Syrus had broken every doorknob in his apartment, bent seven spoons, broke three plates, shattered two glass cups, and ruined a few other stuffs. Even though Tia mentioned it beforehand, Syrus didn’t expect to break so many things in the span of a week.
He even hesitated to open the door as someone kept knocking. With the knocks getting increasingly louder, Syrus surrendered to just opening the door as carefully as possible. He still felt the knob dent as he applied pressure, but it wasn’t crushed this time.
Outside the door was Eliza looking very pissed. “I’ve been trying to call you for days!”
“Turned off my work phone,” Syrus answered plainly. “The world would be changing soon. There’s no need for me to work for companies that would be gone soon.”
“What are you talking about? They said the changes won’t affect economy very much,” Eliza said, referring to the news articles explaining the process of the integration.
“Lies,” Syrus replied. “We won’t even be able to recognize our own planet once the second integration starts,” Syrus mentioned as he began stretching.
Eliza conflicted until she noticed Syrus was stretching. “Why are you stretching?”
“I need to get used to moving around with my new stats,” Syrus explained.
“You’ve been heading into rifts?”
Syrus nodded.
“Did you get registered as a player?”
Syrus shook his head. “There’s no point. That system won’t hold out anyways.”
Eliza just kept staring at Syrus like he was crazy.
------
“890 million people in this dimension has been registered, sir.”
Martivan looked up from his work as he heard the report. He had been tasked by his elven brethren to establish the foundation of their clan in this new dimension. In order to achieve that, they needed to stay ahead of the natives.
There’s also the variables call the “Chosen”. People whose potential have been acknowledged by the system and been given the opportunity to obtain a unique class. People who would become the heroes that will lead this dimension, or the villains that would destroy it.
Dealing with Chosens were given priority since they’re recognized as the biggest threat to the growth of their clan.
“Sir, we have a problem,” a clan member rushed into Martivan’s office. “There’s already signs of the second integration.”
“What?!” Martivan stood up from his desk.
The second integration was supposed to begin after enough mana had been absorbed by the planet, otherwise, the dimensional rifts would tear the world apart. The only way the integration would be happening already is if the world was naturally compatible with mana.
But in less than a month?
“Contact the council,” Martivan spoke. “Tell them this world is dangerous.”
------
“Who’s this?” Tia asked as she entered Syrus’s apartment.
“She’s Eliza. My...”
“Friend,” Eliza finished.
Tia nodded. “I’m here to explain how the integration process works before we head into another rift and other things you’ll go through once the second integration happens.”
“This should be good,” Eliza sat on the couch with her legs crossed.
“To start, there’s five integration stages,” Tia began. “You already experienced the first. Rifts containing altered variants of the creatures in this world injects it with mana to prepare it for the second integration.”
“Goody... it cares,” Eliza rolled her eyes.
“The second integration is where monsters from other dimensions would start appearing,” Tia resumed her explanation. “Stronger monsters, but better rewards. Nexuses will also start appearing.”
“What’s that?”
“A nexus is a structure that grants powerful rewards once conquered,” Tia answered. “But the power obtained from them carries significant drawbacks, so not everyone is willing to risk it.”
“What do you mean by that?” Syrus asked, getting interested.
“Someone once obtained the power to create inextinguishable flames from a nexus, but in exchange, his body started burning from the inside. He didn’t last a year,” Tia gave an example. “Going after nexuses should only be done after getting your third Ascension.”
Syrus hummed in understanding. “Third what?”
“Ascension. Players go through 3 different power spikes. First is progression, which gives you stats based on your class. Next is Ascension, which grants you a choice of subclasses. Lastly is evolution, which gives you a huge boost in power. But unlike the first two that occurs at certain levels, evolution happens when you’re ready.”
“There’s nothing much we can do about evolution, so we shou-”
Syrus was interrupted by a powerful earthquake that shook the whole building. “No... it’s too early,” Tia spoke.
“What’s happening?!” Syrus asked, and the system decided to answer him.
The second integration has begun
Your potential has been recognized
You have gained the skill: Villain’s hoard
Villain’s hoard – open a sub-space where the flow of time has been halted. You may store any inanimate object within it.
Syrus did a quick scan of the messages and bolted towards the generators and batteries that he bought a week ago. Activating the skill, the items glitched out of existence. Syrus proceeded to use the skill on anything else he could get his hands on.
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When the walls began to crack, Tia grabbed him and Eliza by the collar of their shirts and jumped out of the window. Gluttony was summoned and caught them to break their fall, but they still had a pretty rough landing.
A moment later, the apartment building collapsed. “Damn...” Syrus muttered as the other buildings collapsed around them. He couldn’t even get his car since the garage was under the building.
People panicked around them as the ground began to crack and crumble. “We need to go!” Tia called out.
“Good thing I wasn’t wearing heels,” Eliza said as they began running.
“Where are we heading?” Syrus asked.
“We need to regroup with the others,” Tia answered.
“Whe-”
An explosion blew them away. Syrus hit the ground hard, and the last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Gluttony standing over him.
------
It finally happened. A multidimensional record-breaking event of a world going into the second integration within a month from the first.
This would result in a huge power spike for the natives. A lot of people would die, but the survivors would grow to be more powerful.
“What happened?!”
Ethan turned to see a woman with long ginger hair and an athletic build running towards him. Her teal eyes looked at him in worry as she ran across the ruined remains of their homes.
Her name is Isabelle. Ethan’s childhood friend that he failed to save during his first run. This time, he vowed to protect her. This time, they’ll survive together.
“Everything’s destroyed,” Isabella looked around in worry.
The world had changed so much in a short period of time. Where a prosperous neighborhood once stood, is now a ruin surrounded by a forest and mountains. “We need to find shelter,” Ethan stated as he grabbed Isabelle’s hand.
“How did this happen?” Isabelle muttered in a daze as Ethan pulled her away.
She was in a complete daze, which was something Ethan didn’t expect. Isabelle was normally cheerful and always wanted to look on the bright side of every situation. Ethan had never seen her like this.
------
“God damn it...” Syrus groaned as he rolled over to his stomach and pushed himself up. “His body ached, but he could manage.”
After getting up, the first thing he did was to look around. The environment had been completely transformed to the point that no one would believe there were structures here. But what surprised Syrus the most was the number of bodies surrounding him.
“What happened?”
“Chaos,” Tia answered from behind him. “A group human started attacking. Your unit and I fought eliminated them,” Tia gestured to where Gluttony was.
His body was covered in small bruises which Syrus suspected came from bullets. It was the most likely conclusion considering almost every person in America had a gun.
“Eliza?”
Tia pointed to a corner where Eliza was leaned against a boulder. “She’s fine, but hasn’t woken up yet.”
Syrus sighed. “Do I get experience from this?” Syrus gestured to the bodies.
Tia nodded. “Probably not a lot since you’re probably one of the highest-level humans in this world.”
Syrus hummed in understanding before picking up Eliza. “I’ll carry her since I’m not very useful in a fight. Where are we heading?”
“Northwest,” Tia answered. “Once we group with my clan, we need to create a shelter.”
Syrus nodded. He first needed to secure a safe place before he looks for his mother.
Tia led the way. After about three hours of walking, they arrived at a small camp where Syrus recognized a few of the goblins. Yria was at the center of the camp drawing symbols on a pillar, while the rest of the goblins were busy making a shelter.
“Is this it?” Syrus asked.
Tia nodded. “We already planned for this since the second integration is the most important stage for our survival. The elder carried a rune that we can all track in the situation that we were split apart during the second integration.”
One of the goblins led them to a hut where Syrus was able to place down Eliza on a bed.
“I’m glad you arrived safely,” the elder goblin approached them.
“Elder Morac,” Tia bowed.
Syrus recalled that hadn’t heard the elder goblin’s name before. “You guys really prepared for this.”
The elder nodded. “Yes, but we still have limits. Our growth here is restricted until the third integration, so we require your help.”
“You help me, I’ll help you,” Syrus agreed. “What do we need?”
“We need to scout the area. We don’t know what’s around us,” Tia answered.
Syrus rubbed his chin in thought. “I think I can help with that.”
------
A skinny goblin with large goggles placed down a crate full of items in front of Syrus. “These are all avian monster cores and mapping crystals.”
“Thank you,” Syrus said.
The goblin nodded in acknowledgement before leaving.
Syrus’s plan was simple. Despite Antagonizing unit having such a dramatic name, at the end of the day, its ability was to create summoned creatures. And with the guide skill, Syrus found out the most efficient summon to make for the task.
Activating his skill, Syrus found himself in the dark void once again. But this time, he wasn’t alone, Gluttony stood beside him.
“What do you wish to create?” the voice rang inside his head once again.
“I think you already know,” Syrus replied. He had already confirmed all the required materials and stamina from “Evil crafter’s guide”, so he was sure about what to make.
“As the creature you wish to make is only pawn grade, a name cannot be granted,” the voice stated. “Creation of [Outrider Ravens] has begun.”
In an instant, Syrus found himself back in the hut. Looking down, Syrus found that all the materials the goblin brought was gone. He checked his skill and summoned the ravens and, in an instant, seven birds appeared out of nowhere. They looked no different from normal ravens apart from the fact that their eyes looked like crystals.
Outrider Raven Stats: Strength: 5 Constitution: 5 Agility: 25 Dexterity: 25
Scouting eyes – every terrain seen by the user can be transformed into maps.
The stats weren’t impressive, but it had enough in the right places to do its job. “Scout the area,” Syrus ordered and the Ravens took off.
At the corner of his eyes, a holographic map started to form. He whistled in approval, seeing that his newest creations were fulfilling their purpose.
You have shown adaptability with your skill
You have gained 1 stat point in Spirit
You have gained the achievement [Adaptable survivor]
You have gained 5 stat points in Constitution
You have gained the achievement [The first scout]
You have gained a reward for your class
The messages began piling up to the point that Syrus was getting irritated, but that all went away when we saw the message at the very front.
You have gained 1 free use of [Antagonizing Unit]