58.
“You’re all still alive.”
“Don’t need to sound so shocked, Santi, they were weak,” Chloe said, waving an arm at the field of dead around her. She was right of course, but she was starting to sound a little cocky.
“I killed another Acolyte monster,” Santi stated.
“Like the hag?”
“Yeah, except it was a goblin that melded into a spider,” Santi supplied.
“Pass! I don’t fuck with spiders,” Chad cut in. Everyone turned to look at the bowman who stared back at them without flinching.
“It’s all them legs, they creep me out. Arachnaphobia is a perfectly understandable fear. It’s not like I’m scared of balloons or something.”
“Aside from Chad’s fear of spiders, anything else I miss?”
“No, we lured out the goblins and killed them all. Light work,” Chloe had already bounced back from Santi’s declaration of killing an evolved monster. He didn’t know why he wanted to impress her or was it to maybe humble her? No, that was a lie. He knew why. He was just an idiot.
“Let’s get back to the hospital. Don’t want to leave Tank all alone for too long. Power might go to his head,” Santi joked. He got a few polite chuckles, but overall most of the squad just ignored his attempts at humor.
The walk back was quiet. Even though they hadn’t lost anyone, everyone was exhausted. Santi’s leg was still bleeding and he was limping from his hurt ankle. Rayleigh had a fairly long cut down her forearm and Chloe’s shirt was bloodstained and ripped. The two track guys had lost all of their javelins over the course of the fight and had resorted to using taken hobgoblin spears. Beverly was in the best condition of all three even if her class and her skill set wasn’t suited at all for fighting.
Chad and Beverly ranged ahead of the rest of them, as they were in the best condition. They had said they’d go and get Tank or one of the other healers to get them patched up before the walk back to the base. Santi could only pray that the base hadn’t yet collapsed into anarchy. The leadership back there had been spotty to say the least.
Halfway there he got the notification for destroying the nest. The fires must have finally burned away enough of the structure to collapse and break the remnant energies. The level up dings were nice, but the alert he got afterward brought a brief frown to his face.
Level Cap Reached
Please Evolve to Continue Leveling.
Any and all experience that he would have earned past that faded away. It probably wasn’t enough to get him to twenty-seven, but it should have been a decent chunk of change. Enough to get him ready to start tackling the Acolyte levels anyways. A bunch of messages for achievements rattled through, but he didn’t open them right away. He could wait a few hours till he was somewhere safer before he knew what was going on. The stat points were allocated though.
Santiago V. Silva
Mage lvl. 25
Strength: 20 (30)
Durability: 18 (28)
Stamina: 18 (28)
Dexterity: 18 (28)
Vitality: 18 (28)
Perception: 19 (29)
Intelligence: 33 (43)
Mana: 36 (46)
Willpower: 34 (44)
Potential: 100%
Title(s): Cockroach (100% to Upgrade)
Killing the chimera had been enough of an accomplishment to earn him another boost to the Cockroach title. All he needed to do was upgrade it, which was much easier than evolving oneself. His menu offered the option and he mentally clicked on it.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
He missed a step as his stats swelled and power surged through his veins.
Cockroach (Minor): You’re still alive somehow. Congratulations.
+25 to All Stats. Upgradeable
The boost of 135 stat points in the space of a single step was unnerving. Santi had to stop and figure out how to breathe. The power in his every motion was exhilarating, for a moment he was as he had been. Before the regression. Then it began to fade. Water leaking out of a hole, the sense of connection and power slipped away leaving him standing there looking like a fool.
“You having a stroke?” Chloe blurted out.
“Naw, looks like he’s constipated,” Chad chimed in. The rest of the team looked at least somewhat concerned for him.
“I’m fine. Just stat rush. Upgraded my title,” Santi finally managed to spit out.
“Title?” a half dozen voices queried.
“Yeah. It’s for doing impressive things. This one is a stat boost meant to keep me alive because I keep running into things stronger than me,” Santi explained.
“We’ve all fought things stronger than us?” Rayleigh had the hints of a question in her voice. There was maybe a tad bit of yearning too.
“Higher evolution than me I mean. Not just higher level.”
“Like the hag and spider?” Chloe asked.
“Yeah.”
“You can have it then. Seems like a good way to get killed,” Chad said, turning around to keep walking toward the hospital. The rest of the squad just shrugged and followed along. Only Chloe lingered, watching with curiosity for a moment before turning. Santi finally understood.
He had been them.
Complacent. Happy to just be alive and gathering strength slowly. The drive to survive had suppressed his desire to thrive. To truly breach the limits of what humanity could accomplish.
Santi trudged behind them. He was tired but there was a burning fire in his belly now. It had ignited with the realization. All of the challenges he had faced had built the kindling and fuel for this fire. The desire to exceed and grow stronger than anything and everyone else.
He would face the Apostate’s and match those fallen Champions blow for blow. He would gather the strength to protect his family and what was his. There was no turning back, the System itself was acknowledging his strength and achievements. Every challenge would be met head on and defeated, for that was the way of a Champion. The invisible wall he hadn’t been able to surpass, he would go beyond it.
Achievement: Accepting your Potential
Reward: Nothing, you’ve been a dumbass.
Akthyr definitely had some input on what the System notifications could say. He was a bit of a dick too. It did make him wonder just how much information the System had on them. Could it read his thoughts, or was accepting his potential so powerful that the System could register it?
“AKTHYR YOU’RE A GIANT ASS CLOWN!” Santi thought as loud as he could. The next four steps were the most scared he’d ever been, waiting for a bolt of lighting to come and smite him for his sacrilege. When nothing came, Santi guessed that the System was able to pick up his conviction and not his thoughts.
“Will you stop lagging,” Chloe barked as Santi had let the rest of the group get further away from him, just in case he was struck by a divine act.
“No.”
“You’re such a brat,” Rayleigh said with a smile.
“Don’t egg him on Ray, he does it on purpose,” Chloe said. The two girls started to whisper and nudge each other with random bouts of laughter thrown in. Santi decided he really didn’t want to know what that was about and just focused on the hospital and the groups scattered around it.
“You all made it back!” Tank boomed, his voice carrying across the distance between them with ease. The large man looked tired but had a powerful energetic walk as he crossed over to them.
“Wasn’t planning to die out there,” Santi said, swaggering a bit as everyone looked at him. It did stroke his ego a bit to see everyone staring and looking at him with reverence.
“Nobody plans on dying, brother.”
“The nest is gone. No more goblins.”
“What’s in the bag?”
“Just some more treats. We need a more powerful Identification skill than I have to fully figure out what they are.”
“Are you admitting to not knowing something?” Chloe gasped, hand over her mouth as people around them laughed.
The release of tension was palpable. They had come here with goals and they were accomplished, but at such cost. So many who had marched out only days before weren’t coming back home. They had found new people to join them at their base.
“Let’s get the hell out of here, I wanna sleep in my own bed,” Santi grumbled, even while he smiled. The camaraderie was great, the feeling of belonging soothing something that had been hurt since his regression. His fellows might know that he had secrets, but they were okay with them. They accepted him.
It was more than he could have hoped for.
“You heard the man. We’re going home.” Tank lazily waved his hand around, gathering up everyone to him. Plenty of walking wounded and haunted gazes. This hadn’t been an easy campaign, but they had done it and could be proud of it. He was proud of them.
“Allright, let’s go home.”