“Well, that was something,” Archie said aloud exiting the Assistant village, "If vampires exist, I guess that means other undead exist. How would a skeleton move though?.. Probably related to mana.
After walking for a few minutes beyond the Assistant village, Archie spotted a group of people making their way towards the village. No, wait… Are they heading towards me? Are they from the camp or the cult?
The group consisted of a female mage at the back left, a female archer at the back right, two male warriors in the middle, and a male vanguard leading at the front. They all wore armor slightly superior to the basic gear provided by the system, Archie noted. The mage had two distinguishing pieces of equipment that distinguished her from the mages he’d seen at the camp; her ebony-colored wand with a purple tip and a cowl atop her head. While the vanguard carried a large shield that resembled the exoskeleton of the giant crabs found at the beach.
Archie stopped and waited as the group approached. When they reached him, they exchanged glances before the vanguard stepped forward and addressed him. “You, Archie?” he asked in a rough voice as if he hadn’t spoken in a long time.
Archie nodded. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“Our leader wants you to visit our camp,” the vanguard replied, staring directly into Archie’s eyes, his shield arm trembling a bit.
Is he nervous? No...It's something else, Archie thought. Glancing at the rest of the vanguard’s team and noticed something peculiar: the archer’s right eye kept drifting off to the side, while the warriors' necks twitched erratically.
Something is definitely off here, Archie thought looking at the rest of their team. Michael wasn’t exaggerating when he said that Oliver did something to them.
“Sure, I’ll visit when I get the time. But I can’t right now though, I have a couple of things I gotta do first.” Archie replied before Identifying them.
[Human Lv 44]
[Human Lv 45]
[Human Lv 46]
[Human Thrall Lv 52]
[Demonic Human Lv 53]
This isn’t good, Archie thought as his eyes settled on the mage at the back. She was the only demonic human in the group—and the only one not twitching. Instead, she had an unnerving smile on her face, her gaze locked directly onto him.
"You need to come with us. " The vanguard shook his head at Archie's response, before making a move to grab Archie’s arm. “Now,” his tone was flat, leaving no room for discussion.
Archie narrowed his eyes, sidestepping the vanguard's grab. The previously eerie mood flipped and became tense.
“You don't grab someone like that. No one taught you that?” Archie replied, his tone dry as he stared at the vanguard.
The tension snapped in an instant. The archer raised her bow, an arrow ready. The mage’s hands glowed with energy, and the warriors unsheathed their blades, all pointed straight at him. So much for talking, Archie thought, preparing himself for the fight ahead.
Archie quickly activated Adrenaline Rush and Thorns, a dark red hue emerging from his body and thorny vines wrapping themselves around his arms. Archie dodged the arrow and the blue bolt from the archer and mage before activating Savage Charge towards the mage.
Archie disappeared from in front of the vanguard to being directly in front of the mage. Her eyes widened at Archie’s sudden appearance. Just as Archie was about to cave her head in, a blue translucent wall appeared between him and the mage.
Archie’s fist struck the wall, creating a deep dent and sending spiderweb cracks racing across its surface. The mage’s cowl’s hood flew back revealing the face of the mage. She had long dirty blonde hair, blackened sclerae, and two horizontal healed claw marks under her right eye.
Just as he prepared to hit it again, he sensed movement behind him. Reacting instantly, he jumped upward, evading a slash from one of the warriors’ swords.
The second warrior saw his chance, taking advantage of the brief opening as Archie hung in the air. With a burst of speed, he activated a skill, launching himself at Archie. Probably Warrior’s Charge, Archie thought.
Archie twisted just in time to avoid the warrior’s blade aimed at his face, though it left a shallow cut on his cheek. Without hesitation, Archie activated Retaliation and delivered a powerful side punch to the warrior’s liver midair.
The impact sent the warrior hurtling twenty meters, crashing to the ground with the right side of his armor heavily dented and covered in various puncture marks, courtesy of Thorns.
Archie landed smoothly, but before he could regain his stance, an arrow struck his chest. The tip of the arrow bent, barely pushing him back, thanks to the Greater Physical Resistance effect granted by his chest piece. It caused no real damage.
The warrior he previously dodged lunged at his back once more while the vanguard that tried to grab him released a shout as he charged at Archie.
The sudden shout locked Archie in place for a second, it didn’t really matter, to be honest. The warrior and vanguard were too far to have done anything, the Archer was pulling out another arrow from her quiver and the mage was muttering a long chant.
But it did not matter that the taunt barely did anything. No matter how minor of an effect, it did something. It reminded him of when he stood locked in place as his friend got mauled by the mountain lion. Maybe if he was a bit faster, maybe if he wasn’t scared his friend wouldn’t have bled to death.
A guttural roar erupted from deep within Archie’s chest, raw and primal. The force of his Taunt rippled through the air. The mage coughed up blood, her chant cut off by the sudden surge of energy, pushing her back and locking her in place, causing a painful mana reflux. The others staggered, struggling to regain their footing as the Taunt’s power shoved them away.
Archie activated Savage Charge at the warrior and released an arcing punch straight at his face. The force of Archie’s punch struck the warrior’s unprotected head, tearing it from his neck and sending it flying.
Archie quickly pivoted and activated Savage Charge, charging at the vanguard while they were still stunned. Just as he was about to deliver a punch, the vanguard raised his shield, having seemingly shaken off the lingering effects of Archie’s taunt.
Archie activated Relentless Flurry, the shield started to crack from the blows, however, the vanguard seemingly activated a skill causing his large shield to glow an inky blue color. Archie’s blows, previously creating cracks on the shield, were now dampened.
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Noticing this, Archie channeled more mana and stamina into Adrenaline Rush, causing the red hue to darken and small clots of blood to start to appear under his skin. Each blow dealt more damage, creating cracks once more, however, the vanguard wasn’t done; a larger translucent dark blue shield projected itself atop his shield.
Definitely evolved into some type of shield-focused class, Archie thought as he kept up his flurry of punches. The mage and archer weren’t idle either, the effects of Archie’s Taunt seemingly wore off. The archer sent a charged-up attack at the side of his head while the mage cast a jet-black mana bolt at Archie’s back.
Archie sensed the danger coming from the left side of his head and leaned backward, stopping his flurry of punches to dodge the arrow coming at him. However, he didn’t notice the mana bolt coming at him until it penetrated through his armor and disappeared once it penetrated two inches into his upper back.
Archie took advantage of the mage’s attack and quickly activated Retaliation and Relentless Flurry. His fists hammered against the vanguard’s shield with relentless force, easily shattering it into pieces. Despite the shield's destruction, Archie’s punches maintained their momentum, effortlessly penetrating the vanguard’s chest.
Archie quickly ripped his arm out of the now dead vanguard and faced his three remaining attackers. I’ll leave the mage for last; she seems to be the only one who isn’t badly affected by what Oliver did, Archie thought.
He kicked off the ground towards the warrior who struggled to push himself off the ground. Upon reaching the warrior, Archie front kicked his head, producing a loud cracking sound, sending him tumbling across the ground and going limp.
The archer began to shake as Archie turned his gaze toward her, tears welling up in her eyes. She spun around and bolted, screaming, “No! Please!”
Archie dodged another mana bolt from the mage and activated Savage Charge, closing the distance in a flash. He appeared in front of the fleeing archer and crushed her head with a single punch. Now, only the mage remained.
The mage began to backpedal as Archie approached, her voice trembling. “We can talk! I give up!” Her arms flailed wildly, desperation clear in her movements.
Just as Archie was about to reach her, she stumbled and conjured a magical dome around herself. Archie clicked his tongue in frustration and began pounding on the barrier. On the third strike, the dome shattered, and Archie grabbed the mage, lifting her before slamming her back into the ground.
“Why do you want me at your base?” he demanded, staring down at her tear-streaked face.
“No! Please stop!” the mage pleaded, but her cries went unheard.
Just as Archie prepared to strike her again, a wave of magic surged through him. His body burned with heat, his mind fogged, and his eyes grew heavy. Staggering backward, he felt disoriented, the world around him blurring and losing focus.
“You really thought you had me, didn’t you?” The mage said, eyes wide.
A smirk crept across the mage’s tear-streaked face as she opened her palm, revealing a shattered gemstone. She began chanting, forming a large jet-black mana bolt aimed straight at Archie’s head.
“Too bad you never saw this coming!” She cackled as the bolt left her wand.
Goosebumps prickled along his spine, his heartbeat raced erratically, and his brain felt electrified as if he’d injected a hundred cups of liquid caffeine into his veins. His adrenaline spiked, higher than ever before.
Color vanished. Sound vanished.
Time seemed to slow, everything around him moving at a crawl. Archie’s gaze locked onto the jet-black mana bolt hovering inches from his face. If this hits me, I’m dead, he thought.
Moving as slowly as everything else around him, Archie realized he couldn’t dodge in time. His mind raced for a solution and settled on one desperate option. He decided to flood his active Adrenaline Rush skill with as much mana and stamina as it could handle.
Archie forced every drop of mana and stamina he could control to flood his limbs.
Blood started to poke out from under his eyes as he started to tilt his head to his left. It still wasn’t fast enough. He needed to be faster. The bolt was milliseconds away from striking his face.
Archie pushed even more mana and stamina into the skill, he became faster, but now his ears started to bleed. The bolt would miss his brain, but he would still take damage. What would I lose? Lower right jaw. Acceptable, Archie thought, his brain overheating from the amount of mana and stamina flooding through it.
Color returned. Sound returned. Barely four seconds had passed since the mage launched her attack.
The girl burst into maniacal laughter as she watched the bolt pierce through Archie’s head, knocking it back. Her laughter abruptly stopped when he straightened up, revealing the lower right side of his face was missing, yet his gaze remained fixed on her.
Her heart sank as Archie took a step forward. Then another. A puddle formed beneath her as fear gripped her body. “I-I didn’t mean it,” she stammered, shuffling backward in terror.
Archie loomed over her trembling form, then seized her leg with a swift motion and shattered it with a powerful kick. Her agonized scream pierced the air.
“Why did you want me at your camp?” Archie demanded, his voice guttural and filled with fury.
“W-We... O-Oliver w-was g-going t-to s-sacrifice y-you,” the mage choked out, tears streaming down her face. “But I won’t tell him anything! Just let me go!” Her eyes darted frantically as she pleaded.
Archie nodded, and for a brief moment, hope flickered in her eyes. Then, he lifted his right foot above her head. Horror returned to her face just before he brought it down, crushing her skull instantly.
Archie scanned the area, confirming no one else was around. He deactivated all his active skills except Adrenaline Rush and quickly pulled out an Effigy of Healing, cracking it with a mana string. His wounds started to mend quicker as Pugilist’s Grit was still in effect.
Wasting no time, he gathered his fallen attackers' bodies into his spatial ring and sprinted toward the Assistant village. If anyone was watching from a distance, I need to vanish now. Rest can come later, he thought.
Archie raced through the village, leaping over the central fountain before landing atop the nearest building. He dashed across rooftops until he reached the village walls, vaulting over and rolling upon landing before disappearing into the jungle’s dense undergrowth.
***
Archie made sure he gave them the slip by zig-zagging in between the jungle foliage and disappearing into the tall leafy branches. He used his markings on the trees to locate his base. After running through the forest at top speed for an hour, Archie reached his base’s open ceiling, and, making sure no one followed him, he jumped down.
Archie then went into one of the dark tunnels and deactivated Adrenaline Rush. Falling onto his ass, Archie tried to calm his erratically beating heart with deep breaths.
After a few minutes of deep breathing, Archie managed to calm his heart and look through his notifications.
*[Human Lv 44//Warrior Lv 42//Novice Leatherworker Lv 20] has been slain – XP has been given. 8024 Tutorial Points given*
*[Human Thrall Lv 52//Dark Bulwark Lv 50//Novice Tanner Lv 10] has been slain – XP has been given. 12956 Tutorial Points given*
*[Human Lv 45//Warrior Lv 44//Novice Potter Lv 25] has been slain – XP has been given. 8562 Tutorial Points given*
*[Human Lv 46//Archer Lv 30//Tailor Lv 27] has been slain – XP has been given. 9874 Tutorial Points given*
*[Demonic Human Lv 53//Dark Adept Lv 50//Novice Tailor Lv 16] has been slain – XP has been given. 15021 Tutorial Points given*
*Your Class has reached Lv 56– Points allocated, +4 Free Points*
*Your Race has reached Lv 57– Points allocated, +3 Free Points*
Skill Upgrade: [Adrenaline Rush (Rare → Legendary)]
Adrenaline Rush (Legendary):
For a period of time, you experience a huge surge of adrenaline, enhancing all physical attributes by 45%. However, the intense exertion puts a strain on the body, leading to temporary exhaustion once the effect wears off. Activating beyond 45% will cause heavy physical damage and mental exhaustion. Heavily Touched by the records of Adrenaline Junkie.
Skill Evolved: [Basic Martial Combat Mastery (Uncommon) → Wrathful Martial Combat Mastery (Uncommon)]
Wrathful Martial Combat Mastery (Uncommon):
Harness your fury to unleash devastating blows; your fists become relentless instruments of destruction. While in a wrathful state, each strike you land minorly increases the damage you deal.
Skill Upgrade: [Taunt (Uncommon → Rare)]
Taunt (Rare):
Your presence on the battlefield alone garners the attention of others, but when issuing a taunt, it is a deliberate challenge that no foe can ignore. With a guttural roar that reverberates across the battlefield, you shatter the wills of weak-minded individuals and disrupt even hardened foes. Forces all enemies within a Perception-USM radius to focus solely on you, stunning those with lesser resolve and briefly disorienting stronger opponents.
Title Gained:[Legendary Innovator]
Legendary Innovator:
Despite the fact that you are still in the early stages of your development, your achievements outperform those of prior generations within your grade. By developing a Legendary skill in E-grade, you have proved yourself as a truly Legendary Innovator. Effect: +20 to all Stats and +10% to all Stats.
“Holy crap,” Archie said after looking through his notifications.