[Strike: 89/100]
[Blue][Violet][Blue][Gold][Violet][Green][Red][Blue]
In the secluded fortress, rays of sunlight pierced through, leaving the air still and silent.
Unyielding to the harsh environment, Archie held his ground at the heart of a pentagon, its corners marked by five dummies of varying hues, arranged in a clockwise sequence: green, red, violet, blue, and gold.
Archie remained as still as a statue, his eyes closed, his mind tranquil. He was meticulously replaying the color sequences he had glimpsed just before they vanished in an instant.
With a swift motion, Archie's eyes snapped open. He darted towards the blue dummy and landed a hit. The dummy remained intact.
Propelling himself backward with his leading foot, Archie targeted the next dummy, colored violet. Spinning mid-air from the momentum of his leap, Archie landed a hit on the violet dummy before springing back to strike the blue one again.
After landing a hit on the blue dummy, he deftly sidestepped to his right and targeted the gold dummy. Archie then took a large stride, rapidly closing the gap, and struck the violet dummy.
Before Archie's machete could complete its arc, he dropped his stance, twisted his legs, spun around, and leaped towards the green dummy, skipping steps. He landed a hit on the green dummy, then sidestepped to his right, preparing to leap towards the red dummy.
Archie landed a hit on the red dummy and then used it as a springboard to propel himself towards the final blue dummy. He realized that when repeatable color combos appeared, the dummies wouldn't vanish until the combo was either completed or failed.
Archie reached the blue dummy faster than before and landed a hit. The moment his machete made contact, all five dummies vanished, but the swing's momentum caused him to spiral in the air and tumble to the ground.
Archie hadn't leaped for the previous strike for this very reason. He had experimented with various methods to strike efficiently, including moving the dummies closer, but all attempts had ended in failure except for this technique.
[Strike: 97/100]
Archie rose to his feet, his face calm, not in the mood to celebrate because the mission was far from over. Archie, drenched in sweat and coated in dust, collapsed on the ground, his face and clothes smeared with grime. Despite the discomfort, his gaze remained locked on the five dummies that had materialized before him.
This time, they stood in a straight line: orange, red, blue, white, and yellow, exactly as they had been when he first encountered them at the start of the mission, as if to say, "Let's conclude this the way you initiated it."
Echoing this sentiment, the initial three strikes Archie had made at the beginning of the mission reappeared before him, marking the spots he had initially targeted.
[Red][Orange][Yellow]
Archie landed a hit on the first red dummy, pivoted to his left, struck the orange dummy, and finally the yellow one. He sidestepped like a crab and hit the yellow dummy while still in motion.
[Strike: 100/100]
“WOOSH!” All the dummies vanished, and Archie slumped to the ground, his expression troubled.
[DING!]
---
[Rookie Mission: Level 3]
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[Level 3 of Strike 100 times consecutively using Machete completed]
[Reward: Slaughterer’s Weapon Upgraded]
---
[Rookie Mission: Level 4]
[Test the Machete]
[Reward: Upgrading Slaughterer’s Weapon]
[Penalty for failure: 1000 credits deduction.
Failure to Upgrade Slaughterer’s Weapon]
---
[Time Duration: 7 Days]
[Time Left: 2 Days]
---
[Do you want to begin today’s mission?]
[Yes] [No]
Archie's troubled expression was a testament to the grueling four days he had spent on this level-up mission.
He was in the dark about the total number of levels, but he hypothesized that if each level corresponded to a single class upgrade, there would be seven in total. Given this, he was acutely aware of the ticking clock. The third-level mission had already consumed more time than he had anticipated.
The lack of a discernible pattern, color combination, or consistent dummy placement had initially thrown Archie off balance. It was only after he started observing the color combinations meticulously and strategizing his attacks that he began to make headway.
Archie retrieved his machete from its resting place on the ground. He scrutinized the blade, noting that its color and shape remained unchanged. Intrigued, he clicked the bottom of the machete, revealing a prompt:
[Slaughterer’s Weapon]
[Inscription:
[Class: Rare Class (Cursed) (Upgradeable)]
[Abilities:
Release its curse to wield it]
[Activation: ?]
A sigh escaped Archie's lips as he pondered the possibility of there being seven levels and the dwindling time he had left.
"Let's do the next level right away," he decided, but not before taking a short break to satiate his hunger.
Archie accessed his inventory and navigated to the [Items] tab, revealing three filled slots.
One slot displayed an image of chef’s chopsticks, while the other two showcased images of two bowls of steaming noodles. Archie clicked on the three slots in succession, and they materialized above the rift watch.
Archie seized the items and began to eat, relishing the noodles that were still hot. He had figured out the method to store items in his inventory: he would place the item above his rift watch’s black screen for a few seconds, allowing it to scan the item and display the prompt:
[Do you want to store this in the [Item] tab?]
[Yes] [No]
Archie had stored various non-living items in the seemingly limitless slots of the inventory menu. After finishing the noodles, he returned the empty cups and chopsticks to the inventory by clicking the slot in the item tab where they were previously placed. A prompt displayed:
[Store again]
[Yes] [No]
After replenishing his health and stamina, Archie decided to proceed with the next level-up task and opened his daily mission tab:
[Do you want to begin today’s mission?]
[Yes] [No]
Archie clicked [Yes].
“WOOSH!” A single plain brown-colored dummy materialized before him. Archie took a step back and observed, recalling the mission objective: [Test the Machete].
Just like the previous time, the mission didn't explicitly instruct him to strike the dummy. So, Archie surmised there might be more to this mission.
“GRR…” While observing, he heard a mild roar emanating from the dummy. Archie remained vigilant and was taken aback by the sight that unfolded before him.
From the torso of the dummy, sinewy appendages emerged—a fusion of hand and lower body, akin to a lizard’s tail unfurling from within. The limbs materialized with an otherworldly grace, their contours mirroring the rugged terrain of ancient statues. The stone beast had a face reminiscent of a hyena's, but it appeared to be carved out of stone, its expression unchanging.
“AGRRR…” The dummy, now transformed into a stone beast, roared at Archie. However, he remained composed, thinking,
'Compared to that special class mammoth, you're nothing.'
Despite his thoughts, Archie decided to observe a bit more. The beast charged at him with rage, but its stony structure made its movements slow; its joints and limbs couldn't stretch out fully, restricting its movements.
Archie devised a plan to attack the dummy with speed and precision, targeting its leg joints. He sprinted towards the stone dummy, which swung its stone right hand at him. But for Archie, it was like watching in slow motion.
He nimbly dodged the attack, maneuvered behind the dummy, and aimed at its knee joint. To Archie's surprise, the stone crumbled into dust as soon as he struck it. Before the dummy could turn, Archie swiftly struck its other knee, causing the beast to collapse, immobilized.
“GRR…” Its mild roar seemed like a plea to Archie, begging to end its suffering. Archie knelt before it and stabbed the middle of the stone, recalling from books that monsters often had their hearts in the center. He aimed to kill it with that stab.
Archie's stab caused the stone beast to crumble into sand and merge with the ground. He was taken aback by how easily it was over, but he immediately refocused on starting the next mission.
[DING!]
---
[Rookie Mission: Level 4]
[Level 4 of Test the Machete using Machete completed]
[Reward: Upgrading Slaughterer’s Weapon]
---
[Rookie Mission: Level 5, The Denouement]