Back on Earth.

Peter and Miles' gaze was glued onto the Otherworld Broadcast as Noah killed the ape against all odds. Their theories were working, but it was only that–theories. Putting it into action was a mountainous task that they could never even think of achieving themselves.

It not only required a mind strong as steel, but a body to follow up on it. Just watching Noah, their friend, survive with his life on the line caused lumps to form within their throats. They were scared at every single wound that was etched onto Noah’s body. Terrified of every attack that swung his way. They couldn’t even begin to imagine what thoughts were swirling with his mind.

They knew Noah like the back of their hand. He was scared of betrayal, but fearless in a fight. Noah had defended them from more bullies than they cared to think about.

The man currently staring at a forming blue pathstone struck awe into their hearts.

“Come on Noah!” Peter and Miles shouted as their lips quaked. Their hands trembled, fearful for their friend.

“Honey, would you and Peter like a snack?” Melissa, Miles’ mother peeked her head into the room as her sweet, kind voice entered, only for her to charge in the next second as she gazed at the television.

The familiar sight of Noah caused her eyes to widen. “He was chosen?”

“He volunteered.” Miles corrected without moving his head a centimetre.

“What?” Melissa was taken aback. “What the hell do you mean he volunteered–that crazy boy!” Her usual saintly attitude was instantly replaced with rage as she planted her rear on the bed next to the boys. Her hands tightened with anxiety as her heart pulsed blood around her body.

She was well familiar with Noah. He was the kindest boy she had the pleasure of meeting. He would always give a warm smile, and never forgot to give his pleases, and thank yous whenever she brought in snacks for them. Of course, although she was getting old now, she was far from being stupid.

Noah would often come over with wounds on his face, legs, or arms–along with Miles. She knew Miles was being bullied, but ever since Noah entered his life, it slowly lessened, until no-one else dared to touch her beloved son.

It was only until she threatened Miles to take away his television did he come clean. He told her that Noah put his body on the line to protect Miles, and had taken Miles' place being bullied. He said all of this with tears falling down his face.

The scenes changed and her rage turned into fury at the next moment, then an eerie silence filled the room.

Tears formed at the corner of her eyes as she mumbled, “Oh my sweet boy–”

***

Four men and two women glared at Noah. They held their weapons tightly within their grasp. Red spilled from their wounds, a couple of them were even limping. brows knit, they still wanted the Pathway that formed.

It was a chance of rebirth–that was what it meant to have a Rare or better Pathway. The Stat difference at every Level was too good to pass up, not to mention the unique stat multiplier they granted.

Noah sprinted toward the alluring blue that hovered in the air. The fact that it was a Pathway made his heart lurch, they were incredibly hard to come by–even just a rare one.

It was ripe for the picking and he doubted anyone here could possibly stop him from obtaining it.

[Charging] forward, they were like a tank and its cannon. The soil was upturned at every step, he would make it first.

An arrow shot out from the bush at heightened speed. It was a Skill infused arrow and it was aimed at Krall’s eye.

I’ve got it Krall. Noah thought, and raised his shielded arm. A strong thud nudged his shoulder back, but the difference in Stats was clear.

Shrugging off the attack, Krall grabbed hold of the Blue Pathstone, and shifted it back to Noah. Quickly putting it into his pocket, he was set on by the group of angry survivors.

They wanted the Epic reward–they wanted his life. He could see the conviction within their eyes and it made his blood run cold.

Time slowed as he recalled sitting within the command room. AKA Peter’s bedroom.

“Noah, I know you have fought in the streets until wounds covered your body, but taking a life is different. It’s cold, and merciless. Some freeze, or puke their guts out after the fact. Some are completely fine after it, only for them to slowly lose their mind night-after-night of agonising nightmares. While with others, it doesn’t affect them whatsoever.

Only when you have taken a life will you understand what effect it will have on you personally.

All I–we–can say is goodluck, Noah.”

A man in a white school shirt, thrusted his spear for Noah. It glided past his shin guards as metal sparks flew.

Noah grunted, his eyes turned cold, and with using [Thrust], his spear forward. Click. The pain from having his arm jump out its socket didn’t even register as he watched his spear tip pierce the man's heart.

Red bloomed like a fantastical flower against his white shirt. He looked down in disbelief.

Pulling out the spear, his body fell to the ground with a squelching thud against the disturbed, wet dirt.

Noah didn’t stop there, he commanded Krall to swing his club. Powered by [Kill Command], he swung his club in a savage arc toward the closest woman.

Like the others, and Noah himself, they all were students.

But under Noah’s orders, Krall held no mercy. His club smashed against her body.

A mass of cracks and snaps sounded out into the humid jungle as her body crashed to the ground like a broken mulched beetroot sack. There was no further movement.

“Fuck!” A man with arm guards and a machete screamed as he watched his two friends die in a matter of seconds. “Stop, we’ll leave!”

Noah’s eyes remained vigilant. Just because he said the words, it didn’t mean he believed them. Using words to deceive was the most common method of all to launch a sudden attack.

But it seemed this time, he was true to his words. He gathered the rest, then limped toward the tree line.

Taking a breath, Noah stepped off Krall’s back and crouched down to the leader. His large two-handed hammer lay to the side.

He felt a draft. Noah glanced down. From the fight, or maybe before it, two buttons to his shirt had fallen off somewhere.

Not knowing why, Noah yanked the two still attached buttons from the man’s shirt, then glanced up. A pair of eyes looked at him, machete in hand, he fled further into the jungle.

What am I doing? Do I really need buttons? Noah chuckled and placed them into his pocket anyway. He wasn’t sure why–he just did so.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Then, Noah took a look at the two that he had killed. Well, Krall killed the other, but being so closely connected with his tamed companion, the feeling was all the same. Besides, he had ordered it.

Noah recalled Peter’s words. He took a deep breath and cleared his thoughts. Nope, he didn’t feel anything. So that meant he was one of the latter two.

Would he experience nightmares for days to come, or would he not feel anything from having taken their lives. If he was a betting man, he would bet on the latter.

It was one part greed, and one part survival.

He needed the strength to live. He needed to kill to survive if needs be.

Krall nudged the side of his non-injured arm and gave him a little smile. Noah, feeling a hint of warmth bubble up within him, nudged his companion back.

“Alright, let’s loot then get the hell out of here.” Noah said and got to work. But first was the Rare Pathstone he had snatched up.

His hands trembled with excitement as he pulled it out of his pocket.

You have obtained the Rare Willpower Pathstone - Attacking Tamer: The path of the attacking tamer is one of assault. The master fights on the frontlines with their tamed companion–fight, battle, bleed, they do it together as one.

| Stats per Level: Will +2, Str +1

| [Rare] bonus: Increases tamed companion damage by 10%, when their attack lands, increases the master’s next attack damage by a miniscule amount (scales with Will).

Amazing. Noah gawked.

There was no reason to immediately fuse with the Rare Pathstone. He was going to expect a little pain as jumping tiers took a toll on the body, especially jumping multiple tiers. But Common to Rare wasn’t so bad. Of course he couldn’t know for sure until he tried it himself, but it was the ongoing theory.

The most trouble was caused only when one changed from two completely different Stats. For example changing from Intelligence to Strength for instance.

If that was to happen, one would have to be extremely prepared for the consequences. Changing from Intelligence to Strength caused a great imbalance within the body, most couldn’t handle the pain.

Noah had personally witnessed someone from the Otherworld Ubos, he had obtained an Epic rarity Intelligence Pathstone, but he was only a warrior. It’s safe to say that his mind couldn’t handle the insane jump. His mind scrambled. Red poured from every facial orifice he had.

Shaking his head, Noah fused with the Pathstone and felt a searing heat penetrate his skin that then melded with his blood, and bones. He grit his teeth, but the pain wasn’t something he couldn’t handle.

After a few minutes…

You have fused with the Rare Willpower Pathstone - Attacking Tamer.

Willpower -> Attacking Tamer.

Smiling with his success, he took a look at his new stats per Level from his Pathstones, alongside the Fishing profession.

Stats per level:

Dex 1

Str 3 + 1

Con 2

Will 2 +1

Will had changed to two, instead of one. It seemed like the description of Attacking Tamer had added the one from his Common pathstone.

After all, Uncommon Pathstones granted plus one to another Stat, while Rare granted two in the primary Stat, and one in the secondary. The same went for Epic Pathstone. It would be granted three, and so on.

With his merging complete, it was time to see the other System messages.

You defeated - ??? - Level 8 Light-Spearman.

| You defeated - ??? - Level 9 Beginner Mana-shaper.

Experience is reduced for defeating enemies of a lower Level.

You are being watched.

| Naira The Shadowed Abyss has sponsored you.

| Grace Coins added.

| Akrum The Mounted Terror has sponsored you.

| Grace Coins added.

| Lokaena The Throat Slitter has sponsored you.

| Grace Coins added.

Noah sighed at the sponsors. It was true that committing homicide was a far more efficient way of earning sponsors.

Sometimes, even the more wholesome people around the multiverse would sponsor an Otherworlder for killing others. After all, it was all for entertainment, and was more entertaining than watching humans slaughter each-other?

It was also a big reason for the elder generation back on Earth for losing part of their humanity. Each day was spent watching their friends' children die, or even worse, kill each-other.

Shaking his head, Noah took the mans’ two-handed hammer into his own hands.

Common Two-handed hammer: A common two-handed hammer made of common materials granted by the System.

| Str +3, Con +2

Noah couldn’t see a situation where he would use it, but he attached it to his backpack just in case. He liked to be prepared.

Next up was a badge that he had pinned to his chest. It wasn’t a protection equipment, that much was made certain. It would have helped him before he had his neck crushed.

Uncommon Pendant Shield of Strength: Granted by a sponsor, the pendant is made from unidentifiable materials. It is etched with a strengthening enchantment.

| Str +6

Not bad. Noah ripped it off his shirt, then pinned it to his own. He felt the extra strength immediately take effect.

The man also had a couple health potions left, but it was a pitiful amount to rely on for survival. By Noah’s terrible calculations, he wouldn’t have made it close to the hub area before running out of supplies.

Unless he used his teammates like a human shield that was.

Noah grabbed hold of the Common health potion, and just as he was about to place it into his pocket, the bottle smashed within his grip.

Fuck, my strength is already at that point, huh? Snorting, Noah carefully controlled his grip strength and placed the last remaining potion into his bag.

At this rate, he would need to rely on Uncommon potions as they were of much higher quality both inside, and out. Either that, or he would just always need to be careful with his ever increasing strength. It was a reminder not to hug someone too tightly any more, lest their insides would implode.

Ignoring the grim image, Noah shifted to the man that he had killed. His face was covered in surprise, shock, and an unwillingness to die.

But all Noah could think about was that he had deserved it. He rummaged through his pockets. Unlike the leader, he didn’t even have a single common potion. All he had was the lesser variant; a couple common bandages.

Noah took them anyway, his bag had a few more spaces and he could always throw some things away later if need be.

Next up was the woman that Krall had killed. She wore a basic leather chest-piece that not surprisingly didn’t offer any protection against Krall’s empowered attack. It was also damaged beyond repair. The straps were torn off, and the lumps in Krall’s weapon had torn the leather into pieces.

Beginner Mana-shaper. Noah thought in surprise. She must have had a Magic pathstone that enabled her to use magic. Although he didn’t get to see it. She was most likely completely out of mana, as he didn’t see a mana potion anywhere.

It was the disadvantage that magic Classes had near the start as mana potions were difficult to come by. Without mana, there was no magic.

Noah was about to leave, but a small trickle of blood had wiped away the deep layer of dirt smothered on the back of her hands, revealing a faint sparkle. Raising his brows, Noah wiped away the dirt of her finger to reveal a silver ring that shone with a faint blue hue.

You even felt the need to hide it. Noah grabbed hold of it and yanked it off her finger.

It seemed that she was scared that their leader would steal her item.

Noah inspected it.

Uncommon Ring of Trace Mana: Granted by a sponsor, the ring holds trace amounts of mana that help the user in using magic for the first time. | Mana +4, Magic +3

Good find. Noah placed it onto his finger. He had no use for the item, but it was safer on his body than tucked away in his backpack. I can probably trade it for something else at the hub, if any of the others make it, that is.

It was time to leave. He glanced at the body of the armoured-ape, and the horned-keloton, but there was nothing he could do with the bodies for now.

He was certain others had their professions by now judging by the Level of the two he had killed. Along with it, the Skinning profession makes use of their pelts. However, he couldn’t exactly drag the beasts toward the hub.

Noah would just have to leave them to the jungle beasts for a nice free feast.

The leader was most likely around Level eleven, or twelve, judging by his team's Levels. But that was just because he ruthlessly used his team as his meat shield to forge a path ahead. The weak died, while the stronger lived–it was that simple. Not many could accomplish such a feat as the others would usually fight back against that.

Noah wasn’t sure why they didn’t run, but maybe they had their reasons.

Gritting his teeth, he clicked his shoulder back into place as he gazed up at the hub area.

First person to reach the hub will be awarded a World First Title.

Time left for reward gain: 33:36:19s

Level twenty… It won’t be long before I obtain my Level twenty-five Class evolution. Noah thought excitedly, then ordered Krall to head onward, toward the enormous pillar of light, and the screeching of monsters in the distance.