The sound of fist striking a heavy bag echoed throughout the dojo. Jayde Starfell's punches came in quick succession, each one more precise than the last. The fluidity of his movement showed off his years of training, but his mind was somewhere else entirely. The World Tournament was tomorrow, and despite being the top-ranked student at a prestigious Martial Arts Academy, Jayde felt a hollow emptiness inside.
This feeling stemmed from the fact that he had already won the tournament the past 2 years, and the first time he was only fifteen years old. It truly seemed like there was no fighter that could challenge him. His entire life had been comprised of training, and now at seventeen years of age, Jayde has reached the pinnacle of martial arts. With so much life left to live, he was completely unsure on how to live it. Growing any stronger seemed like a pointless endeavor.
'I hope there's someone that'll at least give me a slight challenge tomorrow.' Jayde groaned internally before sending the bag flying into the wall with a side kick.
"How many times do I have to tell you that those bags are expensive, Jayde?" His Master inquired with a frown.
"uh... I'm sorry, I got carried away again." Jayde replied with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
“You never change.” His Master sighed while shaking his head, a small smile on his face.
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Jayde shrugged, before wiping the sweat from his brow, and heading to the locker room.
After changing, Jayde began to stroll towards his home. The city always seemed so peaceful at night. Streetlights cast a warm glow over the empty sidewalks, and the occasional car passing by made the city seem more lively. As he was walking, Jayde started to have eerie feeling gnawing at his gut. The further he walked, the stronger it got.
‘What’s this feeling?’ Jayde inquired within his mind. His senses on high alert. Something felt ominous.
The sound of a scuffle broke the silence of the night. It was coming from a nearby alley. Jayde began to approach it tentatively while keeping his guard up.
‘Am I really doing this?’ Jayde questioned himself as he got closer.
When he arrived at the alley, he saw a group of seven men surrounding a teen not much younger than himself. Without any hesitation, Jayde leapt into action. He reached the group within the blink of an eye. The closest assailant was greeted with a flying kick straight to his jaw, Knocking him out instantly.
“What the hell?!” One of the men exclaimed before charging at Jayde with his right fist drawn back.
Jayde watched the man approach with a bored look on his face. He then effortlessly weaved the punch before responding with a lightning-fast uppercut, sending the man flying into a wall. He sensed another assailant approaching from behind, so he torqued his body and delivered a spinning heel kick to the attacker's jaw.
“You think you’re tough?” One of the remaining four men spat, before he and one other brandished knives.
“No…” Jayde responded simply before beckoning them to attack.
Both men let out battle cries as they charged. They began to slash wildly, but none of their strikes were landing. Jayde was navigating through the strikes with ease, and when the opportunity to counterattack came, He did just that. One of the men had overextended his slash. Jayde used the attacker's momentum against him by grabbing his extended arm in an ironclad grip, before spinning him around and forcing him to stab his ally in the shoulder. Immediately after stabbing his friend, He was brutally kicked at the base of his spine, causing him to fall atop his ally.
“I know I am.” Jayde stated, his gaze full of dissatisfaction.
“Le-let’s get out of here!” One of the remaining 2 men exclaimed with fear.
"You really think I'll just let you leave?" Jayde questioned them, his voice cold.
The last man, who seemed to be the leader, glanced at his accomplice, "You can leave if you want, but I'm no coward..." He spoke as he removed his jacket and settled into a fighting stance. "... I'll fight to the end."
"That's what I like to hear." Jayde commended with a smirk before lowering into his own stance and narrowing his eyebrows in concentration.
The group leader proceeded to charge at Jayde with his right fist cocked back.
'Not this again...' Jayde thought plainly as he prepared to dodge the obvious attack.
When the attacker reached Jayde, He let his fist fly, but pulled it back at the last moment, throwing a kick with his left leg instead. This caught Jayde off guard, he had underestimated his opponent. Though he was still able to get his right arm up to block the kick. The attack didn't stop there, the leader immediately started throwing punches and kicks at an abnormal pace. Jayde responded by parrying and dodging the strikes.
'Hmmm, He's much more skilled than his lackeys, but it still won't be enough.' Jayde comments to himself before going on the offensive.
He threw a quick straight punch to the mans nose, stopping his assault in its tracks. Jayde then sent a rally of kicks to the leaders body, likely shattering several ribs. This caused the thug to drop to his knees in agony, and prepare for the worst. As Jayde stalked towards the downed man, one of the onlookers noticed something strange.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
The boy that was currently being saved noticed a metallic glint out of the corner of his eye. 'What's that?' he thought to himself before fully turning and being horrified at the sight before him.
The man that had been stabbed was in possession of a firearm, and it was pointed directly at Jayde's back.
"HEY, LOOK OUT!" the boy exclaimed as loud as he could.
"What is I-" was all Jayde managed to get out before he heard it.
BANG! BANG!
Two gunshots rang out, and before he knew it. Jayde found himself on his knees. The was a searing hot pain coming from his chest, and it reverberated throughout his entire body. He looked down and saw an abundance of blood spilling out of his body. Losing strength by the second, Jayde couldn't stop himself from falling into a pool of his own blood.
'No... no... not like this...'
'I can't die now...'
'There's so much left for me to do...'
'I'm too young...'
'Dad...'
'Mom...'
'Emy...'
'I don't wanna die!'
The muffled sounds of the boy's cries for help slowly faded away as Jayde choked on his own blood, dying before he ever got to truly live. Moments later, everything went dark.
Weightlessness... that was all he felt as he traversed through an empty void. There was no sense of time or direction, just aimless drifting. As Jayde was beginning to surrender to the emptiness, a voice stirred him from his stupor.
"Jayde Starfell, your life was extinguished prematurely. Are you content with its end?" an ethereal voice echoed throughout the void.
"No... " Jayde answered almost immediately.
"Then I shall offer you a second chance, in a world much different than your own. However, you will be tasked with defeating The Messiah, the malevolent ruler of the Adherent's. This world will allow you the privilege of growing in strength and acquiring skills, but these skills will be dependent on the class that is selected for you. Do you accept?" the voice exposited.
"Yes I do, but uh... how will my class be selected?" he inquired.
"It will be chosen at random, the beings of this world are born with an innate class, so you will be given an innate class as well. Now then, I shall send you on your way." the voice replied, the void then began to fill with light.
"Wait, I have more questi-" was all Jayde could say before everything went black again.
The sound of nature filled his ears, he opened his eyes to a lush green forest. Jayde had never seen a forest like this before, living in the city his entire life was probably the reason for that. He stood up and took in his appearance, as far as he could tell, his body was still the same.
'I wonder what class I was given.'
A holographic screen appeared in front of him, the word status along the top of it. Jayde studied it intently. There was an image of his face, showing his striking features, his raven hair and stunning emerald green eyes. He then looked towards the other information and gaped.
Name: Jayde Starfell
Class: Ranger
Level: 1
Height: 191 cm
Weight: 83 kg
Stats:
Vitality: 14 - Measures overall heath, recovery rates, and resistance to ailments.
Strength: 20 - Determines physical power and ability to carry heavy objects.
Dexterity: 27 - Affects agility, accuracy, and reflexes.
Endurance: 14 - Measures stamina and durability.
Intelligence: 12 - Influences magical ability and skill with complex techniques.
Wisdom: 10 - Impacts decision making
Charisma: 12 - Affects social interactions, persuasion, and leadership abilities.
Luck: 9 - Determines favorable outcomes in certain situations, Including critical hits and dodging attacks.
Perception: 21 - Enhances awareness of surroundings, tracking skills, and ability to detect hidden objects or enemies.
Skills:
[Long-Range Proficiency]: Increases damage with long-range weapons by 50%, increases accuracy with long-range weapons by 20%. Leveling up unlocks special attacks and techniques.
[Stealth]: Enhances ability to move unseen and unheard. Leveling up increases effectiveness and duration.
[Vaulter]: Enhances ability to scale vertically. Leveling up allows for faster vaulting.
[Trapper]: Allows the creation and deployment of various traps. Leveling up enables more complex and deadly traps.
[Survivor]: Improves natural survival skills, including tracking, foraging, and navigation. Leveling up enhances efficiency and success rates.
[Eagle Eye]: Greatly increases visual acuity, allowing for better accuracy at long distances and detection of hidden or camouflaged enemies. Leveling up increases range and precision.
Attack Skills:
[Piercing Arrow]: A powerful shot that ignores a portion of the target's armor. High chance to cause bleeding.
[Multi-Shot]: Fires multiple arrows simultaneously. Each additional arrow slightly decreases accuracy.
[Explosive Trap]: Sets a trap that detonates upon contact, dealing area-of-effect damage.
[Snare Trap]: A trap that immobilizes the first enemy to trigger it, making them vulnerable to further attacks.
[Rapid Fire]: Temporarily increases firing speed at the cost of accuracy. Ideal for overwhelming enemies with a barrage of arrows.
[Charged Arrow]: An arrow made completely of magic. The damage and range is based off the amount of mana that is imbued.
Weaknesses:
Close-Quarters Combat Incompetence: Ranger's are unable to learn melee combat skills. They also suffer more damage from melee attacks.
Light Armor: Ranger's are only allowed to equip armor that is classified as light. Heavier armor will severely restrict movement.
Accuracy Issues(Specific to Jayde): Due to Jayde's unnaturally low talent for ranged weapons, the 20% boost from [Long-Range Proficiency] raises his accuracy from 20% to 24%.
"Are you serious!? A ranged fighter that can hardly aim... " Jayde spoke, palming his face in disappointment.
He dropped into a fighting stance, throwing a multitude of strikes within just one second. "Look's like the skills I already had transferred over." Jayde added hopefully.
Recalling his new ability to vault, Jayde quickly scaled the tallest tree he could find. He looked in all directions for signs of civilization, and he spotted a town three kilometers away.
"Guess I'll just head there." he remarked, scaling down the tree in record time.
There was no telling what the future would hold, but Jayde looked forward to the upcoming challenge. This new life wouldn't be boring at all, the only thing that it was missing was his family. Images of his mother, father, and little sister passed through his mind.
"I'll never forget you." Jayde declared, stalking towards civilization.