《Rise of the Last Heroes [Progression litrpg with soft sci-fi and fantasy elements]》 Chapter 1 - Academy entrance I stood up in the front of a line of people who looked the same age as me, waiting for access to academy city as a new student starting the new school year in front of the academy city gate. No, it''s not inspection, it''s more likely to record prospective new students who will attend academy city and also provide elixirs to awaken the ether core of each new student. For some reason there is a rule in this world that requires everyone at the age of 14 to attend training in academy city, why? In order to protect themselves from Abyss attacks that can attack at any time and contribute to their home kingdom. Abysses are beast like creatures of various shapes and sizes that live in other dimensions, they are very dangerous creatures because they are very savage, some researchers believe that the abyss is also very smart but this theory is still unproven untill this day. Heh, that rule is somewhat funny for me and all students who come from the wandering tribe though because we are not tied to any kingdom. Speaking of elixir, elixir is a kind of blue liquid stored in a 5 cm tube, the liquid is made by compressing pure ether energy and turning it into a liquid that gives everyone who drinks it awakening. Awakening provides a status window or something like that which is useful for many things, such as dimensional storage, class and status that can be upgraded as levels increase. There are 4 basic classes that can be obtained by people who have just awakened, warrior, rogue, healer and mage. The four classes are called basic classes and there are 3 levels of classes that will be upgraded as each person progresses, basic, intermidiate and advance class, intermidiate can be unlocked when the awakened has reached level 30 and is eligible to upgrade their class, and for the advance class? It''s unknown how to upgrade to this level. There are already advance classes obviously, the seventh heroes who played an important role in the war to withstand the Abyss attack 300 years ago were all advance classes, but all of them said to achieve advance class itself is difficult to explain in words because to achieve advance class is not a matter of level that must be achieved. Oh, but there''s only one problem though, the class you get is completely random even for intermediate and advance class, it''s still mystery until now why the class you get is always random but many believe that the class you get adjusts to the personality of each awakened. Heh, hopefully I get the rogue class since I''m not really into fighting, there is a funny rumor about one of the intermediate classes of mage though, it is said that if you level up and get the witch class, no matter the gender of the awakened, they''re definitely going to turn into a beautiful girl. Heh, it''s really funny but ridiculous, like there is no evidence at all that the rumor is true. Oh atleast that''s what I know, it''s not like I know everything though since basically access to information for the wandering tribe is arguably limited when compared to citizens of any empire. "Please come forward student Leon!" Oh it''s look like finally my turn huh, the officer in charge of registering each new prospective student gave me a transparent tube with a blue liquid inside and told me to drink it. I opened the tube and then gulped down the liquid, the taste of the liquid was really bland like drinking ordinary water but somehow it felt different, it''s hard to explain but it''s really feel like something inside my body changed and I can feel the energy or foreign elements mixed with the air around me. ''hehh, so this feels like being an awakening'' The officer instructed me to open my status window to check the class I got. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Leon Class: Warrior Level: 1 Stat: Str: 12 Agi: 8 End: 14 Int: 6 7c Skill: Basic weapon mastery (passive) Able to use any weapon that matches the warrior class. ???(Active) Depends on what weapons you decide to use. ???? (Active) Depends on what weapons you decide to use. Inventory (0/50) (upgradeable) None. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ''Sigh, it''s look like luck is not on my side huh''This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. I told the contents of the status window I got to the officer who gave me the elixir because for whatever reason we can''t see other people''s status. After recording my status I was directed to the warrior weapons warehouse to choose the weapons that I would use while studying at academy city, oh by the way the choice of weapon you choose will forever be tied to your status so if you as a warrior choose a sword then you will get skills and class upgrades related to swords, or so that I heard. Oh well what happens let happens since there is nothing I can do about this anyway, I look at the weapons in the warehouse, there are many weapons such as long sword, war axe, mace, spear, to great sword oh, even a shield. "Hmmm it''s hard to choose" I''m not a royalty or noble so obviously I''ve never held a weapon in my life, oh technically the wandering tribe doesn''t have a class system like other kingdoms, though wince there is only 1 leader called the elder but overall the wandering tribe is basically the weakest and prone to attack by the Abyss because it has no fixed residence and always moves from one place to another. Even so, in the end I took a long sword with a medium-sized shield, it''s important to be able to attack and defend yourself right? After I decided to take the sword shield there was suddenly a sound like a bell ringing in my head, I don''t know what it is but it seems to be a sign that I unlocked a new skill that matches the weapon choice I chose and so after I put my sword and shield into the dimensional storage on my system, I opened my status windows and checked my newly acquired skills. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Leon Class: Warrior Level: 1 Stat: Str: 12 Agi: 8 End: 14 Int: 6 Skill: Basic sword and shield mastery (passive) Makes the awakened able to wield swords and shields as if they were their own body parts. Shield bash (Active) Strike the enemy with a shield, dealing minor damage and a chance to stun the enemy. Counter Slash (Active) If the enemy¡¯s attack is blocked, instantly retaliate with a sword strike. Inventory (2/50) (upgradeable) Long sword Iron shield --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh? It''s look like My passive skills changed as well and the active skills I got are also quite useful for my safety, heh i don''t need flashy skills anyway, What''s the point of flashy skills if I can''t survive long enough to use them. And so, after I finished checking the skills I got and told the guard outside I was directed to a small building with two guards wearing armor with the academy city emblem on their chests. A simple white building with a flag with a shield and a bird that looked like it was flying in the sky, it was said that the academy city flag symbolized freedom considering that this city was not tied to any kingdom and was led by the headmaster who was one of the seventh heroes, Edgar the sage. In front of the building there were tons of prospective new students queuing up waiting for their turn to enter the academy, it''s look like the building was something like a checkpoint i guess? It didn''t take long for me to enter the building, there I was given 2 pairs of uniforms, one school uniform and one combat uniform used for training or expeditions when carrying out missions provided by the school. The school uniform for boys and girls is basically the same, a white shirt with a blue blazer with the academy city emblem on the left chest of the uniform and a black tie with a white stripe underneath, the white stripe on the tie indicates what grade the student is in, the only difference is that male students wear black pants and female students wear black skirts with white lace. For the battle suit? Battle suits from the outside look like ordinary cloth clothes but in fact they are made with special materials that are lightweight but durable, not to forget there is also protective magic to protect the students who wear them, although the magic is of the mid rank magic but at least it is enough to fight the lower to middle class abyss. In addition, new students are given a student card with their respective photos which not only functions as an identity, but also functions as a credit card to be used to buy food and equipment in academy city, each student is given an initial capital of 100 credit points on their student card which can be used as they wish. Unlike other kingdoms that use gilds as currency, in academy city all transactions use credit points, of course credit points can be exchanged for gilds too so there is no need to worry if there is a mission that requires traveling to other kingdoms. And so, I along with other students walked to the castle like building in the middle of the city, a magnificent building painted white with a castle like design with 4 large towers surrounding the building, it was said that the towers were the dormitories of the students who studied there. We were directed to the great hall after wearing school uniforms, waiting for the welcoming of new students from the principal of academy city, edgar the sage, seeing him still alive even though he has lived for more than 300 years makes me think, do all awakened have a long life? Or is it just the advanced class? Edgar was an old man with long white hair and beard, wearing an elegant white robe with gold polish on some sides, carrying a kind of wooden magic wand that according to legend was made from the tree of life. "Welcome to academy city" Edgar tapped his wand on the podium and instantly a bright light shone throughout the great hall area and then birds made of ether energy flew in the sky of the great hall, playing around and really felt alive like real birds. The students made sounds of admiration for the magic that Edgar had just used, well I admit his magic was beautiful magic but I don''t really care anyway. "Since this academy was founded until now, we only have one goal, to thresh and prepare the younger generation to be able and ready to fight the invasion of the Abyss that can come at any time, during your 3 years here you will get full protection from us and we will do everything possible to prepare you" Oh right, there is an old prophecy from someone who calls himself a prophet that someday there will be a massive invasion from the Abyss. And so edgar continued his speech, i already lost interest in listening to it since it really doesn''t matter for me, all i want is a normal life with lots of money, get married and live peacefully until old age, oh i don''t really expect about getting married since i''m not popular type anyway. The speech was finally finished and we were directed to a facility that was divided into 10 rooms, and we were asked to line up 30 people per room, in the room there were 30 cylinder pods, huge pods about 3 meters in blue with machines underneath which were all connected to one computer, there was a staff waiting for us to enter standing in front of the computer. "Welcome new student" Chapter 2 - Survival Test A female teacher with shoulder length brown hair welcomed us, her name was Eliza Chamber, she was a famous adventurer level 50 with priestess class, intermediate class from the healer class branch, eliza had a beautiful face, bright brown eyes with a proportional body wrapped in a white priestess outfit that was closed but easy to move. "Welcome" Her sweet and charming smile made some male students blush, me? Heh well yeah, a little i guess? "Before you officially learn there will be a little test for you, don''t worry it''s just a small test that won''t endanger your life but will really help you develop your experience" Eliza opened the computer in the middle of the room and activated something that made all the pods in this room open. "In this test you will do a survival test, you will enter into a simulation where you will fight against monsters, you will not get exp to level up because this is just a simulation but you will get first hand combat experience, but before you enter the pods to start the test please enter your id card here" Eliza showed a small box next to each pods, a small black box with a hole the size of the student''s id card and a red button next to it. "Although you won''t get exp, but depending on how well you do this test then the reward you get is different, you will be given additional credit points depending on how well you do your test" ''ahh'' Ah damn, it''s looking like I''m going to fail this test, at least I hope that I won''t be expelled just for failing one test. "The test will last for 30 minutes, there are 3 ways to complete this test, die three times, survive at all costs for 30 minutes, or defeat the boss monster in your area, since this test is an individual test there will be no other students to help you" So basically we are literally playing vr games huh, as a child of the wandering tribe I can only dream of being able to play games, to think one of my dreams came true when I just entered school, heh it''s somewhat funny. "Now, that''s enough explanation and choose the pods you like, remember, insert your id card first before entering the pods, inside the pods you just need to relax and let the pods scan your ether energy, to release ether energy you need to focus and imagine that there is some kind of energy slowly flowing out of your body, as an awakened this should be an easy thing" After Eliza finished explaining, the students and I chose the pods they liked and started inserting their id cards into the small box next to it, entered the pods and then lay down inside. Inside the pods it felt very soft and comfortable, when I was in, the pods closed and the machine started scanning me. "Student leon, channel your ether energy" The voice from the pods AI asked me to channel my ether energy, I closed my eyes then focused myself, I felt like there was a ball of energy from the center of my chest surrounded by some kind of energy. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I imagined the energy surrounding the energy ball flowing to all parts of my body, when I opened my eyelids, I found myself in a different place. A vast grassland, a gentle breeze blowing the leaves on the trees, it seemed like my consciousness was transferred to another place, or maybe this was just some kind of simulation? Considering this was a survival test, I took out my sword and shield, watching the surroundings carefully, on guard against attacks that might come from nowhere. The grass as tall as my knees moved quite quickly from 1 meter to my north, a small green creature with pointed ears and a dull brown cloth tied around its waist then jumped towards me while swinging it wooden cub. The creature was a goblin, a small green creature that can be found anywhere, not a strong creature but troublesome when in large numbers. "So this is the technology of academy city huh" To think they manage to recreate the abyss perfectly even though it is only a simulation can be said to be very advanced technology. It''s seem like my sense also enhanced after I got an awakening, the attack from the abyss didn''t make me panic for whatever reason and I calmly blocked the attack with my shield. I flicked my shield so that it made the goblin pushed back a few meters, I ran close to the goblin then swung my sword vertically towards the goblin, the goblin tried to block my attack with it wooden cub but obviously it would fail. Its body split into two from the slash of my sword and its body turned into some kind of particles before disappearing. I fell down, feeling mentally exhausted after killing something for the first time, well yeah it''s a simulation but it really feels real. I slowly grabbed my sword that had fallen to my right, sticking it into the ground to help me stand up, but... Thwack! An arrow that I didn''t know where it came from shot out and pierced my head which instantly made me lose consciousness. "Ahh damn it!" Just when I managed to kill one of the goblins, another goblin managed to kill me with an arrow, it''s really important to remember goblins always hunt in groups huh. And so I came back to life right where I started this simulation, it''s somewhat creepy, but eh whatever, I need to be more careful. ''if the enemy in this area is goblin, does that mean their boss is hobgoblin? Hopefully not shaman though" So just like awakened, abyss has their own class too, like goblins for example. Ordinary goblins were basically harmless, if they were alone of course, they had the intelligence of a 3 year old and had no fear of death at all, that''s why they were so troublesome to fight when clumped together. No one knows whether abyss has their own system or not but abyss can evolve if left too long, usually goblins will evolve into hobgoblins, goblins with a height of about 2 meters and have the intelligence of an adult. They can''t use magic but instead their physical strength, endurance and speed increase dramatically, it''s really dangerous to fight hobgoblins alone, except if you are an experienced adventurer with level 20 and above. Well if you''re lucky, hobgoblins can be defeated at level 10 to 15 alone though, if you''re lucky. On the other hand, shaman, goblin shaman to be precise, is an opponent that is obviously too dangerous to be fought by awakened who have just awakened their cores, heck even for experienced adventurers too. Overall all of their stats are weaker than hobgoblins, but stronger than ordinary goblins, their height doesn''t change but they can control some kind of dark magic like curses or mind control. And the other problem is, they are always protected by a lot of goblins, and sometimes hobgoblins too, that''s why to defeat 1 goblin shaman it is not recommended to defeat it alone because it is literally just looking for death. But, heh, the goal of this test is to survive so it''s better to be careful and avoid boss areas as much as possible. Sure those extra credit points are a tempting reward and this is just a simulation, but the most important part is that I have to learn not to overestimate myself. I''m weak, never held a weapon before being here and all my knowledge about the abyss is just general knowledge, luckily even for wandering tribe we still get access to information for the abyss so that it can be taught to other children. And so, I took out my weapon then held my shield in front of me, putting up a defensive stance to protect myself from any attacks that might come. My right hand gripped my sword tightly, ready to cut down whatever enemies were coming, perhaps because this was a simulation, the enemy attack pattern was still the same as before. Goblins jumped and attacked me, I held back and slashed at them, but after I defeated one goblin I remained alert to my surroundings, heh, don''t want to die silly again right. I vaguely saw a goblin aiming an arrow at me from a distance, about 10 meters away from me, the arrow was released and shot quickly towards me. Thunk! I managed to block the arrow by using my shield, realizing the arrow was successfully blocked, the goblin archer then ran away from me. Thinking that being left alone would only add to the problem, I quickly ran after the goblin archer, it was quite difficult because the goblin archer''s movements were faster than mine, and I didn''t want to risk losing my weapon if I threw my sword at the goblin archer. My pursuit ultimately ended in vain, I didn''t manage to kill the goblin archer and it rejoined its group, I quietly approached to see how many goblin groups were ahead. "It''s really my unlucky day huh" I saw the goblin archer return to the group led by the hobgoblin, or is it orc? It''s green like creature like goblin and taller but bulky and has a face like a pig and way dangerous than hobgoblin. "Is that the boss monster?" And while I was closely watching the abyss in front of me furtively, I heard the sound of grass rustling from behind me. Chapter 3 - Boss fight A goblin suddenly appeared from behind me and kicked me until I fell and rolled to where the hobgoblin was. ''shit'' The hobgoblin raised it huge silver sword and then swung down, I rolled to the left whereupon two goblins carrying spears jumped up and attacked me. I managed to block them with my shield, the hobgoblin didn''t stay still, it kicked me so hard that my body bounced off, hitting a large tree and making me vomit blood. "Isn''t this too real for a simulation?" I staggeredly tried to get up, if this was a battle in the real world i think my ribs would have been broken by now. I tried to run because I knew, I couldn''t possibly win against them head-on, but an arrow then shot out and pierced my head "Thank god" If I die this means I''ll respawn in the first place and won''t have to fight them right..or atleast that''s what I thought. Well yes I''m alive again, but the location where I respawned is not where I first spawned here, I respawned right where I was kicked down. Mess up right? Thankfully I managed to withstand the attack that had made me fall before, smothered the goblin that attacked me and then stabbed it in the chest until it died. "Sigh, this is why I want rogue class" Sneaking around as a warrior somehow feels funny, but I don''t have any choice anyway since there are 10 goblins and 1 hobgoblin that I am now facing, 4 goblin archer and 6 normal goblin, well counting the goblin that I just killed, there are 11 goblins in total in this area. "Is it possible to escape? But there are 4 goblin archers there so the risk is too high. I only have 1 life left, die and the test will be completed, I don''t know how long the time has passed, but even if I wait for the time to pass to complete this test, I don''t know if they will not realize my presence" I picked up the stone lying beside me and threw it towards the west to attract their attention, the 3 goblins reacted to the sound of the stone but not the archer goblins, they were still watching the surrounding area. I stayed where I was, waiting for a chance for them to let their guard down, after a while I started moving slowly, careful not to make any noise. I carefully walked up to the goblin archer who was quite far away from the goblin herd, pulled the goblin quickly towards me then stabbed it with my sword. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. The goblin archer vanished, but unlike before, the goblin archer left behind his bow and arrow. "So there is an item drop system too huh? I don''t know if it''s effective for warrior class though" Bow and arrow is one of the weapon choices for rogue class, well it''s not like you can''t use weapons for other classes though, but it''s basically useless for basic class. Since I had no choice either so I picked up the bow and arrow dropped by the goblin archer earlier, trying to aim at the 2 goblins that happened to be close together while continuing to try to hide my presence. It''s really hard to use a bow when I''m a warrior, but I still try to focus, calming my breathing while still trying to keep my hand steady so that my shot doesn''t miss. Thwack! In the end, I only manage to kill one goblin since I''m not suitable to use bow, besides because I''m a warrior, all of my skills are based on sword and shield. I quickly tried to move, approaching the only big tree here to take cover after my position was discovered, and luckily I was fast enough to do that. I climbed the tree quickly after putting 10 stones and a bow and arrow into my storage. "KIEKKKK!" The hobgoblin shouted something that made all the attention of the remaining goblins go to him, the hobgoblin looked like he was saying something that I didn''t understand, but from his body gestures it looked like he was ordering them something. Uhoh, something bad will definitely happen soon. After the hobgoblin gave orders to all the remaining goblins, all the goblins scattered to look for me, hobgoblin? Just quietly waiting for news from other goblins. Up in the tree I didn''t stay silent, I took out a bow and arrow from my storage and aimed it at the hobgoblin, not missing the opportunity where it was just standing still. But, unfortunately since I''m a warrior class, my aim misses and ends up hitting one of the goblins not far from the hobgoblin. "Damn it" The goblin archers who realized my position then aimed it''s arrow at me and shot an arrow, I managed to respond quickly by ducking my head. The hobgoblin didn''t stay still, it hit the tree I was in with it body, making the tree tremble and making me lose my balance. I jumped while taking out my sword, trying to stab the head of the hobgoblin with the help of the jump, but unfortunately my attack missed. The hobgoblin raised it''s greatsword and attacked me vertically, I took out my shield to try and block it. It worked, but the attack was too heavy and powerful for me to withstand so it made me kneel down, doing my best to withstand the attack from the hobgoblin. "I really should run away huh" 1 goblin from my left side tried to attack me with it wooden cub, I tried to defend by kicking it as hard as I could which made the goblin bounce about 1 meter. But I didn''t count on another attack coming from my right, hitting my ribs and making me spit out blood. "Damn it" A small notification window popped up right in front of me, telling me to use my skill. "Why the hell it''s only appearing now, and how exactly do I use my skill" The text of the notification window changed, giving guidance on how to use the skill. ''remember the active skill you got and try to visualize the skill according to the name and description of your skill'' "Ah!" I remembered that I had the counter slash skill, a skill that is useful for countering the opponent''s attack with my shield and then counterattacking instantly with my sword. I tried to practice it by visualizing it in my head, then suddenly I felt that there was energy flowing through my body that gave me extra power. I suddenly felt like I could parry the hobgoblin''s attack and slash its stomach with my sword. Ding! ''Counter slash can no longer be used within 10 seconds'' "So that how you use skill huh" Ignoring my skill cooldown notification, I ran towards one of the remaining goblin archers, the remaining two goblin archers were aiming at me with arrows, but I was faster. I grab the body of one of the goblin archers then throw it at the other goblin archer, making them collide with each other before I kill them with a single stab. "KIEKKK!" Hobgoblin ordered something and 3 normal goblins advanced on me, thankfully it''s just normal goblins and the number is not so many so I manage to beat them in no time. But I don''t see goblin archer anywhere, did it run away or did it hide somewhere? Well it doesn''t matter since for now I have to focus on fighting one on one against the hobgoblins. Hopefully the time limit runs out first though. I ran forward towards the hobgoblin by positioning my shield in front of me, trying to use the shield bash skill in hopes of stun the hobgoblin. Well it failed though, either because of the level difference or I was unlucky to activate the stun. Ding! ''counter slash can no longer be used shield bash can no longer be used within 10 seconds'' ''oh so both skills have the same cooldown?'' The hobgoblin was pushed a few centimeters by my skill attack, he grinned at me, as if taunting my attack without any effect. Hooked by the hobgoblin taunt, I lunged at the hobgoblin again, getting ready to attack it without realizing there was one attack from the goblin archer that hit my shoulder. Thwack! "Oh shit" I tried to release the arrow that stuck my shoulder, however, I couldn''t move at all. "Oh come on, paralyze?" And the hobgoblin who walked slowly toward me then used it greatsword to attack me, slashing me diagonally which then split my body into two.