The Gorath charged at Archie, greatsword in hand in a side-chopping motion, intent on cleaving Archie in two.
Dodging to his side, Archie activated Savage Charge, closing the short distance between himself and the Gorath in an instant. Now inside its guard, Archie activated Unstable Consecutive Strikes and delivered a flurry of jabs at its unprotected midsection.
Ducking under a swipe at his head, Archie funneled the stamina he surged into his fist towards his right leg before he spartan kicked the Gorath away in an attempt to gain enough time to recover from the backlash of his attack.
Both sets of Archie’s knuckles were skinned raw from activating his skill, and a slight numbness spread through his right foot. Normally, using Unstable Consecutive Strikes wouldn’t result in such backlash so quickly. However, the abrupt and excessive surge of stamina Archie transferred from his fists to his right leg, magnified the backlash, locking his body up.
Skidding across the ground, the Gorath activated a skill, shrouding its body in a reddish-gray steam while its upper body swelled. The now even more muscular Gorath roared, spittle spraying from its now hardened gray mouth, before kicking off the ground and hurtling toward Archie, closing the two-meter gap in less than half a second with its greatsword flailing in its right hand.
Archie, completely caught off guard by the Gorath’s sudden charge and sudden skill activation, froze in confusion. He has a skill similar to my own? Archie questioned. It had been the first time he had seen someone activate a skill so similar to his version of a power boost.
Due to the small distance between the Gorath and Archie, the Gorath smashed its fists across Archie's face with its left hand, sending him flying across the battlefield.
Archie flew through the air, brain-rattling in his skull, before crashing and tumbling into the ground, in pain. Upon crashing and tumbling into the ground, the only thought that went through his head was pain, a lot of it.
His jaw, shoulders, arms—everything, really—ached with pain, but as the pain grew so did his adrenaline. Goosebumps rippled across his body as adrenaline surged through his being, injecting liquid excitement into his brain. A wide smile grew across his face as he righted himself midair.
His feet dug into the ground as he funneled more stamina into them, to stabilize his landing. He quickly turned toward a random mage who hovered in the air, twenty meters away on his three o'clock before activating Savage Charge and quickly deactivating it before he almost crashed into said mage.
Previously where Archie stood, the Gorath slammed into the ground, creating a cloud of dust.
Archie flipped himself midair, before landing on the mage's back, foot first, kicking off him, and activating Savage Charge at the still kneeling Gorath, with his right fist cocked back. Ignoring how the mage was launched toward a lightning spear that swallowed the mage whole.
The Gorath held its greatsword’s flat side towards Archie, intent on letting its sword take the brunt of the damage from Archie’s punch. His blade was made from the finest Deepslate Steel around, how would an F-Grade human be able to damage it?
Archie channeled more mana and stamina through his Adrenaline Rush pushing it a bit over 30%, turning the steam that shrouded his body, dark red. Archie's fist smashed into the Gorath’s greatsword, producing a thunderclap that resounded throughout the battlefield, one that silenced all other lightning blasts during the moment of impact.
Archie’s gauntlet created a thumb-sized spike patch of ice on the front of the greatsword just before impact. Granting Archie the chisel he needed. The impact created spiderweb-like cracks all along the face of the blade.
The Gorath's eyes widened in surprise from both the damage to his greatsword and the force of the blow that transferred from the blade and into its body.
The Gorath, unable to regain its balance, stumbled backward, leaving its guard wide open for Archie to exploit. And exploit he did.
Archie reached around with his left hand and grabbed onto the Gorath’s long, wild ashen hair, and yanked it toward himself while cocking back his right fist.
Archie started to repeatedly smash his right fist into the Gorath’s face activating Retaliation with every hit. The sheer strength of Archie's blows shattered the bones in the Gorath's face, sending blood and spittle splattering everywhere.
But as Archie kept punching the Gorath’s face, his left hand failed to keep its grip on the Gorath’s hair from the sheer amount of blood and spittle that covered it. Not to mention how his fist kept slipping off the Gorath's face.
Archie fell to the floor beside the Gorath, his legs unable to support his body. He tried to push himself off the ground with both hands, but a sharp pain flowed through his right hand. Looking down at his right hand, he only was able to see gushing blood and broken bone, not a hint of unblemished skin. Heaviness filled his heart as he felt the pain rush at him. Tears welled up in his eyes, before shouting in rage, instinctually activating Taunt and blasting the Gorath at point blank.
He looked at the downed Gorath, he threw himself atop the Gorath, channeling Unstable Consecutive Strikes into his left fist, and slammed it into its face repeatedly all the while shouting in rage.
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Archie, now out of breath, stared at the bloodied, unrecognizable face of the Gorath.
He had been punching with his left hand, for what felt like an eternity, making it end up in the same situation as his right... well, to call it a fist would be generous. Looking down at the mangled face of the Gorath, its brain was now exposed from its thick skull, but its body was already starting to recover.
"This is fucking bullshit," Archie's voice barely a murmur.
Archie could do nothing as slowly saw its body heal and would eventually recover enough to kill him, while he, himself, currently couldn’t move as he felt his stamina reserves bottom out.
Helplessness and despair started to fill his mind, the Effigy of Wrath had long since run out, unsure of what to do now with no hands and stamina remaining within him. But, as though a sign from God arrived, a glint of light shined from his peripheral vision.
Turning around, Archie saw it, The greatsword, Archie remembered. The tool he needed.
Archie, now filled with hope, used all the remaining stamina within his body to scramble off the Gorath and towards the greatsword. Looking at the handle of the greatsword and his nubbed hands.
"Fuck it," Archie growled.
Archie grabbed the crossguard of the greatsword with his forearms and staggered towards the Gorath, the tip of the blade dragging across the ground.
Upon reaching the Gorath, he saw that its face which he had mangled had almost healed, but its brain was still somewhat visible. Quickly as he could, Archie placed the tip of the greatsword into the section of the Gorath’s skull where the brain was visible, but due to its hyper regeneration, the skull regrew around its brain, pushing the greatsword’s tip away.
But the skull wasn’t fully grown, it was still fragile. Archie cast Hex of Enfeeblement with his right arm, the hex launching from his broken radius and splashing atop the head of the Gorath. Gritting his teeth he repeatedly slammed his shattered right arm atop the pommel of the greatsword, digging deeper into its skull.
With a final slam onto the pommel of the greatsword, a ding resounded within Archie’s head, filling him with untold relief before falling onto the ground. Archie’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and darkness filled his mind.
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Opening his eyes, Archie saw both the grey-blue sky of the battlefield as well as system prompts. A cracked chuckle released itself from Archie as the memory of what happened replayed itself in his mind.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
*[Gorath Lv 62//Hulking Juggernaut Lv 60//Adept Commander Lv 55] has been slain – XP has been given. 682 Tutorial Points given*
*Your Class has reached Lv 47 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
***
*Your Class has reached Lv 49 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
*Your Race has reached Lv 46 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
Skill Upgrade: [Basic Martial Combat Mastery (Initiate → Uncommon)]
Basic Martial Combat Mastery (Uncommon):
When without a weapon, what other weapon can you rely on except your body and unrelenting anger? Grants knowledge of basic martial combat.
Quest: Flawless Evolution
As an F-Grade sentient human, you have the option of evolving your class or profession as soon as your race reaches level 49. Doing so will allow you to evolve your race to E-Grade and allow your class or profession to evolve and receive a bonus in stats. However, if you choose to prolong your evolution until you reach level 49 in both your class and profession, you shall receive a substantial boost in both records and stats. All XP gained by class or profession actions will be funneled into race when max level within they reach their respective maximum level.
Do you accept this quest?
Looking at the sudden lengthy quest prompt with bleary eyes, he had to reread the system prompt a few times before understanding what it entailed.
“I accept the quest,” Archie replied, his voice barely audible.
Flawless Evolution
Objective: Reach max level in Race, Class, and Profession before evolving 1/3
Reward: Flawless E-Grade Evolution title.
Looking at the final system prompts, Archie sighed in relief.
Gauntlet Challenge Dungeon
Objective 2: Kill the Juggernaut 1/1 ✔
Reward: Nature-Attuned Class Skill Book (Uncommon)
Gauntlet Challenge Dungeon
Would you like to proceed to the final stage?
Time Remaining: 15:42:18
Opening his status page, he blanched at what he saw.
Archie Gracefield
Race: Human F-Grade Lv 46
Class: Warrior Lv 49 [Evolution Pending]
Profession: Shaman Lv 39
Health: 257/2068
Mana: 27/650
Stamina: 32/1170
Stats:
Vitality: 197 (206)
Strength: 197 (206)
Endurance: 117
Agility: 157
Intelligence: 157
Wisdom: 65
Willpower: 65 (68)
Perception: 140
Free Points: 15
Skills:
Basic One-Handed Weapon Mastery (Uncommon)
Basic Light-Shield Mastery (Common)
Identify (Initiate)
Savage Charge (Rare)
Adrenaline Rush (Epic)
Warrior's Resilience (Rare)
Nature's Meditation (Epic)
Mana Manipulation (Uncommon)
Spirit Link (Epic)
Effigy-Carving (Common)
Material Insight (Uncommon)
Retaliation (Uncommon)
Hex of Enfeeblement (Uncommon)
Unstable Consecutive Strikes (Rare)
Taunt (Uncommon)
Shatter Spirit (Common)
Basic Martial Combat Mastery (Initiate)
Bloodline:
Adrenaline Junkie (Unique) [+5% to Strength and +5% to Willpower]
Affinity:
Greater Nature Affinity (Epic)
Titles Collected:
Bloodline Progenitor [+10 Vitality and +5% Vitality]
Tutorial Points:
10,684
“That was…close,” Archie exhaled, his Warrior’s Resilience skill not triggering due to combat ending after the Gorath died.
While lying on the ground he activated Nature's Meditation, intent on trying to heal as much as he could before the time ran out.
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Exiting Nature’s Meditation, Archie looked at his arms and saw that his right hand was almost healed. His right hand looked just as it did before but now with a striking shade of pink.
Archie’s left hand unfortunately was still in the middle of regrowing. Looking at his status page once more, he saw that his health, mana, and stamina reserves were back at 100%.
“I guess missing limbs don’t really affect the health pool,” Archie mumbled to himself while taking out and activating an Effigy of Healing. “Maybe they only start to heal when my reserves are topped off?”
Getting up from where he lay, he remembered that he received a skill book as a reward.
After a few minutes of looking, the skill book wasn’t anywhere around him. Getting an idea, Archie checked his spatial ring and saw the skill book, causing him to pull it out and Identify it.
Nature-Attuned Class Skill Book (Uncommon):
A skill book containing a nature-attuned class skill at Uncommon rarity. Grants the skill Thorns.
Opening the book with his right hand, a glowing green light erupted from the pages, blinding Archie for a moment.
Shaking his head and blinking, he noticed that the book in his hand vanished and a rush of knowledge flew into his brain.
Skill Gained: [Thorns (Uncommon)]
Thorns (Uncommon):
You are able to conjure transparent vines atop your limbs, and when channeling mana into said vines, translucent thorns will emerge atop them. When striking a foe with Thorns active, bonus physical damage is dealt with every strike. The damage of the Thorns is proportional to the amount of mana imbued in them.
Looking at the time remaining, Archie saw that he had an hour left until time ran out and decided to wait out as much as he could until his left hand regenerated in full.
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His left hand now fully regenerated, Archie mentally accepted to jump to the final stage.
The battlefield vanished around him and brought him into a familiar bright white room. Looking around, he saw nothing in sight. That was until he heard a soft cough behind him.
Twisting his body so fast and giving himself minor whiplash, Archie saw the most beautiful being he had ever seen.
The being looked too beautiful to exist, easily a billion times more beautiful than the most beautiful celebrity, but he sensed something from it, something he could not explain.
The being opened its mouth and started to speak, but all Archie heard was gibberish. Seeing the confusion on Archie’s face, the being stopped.
Identifying the being, Archie blanched.
[?]
Archie’s eyes went wide when he heard the words, “Hello there human,” from within his mind.
Am I going insane? Archie questioned, taken aback at the sudden female voice in his head. He had heard such a thing happening to those who watched too much of those ‘unique’ cartoons. But he had never watched them…well he might have watched only a few…
The being in front of Archie placed its hand atop its mouth and released a soft giggle that resounded within Archie’s head.
“I am speaking into your mind as you do not understand the U.S.L, Universal Standard Language.” The being spoke into Archie’s mind.
Huh?...Oh, ok…Archie answered the being, before gaining his bearings. Who are you? What are you?
“I am Thalindra a Litharri,” the being responded. “Who are you?”
I am Archie, a human… Archie answered.
After a few seconds of silence, Archie tried to break the silence by asking, So…Uh…What now?
Thalindra smiled and responded, “I am the dungeon’s creator, and you have completed the gauntlet dungeon.”
Cool… Archie said while scratching his head. Now what happens?
“Technically you could leave now, but I wish to speak a few things to you before you leave,” Thalindra answered.
Ask away, Archie replied, this was the first human…interaction he’d had since meeting with the system aspect, he’d missed talking to someone other than himself. Humans are social creatures after all.
“You have performed exemplarily well within the gauntlet challenges. So well, in fact, I replaced the original second stage with the final stage,” Thalindra complimented, a smile growing on her face. “Any Thoughts you wish to share on it?”
Nodding in gratitude at her compliment, he answered, The jungle temple stage was pretty easy, to say the least…Once I got over the killing part. But while painful... The Gorath fight was amazing.
Thalindra started to walk around Archie and asked, “Would you mind telling me the rarity of your Nature Affinity.”
You could tell that I have a Nature Affinity? Archie questioned with a surprised expression on his face, one that she seemed to be able to see by her growing smile. Probably a skill of sorts.
“Kinda of,” Thalindra answered noncommitted before responding to his first question, “Any being with a Nature Affinity can instinctively know when another has one, no matter the rarity.”
Oh, is that what I felt from you? Archie asked and received a nod from Thalindra.
I have a Greater Nature Affinity at epic rarity, Archie answered while reading off his status page.
Thalindra visibly looked taken aback... A Greater Nature Affinity at epic rarity? That’s…You are an F-Grade, correct?
Gaining a curious expression, Yeah, that is the requirement to enter the dungeon. Archie replied, confused at her question.
“But…That’s…I’ve never heard of anyone having such a high affinity at F-Grade. Even if they were from a newly integrated universe.”
I was in a Shaman Profession Dungeon made by someone called Myrddin Oaken and by helping a bear I got a Sapling of Nature. After absorbing it, the system said it unlocked my slumbering nature affinity. Archie replied, explaining how he got his affinity unlocked.
“Hmm…Even then getting a greater affinity in anything is rare, even at my grade. In my grade alone probably only a couple thousand people have the same affinity you do at the same rarity.” Thalindra replied
“So, it’s not that rare, then? If a couple thousand people have it, it should be pretty common, right?” Archie asked, his voice laced with confusion.
“You misunderstand due to being newly integrated, a thousand people in the multiverse is nothing. There are planets that house a myriad of races in the sextillions, and those planets are considered small."
"A thousand people within the multiverse is less than a drop of water in the ocean,” Thalindra emphasized.
Oh…That’s something, Archie said, trying to wrap his mind around the number of people that would be living in the multiverse.
Wait, what is your grade? Archie asked remembering what she said a few seconds prior
“I am an A-Grade being,” Thalindra answered.
Oh wow… Archie once more looked taken aback. How strong was she?
Staring into Archie’s eyes, causing him to get a bit uncomfortable, Thalindra asked him, “Would you like to join the Nature’s Covenant? A faction ruled by Yggdrasil, the first God of the Multiverse. It can help cultivate your growth by offering a multitude of resources and mentors.”