Proofreader: Current Me!

Fen’s POV

Before today, I had checked my status board at the central office, surprised at my recent growth. Something about Luke inspired me in ways others haven’t before. I had been excited at the idea of exploring dungeons with friends but now…

I was leading a fresh team of students, comprised primarily of classes C and B. This meant that both Charles and Luke were out of the question, even the senior assigned to us seemed to be on the weaker end.

In such a mundane environment, a danger found itself entangled with us.

“Fen! Something is approaching at rapid speeds, it seems to be pitch black and murky!” One yelled.

“Get into formation, me and the senior will be intercepting any attacks!” I barked orders which Charles usually would do for me.

Moments passed, however, nothing happened.

‘Had that been a false report?’

My team grabbed their heads, frantically squirming on the floor as if they were bugs. I poured my mana into the surroundings utilising my mediocre magical skills to summon a temporary cube barrier. This would relieve them of the mind-penetrating aura of darkness. Uriel, the saint candidate will soon be here regardless, she would fix them up.

‘No, this presence… even a familiar mana source.’

After all, I was now certain. I felt it, the appearance of demons. The mastermind of the event Luke had ended yesterday, they were here.

I felt a wave of magma erupt within me. Soon… I would meet him again.

“Wait for me, Brother.”

I walked toward where my [Intuition] led me. For it would bring me toward my lost family.

A traitor, yet also once a loved one.

The hallways tightened along the trekked pathway. My intuition had led me to him, to my brother. Regardless of if my stats were high enough, I needed to make sure.

I needed to understand why… why he left us.

“You’ve come.”

His voice was raspy, tender with violence, and a hatred for everything around him. Memories of his noble clothing flashed through my mind. The now rogue clothing, ragged black robes, was dressed with a silver katana hanging from his side.

While our eyes held the same hue, malice made the difference.

“Rayas,” I uttered. “Why did you leave us!”

“Haha! I see you still have some attachments, unfortunately…” His manic smile fell, “I don’t know a coward like you.”

From below his pillar of rock, I stood. His words stung stronger than any wound I’ve received.

“They all call me the ‘Requiem,’ wanna know why?” He gestured with his ears, mocking me.

“I am the reforged blade that redeems all evil through blood. Just like how I struck the heart of our corrupt father.”

That fated day echoed through my mind, not a single detail perturbed. In that despairing time, a demon had assaulted my brother’s knight platoon. Leaving only him alive. But who knew that within ten hours, an entire person’s personality could change?

We thought we could save him, rehabilitate him. I held a tiny hope that fluttered away seeing him now.

Ray… he was already too far gone.

I quenched the fire raging inside of me, creating a calm I could thrive in.

I called him dearly one last time, “This will be our first and last reunion, brother.”

“Should I be scared?” He chuckled.

I unsheathed my sword, pointing the tip of its blade toward his head. Regardless of the outcome, a life would be taken right here and now.

'I’m sorry mother.'

I dashed around the damp room, as my resolve clashed with his own. Whether or not I could win, depended on my will alone.

“Stop playing and come at me!” He raised his hand covered with black demonic mana.

Rayas unsheathed the silver katana, revealing a blade composed of green jade. The trademark colour of our family.

-x-

Luke’s POV

“Hahahaha! There’s no way,” I despaired at my predicament, “This is a joke right?”

I held a small appraisal stone in my hand with an uneasy grip.

[Iveen]

[Age: 43] [Race: Human (?)]

[Attributes]

Vitality: Tier 0 (32%)

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Agility: Tier 0 (40%)

Strength: Tier 0 (17%)

Mana: Tier 0 (15%)

A direct subordinate to one of the higher-ups already? The silver lining was he is but a mid-boss.

“What’s a child doing here?” They cracked a whip against the cold rock floor, “Too bad, you’re in the way of our big brother up ahead so you’ll have to die.”

Whimsical in appearance but deadly with attacks, a perfect assassin that blends in mediocrity. That was Iveen.

I chuckled softly, “Unfortunately, I can’t die too early.”

I may have gotten some buffs thanks to hunting some monsters earlier. My vitality and strength tiers should have received some growth as the ants only focused on those two attributes.

“Your funny-“

Swish!

“-and slippery too.”

He cut his own words with the spiked whip. It crackled toward me at a blistering speed. I poured enhancement into agility, barely dodging his frontal assault.

If I didn’t win quick enough, Fen would lose his life… and the run would be over. I glanced over at my status, gauging my routes in battle.

The appraisal stone cracked, telling me its uses were up, and I had only used it a few times over the past couple of days.

[Attributes:]

Vitality: Tier 0 (18%) -> (26%)

Agility: Tier 0 (8%) -> (13%)

Strength: Tier 0 (9%) -> (18%)

Mana: Tier 0 (5%) -> (10%)

My tiers had significantly risen since I last properly checked, thanks to the expedition. The mechanic of absorbing a monster’s strength gradually, greatly helped me out here.

Also…

Now I could enhance two targets due to the enhancement of externally applying back in Professor Haruto’s class. Thus I could definitely think outside the box again.

“Youch!”

His whip grazed my leg, as if utilising both his speed and the whip’s charge. It was almost like, it stacked buffs.

“Tch- Stop dodging around like a cockroach,” His temperament visibly worsened.

‘But, I’ll have to thank you for that.’

I was just given the right idea. Stacking.

“Iveen, was it?” I smirked at his crooked expression. “Two words, fuck off.”

‘Enhance!’

My agility hit a newfound peak of (39%), tripling in speed. With this, I was just under his tier of strength. And, to prove my point, he was unable to keep up with my newfound speed.

Launching forward, the sound faded out of my senses. I directed an honest strike toward his abdomen, entering the radius of his whip.

“Geh- How did you?” The man grunted.

In a flash, his whip entangled around my sword throwing it off to the side. However, it seemed my gambit paid off.

“You brat!” His other arm covered the bleeding wound on his side. “I’ll kill you!”

I rolled backwards into a pile of rocks, dodging a wide crack of the whip. I could see the steam rush out of his head as he swung that thing around mindlessly.

To that, I thank you for being an empty-headed bafoon.

Similarly to the beginning of the dungeon, this was an intersection following a specific type. That being, Type-A, is the one known for having dismountable terrain.

“Take some of this!” I launched a missile toward the stalactites on the ceiling above him.

A dust cloud was left in its wake giving me leeway for retreat. My enhanced agility had enabled unusual movements, where I could wrap around to his blind spot.

My hand fit into the grip of my fallen sword as he stumbled around.

“You sonova-“ He let out one last swing of his arm, barely slicing off a lock of my hair.

“Sorry, but this is it!”

I slid my sword into his heart jamming it in as hard as I could, transferring the enhancements from agility to strength.

“He- hehaha!” He laughed maniacally.

A disgusted frown floated atop my face, “What’s there to be happy about?”

“E-even if you kill me… ‘Requiem’ will end you all.”

He put his dying breath into an empty threat. It was a perfect performance, words befitting a mid-boss. Thankfully, his death was just as easy to achieve as back in the game.

“B-but… I’ll be sure to kill you at least!” He shoved an orb of darkness into his mouth.

‘Don’t tell me. He had a second phase?!’

Iveen rose with a renewed hate, being aided by a demonic trait. I eyed his skill board, focusing on the cause.

* Demonic Instincts (S-) (50% Proficiency)

It was the same with Carlos, except now he was on borrowed time. That pill was only supposed to be introduced later on in the plot for Fen’s route. I didn’t remember exactly when it happened, but I was certain due to my research of his route before I died.

Being an advanced version of Deviliser, it was able to transform one from human to demon, instead of only giving demon-like traits.

The catch was, how it burnt the person’s life force rapidly. A kamikaze attempt in essence.

Also, his attributes increased by a baseline of around thirty percent, his strength even reaching the next tier.

‘This sort of feels like Deja Vu.’

It was an exact replica of my match against Carlos from yesterday.

“You are dead!” He screamed, his throat reverberating with a low growl.

In his war cry, I looked around the room coming up with a plausible game plan. Stalling or kiting as one may call it. What else could I do when my sword was broken and my mana tank was nearing empty?

…

“Come at me.”

A universally frustrating gesture was sent towards him, four fingers on one hand raising and falling.

‘Aren’t I just insane?’

I instantly backed into a layer of fragile stone, preparing to leap out of the way.

Crash!

The layers of rock caved in on him, leaving him groaning as no damage was effectively done. However, it was simple, like herding a bull with a red flag. Let him tire his body out, and outlast his time limit.

‘Easy.’

Furthermore, I’ll remove a stack of agility enhancement and place it on the gravity around him. That should act as a temporary stopgap for the wide difference between our speeds.

Once again, I led him forward in an area with a Type-A terrain. Hanging stalactites would be knocked down with a single magic missile. His back was open every time, but no visible damage could be seen.

“Sturdy,” I complained. “In fact, too sturdy.”

We repeated this process for what seemed like hours, to the point that his back finally revealed some sort of scratch.

My instincts desperately itched to attack it, but this devil wouldn’t allow such frontal attacks. I’d die in one hit if I did.

It was a matter of waiting for either his time limit to run out or until the others found me. There was no way I’d let this guy run rampant while Rayas was around.

Crash!

He had half his body embedded into the cave, leaving the back wide open. I leaned forward with enhanced gravity and strength, aiming to pierce through his heart.

Ting!

I delivered what I thought to be a decisive blow. Yet, I was met with a disappointing reality.

“Remember… slow and steady wins the race.” I sighed, watching the boss crawl out of the cave wall.