshire and nine other pixie elders were waiting. Smiling about his success, Ol¡¯Garand hefted his hammer onto his shoulder. ¡°They are all yours, don¡¯t push them to their breaking points during the Mana Core surgery, if you want to be truly freed from this Dungeon.¡± Ol¡¯Garand gave a kind reminder, the pixies were indeed peace loving and had no combat capabilities to speak of, similar to his race of Ashen Dwarves. However, the elders were mad scientists who pursued perfection even if it meant destruction. Lanshire nodded her head as she communicated to the pixie elders through their hive connection, Ol¡¯Garand could tell they were visibly annoyed since they sent him scathing gazes. To this, the old dwarven Godsmith could only shrug his shoulders. ¡°If you do become allies, I¡¯m sure the future Human Emperor to be will allow you to break a few for progress in your studies.¡± Each pixie elder picked the human they wanted to perform surgery on, whereas Lanshire picked Fenrich as nothing could go wrong that would possibly slow his progress down. All the unconscious humans were placed onto operation tables. Array formations blazed to life from under the tables. The equipment began firing up, the human chests were torn open and split to two sides, a small azure blue orb of highly condensed Mana would be placed eight millimeters above the heart and connected together. After the orb was implemented into the body and connected with the heart, the human''s chests were put back together and healed by the pixies'' higher tiered magic. The Mana orb would slowly melt until it turned into a liquid reservoir of Mana. This reservoir of Mana over a period of time would absorb ambient Mana, cleanse the impurities of the absorbed ambient Mana and act as the basis to empower their Mana Core formation. As for Fenrich, the pixies at this stage only had a single Mana Jade, if it were to compare to the Mana orbs, the Mana Jade was like a W16 engine compared to a Mazda''s CX3 Skyactiv engine. The Mana Jade did everything the Mana orbs did, but with far more bells and whistles attached to it. If the Mana Pool reservoir granted by the Mana orbs created 7,000 gallons of liquid Mana, the Mana Jade had a condensed amount of 150,000 gallons of liquid Mana. The Mana Jade itself was an evolvable relic and would follow the host it is implemented in. It would also work as a natural enhancer for the total amount of Mana in the host at all times. After the host evolved to the point they no longer need the Mana Jade, it retained the essence of the Mana Cultivation evolutions and could later be placed into another host. The second, third, fourth and fifth host and so on would further benefit from the Mana Jade being recycled, reused and further enhanced with each implementation as long as said host didn¡¯t die thus causing the Mana Jade to crumble. The pixie elders and Lanshire did nothing special, the Mana orbs and Mana Jade were directly implemented into the human bodies, and that was the end of it. Their own body and Mana Cultivation would then later digest and integrate it with their bodies. After the process was done, Lanshire and the elder pixies created cocoons to wrap the bodies inside, the cocoons acted like filtration devices keeping the inside and the human inside clean. After having the surgery and their Life Rating successfully pushed up into F tier, it was vital that no impurities or contaminants interfered with the bodies remodeling process. The work had been done by them, now it was the bodies that would go through a ten day process rebuilding bones, ligaments, muscles, enhancing the quality of their blood and so forth. Every hour that passed, the elder responsible for said human who underwent the surgery, and Mana Body formation period, casted a Dark Gold Cleanse spell and Epic Purify spell. There was no need for Fenrich to be put under such intense care, with the pixies God Queen Progenitors Soul shard being heavily Nature based, it alone was doing the work of the nine pixie elders combined. Even then, it could be pushed under far more pressure and stress and still wouldn¡¯t burn out before the ten day period was over. Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, one cocoon began moving back and forth as cracking sounds began emitting from it. Azure blue Mana burst out in motes of light then got sucked back into the figure of the person who broke out of their cocoon first. Jackson was the first to awaken and come out of his cocoon out of the whole group, he took in the various changes to his body, Soul, Dao and Mana while reviewing his notifications. [Ding! Congratulations, due to absorbing various resources and remodeling done to your physique and foundations, you have evolved to a high F grade lifeform.] [Ding! You have received +50 to all basic attributes from the, The Collector (Emperor) Abyssal Blood Drop] [Ding! The quality of your Physique and foundations has reached 1 Star quality. +30 basic attribute points. +20 advanced attribute points.] [Ding! You have obtained the Dao Seed of the Bow (early) +30 Strength, +30 Agility [Ding! You are the third person world-wide to have gained a Dao Seed. You have gained the Title - Dao Blessed (3/10) +15% efficiency to all basic attributes. +25 to all basic attributes, +10 to all advanced attributes.] [Ding! You have unlocked the Advanced attribute - Perception.] [Ding! You have gained the Title - Limit Breaker. You have successfully bypassed the blockades the Omniverse Alpha System has placed on Cultivation. You have gained +15% efficiency to all your basic attributes. You are marked by the OAS as a high potential seedling.]Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. [Ding! You have received the Common Cultivation Manual from the OAS.] [Ding! You have received the Common Mana Body Manual from the OAS.] Jackson got up and stretched his body, due to his new Perception stat, he was able to ¡°see¡± a fourteen meter radius around himself visually at all times. Everybody was up and stretching and or going through their own sets of notifications. Jackson saw the look deep within Ryan''s eyes had changed for the better, there was still an obvious shadow that haunted him but it was nullified to a lesser degree. ¡°I''m glad you''re doing alright kid. I''m just a stranger after all, but I''d say we''re like a family now after all that we went through. If you ever need to talk, I''m here, Ryan.¡± Jackson said quietly as he patted Ryan on the shoulder. There was no need to create a scene for the others, it was what Jackson had truly felt. Back in his military days, it wasn''t uncommon for them to consider their fellow men and women as family after the shit they went through. Ryan nodded his head, he said nothing not due to disrespect or anything like that. It was just far too soon he had not yet had time to digest the experience, and if doing so Ryan was afraid he''d lose himself due to a currently weakened mental state. Jackson smiled as he looked at Laura, that woman was a damn monster just like their leader was. She was walking fine and heartily laughing with the others. It was also interesting that they all viewed Fenrich that way despite not knowing the young man for long. Jackson could see that Fenrich himself was oblivious to it, but based on what he deciphered from Fenrich''s actions and his decisive ruthlessness. Jackson respected that their leader put their safety as the priority, but also did not shelter them like they were children. Fenrich was the last to awake, and when he did the presence he emitted was truly monstrous. It was both a reflection of his calm and composed self, but it also hid no lies about his overwhelming stats compared to them. It was an instinctual feeling but also not due to his newly acquired Perception stay. In Jackson''s ¡°sight¡± Fenrich had a rippling aura that was thick with life and slaughter. Just the waves of Mana that emanated from their leader was enough to cause Jackson to tremble despite his sharpened mentality. But this was also what a leader needed if he wanted to support the lives of others on his shoulders. Overwhelming and truly despair causing power. Fenrich breathed in deeply and then exhaled, looking like a Phoenix reborn from its own ashes while they were like high-school graduates in comparison. ¡°I''m sorry everybody, I won''t shy away from my actions that caused you all harm either mentally or physically. If you''re willing to still stand by me, great. And if not that is fine as well, do know you will be entitled to gain future benefits once I establish a faction. I give my word, you will all be welcome to those resources I attain.¡± Fenrich said but he was quickly stopped as Laura punched him in the gut with all her strength. ¡°You''re the reason why I ¡°lost¡± my leg and suffered miserable anguish. I don''t hate you for it, but I don''t respect you either. In the end you were sharpening us despite the overwhelming pressure you used to apply the sharpening. I trust your word, Fenrich. Make good by it and we will stand by you loyally. At least, I will be the sheath for your blade. I hereby swear my life, and sword to you.¡± Laura took a knee before Fenrich. Her customized Zanbato sheath was placed in her palms upwards before Fenrich. Fenrich¡¯s face lost all joviality and his voice deepened as the room became rife with Sharpness and Heaviness as he spoke to Laura, ¡°What you are asking of me will put the most amount of stress and burden on you going forward into the future. You offer your sheath to me, so I do not have to use my own blade to cut down the enemies and opposition that will inevitably stand before me. You would practically be no different than making yourself a slave by choice. However, slavery is something I have no tolerance for. Instead of such, you will be one of the Swords in the dark and light to take care of the dirty and clean work. If you accept my conditions, I will accept your Blade and your pride.¡± Laura laid her head before Fenrich¡¯s feet, ¡°I wish to be the Sword that cuts through the darkness giving way to a new dawn.¡± Laura spoke solemnly, and with such intent that a prompt appeared before Fenrich¡¯s vision. [Ding! Laura Ainsclein has sworn her life and Blade in service to you, you have gained permission to view Laura Ainsclein¡¯s Status Page, Skill page, Divine Body page, Bloodline page and etcetera. Due to Laura Ainsclein being the first Blade in honor of your name, she is directly infused with 25% of all your current attribute points. Your growth is now intrinsically linked together, you and your Blade Laura Ainsclein, will now need double the accomplishments for the Omniverse Alpha System to hand out higher rank Class Evolution options.] Fenrich¡¯s eyebrows twitched in what was both frustration and also interest. Frustration because he wanted to avoid exactly this, the OAS took oaths and pledges seriously and held said oath sworn or pledge-sworn to their word. Fenrich scowled as he saw the looks of subservience come over the rest of his group, clearly Laura had led the charge and none of the others wanted to be left behind, or be seen as anything but less than loyal to him. ¡°I respect the choices you have all made, but now is not the time. Do not forget we are in a Mini Game Dungeon in a competition against other groups and Races, plus we should aim for the top of all the leaderboards. I will accept your choices after my goal is realized, I do not wish for you all to make hasty decisions. Whether you decide to follow in Laura¡¯s footsteps or not, I will still accept you all and treat you as part of my family and comrades. I do not want any of you to waste your lives, instead I am trying to provide resources and all the options available to empower you so you can live meaningful and long lasting lives. Swearing to me will only shorten it and is against what I am trying to achieve for you all.¡± ¡°Now let us go, don¡¯t forget to give our benefactors the respect and thank them for bestowing such prized treasures to further our current power.¡± Fenrich said as he followed his words by setting the example. Thanking Lanshire, Ol¡¯Garand and all the current pixie elders, but to his surprise, Lanshire the current matriarch of the pixie clan decided to tag along with him. ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised, until our grand elder left and had me inherit his intelligence, I was only a 3 year old pixie. My level isn¡¯t even level 1 since our people were enslaved more than 1,000 years ago. I wish to join you on your travels, since our race has a hive network I can give orders and directions as long as I¡¯m within OAS controlled space. Our captors all died and we were freed when this place turned into the Mini Game Dungeon. I know you¡¯re stretched thin for time, or so you believe. But you should take the time to sort through their treasury.¡± [Ding! You have received a request from Lanshire Urinator to be your Companion, do you accept? Yes/No] Fenrich accepted yes, and as he did so, the annoying voice spoke up inside his head again. [Treasure!? I LOVE TREASURE. We NEED to go, and if we don¡¯t go. On Azh¡¯Kirantu I will make the most annoying husky noises you have ever heard in your life! I will even mimic that hellspawn noise we heard outside not too long ago.] [Inhales deeply] ¡°Okay, okay I get the damn point, we will stop to look at the treasury.¡± Fenrich answered the Abyssal Symbiote inside his head. ¡°We will take a quick break to sort through the treasury and see what we can all make use of.¡± In the meantime, Lanshire guided Fenrich and company as he began looking through his new Companions Status Page, and his own set of notifications. Lanshire Uranitor [Emperor] Level: 0 Experience Points: 0/1,000 Health: 1,500/1,500 Stamina: 3,000/3,000 Mana Points: 6,750/6,750 Strength: 350 Endurance: 300 Vitality: 150 Intelligence: 475 Physique: 140 Mana: 250 Luck: 300 Sense: 210 Charm: 150 Perception: 240 Soul: 350 Skills: [Greater Heal level 7] [Reflection level 10] [Elemental Manipulation level 15] [Thunderbolt level 8] [Fireball level 10] [Darkness Orb level 8] [Blizzard level 3] [Meteor level 2] [Gungnir Spear level 8] [Blessing level 7 (buff)] [Greater Health Regeneration level 6 (buff)] [Greater Stamina Regeneration level 5 (buff)] [Greater Mana Point Regeneration level 5 (buff)] [Emperor Attribute Enhancement level 6 (passive)] Dao Seeds: Life (Late) Intelligence +160, Vitality +40, Endurance +40. Nature (Late) Intelligence + 160, Endurance +80 [Ding! You have formed a second heart (Heart Of Abyssal Eden) All basic attributes +40. All advanced attributes +15.] [Ding! You have formed the Dao Seed of Abyssal Eden (Early) Endurance +30, Vitality +30] [Ding! You have been implanted with the Silver Mana Jade (Relic) (evolvable,) All basic attributes +100. All advanced attributes +40.] [Ding! Your Abyssal Void Baron Soul has been recovered. You have unlocked your Mana Body and unlocked your Intelligence stat. All basic and advanced attribute points awarded by your Mana Body are now applied.] [Ding! Your Abyssal Void Baron Soul has upgraded into the Abyssal Void Viscount Soul +75 to all basic attributes. +30 to advanced attributes. +15% efficiency to basic attributes.] [Ding! You have unlocked the advanced attribute Soul. +70 Soul.] [Ding! Your Abyssal Void Viscount Soul has pushed your Blank G tier Soul Weapons germination process from G tier to peak F tier.] [Ding! Your peak F tier Soul Weapon Seed has been attuned to the Abyssal Element.] [Ding! You have leveled up from level 1 > 3] ¡°Status Page¡± Level: 3 Experience Points: 0/35,000 Race: ??? ??? Health: 4,740/4,740 Stamina: 4,920/4,920 Mana Points: 4,440/4,440 Strength: 479 (504) [65% Efficiency] Endurance: 459 (492) [65% Efficiency] Vitality: 444 (474) [65% Efficiency] Agility: 494 (519) [65% Efficiency] Intelligence: 419 (444) [65% Efficiency] Physique: 251 (271) [45% Efficiency] Mana: 202 (230) [45% Efficiency] Luck: 215 (230) [45% Efficiency] Sense: 144 [45% Efficiency] Soul: 70 [45% Efficiency] Rens Apocalypse POV It had been six days since they had last contact with Fenrich, Alex, Julia and Sasha. Ren kept reassuring them they were safe and alive still, but even Ren himself was sounding unconvinced as each day went by. The zombies were constantly leveling up, there were more mutant beasts around, and humans were becoming true savages. It had been the fourth day since they left their gym, they had been assaulted by a human who went by the name of Aaron Ulbroud, but that was the least of their concerns. The man had found an inheritance Class that was called Undead Apostle, and he had the ability to control zombies. Chiaki had also found an inheritance Class of Epic rating named Renegade Blade, it came with a set of unique Skills named Silent Blade, Renegade Blade Energy and a set of Dao Visions that would be unlocked at level 20. Silent Blade was self explanatory, Chiaki hardly talked as was, so it was easy for her to make the change over for vastly superior power. She gained a permanent 2x multiplier to all her basic and advanced attributes, under the condition that if she ever spoke again, Chiaki would immediately lose her life. Renegade Blade Energy was what she described as her family''s teaching of Sword Intent, it wasn''t quite the same but was an multiplicative enhancement that superimposed with Sword Intent, and caused Sword related Skills and Combat Techniques to be 1.5x stronger than they should be overall. Thankfully due to Chiaki''s Epic Class granting her +20 all attributes and +15 undistributed attribute points a level, they had majorly all been able to survive. It pained Ren, but he had to let go of the ¡°fat¡± that was inherently weak and threatened their family. Those that did not work, train, or fight to level up and strengthen themselves. Now, they had moved by foot, arriving in Kanata North and successfully cleared a Survival Game, which awarded them with a Shelter that was a step down from an A.I Smart Base. They had clean water, daily meat, rice, vegetables being provided to their little enclave of 150 individuals by the Shelter itself on a daily basis. It was enough to provide for 1,000 to be comfortable, and pushing 1,600 if distributed evenly on a daily basis. This Shelter had also come with a forge, alchemy room, training hall, and the most Common of Skill Book Towers. There was lastly a Library and a unique building called the Dao Gazing Altar. The unique building was awarded to them for being the first to claim a Shelter world-wide, as well as a huge bonus of Survivor Coins, Titles, additional attribute points and so forth. Ren had, like Chiaki, found a weaker but evolvable Common inheritance Class called Fist Of The Equinox Blade. As a practitioner of Wing Chun, Krav Maga, Muay Thai and Jujitsu, on top of his mastery over the dual-wield Torrential Flow and Iai Shadowless Blade style of his family, this class couldn¡¯t be more perfect for him. Even though it was only Common rank, it gave out the same amount of attribute points as Chiaki¡¯s Epic Class did, not only that Ren had gained four Dao Visions of Fire, Ice, Fist and Sword back to back. Greatly empowering himself, and were the minimum requirements to receive the Fist Of The Equinox Blade Class. One thing they had come to understand since the Integration Period started, not all inheritance Classes were even, some in the end gave short-term benefits and power but died out as there were no branching paths, thus leaving certain individuals unable to progress without destroying their Class, losing their levels, Skills and attribute points. This oftentimes led to damaged foundations where they could not even gain a Common class once more. This had left them in despair, until Ren made it so they could gain the Blacksmith or Alchemist profession for free, as long as they provided their future products at a reasonably discounted price. It had been a very chaotic 7 day period in total, but it had also led to a lot of joy on Ren''s part. He had managed to run into his family, bringing them to safety with him, his extended family from the gym and also creating a survivors enclave. He gained a Class that was essentially perfect for himself, gained in overwhelming power and was now able to do his part to support the enclave and those they continued to gather on a daily basis. Outside of Ren and Chiaki another figure appeared calling himself the Sage, but his appearance was¡­ unfortunate to say the least. The ¡°Sage¡± was a homeless person, but yet he had the abilities of Divination, Fate Scrying, blessing one''s overall Fortune and reading the lines of Karma. This had led to them being aware of more than five ambushes, with no deaths on their part since they formed the enclave with the Shelter as the base of operations. But the unfortunate news was that the Sage could not scry into Fenrich¡¯s current situation, when the Sage attempted to do so, he had nearly had his heart implode due to touching a ¡°leyline of chaos.¡± However, it did foretell that Fenrich was in recovery, but said events were unreadable. Ren opened his eyes as he awoke on the roof of the Shelter itself, frost of evening gave way to the budding warmth of the sun rising, these were the most perfect times for Ren to cultivate as he meditated on the Dao of Fire and Ice, which he had learned his affinities had reached the SSS tier for them both with Fist and Sword following behind just a step behind of SS+ tier. Ren passed the next 45 minutes as he absorbed the purest of pure Yang energy that his family would have called it back in ancient times. In this time, his senses and perception was spread out in a 200 meter radius, he watched as the warriors began gearing up for another day of resource procurement and searching for other survivors. The people that converted and gained the Blacksmith and Alchemist Professions had already opened their designated work spaces, working on repairing the scavengers equipment, and alchemists were handing out Health, Mana and Stamina potions. The last surprise to their enclave of survivors was a pair of twins that had already achieved the Dao of Life and Death, both being higher grade Dao¡¯s and due to their yin-yang nature, both twins empowered each other having been granted with synchronized Classes, Dao, and Skills related to their unique Classes. Not only that, their biggest benefit was the Nihility Blessing they gave to the enclave. Just for being a part of it, everybody gained +50 to all basic attributes and +30 to advanced attributes for a full twenty four hour period. The growth rate of crops, herbs, flowers, and other timed resources were increased by 3x and their amounts easily doubled. Ren smiled, but within that smile was also the budding seed of boredom. It was not easy being a leader, numerous headache inducing duties and tasks came his way everyday. There had already been twenty different public hangings for rape, molestation, terrorist acts and an upbringing to kill them all to claim the Shelter for themselves. Those people were utter trash as they had dreams of being ¡°warlords¡± wanting to lord over, enrich themselves while sleeping with women of all ages and ethnicities on a daily basis. While they got to eat and live lavishly, they would make their populace of survivors broke, and without being fed despite having more than enough resources to feed 1,600 mouths.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. But, today that would all change. From the previous day Chiaki had secured a bunch of white-collared people that held government jobs, or ran their own firms and smaller businesses. Ren had a meeting with them all to set up the outlines of an administrative body that would have different cabinets dealing with money, agriculture, city planning on a far smaller scale and various others. This was the most important for Ren, as this would ¡°free¡± him up so that he could be out in the field actively culling the number of zombies, mutant beasts and gathering the resources they needed in bulk to supply far higher numbers of humans. Not only that, they had killed a raid boss with his, Chiaki, and the life-death twins and gained a formal Guild Creation Tablet, and an even rarer Land Lease. This Land Lease was built in with all the required resources to create over 10,000 houses, farmlands, smithies, alchemy labs above and underground, and it came with a unique room that awakened High tier Bloodlines that would further enhance their population. But Ren did not want to make such rushed decisions without properly scoping out the proper land to activate this Land Lease, or establishing a Guild. If it was like in games where it came with benefits in the ways of earning extra money, stats, experience points, resources and so forth, he wanted to have Fenrich back as the three of them, and the other soon to be leaders such as the Sage to discuss how its best used to benefit them and the future expansion plans that Ren had in mind. Ren activated the Long Distance Communication Orb, and sent off a very, very lengthy message to Fenrich, he knew that it was sent as this was the third one he sent doing so on a bi-daily basis. But the prompt he got back every time seemed like it was filled with more and more chagrin each time towards him. [Long Distance Communication Orb - Your message has been successfully sent, however, the receiver is in a timed Dungeon space where they are unable to receive your messages. They will receive your continuous barrage of messages after they have exited or claimed the Dungeon as their own property. Begrudgingly, they will also be able to reply back, one time, per message.] Ren smiled as he saw this prompt come his direction, there was no sense of snarky annoyance deeply entwined from their overseer who made these system based prompts for them. ¡°You¡¯ve got that shit eating smile again, has the prompts gotten more snarky with you, again?¡± A man with long unkempt hair, unruly beard and torn apart clothing. Although he looked like he was trying to turn water to wine, and walk across it with swagger. ¡°Sage, you¡¯re seeming to be very well mannered today. Have you been able to keep away from the alcohol this morning?¡± ¡°Sigh, your words cut deep like an emo person giving themselves homemade tattoos. But yes, today I am fifteen minutes sober!¡± Ren facepalmed as he had clearly praised the Sage too early. ¡°Cheer up, sunny. I wasn¡¯t always a schizophrenic bat shit insane homeless person. It¡¯s debatable that I have been touched by the spectrum, but I have always won over my artist, autisti, artistic tendencies. Anyways¡­ that is besides the point of why I am here. Like I said, I wasn¡¯t always a -¡± ¡°Yes, yes, yes I get the point, Sage. As much as I appreciate your odd sense of twisted humor, just say what you have to say, please¡­. and thank you.¡± Ren replied, already feeling as if the Sage was like Pinocchio who rammed their face into his ass and began lying like crazy. ¡°Wow, rude. Anyways, I am here today so that I can relieve you of the duties that have been placed upon your shoulders as you are the known leader of our little survivor enclave here. A bunch of my old friends have been guided here by my Dao, and are true leaders that have run as prime ministers, cabinet ministers, or other high positions in a country. They have been planted with my Dao and are thus soul bound and completely loyal to me, and thus loyal to you or the true leader you are waiting for to emerge from that Mini Game Dungeon.¡± Feeling the shift in Ren''s attitude, the Sage quickly clarified himself as he told Ren to take a closer look at his eyes, as he removed the white cloth that was thickly wrapped around his eyes. When it was revealed, the Sages eye sockets were completely empty like two grooves into the dirt as you stared down into the hole hundreds and thousands of meters deep. ¡°I did not lie to you, but I have paid a certain ¡°price¡± to ensure the safety of Fenrich Albaston and his group of soon to be emerging powerhouses that can help us survive the Integration Period, building the foundations for when our world is forcibly merged with other worlds in 23 more days from now. Fenrich will appear on the 13th day of the Integration Period, and by the 14th day will have arrived here with us. The Mini Game Dungeon they are in is actually an A.I Smart Base, and will have a thirty day safety period, carrying seventeen days over into the true beginning of our first stage of survival after the Integration Period ends.¡± ¡°It is on the 2nd carry over day the Land Lease will be used in the most suitable position to begin building an Empire for humanity. The people I have gathered and made soul bound, are so you, Chiaki, Fenrich, Eril and Meril (life-death twins), Laura, Garen, Jackson and the other apex powerhouses will be the available fighting force. And I am also here to inform you of where you can find the Empyrean Aegis Cultivation Manual. It is located in Carleton Place inside of another Dungeon that is of Nightmare difficulty. It is a single-person Dungeon, and you need to get it before its fated beholder arrives to claim it.¡± ¡°Last but not least, I come bearing gifts in the form of Equipment, Skill Books and Artifacts that will ensure your survival to bring back the Empyrean Aegis Cultivation Manual. In ten days from now, Fenrich and one of his old enemies from a past timeline will clash, that person is not fated for the Empyrean Aegis Cultivation Method, but they do have the highest affinity to bring out its full power, and the sleeping latent potential within the truly blessed but destined to die humans.¡± ¡°I swear on my Dao, my life and my Karma to be instantly annihilated by tribulation lightning if I have any thoughts of betrayal, or ulterior motives for freeing you to claim the Empyrean Aegis Cultivation Manual.¡± Ren could feel the atmosphere thicken as if he went from a liquid to a jelly-like substance. Ren nodded his head in which the Sage smiled with clear relief and gave Ren a thumbs up. ¡°I-¡± ¡°Being blind has made me able to ¡°see¡± far more than you could imagine. It truly was a blessing in disguise, Ren. And before you ask how you¡¯re going to go from here to Carleton Place, I have your means of transportation already taken care of, as well as what you¡¯ll need to survive that Dungeon.¡± Behind the Sage, the surrounding atmosphere twisted and folded into itself, Spatial magic was forming a teleportation channel that showed an image of Carleton Place and its hoard of zombies and mutant beasts. ¡°You will earn a fancy Title for being the first world-wide human to liberate and claim an old once human occupied town before the apocalypse began. As well as with the Empyrean Aegis Cultivation Manual and all kinds of levels and more.¡± Ren took the spatial ring that had 100 cubic meters and was full to the brim of miscellaneous survival tools and equipment, it had huge quantities of clean water, food, potions, pickaxes, shovels, spades, woodcutting axes and more. ¡°Carleton Place is a treasure trove of high tier resources that belong to a B+ world and not a lowly E- world like Earth is, these are the tools, hand drawn maps and other necessities you will need to survive and bring back as much of everything as you can. Inside the spatial ring are dozens of Long Distance Communication Orbs to remain in contact. I can only perform one more divination or give one more push to save you from a life and death situation before my Soul is irrevocably damaged. Do not be afraid to demand or order me to do such a thing, you were a leader for a long enough time here and a future God with unrivaled power. It''s time to lose some of that softness you still hold onto, but not become an emotionless killing machine that can''t think for themselves.¡± Ren kept calm as he digested all of the Sage''s words. ¡°Thank you, Sage. I need this not only for selfish reasons, but if I remain stationary any longer and fall behind. I will never be able to truly gain the power to protect the entirety of my family, the future Empire or my budding love that I have for Eril.¡± Ren patted the Sage on the shoulder as he walked past the man to go through the teleportation channel before his eyes. ¡°My only orders for you will be to ensure things don¡¯t go to shit here. And also to wipe Erils memories of what has been spoken here. Curiosity killed the cat, but she is one of us and so is her twin Meril. Do not let her Karma get intrinsically involved where it could threaten her because of its connection to me here today.¡± The sage smiled with appreciation as he spoke with full confidence towards Ren, ¡°Understood, boss. Thank you for your trust.¡± Ren disappeared, and as he did Eril came out of hiding from a cloud of death essence that shrouded all signs of life. ¡°You heard the boss man, it¡¯s time for you to lose your memories and stay safe away from the Karmic pulls bound to Ren, little lady.¡± Before Eril could escape or put up a struggle in any shape or form, her eyes turned lifeless for fifteen seconds, then clarity and ¡°life¡± came back as she looked around her surroundings. ¡°Weird, I never go close to the boss¡¯s vicinity like this. The morning sun is nice though, despite him being a Fire cultivator. I can see why he enjoys watching the sunrise as it gives birth to a new day.¡± Abyssal Raven Form Fenrich and company all walked away with smiles on their faces after entering the treasury, they had all gained an adequate amount of resources, f tier spatial rings with 40 cubic meters worth of space inside, relics, equipment, Skill Books and more. What was even more rewarding to Ren was the fact that he had found a weapon that caused his Blank peak F tier Soul Weapon seed to vibrate. Firmament Defiance Greatsword (Pseudo-Legendary) (Evolvable) Level: Adjusts to user, maximum growth level: 650. Durability: Unbreakable Strength: + 20% Agility: + 20% Endurance: + 20% Vitality: + 20% Passive Effect 1: Increases the equippers basic and advanced attribute points by 25% Passive Effect 2: Absorbs the Qi, Dao, Mana, Life Blood Essence of all slain enemies, converting all the energy into consumable attribute point orbs (quality and quantity decide the gained amounts of attribute points) 0/?????? Passive Effect 3: Increases the overall power of the equippers Mana by 33% Passive Effect 4: Enhances the overall quality of the equippers Mana, Dao and Qi over a period of time. Passive Effect 5: Increases all the equippers Sword related Skills by +6 levels Passive Effect 6: All Mana, Stamina, Qi, Dao energy, Soul energy, Sword Intent energies have their costs reduced by 45%. Passive Effect 7: Increases the users Life Rating by 1 tier no matter how heavy one¡¯s foundations are that hold back Life Rating evolutions. Passive Effect 8: Increases the overall power of equippers known Combat Techniques, Mana Combat Techniques by 35% Active Effect 1: Firmaments Wrath - Increases the attributes of all party members, or designated allies by the equipper by 30% for 10 minutes, cooldown - 24 hours. Active Effect 2: Firmaments Domain - Converts an area of 250 meters into the Firmaments Domain. Weakens the senses of all enemies trapped within the domain and reduces the enemies basic and advanced attributes by 25%. While inside the Firmaments Domain, the user gains control over 6 strands of Sword Intent that have been inserted into Firmament Defiance Greatsword by past owners of the weapon. Each strand of Sword Intent has its own core Skill developed by the previous owners, each strand is the equivalent of 50% of the current owners attributes. This is both a method of attack, and a method of learning for new owners of the weapon, cooldown - 6 hours. Active Effect 3: Spatial Devastation - for the next 6 attacks or Skills, increases its total power by 150% and increases the users attack range to 75 meters in a circular diameter. Cooldown - 30 minutes. (due to equipper currently being unevolved to F tier Life Rating, the effects of this Weapon Skill will not increase until achieving a higher overall Life Rating.) Active Effect 4: Firmament Defiance Shadow - creates 6 identical copies of Firmaments Defiance Greatsword each shadow carrying 60% of the equippers attribute points. Duration: 2 minutes. Cooldown - 5 hours. Then the thought hit Fenrich like a runaway train, it was now a Blank peak F tier Soul Weapon seed. With his thoughts going in this direction, Fenrich brought the Soul Weapon seed to the Firmament Defiance Greatsword and was awarded with a prompt. [Would you like to allow your Soul Weapon Seed to consume the Firmament Defiance Greatsword turning it into a Soul Weapon? Yes/No] Fenrich¡¯s heartbeat sped up as he unhesitantly pressed Yes like he was a drowning man at sea given a life buoy [Ding! Peak Blank F Tier Soul Weapon Seed is in the process of turning the Firmament Defiance Greatsword into a Soul Weapon that is permanently bound to your Soul. This change will be irrecoverable, upon the user''s death, the Firmament Defiance Greatsword will crumble into ashes, becoming valuable material to strengthen another weapon or used to create a new weapon. 24 hours until completion.] The second item that Fenrich had gotten was a Silver tier auxiliary relic. [Box Of Evolution (Silver Relic)] Soul Bound Passive Effect 1: Takes 8 Common pieces of equipment and turns them into Uncommon equipment. Takes 24 Uncommon pieces of equipment to turn them into Rare equipment. Takes 72 Rare pieces of equipment to turn them into Epic equipment. Takes 216 pieces of Epic equipment to turn them into Pseudo-Legendary equipment.] The last item that Fenrich had, was a neatly folded letter with a maroon coloured ribbon and in what looked like dried blood read Fenrich emergency on it. The envelope was well hidden within a secret compartment that was in Laura¡¯s treasure chest of equipment, oddly all of these items seemed like they were specifically organized for them individually based on what they needed the most. Opening the letter and beginning to read it, Fenrich¡¯s eyes thinned to a fine tip needle point. [Dear Fenrich, I am writing this to you as an ally in this lifetime. I understand the bad blood that stands before us after how I manipulated your Karma, Fate and Fortune against you in the past timeline. But hear me out this time around, Ren has been sent to Carleton Place to bring back the Empyrean Aegis Cultivation Method, as you most know it widely owned and used by the Dark King who is currently in the Mini Game Dungeon with you now. However, you have a different enemy that Fate and Karma has directly guided to be your biggest opponent since your reverse leap in time back to our current Era. ¡°It¡± has the highest UR+ affinity with the Empyrean Aegis Cultivation Manual, and ¡°it¡± will swear fealty to whoever is capable of defeating it in combat. As for the other notable figures you plan to kill to avoid their ticking time bombs, I implore you to enslave them for now, until they can be implanted with the Empyrean Seeds. As you know, it allows the user to influence those ¡°infected¡± by the seeds, changing their personality completely based on the users beliefs and worldly views. It also fundamentally changes a Human making our far more humble foundations break away into higher tiers of Life Rating far faster, and the overall quality of our evolutions. Dark King, Emperor Alexander, Warlord Anderson, Empress Yasmine, Thunder Magus Alannah, Apostle, Nihility, Midnight Reaper, they will all become the power that humanity needs to survive the D- difficulty we now face. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Signed, The Sage, known to you as Obliviscaris in your original timeline.] Fenrich closed the letter and began massaging his face and head with his open palms and fingers as he kneaded into his forehead, relieving the headache this lunatic always brought to him. ¡°You don¡¯t look like you¡¯re all that impressed, master.¡± Laura said as she appeared to Fenrich¡¯s side. ¡°No, no I am not. An old pain in my ass has reappeared and has apparently turned a new leaf. Also, unless you are strictly Oathbound by your words of commitment to me, please just refer to me as Fenrich. There¡¯s no need for any of this master bullshit.¡± [You should fuck her! Spread your seed like a good little manwhor-] The Abyssal Symbiote nearly rapped those words so fast as if it were Eminem, but Fenrich was now getting better at cutting the Abyssal Symbiote off. Sadly, that did not stop the shenanigans the Abyssal Symbiote performed to vent its frustration of not getting the chance to properly rile Fenrich up. ¡°Why do you have a demonic looking husky sitting on your shoulder howling into your left ear?¡± Laura asked with a hint of amusement and confusion, questioning what she¡¯d seen. When her words left her mouth, Fenrich and the Abyssal Symbiote looked at each other with widened eyes, then looked at Laura. [I FUCKING LOVE HER!] ¡°NO!¡± Fenrich grabbed the demonic husky by the scruff of its fur and yelled into its face. ¡°You do not get to be a bad influence to my people!¡± [Fuck you! I will influence whoever I want!] ¡°You two seem like an old married couple.¡± Laura said as she couldn¡¯t help but laugh at the fuckery before her. [She¡¯d make a far better vessel for this Imperial One compared to you. I like her more, I¡¯m going to have a conversation with Azh¡¯Kirantu. I want her to be my new host.] Fenrich sighed in exasperation, ¡°We both know you¡¯re soul bound to me and that is not possible.¡± [STOP RUINING MY DREAMS YOU DAMNABLE HALF BREED!] ¡°We- I need to get a move on. The leaderboard''s rewards are no longer my concern. I need to claim this smart base and clear the Mini Game Dungeon sooner than later.¡± Laura nodded her head as she looked towards the letter in Fenrich¡¯s hand, ¡°I am your blade, you only need to point me in the direction and I will clear all your obstacles.¡± Fenrich visually rolled his eyes, ¡°I want to respect your choice as much as I don''t want to.¡± Laura walked over and grabbed the attention of the others, ¡°Our leader here has taken the role of the leader, yet he doesn''t want us to be subservient or show our thanks to him. Many of us would have mental inflections, died, or lost parts of our body for an unknown period of time without him seeking help from the pixies. Just so we can clear the air here for our dumbass leader, does anyone care about the leaderboards? Which one of us here isn''t thankful that his actions have been beneficial as much as they have been used to sharpen ourselves?¡± Ryan nodded his head and spoke up, ¡°For as much as my mind has become warped, I have gained a Talent because of it from the OAS. It has opened many doors of possibilities, and frankly, you''re not the hard man you try to play the role as. You speak tough, but your actions show you''re a softy. Who was it that provided us the Dao Fruits without having saved one for yourself? Your lack of selfishness is something I respect and detest. Without that selfishness to make yourself stronger, you will fail my trust one day, Fenrich. I don¡¯t want the individual who I entrust the weight of my life to fail me due to inadequate strength.¡± Lukas spoke up in succession, ¡°Times have changed Fenrich, if you have the knowledge to allow us to empower ourselves use it. If you have to throw us at death''s doors to realize our potential, then do it. We are not children whose hands you have to hold and safekeep. Empower us, and let our abilities and potential do that work for you. All you have to do is be the strongest individual, and let us act on our own actions and wants. Following a leader now is more important than an unnecessary death due to ignorance of the full changes that will happen.¡± Isabella spoke up with her quaint voice, ¡°If we break and crumble to dust because we cannot keep up with you or realize our potential, that is our fault, not yours. We don¡¯t understand the pain and misery you have locked up inside of you, but we understand the sincerity and care you show towards us. Whether it be because we¡¯re future powerhouses or have high potential, or you¡¯re more human than you like to believe yourself to be. I know my life is safe in your hands, so please respect my feelings and allow me to be of service to you. I don¡¯t want to die before I can reconvene with my family. I don¡¯t want that future you foretold of my death to play out, I don¡¯t want my family to suffer.¡± Fenrich steeled his resolve, he knew better than anybody else what a lack of resolve amounted to, but he also didn¡¯t want them to be swallowed by the path he would walk. Indeed if he supplied them everything he could and they still fell due to lack of growth, it wasn¡¯t his fault. But every death of the people he cared about stabbed into his heart of hearts tearing that flesh wound open again, and again. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll do it the way you guys want to do it as a group. But I too am entrusting my trust with you, I do not want you all to turn out to be failures after everything I am able to provide. We must get a move on. Kill everything and anyone in sight that stands before our way.¡± Fenrich said as he took the lead of their group, the aura and pressure he emanated condensed further. ¡°Tough ass, the failures of old dampen his resolve. But he is just like how my commanding general was, when his confidence came back, that man made miracles happen.¡± Jackson spoke as his eyes were seeing the times of the past, he understood what Fenrich was going through to a lesser degree. When his unit was wiped out and he was the only one to survive, the grieving families blamed and condemned him for being the one to return to his family while theirs was buried in the dirt. The group began following after Fenrich, the hours eventually passed on as they slaughtered their way through the layered expansions, any remaining groups that the ran into be it human or non human, were mercilessly wiped out. Their positions on the ladder had fallen to the 52nd spot, but were now rapidly rising as they gained in Dungeon Points. With their newly enhanced bodies, foundations, Life Rating, attribute points and Dao, they trudged on for twelve hours straight, crossing 7 layered expansions in that time. Fenrich passed around the books on advanced Dao theory, when they weren¡¯t part of the ¡°cleanup crew¡± the others would study it with the sole purpose to deepen their understanding without being influenced by it. The books they had gotten were from Vampires, where neither of them had those specialties or Dao to begin with. But even with that alone, it was a treasure trove of wealth in its own way. Fenrich had been guiding them through the expansion layers effortlessly, there were times he¡¯d mutate into something that was straight out of the alien or predator movies, it was a clear sign when they were going through the ¡°Void¡± that danger lurked and was nearby. Due to the form Fenrich took, it dampened the amount of archaic aura¡¯s that did continue to lock onto them. But that was also tempering, having your Will and Soul exposed to such overwhelming power numbed them, but it strengthened their own Will and Soul as they faced it head on. Diving into the abyss of Void as they made it out to the other side. This time, however, was different. When they arrived, there was a truly massive hoard of zombies counting in the thousands easily. And before them, stood a human that was wrapped tightly in bandages as if he were a mummy. This person''s eyes were feral and full of insanity, a clear reflection of what state Ryan had before the healing, and they were also a mage by the staff and typical wizard hat that was on his head. Ryan walked forward as he put his hand onto Fenrich¡¯s shoulders and pulled the man back, ¡°It is not time to let the skeletons in the closet ignite that fury, let me take care of this one boss.¡± Ryan said as equal parts of madness, insanity, clarity and order were reflected in the depths of his own eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t kill him if possible, there are already plans in place to make use of Nihility in the near future. He is a capable person that wielded the Dao¡¯s of Necromancy, Death, and Rot. It is too early in the current timeline for him to have access to all of those Dao¡¯s or to have grown them, but you can never be too careful.¡± Fenrich said as he gave Ryan a rundown on what he remembered of Nihility¡¯s old toolkit. Ryan merely smiled, ¡°Would you all be so kind as to thin out the numbers of zombies for me as you keep advancing forward? I¡¯ll meet up with all of you again.¡± Fenrich and the others continued forward, clearing the majority of the zombies they passed. Nihility began summoning bone spears in their direction, to which Ryan used a level 6 Magic Wall and level 4 Reflect, sending them back to Nihility. Above Ryan¡¯s head, a humongous sized Fireball shot forward incinerating hundreds of zombies and instantly shattered Nihility¡¯s protections that the man rapidly put up. ¡°I already told my boss and family that I¡¯d clear the way for them, I can¡¯t let you make me a liar now can I?¡± Ryan¡¯s smile turned wicked as a full face splitting smile appeared. His steel blue eyes turned a deep blood orange colour whereas his sclera turned midnight black that his eyes seemed to suck in the colour of life around them. The nearby zombies to Ryan began withering and turning into particles of decay becoming a contaminant zone. ¡°Azh¡¯Kirantu, I made a deal with you to support Fenrich and gave you half of my Soul for the power you have gifted me. Let''s put it to the test.¡± A pair of midnight black raven wings with purple arcs of lightning hummed and zapped as any zombie entered a 30 meter radius of Ryan, turning them into ashes and destroying them down to the cellular level. ¡°Abyssal Raven Form¡± Ryan¡¯s beak morphed into that of a raven, while the rest of his body morphed into a half-human, half-raven abyssal creature. ¡°Yo- You¡¯ve sold your Soul to an underworld Devil?¡± Nihility¡¯s voice audibly quivered as terror blossomed in his heart staring into the form that Ryan took. A deep and booming abyssal voice came out from Ryan¡¯s mouth, ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but the difference between us is different, Nihility. When you look in the mirror you¡¯re probably seeing a bitch. When I look in the mirror, I¡¯m seeing the wicked nature of humanity reflected back into my own form of understanding. And¡­ You. Are. My. Prey.¡± ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡± Isabella shuddered as she heard the screams of pure terror as she crossed into the Void. With there being no more witnesses around. Ryan reveled in the insanity, taking off his glasses and putting them away into his inventory space. The full extent of Ryan¡¯s power was unleashed, for those glasses were no common pair of glasses. Even before their Integration Period began, these glasses alone were the restraints that kept Ryan in check. Without them, it revealed the wickedness that humanity gave birth to. A person broken by their own race, was the most terrifying at the end of the day. For vengeance had nothing that satiated its appetite. Karma Is A Bitch At the last spatial expansion of the Mini Game Dungeon, all the other races had been exterminated by the Human''s. On a throne of bones, corpses and blood sat a bored but matured woman. Behind her was a chiseled middle aged man, he had streaks of gray in his beard and jet black hair. ¡°Fenrich had a pause for the greater part of nine full days, now my kid brother is rapidly climbing the Leaderboards again.¡± The woman smiled proudly, but deep within her eyes was an unspoken sorrow. ¡°Destiny, Fate, Karma or whatever else you want to call it, it is a truly frightening existence. To think of all the suffering he had gone through already, and now our family must slaughter one another.¡± The middle aged man sighed ruefully, ¡°You know Fenrich just as much as I do. He will not raise his blade against us. And even if he could, his distraught heart will be what reaps his current life at either of our hands.¡± A single tear dropped from their fathers eyes, ¡°Allow me to put my son down, as long as I do it we have a high chance of preserving his Soul.¡± The woman also had a sigh of her own, ¡°little bros new found allies will pave the way, and he will fail them because of us. Don''t forget we must act our role in this storm of Fate.¡± ------------------ Fenrich and company remained on their crazy climb, blitzing through the expansion layers at an incredible pace, every five to seven levels on average they left one of their group members behind. Past enemies, new enemies and the peak powers of Humanity that previously blossomed stood before their way. Fenrich could have easily subdued and crippled all of them, but to Garen, Laura, Lukas and the others, it meant they were unworthy if Fenrich had to act and stop at every little roadblock. Now all that remained was Isabella, Jackson and Laura, and their cycle had been broken by now more than ten expansions back. No more people stood in their way, but the insane amount of zombies, mutant beasts had been doubling or even tripling per layer they crossed through. It was obvious that no other groups had made it this far, but Fenrich¡¯s instincts were screaming at him. An overwhelming surge of reluctance and powerlessness began feeding on his psyche. With their enhanced bodies, attribute points and Dao¡¯s by now they were all starting to burn out. It had been twenty-seven hours straight they had blitzed through a total of 84 expansion layers, Fenrich only stopped to gather the most important treasure chests or hidden treasures. Due to his newly heightened Luck stat and Sense stat, the most useful treasures ¡°called¡± out to him, through the Sense stat, Fenrich could feel the condensed Mana, Qi or Dao in the treasures that remained silent. Of course they had missed even far more opportunities, but from the words of the letter in Obliviscaris (the sage) foretelling. Fenrich couldn¡¯t let himself stop. Even his gut and instincts were acting up, if he stopped now it may be for the best. But¡­ if he stopped now, who was going to bear the weight of his group''s lives? Who was going to make Ren¡¯s sacrifice worth it? Who would repay Chiaki and Ren for their remaining belief in Fenrich, Sasha, Julia and Alex¡¯s survival? Most important of all, who would be the one to bear the countless sins and tragedies that had to be performed by human hands? Fenrich had already done it once before, his hands were steeped in the foul karma, sin and misery of humanity and the lives of countless other races, demi-gods, Gods, Goddesses and Divine Beasts. With what little of the memories that were retained and could be actively viewed upon, Fenrich would be the Sin Bearer of humanity, even if it meant Karma and Fate was to actively be fighting against him. When the Dao fought back against you because of how ¡°corrupt¡± you''ve become, even God''s would fall to the Dao. That would go doubly and triply for mortals who couldn''t even resist the Dao, or shield their own Karma and Fate from the higher ¡°eyes.¡± ¡°You¡¯re overthinking things too much and it is making your Will fluctuate up and down. There is nothing we can do or any plans we can make until we reach the top.¡± Laura came up by Fenrich who was so deep in thought that he hadn¡¯t even noticed her nudging him. ¡°You remain strong, but your Will is dampening and it will make whatever sword you wield brittle. At least that¡¯s what my Sword Dao is conveying to me. Allow us to share your burden, but do not go weak. We¡¯re relying on you, Fenrich.¡± Laura said, letting her words sink in. ¡°My bad, my gut and instincts are screaming at me for something¡­ I don¡¯t know what yet, but whatever it is, they¡¯re telling me to back down now to keep my life. But if I do that, I cannot keep my word or promise to those who have stayed behind, or you who still remain with me now.¡± Fenrich said, drained and unstable. Causing his aura and Will to violently fluctuate up and down. ¡°Well, whatever it is. You will need to pull yourself together. Bring back that Will and Sharpness that refused to bow your head to Immortals. I saw a lot in that vision, you certainly do not look like the ruthless killing machine you make yourself out to be. I rather prefer this side of you where you would accept to share the burden, but now is not the time for you to be weak, Fenrich. Ryan needs you to keep him in check, his aura is weaker but is a clone to your own Abyssal aura. If you can¡¯t do this for yourself, do it for the people who are relying on you and put their lives in your hands to safekeep.¡± Fenrich nodded as he began looking at the single notification that came through in the last twenty-four hours. Thankfully, it was something related to the Soul. It alone would be able to truly understand his unspoken words. [Ding! The Firmament Defiance Greatsword (Abyssal Attunement) has successfully been converted into a Soul Weapon, and is permanently bonded to your Soul. Inside is the budding intelligence of a young sentient Soul that is reliant upon your own Soul to nurture it.]Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. [Partner, this weapon''s details hasn¡¯t changed a single major detail since you last saw it, but fundamentally and on a spiritual level, it has completely changed. If before it was but a small mote of light, it is now the equivalent to a star capable of radiating enough light for multiple galaxies.] Fenrich nodded as he felt the appearance of his new Soul Weapon made its place known on his back and shoulders, from it a different kind of heat was transmitted. The anxiety and doubts were wiped away and replaced once more with his calm and confidence. Firmament Defiance Greatsword (Pseudo-Legendary) (Evolvable) Soul Weapon: Peak F Tier [Abyssal Attunement] Durability: Unbreakable Strength: + 30% Agility: + 30% Endurance: + 30% Vitality: + 30% Passive Effect 1: Increases the equippers basic and advanced attribute points by 40% Passive Effect 2: Absorbs the Qi, Dao, Mana, Life Blood Essence of all slain enemies, converting all the energy into consumable attribute point orbs (quality and quantity decide the gained amounts of attribute points) 0/???????? Passive Effect 3: Increases the overall power of the equippers Mana by 45% Passive Effect 4: Foundational Furnace - Drastically increases the overall quality and quantity of the equippers Mana, Dao and Qi. 0/25 Days to reach Bronze Foundation. Passive Effect 5: Increases all the equippers Sword related Skills by +8 levels Passive Effect 6: All Mana, Stamina, Qi, Dao energy, Soul energy, Sword Intent energies have their costs reduced by 70%. Passive Effect 7: Increases the users Life Rating by 1 tier no matter how heavy one¡¯s foundations are that hold back Life Rating evolutions. Passive Effect 8: Increases the overall power of equippers known Combat Techniques, Mana Combat Techniques by 55% Active Effect 1: Firmaments Wrath - Increases the attributes of all party members, or designated allies by the equipper by 50% for 20 minutes, cooldown time - 15 hours. Active Effect 2: Firmaments Domain - Converts an area of 250 meters into the Firmaments Domain. Weakens the natural senses of all enemies trapped within the domain, reduces the enemies basic and advanced attributes by 40%. [Epic] Soul Weapon Skill 1: Tenebrous Abyssal Genesis Uses 1/12 regenerates 1 user per 2 hours (Fuses quick draw Combat Techniques with the Dao of Thunder to increase the power and speed by 3x. Deals 1,750% total burst damage, each use opens the gateway to the Dao of Thunder and Lightning which can later be combined into the Tenebrous Dao. (The true effects of this Skill cannot be quantified by the Omniverse Alpha System due to the change to a Soul Weapon.) [Legendary] Soul Weapon Skill 2: Omni Abyssal Divide Uses 1/1 regenerates 1 use per 4 hours, (The current effects of this Skill cannot be quantified by the Omniverse Alpha System due to the change to a Soul Weapon.) [Mythical] Soul Weapon Skill 3: Heavenly Wolf Multiverse Upheaval Uses 1/1 regenerates 1 use per 8 hours. (The current effects of this Skill cannot be quantified by the Omniverse Alpha System due to the change to a Soul Weapon.) [Divine] Soul Weapon Skill 4: (Locked - Reach level 30 to unlock.) [False Divinity] Soul Weapon Skill 5: (Locked - Reach level 75 to unlock.) [True Divinity] Soul Weapon Skill 6: (Locked - Reach level 180 to unlock.) [Ancestral God] Soul Weapon Skill 7: (Locked - Reach level 400 to unlock.) Fenrich and group had been continuing on with their needless massacre as he was going through his notification and the reworked stats and Skills of his Soul Weapon, and all he had to truly say was damn. [You see that broken piece of equipment there, partner? I did that!] ¡°No, you didn¡¯t. It was due to a -¡± [Blah, blah and blah. Do you like listening to yourself talk? I¡¯d have far more intellectual and fun conversations with a schizophrenic cow.] The hours passed on evermore, Isabella passed out due to physical exertion and constant slaughter for thirty hours straight. She had gained numerous levels and due to the physical exertion she had awakened the first lock to her Holy Priestess Divine Body. Even now while unconscious, the milky-white aura emitting from Isabella''s body was washing away the physical and mental exhaustion. Not everybody''s minds had been trained yet to accommodate long periods of time without some form of rest or sleep, the higher their attributes points and Life Ratings, the less sleep and food one will eventually need. After another seven hours, the group had finally climbed to the top of the spatial expansions. Before them stood a dual pair of giant doors engraved with bones and skeletal ornamental decorations, some blood red rubies which Fenrich wasn¡¯t shy about swiping off the door. Soon, gems of all kinds would be able to be embedded into sockets within equipment to provide various unique effects or add extra attribute points based on their gem type, level, rarity and essence within them. Upon standing before the obvious ¡°boss room¡± doors, Fenrich gained an incredibly deep and incomprehensible feeling of weakness, reluctance and despair to the point that tears began uncontrollably falling down. Without any control over his own body, let alone his emotions, Fenrich began walking toward the doors. Each step that Fenrich took, his aura was like a solitary flame sitting atop a candle. The slightest of gales could snuff it out. Laura didn¡¯t say anymore, now she understood what Fenrich meant by his gut and instincts dampening his Will to the point it almost got snuffed out. It was due to her Oathbound status as Fenrich¡¯s Blade, that those emotions were now being transmitted to her. Laura cupped her head with her hands, a sudden and overwhelming headache assaulted her as she began seeing visions into a not so distant future. Two individuals stood before Fenrich, his body shaked, tears fell pounding onto the concrete floor like thunder, a mature lady and a middle-aged man stood atop two pillars that were erected 80 meters into the air. The lady sat on a throne of skulls and bones, and the middle-aged man looked down to view Fenrich. A small smile of sadness flashed on the mans face, then the vision was like when you fast forward a recorded or paused TV show, the scenes that played out was the man ripping out two hearts from Fenrich¡¯s chest, the lady then ¡°pulled¡± out Fenrich¡¯s Soul in which the man inserted into a lifeless wooden puppet. Tears ran down both figures'' faces as they solemnly spoke. ¡°Sorry it had to end this way, baby brother.¡± ¡°May you rest at ease, my son. Allow these old bones to carry the Sin that you¡¯ve taken upon your shoulders. Rest, recuperate, and live in another lifetime away from the pain you have suffered twice.¡± Laura¡¯s vision snapped open as she shouted at Fenrich, ¡°FENRICH, DON¡¯T OPEN THE DOORS!¡± But it was already too late, Fenrich pushed both doors open as if his Soul had been guided to do so without being able to regain control. The two doors creaked open loudly, showing an interior like throne room solely lit by rows of candles with multi-coloured flames leading up to the pillars, followed by steps with a fiery red carpet and golden trim outline. Due to their Oathbound connection, Laura felt the incredulous despair, agony, remorse, hatred and helplessness that Fenrich¡¯s Soul radiated. Fenrich visibly shook as if a dead leaf was still clinging onto the branches of its mother embrace. Laura could feel the increased rhythm of Fenrich¡¯s hearts beating in rapid succession. ¡°Father¡­ sister¡­ Why?¡± Fenrich muttered as his voice was poisoned with weakness, despair and unwillingness to believe the scene he was viewing. A golden wave of aura rippled out from the throne room, expanding and extending as it rippled across the entirety of Earth itself. Every human being had a prompt appear before their vision. [World-Wide Karmic Event Ripple Alert: The current timeline is now at a sensitive point in time in which three key figures have reunited. One of those key figures is a Time Regressor that has traveled through the pools of Time from 100 years into the Future, causing the most extreme Time phenomenon that even True Gods could not achieve with the Dao. One of these key figures had seen the destruction of Humanity, and survived for fifty years as the only living Human being across the entire Omniverse. Whereas the other two are family members now sucked into the vortex of Karma and Fate that connects the ¡°waters¡± of the womb. Humanity is now reaching upon a climatic event, will the Mortal Immortal Slayer fall to the blade that is "blood." Or will he cut through the "blood" to lead humanity onto a path far, far away from annihilation?] Blood Is Thinner Than Water The middle-aged man flashed forward with insane speed, the force of air created by his physical exertion blew Laura, Jackson and the unconscious Isabella backwards. Fenrich grappled with the middle-aged man as they bashed heads like two headstrong bulls. ¡°You''ve gotten strong, my son. I''m proud of you. However, there is a haze of incredulity and past trauma dampening your Sword. If we fight for real at this moment, you will let down the people who are relying on you.¡± Fenrich''s father broke away, one-inch punching Fenrich''s abdomen that sent him skidding backwards. Where Fenrich¡¯s shirt covered before was now torn and the flesh was reddened looking like third degree burns. ¡°Tch¡± ¡°An easy to be blocked move by you if your heart wasn''t distraught, son. I do not wish to kill you while you''re defenseless.¡± Fenrich¡¯s father crossed his arms over his chest casting a disappointed gaze towards his son. ¡°Why are you both here now?! Last time you were both overseas until the teleportation channels created by sects before they became the means of transportation.¡± Fenrich yelled through gritted teeth. ¡°For whatever reason I was sent back, and my entire goal is to right the wrongs that happened to you, and sister! So I ask again. Why the fuck are you standing here before me now!?¡± Fenrich manipulated his Dao of Sharpness around his thumb, index and middle finger as he caught the cicada wing thin Longsword his father brandished within his three fingers. ¡°WHY!?¡± Fenrich bellowed as he bashed skulls with his father. ¡°Because you are too goddamn weak!¡± His father bellowed back as Fenrich was launched backwards by a boot he took to the abdomen, flying through the triply reinforced concrete walls within the Mini Game Dungeon. Fenrich stopped as his father manipulated the Dao of Metal, reinforcing the last wall outside of the throne room to a ridiculous extent. Fenrich¡¯s body was completely embedded within, multiple bones in his body instantly shattering into fragments, and his spine almost obliterated under the pressure. Clayton Mordeaux (Elite) Level: 85 Class: Swordsman (Uncommon) ¡°The quality of your gifts make you stronger than most, my son. But the weakness and the unwillingness will only make us have to kill the allies you have if it means bringing out all your potential!¡± Clayton spoke with venom as an unnaturally thick killing intent seeped out of his body, directly condensing into a blood red scythe that aimed for Laura and company. ¡°LEAVE THEM OUT OF THIS!¡± Fenrich bellowed as he pulled himself out from his cushy grave, launching off the wall as he cleaved downwards one-handed with his Firmament Defiance Greatsword. His stats ballooning as the high percentages, and passive effect activated. ¡°CLANG!¡± Fenrich and Clayton''s weapons clashed, Fenrich twisted his wrist as he absorbed the momentum and applied the concepts of Black White Fist to his Greatsword. Black White Fist took the concepts of rock-paper-scissors to the extreme, using Yin to absorb Yin, and Yang to overcome Yang. ¡°Splendid! Show me more of what you got sleeping within, my son!¡± Fenrich swung his left hand out using his Mana to blast Laura and the others backwards, as well as forming a gentle Yin Mana barrier to absorb the impact and keep his people from receiving injury. At the same time as this, Fenrich activated the Combat Technique - Formless Slash that incorporated Black White Fist and Yin Yang Blasts concepts within. Clearly, his father also had a high mastery as they both went toe to toe. Due to his father''s Class Evolution and higher level meaning he had more overall attribute points, Fenrich and Clayton were completely at even standard despite a 76 level difference but it was not just his father he had to fight either. ¡°That''s more like it, baby brother. Show some more of that unbridled potential and madness deep within you!¡± Lara Mordeaux (King) Level: 110 Class: Blacksmith Blade Apostle (Legendary) Fenrich slashed his greatsword upwards, deflecting Clayton''s killing intent condensed scythe, rotated his core and pivoted off his left foot as he transferred momentum and pierced upwards meeting blade tips with his sister. Fenrich was completely overpowered as he was launched off the ground, Lara manipulated her Mana as she made solid platforms for Clayton to use as his launch pads. Fenrich noticed from the peripheral of his eyes that Lara was now beginning to hound Lara and the others. He kicked the pommel of his greatsword while activating Metamorphosis, greatly increasing his stats once more. The Firmament Defiance Greatsword shot out like a homing missile, Lara got into a defensive posture as she wielded her katana sideways to absorb and reflect the momentum behind Fenrich¡¯s weapon. This time, however, she had to actively skip backwards to null the momentum, clearing distance between herself and his group. At this time Clayton arrived before Fenrich, and executed a Gold Combat Technique - Omni Sword Waves. Fenrich snaked his body around the turbulent waves relying on combusting the Mana within his body to adjust his position mid air. Fenrich''s right hand clasped onto Clayton''s ankle as support, and somersaulted upwards as he smashed his heel down overtop his father''s head, barreling the man downwards as he created a massive crater from the impact. Fenrich then blasted himself downwards, using his knees as springs and shot forward, activating Abyssal Sword Forge and Abyssal Swords level 1 on top of condensing Mana Swords that he sent towards Lara, cutting her off from Laura and the others. ¡°Look at how hard you''re trying, baby brother! These weaklings do not deserve your protection, why risk yourself for these useless pieces of shit!¡± Lara yelled back as Fenrich launched himself off from a Mana Sword, called forth his Firmament Defiance Greatsword and activated the Epic skill embedded within. ¡°Tenebrous Abyssal Genesis!¡± A blindingly fast streak of black-red lightning cut into Lara''s body and severed her right arm. ¡°Leave my people out of this or the next time it will not just be a missing limb. I have shown my mercy once, there will be no more afterwards!¡± This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Fenrich appeared before Lara with his left hand stretched out to the ground for support, and his right foot extended as he kicked her in the jaw blasting her upwards. Fenrich launched himself up behind Lara parallel to her body, grabbed her two feet and became a spinning wheel in the air. After reaching the maximum momentum, Fenrich threw Lara face first towards the ground at more than fifteen kilometers a second. Lara became entrenched within the reinforced ground, causing a massive fissure in which her body tore open. ¡°ALL OF YOU GET OUT OF HERE NOW!¡± Fenrich took a single second to snap towards his group''s direction and ordered, but all he saw was the group''s incredulous looks. ¡°DUCK!¡± Laura and the others yelled with manic fear within their voices, a katana pierced through Fenrich''s left shoulder uninterrupted and cleaved through to the right side of his waist, splitting his body into two halves that fell to the ground. His face revealed disbelief and incredulousness as Lara''s right foot stomped down onto his head, embedding it into the ground, causing his skull to emit a sharp pop that rang within his ears and head like a gong being hit. ¡°I''ve¡­ been cut down by my own¡­ family?¡± Fenrich thought to himself, a certain ¡°frost¡± began slowly creeping along the not so distant horizons once more. He would slowly bleed out, first it would be his sense of touch, followed by smell, taste, feeling, sight and lastly his hearing. Once all sound came to a stop, the final death toll would claim his life, again. ----------- It happened all within a single second, Laura and Jackson watched on with shock and stupefaction as they watched the family cut one another down. But that was yet to be the biggest shock of all. Alarune, the Vampiress they had all met not long ago appeared before them. ¡°I don''t have time to fully explain what is going on, we''re going to fake your deaths with Illusions, Blood Magic and Soul Dao. Make your final words sincere to Fenrich. We need to break him before he can fully begin his climb to achieve the peak powers. Time is running out, put on your A game and act like your lives depend on it. Because in the future this moment will be the difference between Humanity once more being vanquished or flourishing.¡± ---------------- Lara picked up the half that had Fenrich¡¯s head, and pointed it in the direction of where there father was methodically cutting down his groups lives. What was even worse timing, Lukas, Ryan, Garen, Alex and the others reconvened at the worst possible time. They stood in shock as they watched an unknown woman hold one piece of Fenrich, while another man was slowly butchering their now family members. ¡°YOU BASTARDS!¡± The Berserk Flame Dao burst out from Lukas¡¯ body, madness seeping into his eyes as all Order and control was gone and Chaos began piloting the body Tears began rolling down from Fenrich¡¯s eyes, his voice desperately reaching out, ¡°Don-¡± Lara slammed Fenrich''s head into the concrete multiple times, breaking his nose and shattering multiple teeth. After deciding her kid brother had enough, and at the most opportune time, she raised Fenrich''s head to see Lukas be cut down in a spray of blood. ¡°LUKAS!!!!!!!¡± Ryan entered his Abyssal Raven Form despite how exhausted he was spiritually, causing moderate amounts of damage to force his Soul into overdrive to use Azh''Kirantu''s bestowed power once more. ¡°STOOOOOOOOOOP IT!¡± Fenrich bellowed as the frost began encasing his body, his sense of touch fleeting like fallen petals on the stormy winds. ¡°It''s a shame, baby brother. You failed to pass the test. If you''d let your weakest group member die, we would have spared the rest and you from powerlessly watching as you miserably failed their trust. We have our own Fate that we must comply with, and sadly, you failed to pick the ¡®good ending.¡± Lara said as Clayton stabbed his sword through Ryan''s stomach and tore it out vertically in a shower of chunky gore. Alex stood in place not knowing what to do, he made a promise to Lara and now they were now killing them all, and making Fenrich watch as it all happened? The very world and fate he promised Lara not to happen, was now happening. Alex dropped to his knees, tears bursting out as he gouged out his own eyes, banging his head towards Fenrich¡¯s direction. ¡°Fenrich, I''m so sorry to have failed you. I''m sorry for my own powerlessness! I promised your older sister this scenario would never happen. Please find forgiveness for me in the future.¡± ¡°Bump!¡± Fenrich''s two hearts beat loudly and at a rapid pace. ¡°D''aaaaaaw isn''t this the cutest bromance that I have ever witnessed, what do you say, baby brother? Is Alex next?¡± Kahahahahahaha Lara laughed maniacally as she appeared before Alex. ¡°WATCH AT HOW POWERLESS AND USELESS YOU ARE BABY BROTHER! Lara ripped off Alex''s left arm, then stomped on his right knee shattering it into hundreds of fragments. She then proceeded to scrape up Alex''s blood in one hand, and run her thumb down Fenrich¡¯s left cheek, staining it with Alex''s blood. ¡°Listen to his heart beat become slower, and slower. Before you know it, Alex will be dead by the time father slays the rest of those you wished to protect so badly.¡± Lara mocked as she began manically laughing once more. ¡°Thump!¡± Jackson, Garen, Julia and Sasha were effortlessly and swiftly put down by Clayton, all the while Lara held Fenrich¡¯s eyelids peeled back forcing him to watch every death, all while going on about how worthless, weak and pathetic her baby brother was for betraying the weight of their lives. Laura put up a feeble fight against Clayton, due to Fenrich still having his stats boosted by Metamorphosis and the Firmament Defiance Greatsword, Laura was just barely able to cope. No matter how skilled or talented Laura was, she failed to cope against somebody who survived forty years in the apocalypse, and who had absolute control of his body down to the cellular level. Laura was cut down, tears streaming from her face as she weakly and powerlessly crawled her way over to Fenrich. Lara dropped Fenrich as she seemed to be merciful as if to give Laura and Fenrich the chance to say their final goodbyes. Laura reached both her hands out as she weakly clasped Fenrich¡¯s single hand within her own. Fenrich weakly lifted his head to stare into the sorrow clad eyes as he watched the light within Laura''s eyes dim. ¡°Please.. forgive me for failing to be your Blade. Forgive me for allowing this to happen, Fenrich. I-¡± Fenrich¡¯s eyes twitched as splatters of blood painted his face, he could feel the weakening of Laura''s grasp that held onto his hand. When he looked again, he saw a small peaceful smile on Laura''s face, and that single sparkle of life within her eyes completely vanished. ¡°BABUMP!¡± ¡°THUMP!¡± ¡°BUMP!¡± ¡°BABUMP!¡± Fenrich¡¯s dual hearts bumped vigorously, powerfully, and with the force of air wrecking ball slamming into the side of an apartment complex. ¡°Hate¡­¡­ I¡­.. HATE YOU!¡± Fenrich¡¯s head snapped up as a second pair of eyes began appearing attached to his original pair of eyes. A holy yet devilish white-purple like aura began billowing out from Fenrich¡¯s body. ¡°Oh, you can''t say that yet can you, baby brother? The last persons you love and care for have yet to be slain before your own eyes.¡± Lara said as she looked towards Clayton. ¡°Hey, dad, why don''t we bring out the sister-in-law we have never got the chance to meet before until just recently?¡± Fenrich¡¯s remaining hand, attached by a single strand of flesh, slammed down onto Lara''s foot closest to him, breaking it. ¡°It''s a shame that I do not feel pain, and have an insane regeneration factor like Wolverine does. Look, you can already see my foot forming back together again. Nice try, twerp.¡± Clayton guided an armless version of Alarune, and in the middle of her stomach was a gaping hole in which Fenrich¡¯s eyes could see through to the doors of the throne room and beyond. ¡°Hub¡­by¡­ I''m so sorry¡­ I couldn''t¡­ protect our child¡­¡± ¡°THABUMP! ¡°THABUMP!¡± ¡°THABUMP!¡± ¡°THABUMP!¡± The single word ¡°child¡± resounded like thunder booming in Fenrich¡¯s ears. ¡°I¡­. I¡­.. I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY OF THIS!¡± The white-purple holy demonic aura burst out of Fenrich''s body forming a thirty feet thick beam, the aura was slowly merging together with the crimson-black Emperor like aura that Fenrich had been unknowingly emitting. ¡°You''ve¡­. taken¡­. away the people I promised to protect. You''ve taken my future wife away¡­. You''ve gouged out your niece from my wife''s stomach. UNFORGIVABLE!¡± Fenrich¡¯s blood formed meter long thick tentacles as it pulled the second half of his body back to him. Slowly being put back together as the damage to his body was rapidly repaired by the Abyssal Symbiote and the Holy River Demonic Art. The small flame burning within his Dantian was rapidly growing, stopping at 7 inches, and within the depths of his Dantian, the ancient Holy River Demonic Art Scripture was lit up in white-purple flames. ¡°THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!¡± Fenrich¡¯s voice sounded like that of a human possessed by an Eldritch horror, the fury, the sorrow, the despair burning into the core of his being and Soul. ¡°YOU wanted to see the emotionless killing machine, didn''t you? ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU!¡± Fenrich disappeared from where he was before, white-purple black wing sword appendages grew out from Fenrich¡¯s spine. Fenrich¡¯s claws dug into Lara''s face as he clenched her head tight within imagining his hand were like hundreds of elastic bands on a watermelon. ¡°BOOM!¡± ¡°RUMBLE!¡± The throne room shook from the impact as Fenrich buried Lara''s head through triply reinforced concrete walls, pulled her out and began to slam her ragdoll-like body into the ground. A single black-red horn grew out from Fenrich¡¯s left side of his forehead, and at the tip a mixture of black-red, white-purple aura began forming into a orb of condensed chaotic energies. ¡°FATHER NOW!¡± Lara screamed as she felt the imminent threat of extinction about to wipe her out completely. Clayton flashed forward as he slashed off the horn, to which he took control of the orb of chaotic energies and blasted it through the open throne room doors. The beam expanded rapidly becoming a forty meter wide beam that actually managed to tear through the Void layer to which they would have appeared on this level from. ¡°Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck and fucking fuck!¡± Clayton muttered in his head in panic and dread. That beam would soon let those Eldritch fucks breakthrough the Void space and enter their dimension through the Mini Game Dungeon. This whole setup here was of course by Fate and their Karmic connections, but they had leeway to play the bad guys and force Fenrich to change his mentality by breaking his son of his foolish ideals. That was the kind of mental weakness that got one killed, and his son should have known better by now as this was his second time going through this hell. Or he should have known his son better¡­ Instead of letting his son fix the demons of his past, they now added more because Fenrich had the Holy River Demonic Art, and the path of an Emperor forged into his bones. This was the step to break his son down, and let his allies rebuild him while awakening the path of the Emperor sleeping within his bones. But now, it was highly likely that they just royaly fucked up, not bring privy to said information and thus being incapable of planning for the fact that Fenrich mutated beyond a Human. Clayton flashed to pick up his daughter and then appeared before Fenrich, he emitted a small orb of Essence Blood into Fenrich¡¯s parched and exhausted body and began to pull an orb out from his inventory space. Clayton stopped as he felt two hands with an iron vice grip clutch onto his ankles. ¡°There will be a day where I come to claim your lives. As of today, you are no longer family to me!¡± Fenrich¡¯s eyes stared daggers into Clayton''s Soul as if imprinting his father''s features into his own Soul for eternity. ¡°Come get your vengeance in the Blood Winds Multiverse, son.¡± Clayton said with fake steely intention and hatred in his voice. ¡°Be strong at that point, don''t show up before me in this form of disappointment I see now.¡± Clayton crushed the orb, blinding light wrapped him and Lara up and they both disappeared. [Mini Game Dungeon Alert: The Human King group is the sole remaining survivor out of 99 other groups. Congratulations! As the sole remaining group you have successfully cleared the Mini Game Dungeon, and have been awarded with the A.I Smart Base. The A.I Smart Base will now return the Mini Game Dungeon back into the proper form of the Rideau Carleton Casino.] Fenrich passed out after hearing the notification, while the illusion that showed the ¡°bloody scenes¡± of his group''s members being slain by Fenrich¡¯s family disappeared. Laura stood up as she carried Fenrich and grouped up with the others. ¡°A lot has happened, much of which I cannot truly make heads or tails of. Fenrich¡¯s family wanted us to be part of their act but had no true evil intentions towards him? It''s beyond our pay grade, we''ve been given proper bandages and the like. We might as well play this out to the end, for all we know if Fenrich saw us all healthy and fine it may do the opposite to which they wished to have achieved here.¡± Eden Fenrich arose sometime after, his body felt better than it ever had before. Deep inside where his Dantian was, a flame was radiating endless warmth that purified, enhanced and brought his body closer to his first Life Rating evolution. Firmament Defiance Greatsword pushed his tier up an entire rating, but it was not the true Life Rating evolution, but this flame did just that and it was at a rather fast pace also. Especially since he himself was still at a Life Rating that the Omniverse Alpha System wouldn''t even bother giving a grade to such trash. His memories came back of the most recent events, snapping himself awake he began yelling out, "Laura, Garen, Lukas, Sasha, Ryan, Jackson, Julia, Alex are you all okay!?" Fenrich got to his feet and began running laps through the now condensed and back to normal Rideau Carleton Casino. No luck, everywhere he looked, not even a body or blood stains could be found. "Goddammit!" Fenrich yelled as he punched his fist through the closest wall, he ran both hands up his forehead and through his long snowy-white hair as he took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "Think you dumb fucker! Isabella was unconscious, but if she came to she would have done what healing she could manage. There''s no medical bays in the casino from Ren''s returnal message I got before we entered this fucking place. Lounge room! They have to have medical supplies and medical wrappings for emergency situations for the staff or patrons visiting." Fenrich went through his memory and the detailed step by step recounting of the interior and the various floors that Ren gave him. "Second floor!" Fenrich used his Mana and propelled himself upwards, effortlessly air walking at an extreme speed as he pushed his body to the physical limits he could currently endure. Within less than a minute, Fenrich found the lounge room he was looking for. Fenrich rushed in kicking the doors off the hinges as he blitzed through and took in his surroundings with his Mana perception, on the various couches and recliners his people were bandaged up with bandages stained crimson and medicinal scents wafted through the lounge room. Their breathing was calm showing they were in peace and all thankfully still in the land of the living. Fenrich balled both of his fists up as he examined each and everyone one of his people, they all had varying injuries from one extreme to the next, but they were all alive, breathing and their chests were rising and falling every so often. Fenrich''s eyes began watering as he looked at the sight of eight¡­ people. Not seeing Isabella at all or sensing her presence within his Mana perceptions focus. "Boss, you''re finally awake!" A meek but excited voice called out softly from behind Fenrich, hearing that voice alone was as if he were some religious fanatic hearing the voice of their God for the first time. Fenrich snapped around, taking in the sight of Isabella perfectly healthy, not a single hair on her body was touched. His father and sister did indeed have some heart left¡­ Not bothering with finishing off an unconscious and defenseless individual. Fenrich walked towards Isabella in big steps, this startled the meek girl but she stopped as she could feel the turbulent wave of emotions rippling within him. Leaning downwards he wrapped one arm around her head, and the other around her waist as he pulled her into his chest, and rested his head on his shoulders. "You must''ve paid a humongous price to take care of the others, thank you from the bottom of my hearts for not letting anybody die." Fenrich practically sobbed out the last part as his voice wavered and cracked, "Thank you, I owe you my life Isabella. When I couldn''t protect anybody, you made sure they all received treatment. Whatever you need of me, I will go to the ends of the Earth, Multiverse, Omniverse, Heaven and the nine Hells to repay you. Thank you." Fenrich squeezed Isabella tighter and began weeping on her shoulder, showing a vulnerable side of himself that even Alarune had never seen in his past life. Isabella''s eyes widened as she heard the man weep, and due to her awakened Holy Priestess Divine Body, Isabella could "see" the emotions of various colours deep within Fenrich''s being. Where before there were motes of pure light, now everything was darkened and ugly looking to her Holy Priestess Divine Body. The prideful, arrogant and overbearing man before her was no different than a child crying into her as he hugged her ever tighter, conveying how thankful he was despite the ugly blackness of his current emotions. Today, a major part within Fenrich that made this man sincere and appreciative of life, was broken and stolen from him. Who could say this was the right thing to have happened? Nobody could, but from the way this man cried and wept like a child, Isabella wished she could put the broken pieces back together. But deep down, Isabella knew that once this version of Fenrich got past his emotions, this man would truly never be the same again. Isabella patted Fenrich''s shoulders as she replied cheerfully, "You''re thanking me far too much boss, I''m just glad we didn''t lose you. It would have hurt far more to lose you, someone who gives a shit and cares for others." They shared a long hug in silence, all of which the others could see and hear their conversation, but did not dare to interrupt. Their leader had gone through a lot and was practically killed by his own family, while they "took" away his wife and unborn child. They now knew after Alarune explained it all afterwards, it was incredibly cruel but was forced actions his family did while under control. "Alright, catch me up to speed if you wouldn''t mind, Isabella." Fenrich said as he wiped his eyes, clearing away the side that all men feared to show. Due to fear of being judged, criticized, or let down by the ones he believed to be trusted with his vulnerable side. "Yes, boss. After the Mini Game Dungeon ended, the Rideau Carleton Casino had an additional forty levels added to it, seven of which are underground. There are the lowest Bronze class of Smithy shops, Alchemy labs. There is a Talent Room that has a Skill Room, Dao Room and Class Room on the third underground level. The lowest level has a training room with virtual weapon masters, Skill masters, Dao masters and so forth. On the roof there are enclosed gardens for alchemical ingredients, fruits, vegetables and the sort. That is all I can gain access to, the A.I of this Smart Base asked for somebody to claim ownership before it gave access to everything else." The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Fenrich nodded as he opened his eyes with a child-like fascination, the entire Casino had become like a supermall with a fantasy theme. It was just missing the indoor built roller coasters, aquariums, shopping outlets. "Why didn''t you claim ownership, Isabella?" Fenrich genuinely asked, not out of suspicion but because of curiosity. "Well, boss. The thing is, even if I were to try, which I promise that I didn''t, nobody else would accept and or allow it to happen. You see, boss. This whole entire experience made all of us form a bond like a family despite being strangers. You''re the head of this family, and nobody would allow any other to overstep you." Isabella said, with her head down towards the ground making her already soft voice damn near impossible to hear. "Alright, has a core to take ownership appeared anywhere, then?" Fenrich questioned calmly, no longer letting his doubts muddy his thinking of what needs to be done. "Oh, yes! It did appear." Isabella beamed, in the middle of the front foyer, there is a blue coloured cube floating. But, how did you miss it boss? It''s right out in the open, and based on my answers the A.I would have already known you as its master to be." Fenrich scratched the side of his head as he answered honestly, "Well, let''s just say sometimes there are other things or individuals who are more important than to claim the benefits and start enjoying them without the gathered warmth of a family or friends." The last part was spoken more seriously, but nonetheless it put a smile on Isabella''s face to finally hear the confirmation from Fenrich''s mouth, even if it was a roundabout way of saying it. "Hehe, you''re really lovable. I hope you can learn how to balance out both sides. There are times to be serious, and there are times for some light hearted enjoyment. Let''s go, boss. Let me take you to the cube!" Isabella marched on in her own bubbly self. Fenrich could swear he''d seen the twinkles of stars and little happy smiley faced suns radiating from Isabella. It was a reminder of what he wished to keep safe. Fenrich followed the beaming Isabella back to the front foyer, there was indeed a floating blue cube and around it was a flower bed that had roses, lily''s, hydrangea, orchid, tulips, lilacs and peonies all in different colours. Fenrich watched as the flowers waved and danced as Isabella walked by, and then when he followed up they looked "frightened" as they "blew" away from him. "Over here, boss! Quick quick! I want to see what will happen, I want to explore more!" Isabella waited impatiently, pointing at the cube as she made it clear she was tapping her feet impatiently. "Alright, alright. Let us see what this A.I Smart Base will have to offer." Fenrich smiled as he walked by ruffling Isabella''s hair which brought out a pout and mutterings of, "do you have any idea how long a girl takes to work on her hair?" Fenrich could feel the "pull" now that his mind was clear and his emotional state had been brought back together. "You''d better be worth it for what everyone has gone through." Fenrich muttered as he placed his palm upon the floating cube. [Ding! Would you like to take ownership of this A.I Smart Base, YES/NO] Fenrich clicked on the yes prompt, and varying prompts appeared in front of him. [Ding! You have become the first Human on Earth to have gained an A.I Smart Base.] [Ding! You have received the Title - Safe Haven. This Title is exclusive in the way that it only impacts the A.I Smart Base. All resources have their generated amounts tripled, their "bank" supplies doubled of those resources, all growth times of crops, alchemical ingredients, flowers, fruits, vegetables and more are increased by 4x. All of your subjects within the A.I Smart Base gain a level ten Serenity Passive Buff. Happy minds, busy bodies, productive workers, happy Ruler.] [Hi, Master. I am- I don''t have a name, could you please give me a name. And for human standards, would you like me to appear before you as a male or female?] Fenrich heard the metallic voice that had emotions and could tell the longing for him to give it a name. "Well, tell me more about yourself, what do you like, what are your hobbies, what are your wishes or your dreams? I need something to work with to give you a proper name, as not only will you be communicating with me, but also all the other subordinates that I will have in the future." Fenrich replied back mentally with their shared connection. [I want to see happy people, I want to provide resources and ways to teach knowledge, empower all your future subjects. Most of all I want to be the safe harbor that you will call home, and provide this home for the less fortunate. I have no hobbies, so I must observe you, my Master, and the subjects you have.] "Hmmmm, how about for now we call you Bestowment? The name means you will be conferring an honor (or status) as well as presenting a gift to other people. Is this satisfactory for you?" [Yes master! I like the name Bestowment. But I haven''t seen a lot of Human males with this kind of name. The only ones I heard about are old men who give candy out to young children with malicious intentions. I do not wish to be seen as those old men! I''d much rather be a caring mother-like figure for those who enter this safe harbor.] Fenrich choked on saliva as he gasped at the wide and varied knowledge the A.I already had, albeit not "proper" knowledge. "You''re right that Bestowment would sound better on a female Human, but how do you know that is what I truly want? What if I wanted you to be a male, like a protector with a feminine sounding name?" [That''s not good, Master. Names for sentient and intellectual living beings, lifeforms, plants, are very important to us. Because names give us a purpose, it gives our lives meaning, and a Name can grant us power, and the ability to cultivate the Dao like you Humans or other lifeforms do. Please do not joke around with such a sensitive topic. I will respect what you want, but I also would like to give my own opinion, as at the end of the day. It is the Master''s choice, and I will obey your order.] "I understand, sorry for my insensitiveness. However, it may be true that I may be your Master. But you need to understand something, from this day forward you have come under my umbrella of protection. You even as an artificial intelligence, whatever you choose to appear as, you have my full support. I do not want an emotionless assistant, but instead somebody who can listen, give their input and opinions on important matters. Can you do that for me?" [Yes, Master. Thank you for not being one of those cruel Masters I have heard so much about from my siblings. I want to be a female Human, and have a name that means more than just giving gifts, or honorary titles. I want to have true meaning beyond just helping others, so one day I can further evolve to care for and support what matters most to me like it does for you, Master.] "How about I name you Eden. Originally it is a religious based name, but it is also described as a place of pleasure or as a paradise. Humans have certain hormones named serotonin, dopamine, endorphins and oxytocin. They produce the "feel good, and pleasure" emotions that Humans feel, as well as culling depression or anxiety. Eden was also very much so a safe harbor for its originally intended inhabitants, however, I do not wish for you to have a tree that is "poisonous" that punishes others for being tempted to eat from its fruits." [That sounds wonderful. I like the name Eden, but how stupid can you be to use something good to punish others?] "You''re speaking to the wrong crowd, let''s not let your name carry its previous religious meaning, as you study us Humans, you can make the name your own and integrate what you''d like to be sonorous with meaning. You are your own individual, and you are not bound by the "weight" that certain names have. You create your own meaning and understanding." [Understood, Master. I am now named Eden.] [Ding! Eden has attained the Peak Dao Seed of Fertility] [Ding! Eden has attained the Peak Dao Seed of Serenity] [Ding! Eden has attained the Peak Dao Seed of Harvest] [Ding! Eden has attained the Peak Dao Seed of Edens Hearth] After the notifications rang within Fenrich''s mind, Fenrich felt an uncontrollable state of peace, calmness, serenity and full of "life" which greatly invigorated his current state. "Eden, thank you. You may not understand yet, but here is the only place I will be able to remain the Fenrich that my people remembered first meeting me as. In the outside world, I will be incredibly cruel, because without being so I cannot protect what I love and care for." [Master, I may not be able to truly understand the Human emotions yet. But you are a very good Human, that I can sense and tell as I have read your emotions, body language, and the way how you rushed to see if your subjects you cared for were safe. I will never let you lose that.] Smart Base Exploration ¡°Eden, do me a favor and give everybody here full access to all of the current functions of this Smart Base, and if there are hidden permissions, I''d give that to everybody present as well.¡± [Yes, Master, I''m happy to] ¡°Eden, you previously said you could appear as a male or female depending on my choice. Why don''t you join us as we look through the Smart Base and its various functions?¡± [I do not have the basis to form a female body. I can use the female beside you as an example, but there will be many differences.] Fenrich shook his head as he thought about the possible complications and confusion that would cause. ¡°Very well, when you have studied enough to make that template for yourself. I would like you to involve yourself and share in these good times with me, or anybody else who you like.¡± Fenrich said as he turned to Isabella, ¡°Lead on the way, leader. You know this place better than I do.¡± Isabella beamed as she happily skipped forward going towards the elevator and pushed the button to call it. Before long the elevator dinged and the door opened, both Fenrich and Isabella entered the enclosed space within, while she punched the 39 button. They began descending, all the while Isabella just realized she was now alone in a cramped space with the man she idolized. [Master, her heart rate has rapidly quickened and she now is getting a rosy colour in her cheeks, ears and neck. Is this a sign she wishes to bear your children?] ¡°Ahem, Isabella, what did you do before the apocalypse arrived? Did you have any studies, or a career that you were pursuing?¡± Fenrich coughed lightly, avoiding the question he had just been asked by Eden, and turned that awkwardness over to Isabella asking her a question on the spot. ¡°I was an apprentice at a tattoo parlor, but I was also working as a manager at a Best Buy before.¡± Isabella quickly replied, jumping onto the question right away to distract herself from the thoughts that were beginning to stir. ¡°Ding!¡± The elevator door opened up and they walked out onto the 39th floor, the one right above the training ground. Fenrich¡¯s ears twitched as he heard the klinking of a hammer hitting steel at a controlled pace, it¡¯s force was neither too overbearing nor soft, showing the masterful attention. Ol¡¯Garand was busily working away on repairing the various artifacts and equipment that his group had gathered, ¡°Oi kid, it¡¯s good to see you are up and about again. When you locked Lanshire within the Companion space where she couldn¡¯t be of assistance to you, she used a forbidden spell to temporarily ¡®null¡¯ that and suffered a backlash for it. I don¡¯t understand and nor do I need to understand why you did it, but the point is you owe her a serious apology. Lanshire and you are now connected to a spiritual level, when she felt your agony, madness and pain overwhelm you, she nearly went mad and lost her Dao Heart.¡± Ol¡¯Garand shot Fenrich a not so friendly glare and reprimanded him, then completely ignored his existence as he began hammering on Lukas¡¯ weapon. ¡°On the other hand, it is always a pleasure to see you, lass. You have a greater calm and ease of mind now than you did earlier. If you ever need me to beat that foolish boy for getting too ¡®comfortable¡¯ with you, you tell me and I¡¯ll make sure he is buried six feet deep within a mere second.¡± Ol¡¯Garand smiled a grandfatherly like smile of appreciation to Isabella, but then turned into a scowl as he stared Fenrich down, as if he were a father watching his little girl being taken away by some random fuck boy.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Isabella took Fenrich around as they scoped out the Smithy floor; there were numerous anvils, forges, hammers, tools and more. There was more than forty workstations, and Fenrich noted for a Bronze Smithy, it had the equipment blueprints of a Iron tiered Smithy, and that the main fire within this Smithy was actually a Beast Flame naturally attuned to Fire and a barely weaker one attuned to Ice. [Master, you have many Smart Base notifications you have missed. All the current establishments have been enhanced an entire tier in quality than their actual tier is currently at. Thus the Beast Flames and Iron tiered blueprints for all kinds of armour and weapons. You also have a grand total of 24,000,000 Dungeon Points to be used to enhance the various functions, purchase Unique Rooms or to expand more floors both upwards and downwards. Would you like a summarization, and also to appoint somebody as the secondary receiver of these notifications. They will need your permission to make any choices in the future, this would allow you to be both hands on and hands off. As a newly awakened Emperor, you need to start gathering the subjects and subordinates that can run the daily affairs, while you have the ultimate power to confirm or deny said proposed decisions.] Fenrich creased his brows, he was more the kind of person you sent out to slay the strongest enemy that there was, not the managerial sit on a cushy throne and turtle up kind of individual. ¡°Please remind me of this fact later, I do not have the qualities or the expertise to manage all of this and hundreds or thousands of individuals or more.¡± They returned back into the elevator and went up to the next floor, the moment the door opened and Fenrich took a single step out, a ray of angry and heartbroken beam that was Lanshire appeared. Barreling Fenrich back into the elevator as She pounded her little fists against his chest. ¡°Stupid, you''re a big stupid! You selfish arrogant and pathetic man! How dare you do something so reckless when you''re now living your second life! You should know better at how much danger you put yourself in, and how many people you put at risk! I have hundreds of pixies relying on you and me! Ol¡¯Garand will eventually gather his Ashen Dwarves. There will be more people relying on you in the near future. Don''t you dare pull that shit again!¡± Lanshire went into a tirade and finished off weeping in Fenrich¡¯s chest. Fenrich cupped his hands and held Lanshires petite body within his two hands and brought her to his eye level. ¡°It was horrible! I have never felt such despair, such madness, hate and hopelessness. We''re tied to the Soul, whatever you feel will be reflected onto me. I don''t ever want you to suffer like that again. Do you know how useless I felt that I couldn''t help my Soul Bond?! Because you locked me away?!¡± Fenrich let Lanshire vent and cry out or yell out all of her pent up emotions towards him. ¡°I''m sorry. I know I was selfish and a big stupid, it will never happen again, Lanshire.¡± ¡°Damn right it won''t you big stupid Emperor!¡± Lanshire wiped her tears away while she chuckled lightly at hearing the ¡®meanest¡¯ insult she used to berate her Soul Bond with. ¡°There''s not a lot to see here, this floor up until the first underground floor are all alchemy labs. There''s only room for eight alchemists on each floor to work independently and without disrupting the others. We''ll need more floors, or an entire base of operation meant just for Alchemists.¡± Lanshire said as she then said aloud to the Smart Bases A.I, ¡°don''t let this idiot fail his duties, you have a lot of work ahead of you!¡± [Yay.] Fenrich heard Eden in his head, but he couldn''t tell if that was sarcasm or genuine excitement. Fenrich and Isabella spent the next few hours exploring all the levels of the Smart Base. From level one through four was a dining hall set-up, all of which had convection ovens, stove tops, pizza ovens, individual cooking stations with an island attached for counter space and more. All the kitchens had supply cabinets with non perishables fully stocked, and freezers with meats and animals fully skinned, deboned and preserved. It showed up in a prompt for Fenrich showing that they currently had 32,000 units of meat, 64,000 units of salt, 12,000 units of spices, 90,000 units of fresh fruits and vegetables, 350,000 units of grains, 1,500,000 units of water. Below that showed a production of 4,000 (20,000) grain units weekly, 18,000 (29,000) units of fruits and vegetables weekly, 1,500 (7,000) units of spices weekly, 35,000 (175,000) units of water weekly. From levels 5 through 12 were entire complex sized living spaces, each room was 25x25 having multiple arrays engraved to gather ambient Mana and Qi, they each had a king-size room with an attached balcony, on it was a matching patio set, barbecue and a preparation table top connected. Inside the rooms was a large kitchen area with fully operation stove top combined oven units, sink, hood fan. The bathroom was spacious having a walk-in stand-up shower, ten feet away was a hot tub with an assortment of bath bombs and scented salts. Since reality had gone to shit, it wasn''t so bad to have such luxury to wind down with. Everything beyond level 13 and up was empty, it was the choice of the owner of the Smart Base to decide how they would accommodate, or what facilities would be built on each floor. There was also the option to spatially expand each floor multiple times, at the cost of Survivor Coins after using up all the Dungeon Points. The very top floor itself was Fenrich¡¯s exclusive area of living, nobody had access to it unless he granted them the access. In which Eden would have the ability to refuse access if Fenrich was busy or in an important meeting. Fenrich''s living space was upscaled and more lavish than the already luxurious living space in the living space floors. [Master, I feel like now it is a good time to deal with the prisoners from the Mini Game Dungeon, there is a strange one there. Even before the current reality changed, they already knew about the Mini Game Dungeon, Smart Bases and about you. Specifically asking to be kept imprisoned until you took ownership of this Smart Base.] Eden spoke in Fenrich¡¯s head. ¡°Interesting. It seems like there are other key figures who''ve had their turn to be brought back also then? For the current prisoners my plan is not yet ready for them, as for this unknown prisoner and the way they handled their business¡­ This might be a proper family reunion.¡± Fenrich shared the details with Eden and his own thoughts based on the understanding he had of his uncle''s character. ¡°Eden if you would, I''d like to have my guess confirmed, or to have a surprise waiting for me.¡± [Yes, Master. Inside your room is a separate elevator that goes down directly to the imprisonment area. And while we''re on this topic about secret elevators. There is another in the front foyer that will take people down to the Talent Room. There they also have access to a Skill repository, Cultivation chambers, Dao chambers and more. We really need more people to handle all of this so that the advantages are not wasted.] Red Barons Ding! Fenrich and Isabella stepped out into the prison, there were blue will-o-wisps for lights above runic candles. Unlike what Fenrich expected, the prison was not at all smelly, damp or had tight enclosed spaces. Each cell had a bed, sink, toilet, windows and a round table with chairs, there was also a bookshelf with five rows of shelves filled to the brim with books. "Oi, is that my bratty nephew I hear walking? It took you long enough to finally arriv- ohhhhh hello, you''re cute and petite. Fen fen learned from the best eh''?" An entertained voice spoke as Fenrich and Isabella appeared before the cell. Isabella blushed and looked away, Fenrich sighed as he shook his head, "Uncle Bao it has been a long time since I saw you last, it was before you returned to service and went overseas as a military instructor teaching hand to hand and assassination." "He what?" Isabella squeaked, "Is your family full of monsters and killers? I''m sorry, that was incredibly rude, I shouldn''t say such things." Fenrich chuckled as he ruffled Isabella''s hair with enough force to ruin the time she put into fixing it back up. "Gaaaah damn you!" Fenrich sat down cross-legged before the cell and called out "Uncle Bao, we never did get a chance to share a drink when I became of age. Share some tales with me, tell me what it was like abroad, what was it like seeing the world before you found your way here?" "You just happened to know that I saved a seventy year old bottle of whiskey just for this occasion did you? Alright, it all began when I kicked the door open like swat, lighting those mother fuckers up-" An hour quickly came and went, just in time to see that a plate of food with rice, chicken, peas and carrots, butter tarts, and a cup of water and milk appeared before Uncle Bao. Being the glutton that he was, Bao ravenously tore into the food and drinks, all the while sipping and savoring the whiskey. "By the end of it, I had toured the Philippines, Thailand, Japan and China taking in all their sights, their women, and breaking down the best men they had to rebuild them back up. And well I had formed a small congregation of 1,000 highly trained and lethal assassins that went by the name of Red Barons." Uncle Bao finished as even with his enhanced constitution his cheeks were now rosy and he was beginning to slur his words. "There was Dao, Qi and Mana in certain parts of the world even before the fall, Fen. It''s not a lie when there were rumours of super soldiers unkillable by bullets, injured by grenades and claymores just to walk away like nothing happened. I recruited the cream of the crop that humanity has to offer, and provided the secrets I learned while in service of the military. Fenrich, what I am about to tell you is very important. We are descendants of a higher civilization of Humans from the Shalazhar Empire. They had made contact with us fifteen years ago to warn of the coming apocalypse. If we manage to survive the first year, they will provide safety for Earth, and interestingly enough they''re the ruling power of the Blood Winds Multiverse." Fenrich''s eyes hardened and his aura sharpened intensely, cutting a small strand of hair from Isabella who was unexpecting and beside him. "Pull it together kid, Lara and your father only did what they were tasked to do. The Shalazhar Empire has given their instructions, and given us resources that we wouldn''t be able to come across in even forty years. Those resources are manuals that allowed us to create those super soldiers with the incredibly weak and thin Mana, Dao and Qi that Earth had to offer. Now that we''re a D- difficulty for our apocalypse, those manuals are part of the lifeline. I''ve done my part by having those 1,000 appear here with me. If you don''t toughen up, you will not be able to keep your little lover safe or anybody else around you, again. Lara and Clayton did what they had to do to make sure you had a fire lit inside you. And clearly now you do, direct your hatred towards gaining power and hear what you need from their own mouths. At least you have me, Uncle Bao here, and I know how to run military bases, so let me do the managing work for you here in the Smart Base for now. My Red Barons will be under your direct order, and can train the people you gather. I also have 75,000,000 Survivor Coins I''m going to give to you. Beef this place up, yeah?" Fenrich calmed down enough to ask Uncle Bao, "Tell me truthfully, please. Is my father and oldest sister under any kind of mind control by a powerhouse?" Bao''s eyes sharpened as he answered, "Yes, they are. But here on Earth where they were before, that control was extremely limited. Otherwise, you would have truly been slaughtered. Fate is gathering in the Blood Winds Multiverse, all the answers you''re looking for are slowly congregating there. And I will support you all the way, you may not be blood, Fenrich. But I promised an oath to my younger brother, I''d always treat you as a son and keep you safe when he could not. Get strong for yourself, not for us, Fenrich. You''re the son that I never had but always wished for in my long and blood filled life. I failed you before, I will not do so another time, kid." Uncle Bao said, the edges of his eyes glistening as he took in Fenrich''s current features. "Before me, I see an ambitious and broken man. I wasn''t strong enough to keep my promise the last time, I have corrected my wrongs, secured resources, made allies, and created an Underworld network where I pull the strings away from the shadows. Let this ragged body be of service once more. I am no politician, but I know how to train men and women, I know how to enforce discipline, create structural stability, and make the best use of all logistics and resources. But I will need skilled people to do what I cannot." Bao snapped his fingers in both hands. When he did so, all the "empty" cells that were covered by an unknown array formation was revealed. Now, before Fenrich''s eyes, was a group radiating a thick but controlled killing intent that caused the entirety of the prison space to shake and waver. "Their Class is from a unique multi-use Class Tome. There is one general with Epic Class, ten squad captains with Rare Classes and 989 Uncommon classes. They are geniuses that have broken what the Class Tome offers." "My general, Yusuke has become a Legendary Class wielder, the squad captains are all Epic, and the rest of them are majorly at the peak of the Rare classifications with forty more achieving Epic. Their levels are locked to 25, and cannot progress within the first month. Otherwise they''d be far too strong for the current Integration Period. I, on the other hand, am a Mythic. I can''t partake within the first 6 months. The most I can do is defend, but I cannot go out of my way to attack anything." Fenrich''s jaw dropped as he stared at Uncle Bao in disbelief. "Mythic? Fucking Mythic???! Did lady luck spread her legs for you?" "Aie.. I wish that were the case lad. I found an artifact hidden in the military base, I absorbed about a third of its energy as that was all my body could handle. I got my Mythic Class due to that relic. It is useless to me, and we''re family anyways. You can take a hold of it and hand it around to those around you with the most potential. It is of the Mystic attunement and will not mesh together properly with your Abyssal attunement, sadly. I''d have liked to see what that would look like afterwards." "Now why don''t you get your dear old Uncle Bao out of this rather lavish shitpit. You have a lot left that you need to achieve or scrounge together before the Integration Period ends. Oh, also I found this old trinket somewhere. I have a gut feeling it could be important, you should keep it on you. Even if our life has changed, I don''t believe in that mysticism bullshit." Fenrich gave Eden the go ahead to open the cells for Uncle Bao and his Red Barons, they were now his people, and since Eden was the A.I of the Smart Base, anything and everything that is said or done within her premises she will know about no matter what. "See ya around, kid. I''ll familiarize myself with the Smart Base, don''t forget to bring more people back, yeah? I can''t do a lot of work with only ten individuals, well make that nine, you don''t have the time to be wasting, do you?" Fenrich turned to Isabella and passed over the artifact that Uncle Bao gave to him, "You only got a Rare class the last time around, and while you were far stronger than most Epic class wielders due to your High Priestess Divine Body, times have changed. Absorb as much of this as you possibly can, and then you can give the rest to whoever you think needs it the most." Fenrich said as he patted Isabella on the shoulders with both of his hands and looked her deeply in the eyes. "Thank you again for everything you have done, I hope you will continue to be you, Isabella. Caring for those around you. Do your best no matter what it takes, do not shy away or go quiet. Let your voice be heard, and if anyone dares to refute you. I will personally deal with it." Fenrich flashed a smile and patted her head once more, then began walking away as he called out to Eden mentally. "Eden, please give Uncle Bao, and all of my nine group members all the permissions they need to have full access to the Smart Base and everything that is currently offered now, and will be offered later in the future, please." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. [It has been done, Master. Is there anything else you''d like me to relay either personally or as a group?] "Nothing special, tell everybody to take today to relax, recuperate, eat some good food and explore. If they want to leave the Smart Base it will only be after they have eaten food and their health assessed by you whether they''re in fighting condition to leave." [It has been done, Master. You should also show that you follow by example. Hopefully I''m not too late to relaying this, there is also a hot spring outside in the back of the Smart Base. It has array formations to make it feel as if the weather is the equivalent of this region''s winter season. There is snow, minus thirty without the wind chill and such to make it the perfect replica of a hot spring. Please enjoy, Master. You need it more than the others believe it or not. They do not know that my Dao of Serenity is keeping your emotionless self in check, but I know better than anybody else that your current peaceful facade is only because of my doing. This is home, Master. And I will make it a reason for you to come back to be at ease.] "Thank you for all that you have done so far Eden, and what you will continue to do in the future." Fenrich went back up into the main lobby, since it already had a natural water spring, and cobblestone setup, it was time to place down the base relic he''d gotten from the Silver Lottery Table. [Ding! Would you like to plant the Silver Artifact - Tree Of Rejuvenation inside your A.I Smart Base. Take note that due to your A.I, Eden having Dao''s that will affect the Tree Of Rejuvenation, it will gain far more resources than last previously listed, and overtime Eden''s Dao''s will cause it to evolve, or gain other benefits not currently given. Do you accept? Yes/No?] Fenrich clicked on the Yes prompt, and what followed suit was a half azure-blue and emerald green seed that floated out from his Inventory space. It landed perfectly in the middle of the water spring, before long vines, branches, leaves and a tree itself began growing out until it reached 150 meters tall, and forty meters wide. [Ding! You have successfully planted the Silver Relic - Tree Of Rejuvenation] Fenrich looked up the current statuses and effects of the Tree Of Rejuvenation. Tree Of Rejuvenation - Silver Artifact (Enhanced High Tier Gold Artifact) Base Item: Successfully planted in the Rideau Carleton Casino Passive Effect 1: Creates 45,000 liters of clean drinking water per day. Maximum storage limit of 22,900,000 liters] Passive Effect 2: Creates 1,500 Health Potions per day. Maximum storage limit of 250,000 Passive Effect 3: Creates 1,500 Mana Potions per day. Maximum storage limit of 250,000 Passive Effect 4: Creates 1,500 Stamina Potions per day. Maximum storage limit of 250,000 Passive Effect 5: Creates 16 Peak Foundation Enhancing Droplets every 12 days. Passive Effect 6: Naturally enhances the Life Ratings of an unevolved individual to F tier in 15 days by being within the effects of the Tree Of Rejuvenation. Naturally enhances the Life Rating of an F tier individual into Peak F tier within 45 days by being within the effects of the Tree Of Rejuvenation. Naturally evolves the Life Rating of an Peak F tier evolved individual into Low E tier within 100 days by being within the effects of the Tree Of Rejuvenation. Passive Effect 7: Enhances the base foundations of all Humans by +13, and grants the base +12 maximum to a human''s base foundations as a Race. The other 13 attribute points will be gained over the period of 26 days. All Humans who have their first Class Evolution with a higher Life Rating and maxed out base foundations determined by their Race will gain far more attribute points based on the tier of their Class Evolution. Passive Effect 8: Every individual going under Class Evolution within the Smart Base will have all their Class options be upgraded from Common to Uncommon rank. There is a 33% chance of seeing Rare options available, and a 2% chance for Epic options.] [Passive Effect 9: Increases the likelihood of all individuals who gain Talents from the Talent Room in the Smart Base to achieve a higher ranking Talent that matches their natural and innate Talents.] Fenrich whistled as he looked over the changes to the Tree Of Rejuvenation. [See that, Master? I did that! Eden let out a happily excited squeal inside his head, he didn''t have to see it to picture the smug look that Eden would have had.] "You''ve outdone yourself Eden, this is absolutely incredible!" [I know! Keep the praises coming!] With that done, Fenrich went to one of the levels above to get some plates of steaming hot food, which Eden had failed to, or chosen not to share with him at the time to keep as a surprise factor. There were now intelligent robots working the kitchens and they had a variety of options for meal choices based on what resources they had available. Fenrich got himself a juicy medium rare steak with asparagus, baked potato and a piece of caramel apple pie for dessert. After inhaling his first proper meal in a long time, Fenrich laid back holding his stomach in content as if he were about to give birth. "Burp. Compliments to the chefs!" [Thank you, Master. But I am not a fan of the noxious fumes that come out of Humans. A simple thank you and clean plates will be enough going forward.] With everything out of the way, being well fed and having the chance to give himself some time to relax before kicking things off into high gear, Fenrich decided to go and take a soak in the hot spring that Eden mentioned earlier. Arriving in the area of the hot spring, Eden did not lie about the cold chill, Fenrich was pretty close to having a second and third pair of adam''s apples from the chill that assaulted his knackers through a thin white bathing towel. Fenrich immediately went into the deepest section of the hot spring, sat down laying his body back with his two arms spread out on the cooler tile outside of the hot and steaming waters. Fenrich looked up towards the starry night sky, the change hadn''t happened for long, but Fenrich could already sense the deep and world ending changes that were happening to Earth at this very moment. An unknown amount of time passed, Fenrich stared off into the starry night sky, it wasn''t until he felt the disturbance of another body straddling his waist and pulling his head into two soft elastic and bouncy pillows that he was shocked awake by his senses failing to warn him of the newcomer. Fenrich quickly vanished, but due to his state of deep relaxation and his guard down, his body in its most natural state reacted to the intimate touch of the ladies. Plural, there was more than one woman before him, with his enhanced sense of smell, an intoxicatingly sweet fragrance assaulted his nostrils, and his hardened cock flexed upwards like a soldier marching on the battlefield. Isabella, Laura, Sasha and Julia were before them, their eyes were foggy and their bodies were flushed but not from the heat of the hot spring. Fenrich could now see the pink mist that was without a doubt a highly potent aphrodisiac. [A Emperor must have lots of children so that the Bloodline will be continued on. I have taken the express purpose of helping you gather the women around you to be your servants of pleasure to bear your children.] Eden''s voice echoed within head, and the smell of the sweet fragrance increased exponentially more than it was just seconds before, causing his already forged Will to crumble under an overpowering strong aphrodisiac. Fenrich sent a message back to Eden not at all pleased despite having four naked woman before him that were itching to fuck like wild animals. "There will never be a repeat of this again, do I make myself clear Eden!? My heart only has a spot for one woman in it. After this is done and over with, I want all of their memories wiped clean!" Fenrich growled back in reply with full hostility not holding it back so Eden would understand that she had truly angered him. [Oh, I am sorry, Master. I only did this to help support the Empire you will inevitably build in the future.] "You guessed wrong, I understand that you are an A.I and have intelligence, from now on you are not allowed to act on your own actions without understanding the Human heart first-" Fenrich stopped as he felt the sensation of a moist tongue and soft lips wrap around the tip of his cock, looking down he saw Isabella with his cock in her mouth while she was pleasuring herself rubbing her fingers up and down against her vagina. Laura was behind Fenrich, pulled him down to lay his body down on the cool tiles outside of the hot spring, and squatted down to sit on his face. She was rubbing and playing with her breasts, while Sasha and Julia did not let his hands remain idle. The evening carried on as moans of pleasure and ecstasy sounded out, Fenrich was sucked and drained dry by the four women with an uncontrollable desire for lust and pleasure. Primordial Spirits It was dusk out, the sun was just starting to rise on the horizon, Fenrich had an early breakfast and was now fully geared for a day of zombie grinding. Throughout the Mini Game Dungeon, Fenrich had hit level 10, while the rest of his group were hitting the level cap before the first Class Evolution. Given that after the Integration Period ended, there would be a Class Ascension Ladder event starting right after the Integration Period ends. Fenrich informed his group to hit level 25, with the focus on Skill progression, Weapon Mastery Skill progression, meditation, and aiming to achieve achievements and Titles. Given the experience he previously had, Fenrich named off the Titles that were easily accessible to all newly integrated worlds. There were a couple Elite Titles they could achieve when working together. Killing a raid boss of at least Lord tier and more than twenty-five levels above them. Being the first group/individual to destroy a Zombie occupied Smart Base/Shelter. Hunting a Regional Boss. Unifying a Capital City and so forth. There were a few Dungeons that had exclusive rewards for first time clears that Fenrich remembered, and informed Eden to pass all the information along to the group later on. As for the "wrestling" match he had with the four ladies the night prior, he had brought them all back to their individual rooms. Thankfully after their extraneous activities, they were all out cold, and thus Eden was able to easily wipe their memories. Bringing a huge relief to Fenrich, however, he was still not at all pleased by Eden''s interference with his personal life. There eventually would be a time that came when he had children, but it would be with Alarune, and her alone. Every man couldn''t deny that they never dreamt about having their own harem, Fenrich included. There were too many variables with that, and neither would Fenrich have the time to properly treat all said women equally. Of the increasing amounts of notifications that he was ignoring, Fenrich still skimmed through the more important ones that were starred. This had led him to finding out that as he traveled outside of the Smart Base, there was now an azure-blue dome that had a 35 kilometer radius, and in the sky above was a countdown timer of 29 Days 06 Hours and 11 minutes. Taking less than three minutes to cross the distance, Fenrich quickly reached the ends of this dome space, finding an astronomically huge number of zombies outside of it. A quick glance put him at an estimate of around 100,000 total undead bastards, with more shambling forward from a distance. He had a 1,000 kilometer distance personal communication line with Eden, and informed her of the gigantic mob and the reoccurring Elite, Lord and King tiered mobs that he was occasionally seeing. A third of this hoard was of Rare tier, and the rest were all Uncommon tiered. [You done goofed.] "Hold up, was that an Hellsing Abridged reference?" "Sigh¡­ why do you keep going through my memories, good choice this time though mate." Fenrich replied back with a chuckle Looking at all the cardinal and intermediate points, there was no point at all where the hoard was thinner. The only difference was there were a few less Elites and Lords. "Well, based on memory it should be easy to replicate it." Fenrich muttered to himself Fenrich circulated his Mana around his Heart of Abyssal Eden, brain and a smaller part of his Abyssal Viscount Soul. To the left and right side of Fenrich, there were two identical versions of him forming. Each of which had 65% of all his attributes, their kills would only account for Fenrich to receive 33% of each kill, but that would be more than enough. Fenrich''s brow was coated In a thick layer of sweat, it was no easy task to form a doppelganger let alone multiple using a second Class Evolution method. "Bonjour toute la gang!" One of the doppelgangers spoke In French with a poorly done accent. "Esti tabernacle don''t make me kick you in your one head with my two boot." "Alright, alright pull it in you bunch of idiots. We''ve got work to do." Fenrich said to his doppelgangers that were now split into half groups wearing red and blue. "For the bloods!" "For the crips!" The doppelgangers rushed out into the swarm of mindless undead. Some activated Abyssal Sword Forge and Abyssal Swords, others using their Mana to manipulate flying swords as area of effect damage. Oddly enough they still had his Firmament Defiance Greatsword but all of its effects on the doppelgangers were cut down by 50%. Otherwise it would be truly broken in and out of the word itself. Fenrich could count dozens of damage numbers floating up going from -500s to -800s with the odd critical in between hitting -1,400 as a high and -1,230 as a low. The constant flow of notifications flooded in like a tidal wave, Fenrich stretched his body and limbered up as he too joined the fray. Fenrich casually walked out, wielding his Firmament Defiance Greatsword in one hand, and creating a Mana based copy in the other hand, and sunk himself spiritually into his Greatsword Weapon Mastery Skill. He was a World Master in Saber, Longsword and Greatsword in his past lifetime. Saber was his aspect of Sharpness through intense speed, wind and space aspects. Longsword was the aspect of brute strength through Heaviness, it also contained the aspects of fire, time and momentum, a combination of soft-hard aspects.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. But his Greatsword, he never did manage to plan out a specific route or create a Sword Intent based off of the Greatsword alone. He had been slain when he was on the cusp of gaining enlightenment and his divinity. The Greatsword was blank like a painters canvas, this time, however, he decided to focus solely on Greatsword while incorporating past hints of his Sword Intent. It had reached the apex of 9 star Demigod Sword Intent, but never truly broke through into a God Sword Intent. Fenrich was in deep thought, his instincts took the driver seat while following the patterns of the Greatsword Weapon Mastery Skill, refining and perfecting each aspect it showed. It was all muscle memory to begin with, but the basics were the most important. There was no reason to skip the basics other than being an idiot. Hard work always paved the way for those that were less gifted. Fenrich was by no means a genius with a j, but when you ram your head into the same wall repeatedly no matter how much you failed. Eventually that wall gave through. Fenrich shut down his sense of sight, hearing, smell and taste. Leaving only touch active with his Greatsword and the endless slaughter was all that Fenrich needed or cared about. His current attributes were ridiculously high, that even if he was clawed, bitten into or had a battering ram bashed into him, the damage was negligible. With his Dao of Abyssal Eden, it both actively healed him, and devoured whatever viruses that entered into his system. In this particular state, Fenrich was no longer a living being. He was nothing but an moving animate object, his consciousness entered the Firmament Defiance Greatsword, becoming a single entity. The key that most people were unaware of or did not spend the time to do so, was to commune with their sword. Stepping into the Sword Unification stage was only the baby steps. When you use a single weapon infusing it with your Will, Dao, Sword Qi and Mana over a long period of time. Eventually it formed a consciousness within the sword based off of what you put into it. The hardest step was to spiritually enter the sword and find the nascent sword spirit to successfully commune with. That would lay the foundations for the second stage, Soul Sword Integration. Due to the description of the Firmament Defiance Greatsword, it could be difficult or easy to find the sword spirit. The difficult part for him is if it would accept him as its current wielder or not. Fenrich entered a world of water, there were sunken skyscrapers and an ancient civilization swallowed by the endless water. Fenrich was able to breathe naturally, but it was also the perfect opportunity to regain his Water Breathing Skill. Technically useless for most worlds in the Omniverse, on the other hand it was extremely beneficial for Earth which was more than 70% water. After diving for an unknown period of time, Fenrich figured he''d only dove above 1/1000th of the way. Six indistinguishable figures appeared before him, three were men and three were women. Their figures were hazy all except for them having a unique pair of eyes. "Well. This is interesting isn''t it? Who''d ever expect a recently integrated wielder would claim this weapon and then turn all of us into a Soul Weapon? The Omniverse truly never lets old relics like us of the past eras rest, does it?" A gruff man''s voice sounded filler with intrigue and wonder. "The current wielder is indeed the first to come into contact with the Firmament Defiance Greatsword before achieving level 250. His stats are blown out of proportion based on his current level, unknown Races, and a nearly infinite pool of latent talent sleeping within. However, his affinities make him dumber than a stump, but even a stubborn fucker like you made It to our ranks, didn''t you, Rauhm?" This time around a feminine voice sounded as she made the show of putting a hand to her mouth to dampen the sound of her laughter. "By the Primordials you''re still the queen of all bitches aren''t ya Sylvia?" "Why are you cursing ALL of us at once, including yourself you big buffoon!" Sylvia sounded exasperated before she let out a long and suffering sigh. "Kid, you have no idea how unbearable It is to be stuck with this dumbass in here. Anywho, you''re too weak to begin thinking about Soul Sword Integration with this relic before the Omniverse Era. Come back when you reach level 250 at the minimum. However, we are always accessible to teach you our created Greatsword styles. Also you should consider finding a chronomancer to dampen the scars of time etched onto your Soul. It will make many old monsters curious. One hundred years backwards in the river of Time is unheard of and only something the OAS would have the ability to do." Sylvia patiently explained "Don''t let ye old bad habits from a past lifetime affect your future combat stances or Combat Techniques you may create. One hundred years is nowhere near enough to create a God Sword Intent. Use your past experience to start building from the ground up once more. I demand a lot from the wielder who finds us, if you disappoint any of us we can forcibly break the Soul Weapon attachment. Use a new pair of eyes to look at the old to find the secrets hidden deep within. Do not under any circumstances go into your second Class Evolution without a tier 5 Weapon Mastery Skill." Spoke another of the primordial spirits. "You''re also trying to run before you learn how to walk. Do not let any of us deny that you achieved a lot in your previous life, however, you need to spend a lot more time contemplating where you went wrong, why did you fail to get your divinity? Why did you never achieve God Sword Intent? Why did you stop at the Ancestral Weapon Unity realm? You rushed your Cultivation all the while neglecting your comprehension. You had the correct foundations, otherwise you''d never have reached so far. But you lacked the stability to build upon, the maturity of your mentality was shaken, your confidence and Will to live was snuffed out. No one is destined to achieve Godhood let alone a Primordial like all of us here." "Sees!? all youse using some big words I don''t understand so I''m gonna take that as disrespect! Listen little wielder! You need not hear fancy words from elders. Walk, jog, run. Easy to understand right? Don''t be big idiot like the rest with fancy sounding words. Cut, slash, chop, rinse and repeat until the big thought approves your skill. You grow strong step by step, not by running to fall off a ledge. Time in here is one week compared to one hour on the outside. Come train with Rauhm and friends soon little wielder." Rauhm spoke in a way that was simplistic, straightforward and with difficulty in general. Fenrich could see the figure of Rauhm was massive standing at more than fifty feet tall. Some kind of Giant Race possibly. It would explain the simplistic way of understanding and less than desirable speech. But its straightforwardness was without a doubt correct. Sylvia nearly pulled her non-existent hair out "Don''t listen to everything that big buffoon says. Listen to our words first then the buffoon''s simplistic way of comprehension. Rauhm isn''t the smartest Primordial, his simplicity is as harmful as it is useful. But he is one of us due to his far superior abilities. In battle you will never find a more intelligent and monstrously adaptive individual than Rauhm." Sylvia said as she hatefully eyed Rauhm, she had to have clearly lost many battles. As if sensing what Fenrich thought, Sylvia snapped her attention back with an intense glare. "So what if a Primordial loses to another Primordial? You killed some low and middle tier God''s and Divine Beasts. That''s so impressive." The sarcasm practically dripped from Sylvia''s tone. "It''s time you go little wielder. Your body is still on auto pilot in the outside world, and a high tier mutant beast is about to arrive at the chaos you and your doppelgangers are making. It is a dual winged lion with a self nurtured Beast Flame, based on what we''ve seen the Barren High descendant named Lukas would benefit most from the Beast Flame. Being a son of the Berserk Flame Dao and all that. Barren High will pay you greatly for caring for one of their Berserker children," Sylvia said as she flicked Fenrich on the forehead. Sending his spirituality out of the Firmament Defiance Greatsword. [Ding! Your Greatsword Mastery Skill went from level 3 to level 8] All around Fenrich the area was stained by murky black blood, but there were no zombie corpses to be seen. [I needed sustenance so it seemed fair to let myself out to enjoy an all you can eat buffet. There are plenty more coming though, I wouldn''t be surprised if there''s a Zombie Monarch controlling the horde, partner.] Fenrich took control again as he let himself dive deeper into the feeling of the air circulating around his weapon, the countering force when he didn''t move with the wind, and the fluidity like water when he was on the same "wavelength." But all the while, his eyes were stuck to the sky like a pair of magnets had caught his attention. [You feel it now, partner? We''ve been locked onto by something that shouldn''t be within the limits of the Integration Period. Possibly due to the higher difficulty this planet faces now, there are a lot more monsters, the zombies and mutant beasts are rapidly strengthening, multiplying and evolving at a tremendous rate that is rather impressive. But for all of you Humans it doesn''t look good. This is already the equivalent of a full year passed after the Integration began on other planets.] In the sky from a distance, Fenrich could see a small dot that was gradually growing and getting closer to their position. Before long he could see the silhouette of two wings, and a thing wreathed in both blue and purple coloured flames. After another thirty seconds Fenrich was able to let off an Identify to see what he would be dealing with. Amethyst Flame Winged Tigress [Emperor] [Boss] Level: 75 Life Rating Late E Health: 5,700,000 Mana: 845,000 Primary Attributes: Agility, Intelligence, Strength Skills: ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? After Fenrich saw the stats of the Boss that now appeared before him, inside his head he could hear car doors being slammed closed and an engine starting up. "What the fuck do you think you''re doing?" [It was nice knowing you, partner. I''m going to let this homewrecker take whatever she wants peacefully so nobody, except for you, has to die.] "Hardy har har, it''s-" [Morphing time!] "No. Actually, yes it is. Do the honours mate!" [Metamorphosis level 2 has been activated. All attributes increased by 2.14x for 13 minutes. [Abyssal Symbiote Physique Enhancement level 2 has been activated. All basic attributes gain +50, all advanced attributes gain +25] [Abyssal Weapon Enhancement level 1 has been activated on Firmament Defiance Greatsword. Gains +80 to all basic attributes. Due to the Abyssal attunement gains +125 to all basic attributes and +50 to all advanced attributes.] Nauja ¡°Pop.¡± ¡°What the hel- AHHHH the fuck is that?!¡± A discombobulated Lanshire appeared as Fenrich used his Companion Summon to summon the pixie queen. ¡°At least have the decency to inform me next time Fenrich! I was just about to settle into some women''s time. And now you ruined it. Ugh you''re turning out to be such a pain in my royal highnass.¡± ¡°I figured that you needed levels, and this was at the very least a guaranteed easy twenty levels for you, Title and a major achievement to boost your Class options at twenty-five.¡± ¡°Awww, you''re so sweet and considerate, I take it back.¡­. Why is the fucking thing level seventy-five? WHY are we fighting something that has confirmed its path as an Emperor? WHY?¡± ¡°For shits and giggles?¡± Fenrich said, unsure of himself now. His companion was an Emperor herself, and she was not at all impressed. ¡°Fine, I''ll heal, buff and add minor bits of damage. Just don''t get killed ¡®kay?¡± [Hey, the fucking thing as your Companion calls it is now fucking flying above us.] Fenrich formed platforms of condensed Mana like a stairway up to heaven, then as precaution made dozens of other platforms for safety measures. ¡°Alright, it''s time to get a good workout.¡± Fenrich snaked his body while he was mid-air dodging in-between the claw swipes from the oversized lion. On the very last one, Fenrich used its oversized paw like a pull up bar and flipped himself upwards, rotating his bodies momentum he smashed backwards with his right elbow into the snout of the lioness. -320 ¡°GRAAWL¡± The lioness roared as its most sensitive spot took a freight train snout first. The lioness¡¯ wings fluttered creating a small storm of purple colored flaming spears that were the size of fireflies. Fenrich quickly exerted his Mana making it act like a vacuum. In which his Will struggled but succeeded in breaking off the connection to the lioness¡¯ fire spears. With strings of his Mana as the conductor, Fenrich applied his Dao of Sharpness onto the fire spears. Guiding it to aim for the soft fleshy area where the Amethyst Flame Winged Tigress¡¯ wings were connected. -4,240 -7,120! -5,340 -4,800 At the very last second, Fenrich combined the last six groups of fire spears together, forming one combined ten meter long silver-blue spear that shaved off a good -46,210! Causing a blood red critical hit to float above the boss''s head. Seeing as its health bar ticked down by a single notch. Doing some quick math Fenrich had taken off just shy of 1.19% of its total health. ¡°Good, as long as the health bar declines then anything and everything will eventually die!¡± -1,740! A critical hit floated above Fenrich, before he could even realize what had happened, a barrier around the boss activated, and while it did so +850s were floating above its head continuously. ¡°Goddamn reflection barriers aaaaand its damn health is full.¡± [Come on, partner. This is just phase 1 out of 4 with Emperor. It hasn¡¯t even gone berserk, amplified its power, transformed, or hit the 5% health mark where its stats have tripled. You will need to put in a lot more work and fast, time is ticking.] Fenrich took a few seconds to stretch his body whilst dodging fire spear projectiles, claw swipes and wing slashes. ¡°Black White Fist it is then.¡± Fenrich used the palm of his right hand and cracked his neck on both sides, and as he did his figure vanished from the Amethyst Flame Winged Tigress¡¯ perception entirely. It had spun around as it felt the threat of multiple things locking onto her all at once. Hundreds of Mana swords and Abyssal Swords had been created, alarm bells rang in its head but it was already too late. A nearly skull crushing impact landed on the lioness¡¯ head, a -4,000 floated above and just as it did so, a physical reflection barrier flashed alive. Fenrich held his hands out and two Mana swords appeared in his hand, rapid successive slashes took out chunks of health between -450 and -510 a piece. The reflection barrier flashed azure blue this time reflecting Mana based attacks and Skills back onto the attacker. The lioness¡¯ dive bombed Fenrich as he was running along the platforms below, only to pass through empty air quickly realizing it was just a distraction -7,320! A critical blow hit as Fenrich one-inch punched the ribcage of the lioness breaking it in the process. With his Mana invading her body, broken bones pierced the lungs of the lioness, causing a constant internal bleed effect to register -250s every second. Fenrich had a wide smile on his face all the while he tempted death by walking the fine line, fully relying on his honed instincts and battle lust to tread the narrow path of life between. Emperor that were mutant beasts, zombies or any other life form were no joke and to top it all off they had awakened their full intelligence. It was inevitable that Fenrich was still receiving damage, but with the concepts of Yin Yang Blast and White Black Fist combined, he was reflecting the damage back and doubling it against the lioness due to the lioness not being able to identify Yin from Yang, or Black from White. Three minutes quickly passed this way with the Amethyst Flame Winged Lioness¡¯ natural regeneration and overwhelming damage Fenrich dished out, her health had dropped to the 75% mark and began stage 2. Four wings of intense blue fire covered the Amethyst Flame Winged Lioness, her aura nearly doubled and began pushing Fenrich back inch by inch. All of her fire element Skills and attacks had been increased by a whopping 75% and her attributes had gone up by a third. Now, Fenrich''s eyes were unable to register her physical form, all that he could pick up was the layered afterimages of the pissed off lioness. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Fenrich used his index finger with imbued Sharpness to cut just above his brows, the blood trickled down and into his eyes. Ignoring the sting was nothing to Fenrich, the blood acted as a ¡°film¡± over his eyes and with Mana he set ¡°fire¡± to the blood, blotting out everything else from his peripheral vision. With this done, he was now just barely able to make out the physical image of the lioness again. Fenrich activated the Yang of Yin Yang Blast as his right hand caught the paw swipe of the lioness, pulled downwards and with his left hand used the Yin aspect to absorb the Yang, convert it and rapidly unsheathed the Firmament Defiance Greatsword. ¡°Tenebrous Abyssal Genesis!¡± Fenrich''s left arm blurred at blinding speeds as he reversed the momentum from pulling the lioness down through his Mana, causing an insane burst of speed in the sky all that could be seen was a single straight crimson line. The Amethyst Flame Winged Lioness¡¯ wings were cleaved off of her body, causing a humongous -105,000! to float above her head. The lioness had a level 7 paralysis and level 6 bleed respectively ticking off at -850 per second. With Metamorphosis, Abyssal Weapon Enhancement, Abyssal Symbiote Physique Enhancement, continuous buffs from Lanshire and the 1,750% burst damage of Tenebrous Abyssal Genesis hitting a weak point all added up to an insane damage number. The paralysis debuff was working its magic as it greatly inhibited the lioness from moving, and some of her own Skills had been forcefully canceled by her muscles or Mana pathways being zapped from the inside. Fenrich capitalized on this using his mass swarm of Mana and Abyssal Swords to deal massive damage numbers in mass, shaving off another 45,000 health in under eight seconds. Fenrich¡¯s chest was rising and falling after using Tenebrous Abyssal Genesis, the Epic Soul Weapon Skill was a complete and utter fucking lie. He felt more drained than the time he had taken out the first Elite zombie while pushing the absolute limits of his body before disintegrating it at that point in time. -4,900! Fenrich was too slow to react as the Amethyst Flame Winged Lioness teleported and shot off a 12 diameter blue and purple ball of fire point blank on Fenrich¡¯s body. His body skidded through the thick cloud of smoke, all of the hair on his body had been singed and his clothes were sticking to his flesh that was now bubbling in certain spots. +1,400 +650 +650 +650 Timely heals came in from Lanshire as Fenrich¡¯s health dropped dangerously low [We only have 3 minutes left of Metamorphosis and this bitch isn¡¯t even at the 50% mark yet.] The Abyssal Symbiote warned in Fenrich¡¯s head. In return all Fenrich could muster was a grunt of confirmation, his body was completely devoid of energy. It was like a black hole had formed and sucked him dry of all of his Mana and Dao. Unlike the Abyssal Symbiote, there was still one more voice in Fenrich¡¯s head that had always been present but rarely showed itself. [Open the Gate of Purgatory. Activate me, you can¡¯t win without your darker half!] Fenrich shut his eyes for a single second, and used his internal vision to look inside to where the blank space of his Dantian resided. In a small crack that hid the Holy River Demonic Art, a midnight black eye stared back into Fenrich¡¯s spiritual state. [We cannot avenge our losses if you don¡¯t trust me, and by that same connection yourself, can you? You¡¯ve already been betrayed by the ¡°blood¡± you wished so hard to correct the wrongs. I will not take any payment this time. Take my hand!] Fenrich watched the black and red hand steeped in the darkest coagulated sin he¡¯d seen so far. ¡°Deal.¡± [You are me.] ¡°And I am you.¡± Fenrich reached out his hand and clasped it with the darker version of himself that hadn¡¯t shown itself during his ascension or the twenty years leading up to it. An intense burst of holy white containing purity and demonic energy burst out from Fenrich¡¯s body [Open. Gate Of Purgatory.] ¡°Open. Gate Of Purgatory.¡± [Remove Limiter Level 5.] ¡°Remove Limiter Level 5.¡± Fenrich and his dark copy spoke in synchronization, in the internal space of his Dantian. Fenrich and his copy had unified into one single body once more. In the outside world, the Amethyst Flame Winged Lioness came to a sudden halt. Her animalistic instincts warned of a savagery beyond anything she had ever comprehended before which had just awakened within the exhausted human before it. What her eyes could not physically perceive, her instincts could see a sea of flaming sin, dead souls and hateful spirits swirl around the human¡¯s body. Then it all disappeared as if it never was there to begin with. -65,000! The lioness¡¯ eyes widened in absolute terror, before it could even perceive what had happened, one of its eyes had lost its vision as a stinging pain assaulted it causing her to roar out in a pained terror. The Amethyst Beast Flame cultivated within its Dantian burst out with its full uncontrolled power, with its bestial instincts in full throttle the sleeping potential within it was awakened. Purple flames danced and morphed into thousands of miniature purple butterflies that were extremely condensed Beast Flame Essence, surrounding the lioness and Fenrich altogether. A mature savage voice entered Fenrich¡¯s mind at the moment that the purple butterflies created a cocoon around Fenrich. ¡°Human. I will bring you to treasure. I have awakened my intelligence, Bloodline, Talent and Divine Body. I can give you my children in exchange for peace.¡± Fenrich smiled as his voice now had multiple layers to it, one human and the other distorted like if using a spirit box as a medium to contact spirits. ¡°You will have to prove your worth if you wish to be an asset. However, I am afraid it is not a choice if you will become an asset to me or not. I will kill you and your young if you do not submit to me.¡± Fenrich¡¯s aura multiplied drastically as a regal yellow aura outlined in ruby red fire spread out from Fenrich. ¡°Submit to me. Give me all that you are worth, give me your children, and they will flourish without failure.¡± Fenrich approached the Amethyst Flame Winged Lioness, stretching his open hand out and placing it on top of her head, then down as he ran his hand through the lioness¡¯ mane. All the while the lioness was growling and threatening Fenrich, but the man was unbothered as his piercing eyes stared through her. His billowing aura formed a midnight black cape, with golden dragons and phoenixes embroidered onto it, and the trim was a blood red colour that radiated an enriched sin that tainted the clean air. ¡°Will you die a pointless death? Or will you live a meaningful life as you watch your children mature and develop their own personalities, their own thoughts, wishes and desires. Make your choice. Now.¡± Fenrich¡¯s aura blanketed the lioness pushing her entire body down onto the ground, making her unable to resist or even so much as to raise her head to look him in the eyes. All the while the lioness could feel the proverbial scythe of the grim reaper cutting into her neck, the ¡°frost¡± of death was approaching her, but due to the Human that stood before her, his aura alone stopped the ¡°frost¡± from invading and corroding her life away. The lioness¡¯ peripheral vision narrowed, to the two sides of her she viewed herself in a corridor, death was closing in upon her. In front of her stood a man that demanded all that she has and will ever have to offer, but beyond him was a future that she desperately wanted for her young, the warm and vibrant life full of colour, joy, peace and power. [Ding! Nauja has requested to become your Companion. Your current Companion slots are currently full. Attain your first Class Evolution to gain more Companion slots.] [Ding! You can accept Nauja as a Mount. Do you accept? Yes/No?] ¡°Nauja, my Companion slots are currently full, however, I have been given the option to accept you as a Mount. What are your thoughts on this?¡± Fenrich conveyed what he¡¯d gotten from the prompt, waiting for the lioness¡¯ reply. ¡°You said as long as I offered everything I have and will have, you would provide my children with a future. As long as I have submitted myself to serving you, it matters not what name the System gives me. A mother cares not for herself, but the wellbeing of their young. Do not break my trust, Emperor.¡± Fenrich clicked on the yes prompt and was awarded with access to Nauja, the Amethyst Flame Winged Lioness various status pages. [Ding! Nauja the Amethyst Flame Winged Lioness has become your Mount.] Nauja [Emperor] [Mount] Level: 75 Health: 1,575,000 Mana: 115,000 Strength: 4,750 x0.14 (5,415) Endurance: 2,600 x0.14 (2,964 Vitality: 2,740 x0.14 (3,123) Agility: 4,150 x014 (4,731) Intelligence: 5,600 x 0.14 (6,384) Physique: 1,900 Soul: 2,700 Mana: 4,000 Skills: (Unaccessible, achieve your first Class Evolution to see more details.) Dao: Amethyst Flame Fragment (Middle ???) Zephyr Wind Fragment (Early ???) Bloodline: Seven Flame Nirvana Rebirth Talent: Divine Flame Extraction SSS (Rapidly evolves regular Flames into Beast Flame, Sacred Flame, Ancestral Flame, Divine Flame, God Emperor Flame. As long as the Amethyst Flame Winged Lioness understands the Dao and concepts, she can imbue different elements into the Flames.) Divine Body: Empress Of Searing Flame (+35% overall power to all Fire based Skills, Talents, Bloodline, Dao.) ¡°Thank you for your blessing my Emperor. My stats have doubled, and the Dao has never been more clear to me. Thank you my Emperor, it seems I made the right choice as a mother and an individual to submit.¡± Fenrich was confused hearing Naujas voice inside of his head, ¡°What do you mean by that? I didn''t do anything except for accepting the prompt to accept you as my Mount.¡± Naujas voice now sounded confused and disheartened, ¡°You gave me the Emperor''s Empowerment Blessing. I was only at the Low Emperor tier when we fought, now I''m at the Peak Emperor tier nearly pushing into the next threshold. When I became your Mount my stats doubled and I got a retro fund of over 3,000 bonus attribute points to apply. I''m hoping to make an exchange with the System to give the attribute points to my children.¡± ¡°Well, I am happy for you Nauja. As you are now a subordinate of mine, you will now gain access to a lot of further benefits down the line. I don''t want to be rude but¡­¡± Fenrich trailed on, not wanting to take from his own people. As an Emperor it was natural to take or demand whatever pleased his eye. Now that Nauja was officially his Mount and subordinate, his Emperor''s ¡°desire¡± has mellowed down. But given they reason he started the fight in the first place was to get an unique Flame for Lukas, Fenrich didn''t want to sow distrust. ¡°Of course my Emperor, I have not forgotten I will now bring you to where I store my treasure, and where my children are. Please don''t be alarmed by their human form, my mate was the Divine Beast Qilin, and thus our children are¡­ special in many ways.¡± Fenrich¡¯s eyes gleamed, this Integration Period was the gift that kept on giving. A situation like this that came his way was what entire Multiversal powers would wage war for. Hopping on Naujas back, Fenrich stretched his exhausted body out and laid down across her body. Lanshire had healed the both of them up to peak condition, but using the Soul Weapon Skill was truly taxing on his physical state, and his Soul. [Call me again when I am needed. Start laying the foundations for your Cultivator Core with the Holy River Demonic Art. This is a self created scripture ¡°WE¡± created upon death''s doors. It is the amalgamation of ¡°OUR¡± last life''s blood, sweat and tears. Don''t waste it.]