The Hand of Thanatos felt heavy, but also oddly light in my grasp. As the goblins closed in, I gripped it tighter, feeling its unholy power coursing through my veins. It was like the scythe was an extension of my arm, of my body, of my very being.
Almost as if by instinct, I lashed out with the scythe, easily cutting through the first wave of goblins.
[System alert: Hand of Thanatos damage count added.]
[Damage count: +1] [Damage count: +1] [Damage count: +1]
"Holy shit, Luke, what kinda weapon is that?" Tommy called out behind me. "Where can I get one like that?"
I smiled grimly as I cut down another wave of goblins. "It's called the Hand of Thanatos. You don't want it, trust me."
[Damage count: +1] [Damage count: +1] [Damage count: +1]
"What? Why not?"
"Because," I had cut down nearly half the goblins, leaving a majority of the ranged ones left. "It seals your skills when equipped."
"Wait, that sucks. Then why are you using it?"
[Damage count: +1] [Damage count: +1] [Damage count: +1]
"There's a passive that adds damage per kill, so I'm farming that right now." I easily dodged a rainstorm of arrows and magic beams.
"That's ironic. I thought you hated farming in the games we played."
"Yeah, but I can't really do anything else at this point, since these monsters are trash," I finally cut down the last of the goblins, still feeling energetic. "Might as well farm stats, right?"
[Hand of Thanatos bonus damage: +57]
"True," Tommy caught up to me, staring at my scythe hungrily. "Hey, if you ever get tired of farming, why don't you let me borrow it for a while? I could boost the stats for you."
"Yeah, maybe later," I shrugged. "I wanna get used to the scythe right now, since I've been using a sword for so long."
We walked forward, seeing the green portal just up ahead.
"Does your scythe have any weapon Skills?" Tommy continued.
"Er... no. It does have the Bound, Restrictive, and Shrouded traits, though."
"Aww, I would've thought a cool weapon like that would've had at least one Skill." Tommy looked disappointed. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Why'd you ask? Do your weapons have Skills?"
"Yep," Tommy grinned proudly. "My Title is based around blades."
"Huh?"
Tommy stopped before the portal, turning to me. Confused, I watched him concentrate before a blue text box popped up next to him.
[Baron of the Blade (B)]
[Acquired by mastering the five Blades (Sword, Axe, Dagger, Spear, Scythe) proficiencies, mastering One-Handed & Dual-Wielding proficiencies, & obtaining the Steelforged Achievement.]
[Effect: Adds Blade-type weapon damage to all stats (except Risk). Upon equipping a Blade, allows user to ignore current Blade’s Skill limit usage.]
"Whoa, what the fuck?" I stared at the description. "Your Title's busted for Blades."
"Yeah, I know. It's pretty cool, huh?" Tommy grinned, looking quite pleased with himself. "I've been using it to train with a variety of weapons, but I haven't been able to get my hands on a good scythe yet."
I nodded, remembering how Tommy was a big fanatic on using melee weapons, especially swords and the like. It seemed fitting that his Title matched his energy. "Well, I'll let you borrow mine sometime, then."
We entered the 3rd floor, finding the dungeon atmosphere very similar to the first two. This time, a mixture of goblins and Wolfkin were my opponents, but they still fell victim to my scythe.
[Hand of Thanatos bonus damage: +102]
The 4th floor threw in some monstrous snakes and Orcs.
[Hand of Thanatos bonus damage: +146]
5th floor began to incorporate traps and undead.
[Hand of Thanatos bonus damage: +198]
On the next five floors, I went on autopilot, hacking and slashing away at the weak swarms of monsters that we came across. I struck up a leisurely conversation with Tommy as I mindlessly farmed bonus damage for my scythe.
[Hand of Thanatos bonus damage: +557]
"Whew," I slightly panted, leaning against the stone wall of the 10th floor. Tommy grinned at me, impressed.
"Damn, Luke. You've blitzed through the first ten floors in under 30 minutes. That's the fastest anyone's ever done."
"To be fair, my stats are ridiculously high."
"True," Tommy chuckled. "At any rate, at least this next part will be a surprise for you."
"Is it a Safe Zone?" I put away my scythe in my Inventory.
Tommy blinked at me in surprise. "O-oh, yeah. Guess you did your research, huh?"
"You... could say that," I replied with an awkward smile. It was just a guess, but I was mildly thrilled to have been correct. In the game counterpart, 'Last Stand' had a Safe Zone every ten floors, almost as if it were an act of mercy to players. I figured this tower had something similar, since I recognized the layout so far.
If the pattern were to continue, then I expected the next ten floors to have a different atmosphere and set of monsters. I felt a strange little guilt since I was the only one I knew of that played the virtual predecessor the longest, but then again, I only managed to reach the 30th floor.
As Tommy and I entered the portal, the Safe Zone was much nicer and grand than I expected. It was like walking into a small, fantasy town square, complete with a fountain and well-maintained gardens. The air was crisp and clean, and the sunlight shone down from a cloudless sky.
Countless other Players filled the Safe Zone with life, chatting with each other, healing their wounds, and bartering for goods. Some were even taking a break from the grind and enjoying a quick meal at one of the many food stalls. It was a surreal sight, as though I had been transported into a real-life convention for the game.
Ahead of us were two important-looking people dressed in uniforms. I figured they acted as the authorities of this place. As we approached them, they turned to face us. One was a tall, well-built man with short-cropped hair and a stern expression. The other was a woman with long, flowing hair and a kind smile.
"Welcome to the 10th floor Safe Zone," the woman greeted us warmly. "I see you're back, Tommy. Who's this with you?"
"This is Luquier," Tommy replied, gesturing to me. "He's a new Player."
"Welcome, Luquier," the tall man said, extending his hand. "My name is Nathan, and this is Lily. We're part of the GPA's Incident Prevention, making sure that Players don't cause trouble in Safe Zones. Think of us as the authoritative law for Players."
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I shook Nathan's hand, feeling the strength in his grip. "Nice to meet y'all."
"In case you didn't know, there are a set of rules for Safe Zones," Lily smiled, her voice gentle. "Even though Player damage is disabled in this area, we'd still like to keep peace between us. First, do not cause trouble or disrupt the peace of other Players. Second, do not engage or initiate any illicit activities. Third, please heed the instructions of all IP personnel, as we're most likely concerned for your safety. And finally, while Player on Player sparring matches are allowed, please do not indulge in excessive brutality."
I nodded in understanding, glancing around at the other Players. It seemed like a fair set of rules to me.
"So, what brings you two here?" Lily asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Well, I–"
"Luquier here is trying to catch up in levels," Tommy grinned, jabbing an elbow to my side. "Have you seen his stats? He cleared the first 10 floors in half an hour."
"They're not that bad," I said, shrugging modestly. "Just need some experience."
Both Nathan and Lily concentrated for a moment, then expressed visible shock. I shifted awkwardly as I could only imagine what they were thinking when they saw my absurd stats.
"So, you're basically a god among Players," Lily said, her voice tinged with awe. "It's no wonder you managed to get this far so quickly."
"I have never seen such high Risk stats," Nathan added, his expression a mix of awe and respect. "You must have been extremely lucky to have survived with such a handicap."
[Are you gonna tell them?]
I ignored Sephera's message, giving the two a timid smile. "Er, yeah, I guess."
"With those numbers, you could easily be just like one of the S-ranks," Nathan continued, his voice filled with admiration. "It's a pity you're just a newbie."
"And that's why I'm going to show him around," Tommy laughed nervously, pulling me away from them before I could process the instant irritation within me. "See you guys later!"
"I wasn't going to do anything," I mumbled to Tommy when we got far enough from the IP personnel.
"Maybe, but in the games we used to play, you always had a bad temper," Tommy smiled wryly at me. "I guess it's good you've gotten better at that."
I grunted in response, glancing over at all the other Players bustling about. Forgetting my annoyance for the moment, I couldn't help but smile at the sight. It was almost like one of the RPGs I used to play come to life, seeing real humans in a game-like setting.
"So, over there," Tommy began, pointing to several rows of booths beyond the fountain. "That's where most of the guilds have set up their recruitment booths. You're welcome to explore them all, but if you want a chance at a stronger, more famed guild, then the 20th floor Safe Zone is where you need to go."
"Right," I nodded. "I'll probably go there in a bit after I explore around."
"Already?" Tommy stared at me in shock. "Hey, even with your stats, the higher floors shoot up in difficulty, you know. Even the top Players are unable to solo floors beyond the 20th."
"I... just have a really good feeling," I replied with a sly smile. Forget the 20th floor Safe Zone, I needed to at least get to the 17th floor if I wanted to finally test out my skills. But first, I needed to know where Tommy stood with me.
"No, like, really. I know we used to say 'fuck it' in the games we played, but this is real life. You don't get to come back after you die."
"I know that," I fought the urge to laugh. "Just trust me on this."
[He's your best friend, right? You gonna tell him about your Title and Skills?]
"Not yet." I whispered back to Sephera.
[Why?]
"First, I need to see if he'll still have my back. If he comes with me, then I'll tell him."
[._.]
Tommy looked as if he wanted to argue, then shook his head. "Alright, I trust you, bro. I'll stick with you till the end. I never managed to get past the 19th floor anyway, so this'll be fun. But if things end up too dicey, I'm pulling us out." He held up a small multicolored cube that reminded me of a certain rotating puzzle, tossing it towards me.
"What's this?" I caught the cube and fought the urge to rotate the sides.
"It's an emergency warp cube," Tommy explained. "It'll warp us back to the last Safe Zone we entered."
[Name: Warp Cube | Uses: 1]
[Description: Allows user to warp back to most recently accessed Safe Zone.]
"Nice," I nodded, slipping the emergency warp cube into my Inventory. "Well, I'm going to go check out the booths. Let me know if you see anything interesting, alright?"
"Will do." Tommy nodded. "Meet back here in 20?"
"Yeah," I shrugged. "If it gets too late, we can always come back tomorrow. I'm not in a rush or anything."
"What- you're actually trolling me, dude. I thought you wanted to blitz to the 20th floor Safe Zone."
"I did, but I wanted to make sure you were on board with it." I flashed him a thumbs-up. "We'll at least get to the 17th floor today."
"Okay..." Tommy hesitated. "You know, once you get to a Safe Zone, you don't-"
"Have to go through the previous floors to progress forward, since you can just start at the last Safe Zone? Yeah, I know."
"How?"
I left without replying, heading straight to the guild booths. It seemed like Tommy was hinting that he was down to try and power through to the 20th floor Safe Zone. That was fine by me.
As I got to the guild booths, I quickly scanned around, looking at some of the representatives' stats. I made sure to use the Shrouded effect on my stats, since I didn't want a swarm of them trying to get me to join.
[Level: 160] [Level: 176] [Level: 130] [Level: 155]
Huh. Just like Tommy said, most of these guilds weren't very strong enough to handle my potential. Not that I was bragging about it, but I definitely planned to exploit my abilities as much as possible.
"Hello there! Are you interested in joining our guild 'Haymakers'?"
"Hey handsome. Fancy a spot in the 'Venus' guild?"
"We have single moms for you here if you join the 'Sugar' guild!"
I weaved my way through the Players that were browsing through the booths, ignoring their catcalls and invitations. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I had a feeling it would be something that stood out from the rest. Not that I had hope for anything on the 10th floor.
[Yeesh. None of these guilds are suited for a masochist like you :\]
"Stop calling me that," I scowled at Sephera's message. "And yeah, I know. I'm just trying to get a feel for how things are right now."
I paused, brow furrowed. "Also, I'm not really interested in joining a guild, actually. I've been solo most of the time anyway."
[You're really not helping your case...]
I was about to snap back at Sephera when a blue screen popped up in front of me.
[System alert: There is an aura of animosity directed towards you.]
Huh? Animosity? Towards me? I looked around, trying to discern the source of it. There were a few Players giving me weird looks, but nothing out of the ordinary.
[Player, it's coming from over there.]
"Where?"
[ <(._. <) ]
I turned to my left, grumbling how Sephera should've used her words instead of these annoying emoticons. I froze in place when I caught the person staring daggers at me.
She was standing off to the side, away from the booths and the bustling crowd, her eyes a glowing magenta. She wore a simple outfit, a dark gray cloak over black pants and a black shirt. Her long, dark-red hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her pale skin seemed almost luminescent against her dark attire. Even from a distance, I could feel the weight of her gaze.
[Name: Celine Saffron | Level: 1046]
[Title: Saint of the Phoenix (S)]
[Health: 3300 | Strength: 500]
[Speed: 500 | Magic: 1045]
[Risk: 0 | Stat Points: 0]
[Experience: 57%]
[Why is she looking so angrily at you? :0]
"I... have no idea..." I muttered, dropping my gaze and shuffling away. Something about her made me uneasy, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was because of her level, but it wasn't enough to match mine. Whatever it was, I wasn't planning on finding out.
Or at least, that's what I thought.
As I broke out of the crowd, jogging towards the green portal to the next floor, I caught sight of a blur moving to block my path.
"You." The woman named Celine stared at me, her magenta eyes unblinking. "You're new, aren't you?"
"Y-yes...?"
Celine's piercing gaze made it difficult for me to look away. Her eyes seemed to dig into my soul, searching for something. Answers, perhaps? I didn't know.
"What do you want from me?" I asked.
Celine paused, tilting her head slightly to the side. "I want to know why you're here."
"Huh?" I was slightly taken aback. "Er, to rest for a bit before clearing the next few floors?"
"Why? Your stats are really high. You can easily reach the 15th floor and above."
Her response made me freeze. I doubled-checked my stats to make sure, but there was no doubt.
Somehow, even with the Shrouded effect active, this woman managed to see my true stats.
****
[Name: Luquier Vaunt | Level: 17]
[Title: Reckless Immortal (A)]
[Health: 10000 | Strength: 4305]
[Speed: 4205 | Magic: 4310]
[Risk: 2075 | Stat Points: 0]
[Experience: 86%]
[Skills]
[Divinity (Passive)]
[Holy Element 17/17]
[Death’s Shadow 17/17]
[Reap 17/17]
[Final Gambit 17/17]
[Death Match 1/?]
[Achievements]
[Even Death Can't Stop Me!]
[Pick On Someone Your Own Strength.]
[Untouchable.]
[New Beginnings.]
[Items]
[Silver Serpent]
[Hand of Thanatos (+557)]
[Warp Cube (x1)]