Relictus’s stamina finally emptied completely. In the pile of leaves in front of him, he fell. Around him were several piles of leaves, results of the Spriggans’ bodies. A light snoring could be heard, followed by a loud crash. Apparently, the leaves weren’t enough of a cushion, and his head smacked into the solid ground, hardly blocked by the leaves. However, he was too tired for this to have an effect. He simply slept. He couldn’t be bothered to notice the loud, annoying beeping that was so incessant.

“I’ll have to turn that off, later,” he thought. Right now, Relictus had 3 HP. A few seconds prior, he made an incredibly stupid decision, and halved his stats 10 times, all so that he could use Darkness Pulse. Quite effective it was, despite being fired while he was being blasted in the face by beams of pure energy.

As he was finally getting up, brushing dirt off of his face, he looked around, a groggy look in his bloodshot eyes.

“Everything’s… blurry?” He wondered. Had he been spirited away to some different dimension where everything was blurry? Surprised by this amazing development, he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t just dreaming. Nope, he just had blurry eyesight. No spiriting away was happening. However, as he had slept it became nighttime, and his stat bars had returned to their full state. Elongated shadows lingered as the dim, pale light of the moon washed down, giving the forest around him an eerie glow. Crickets could be heard, chirping away in the background. It could be called a grinding chirp – a chirp that was grinding away at Relictus’s sanity. He grunted, not entertained, and turned, walking. He felt an odd pull towards a certain direction. He had felt it after leaving the Dungeon, but it was just a mild feeling, so he had put it aside.

In no way was Relictus a morning person. He hated going to sleep, dreaming of grand adventures and beautiful scenery, only to wake up and find that nothing had changed. He was still in his own little torture chamber, trapped in those uncomfortable cotton sheets, listening to that heart monitor’s beeping that still wouldn’t end.

However, this was different. He got to sleep and wake up tired, uncomfortable, and irritable, just like always, but this time, he was free. Thus, he got up and ran as fast as he could towards the direction he was being pulled to. The wind stirred, and he just ran faster. In this game, he had no limits.

Those Spriggans had levels between 38 and 45. Somehow, despite his basic gear, he managed to outclass them with sheer power. The base damage for Darkness Pulse was somehow broken. He laughed at how lucky he was. As he contemplated how lucky he was, he remembered what that EXP screen said:

Notification from 01/12/01 of New Era

You have gained 48712318 EXP!

Due to your boosts, EXP gain has quadrupled! Gain increased to 194849272.You have gained a level!x71