SHING! SPURT!
Back inside the E-Rank Sudden Gate ‘Savage Jungle.’
Cassius danced across the damp, verdant forestscape, gliding the tip of his black spear through E-Rank monster after F-Rank monster. None survived more than three spear stabs or slashes, their corpses collapsing all over the crimson-painted lush environment.
*Ding!*
[You leveled up!]
[You leveled up!]
[You leveled up!]
[You….]
The longer Cassius fought, the more experience he obtained. And the more experience he obtained, the stronger he became. After roughly half an hour of non-stop fighting, he reached Lvl 12, his eyes now set on the large, eerily quiet cave entrance in front of him. It was dark and spooky, with several unknown howls echoing from inside. Seeing the name above this cavern, Cassius knew this was where he needed to go if he wished to continue evolving.
[Savage Fur Devil Den (E+)]
Now, there was an additional ranking separator—subtraction, no sign, and addition signs. This Boss Monster Den was of the E+ Rank, infinitely close to advancing into D-Rank. For the current Cassius, it was just dangerous enough to once again make him put his life on the line. Fortunately, with the Deadly Spear, killing had become far easier than before.
“Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to acquire new, superior items and smash them together,” Cassius commented casually. His soft footsteps echoed thunderously in the quiet confines of the wide tunnel, with not even the smallest rodents or insects making a single peep.
“This place is clearly home to something terrifying—terrifying enough to scare anything in the area. This must surely be the Boss Monster area…”
As he quickened his pace into the darker parts of the Boss Monster Lair, Cassius’s system made a brief announcement.
*Ding~!*
[Seeing as you are so enthusiastic about smashing things together like the monkey you are, what say you experience it yourself?]
[For Character Development! ^=^]
“!!!”
Before Cassius had time to comprehend the hidden meaning behind the system’s words, a large shadowy object crashed through an adjacent tunnel wall. Then, with unavoidable quickness, it rammed into him, sending his battered body flying into a nearby boulder.
BOOM!
*Kuk!*
Cassius coughed up a large blot of blood as he slowly slid off the imprint he left in the boulder. Hitting the hard, damp ground with a thud, he felt water splash against his bloodied face, a large puddle doing little to cushion his fall. Through dim vision, he watched as ripples spread across the puddle beneath him.
In front of his semi-paralyzed body was a massive, truck-sized monstrous beast. It had unusual dangling feelers, a hideous mouth full of large jagged teeth, and three pairs of beady, basketball-sized eyes. Those same disturbing eyes swam through the darkness before locking onto the half-dead human lying a few hundred meters away.
Fighting the urge to fall unconscious, Cassius knew that if he succumbed to the temptation, he might never wake again. Despairingly, he thought, ‘I really believed I had become moderately powerful… but how wrong I was.’
Realizing one hit was enough to leave him in such a sorry state greatly frustrated Cassius.
‘But what will frustration get me…? I was careless; it’s as simple as that. Even though I saw the nametag for this area to be dark red, I assumed everything would be fine because it was just a single plus sign…’
Cassius admitted his foolishness. But now, there was nothing he could do. He was certainly going to die.
However, where would the Character Development go if there was no longer a character to develop…?
*Ding!*
[Considering that the Host’s Intelligence stat is lacking compared to his other stats, the system has provided you with a hint.]
[What do you receive from each Level Up?]
‘What do I receive…?’ Cassius parroted, thinking deeply. ‘What do I… receive—’ His eyes suddenly brightened as he called for his system rewards in his mind. Excluding the unopened Skill Boxes, his groggy gaze landed on Reward #2.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Stat…us… Rec…overy.”
Like a miracle bestowed upon a mortal, a dazzling green light enveloped Cassius, its heaven-defying glow pulling him back from the brink of death.
He was fully restored.
“I see now… So those Status Recoveries are instantaneous miracle drugs, and they also stack.” Cassius glanced between his ten unused Status Recoveries and the nightmarish monster taking large, booming strides toward him.
“ROoOOooaaRrgghhh!!!”
The monster bellowed in annoyance, irritated that its prey was still alive.
Even though Cassius realized this could very well be the end, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement welling up within him. A part of him was scared—terrified, even. Yet the larger part of him yearned to fight and grow stronger. He began to crave the thrill of battle, for a battle hard-fought signified strength well-earned.
If the Idle Evolution System could hear Cassius’s thoughts, it would surely feel pride over the character development it had instilled. If it warned him of the danger beforehand, pain and the fear of death could have been avoided.
But where was the character development in that?
[*Crying tears of joy*]
Cassius’s brows twitched. “I’ll make you cry tears of pain if you keep persisting in being persistently annoying.”
[:< Seems like you need more Character Development]
“Roooarrrghh!!!”
The savage beast suddenly charged at Cassius, forcing him to dash out of the way. Luckily, he did so, because in the spot he had just occupied, there was no longer a spot to speak of. The large boulder had been utterly obliterated, with chunks and pieces flying in all directions.
Cassius felt like the system was controlling things somehow, but he instinctively knew it possessed no such ability. It simply had a keener and more fleshed-out intuition of events, allowing it to almost seem like it could see into the future. He was tempted to ask the system to use this unstated feature to his advantage, but he knew the only thing the system cared about was Character Development—which exclusively involved him getting abused in every way possible.
As the one experiencing this artificial Character Development, it was tough to tell if it was actually working. From a strictly power-driven standpoint, it had undeniably helped him evolve from the weak-willed person he once was. Yet, in moments like these—when his life hung by a thread—Cassius wondered if he had truly chosen the correct path in life.
“Well,” said Cassius, his breath coming more evenly, “in this life, there is no room for regret. And if I want to keep pushing forward, I will need to suffer more.”
[You have learned well, my padawan ^_^ Go get your ass handed to you! It is good for Character Development! And it may or may not lead you to the true features of the Idle Evolution System.]
“You really are a professional troll,” Cassius lamented as he picked up the upper part of the snapped-in-half Deadly Spear. Using only half of it reduced the Attack Stat, but that was secondary to what he had in mind.
With the grim presence of the terrifying monster reminding him not to hold back, Cassius clicked the up arrow next to a particular stat until he had no AP points left. All 24 of his AP—gone just like that.
Cassius’s piercing blue eyes flashed with a sharp electrical current as he stared at the enraged [Savage Fur Devil (E+)] charging him like a bull. Yet, for some reason, the monster’s movements appeared so slow—or, rather, Cassius was simply moving too fast.
It felt as though he had become one with the speed force as he slowly walked toward the raging monster, which still seemed sluggish in comparison. He sped up and leapt off to the side of its hideous face. As its eyes traced his afterimages, Cassius’s brows knitted together like sharpened swords, his actions emulating his steely expression.
BZZZzzzzttt!!!
SHING! SHING! SHING!
In an instant, Cassius unleashed dozens of strikes with his broken Deadly Spear. Not all of them hit their mark, but through sheer quantity alone, every single one of the Fur Devil’s eyes was stabbed at least once. Normally, this wouldn’t be nearly enough to kill a hearty monster like a Savage Fur Devil, but this was no normal situation…
SPURT!
The blood effect was applied dozens of times in a matter of seconds. When time resumed, Cassius reappeared a few feet behind the Savage Fur Devil. Relaxing his posture, he flicked the blood off his broken spear and watched as nearly a hundred slashes registered against the behemoth.
It collapsed to the ground, dead.
“Speed really is the only way to go,” Cassius remarked with a razor-sharp gleam in his gaze. He watched as system notifications bombarded his vision.
*Ding!*
[You leveled up!]
[You obtained 1 Stat Point in all of your Main Attributes!]
[You received 2 AP!]
[You cleared the E+ Rank Boss Dungeon Lair, Savage Fur Devil’s Den, subsequently clearing the E+ Rank Sudden Gate ‘Savage Jungle.’ Kill all escaped monsters in the last three waves to obtain extra rewards.]
[You leveled up!]
[You leveled up!]
[You…]
Combining the experience from killing the Gate Boss and clearing the Gate itself, Cassius leveled up several times and obtained a large number of Stat Points. Additionally, more system notifications revealed unexpected gains.
*Ding!*
[Acquired E+ Rank Item ‘Fur Devil Tail Spike’]
[Acquired E Rank Item ‘Fur Devil Gallbladder’]
[Acquired E+ Rank Item ‘Ominous Eye’]
“These are some unusual items, but I figure smashing them together will give me something massively more useful than my Deadly Spear.” Cassius raised a brow before deciding to proceed.
BANG! BAM!
After smashing together a weird squishy organ, a creepy slitted eyeball, and a large jagged tail spike, a bright light flashed. All items were quickly melted and assimilated, forming something vastly superior to their individual parts. Looking at the system tag, Cassius saw:
[Serrated Devil Blade (Melee/Extend)] - [D- Rank] |—[Attack: ~27]—|
{[Effect 1: ‘Bleed’ - (Depletes 1% Health every second for up to ten seconds. Can be stacked.)]}
{[Effect 2: ‘Serrate’ - (Partially negates the defenses of stronger opponents. Up to 30% Enemy Defense reduction.)]}
“Ho?” Cassius mused, a contented gleam in his gaze. “It seems like this will indeed be on an entirely different level than the Deadly Spear.”
He examined the one-and-a-half-meter jagged, jigsaw-like blade planted firmly in his right hand. It stood imposingly, as if ready to seek out the blood of any who opposed its master. Moreover, there seemed to be a hidden effect related to the ‘Extend’ token.
Wishing to test it, Cassius called, “Extend.” He watched in awe as the blade broke into pieces, seemingly connected by a mystical magnetic force. They dangled and swayed in systematic motion, perfectly synchronized.