Arthur’s first reaction upon seeing that Lucas was waking was to move closer to the boy and smile.
Moments later, the boy seemed to shake off the daze of sleep and come around to full consciousness.
The boy grumbled something inaudible under his breath before he looked at his own body with significant confusion. He had expected to wake up to his body: broken, torn, and his mind full of pain. Yet, to his great relief, his current state was the opposite of that. His body was perfectly healthy, his wounds had all disappeared, and rather than pain, he felt a lingering sense of euphoria. That fading feeling of bliss made him look to his grandpa who knelt next to him and asked, “Grandpa, w… what happened?”
Arthur smiled before saying, “After I found you, I fed you a healing pill. Is everything feeling alright?”
Lucas nodded his head and then replied, “Yep. Everything is fine.” Though his voice was less convinced by the latter statement, his mind was still roiling from his terrifying interaction with Jergras in his dream state.
After Lucas had been told the basics by the demon, he had gotten a little indulgent and asked the demon about everything, not only demonic cultivation. He had learned quite a bit about the rest of the multiverse from the begrudgingly helpful demon, and a lot of it both terrified and excited him.
The power and elation that he had felt before passing out would be available to him again, if only he walked down the path that the demon had set him on. Lucas was still unsettled by the fact he had to keep the whole demonic cultivation part a secret from his grandpa. However, the demon had made a good point when he said that he barely knew his grandpa and couldn’t 100% rely on him being okay with Lucas gaining power from becoming a demon.
Lucas, however, had no choice according to the demon, he was not set to walk the path of the demonic cultivator. So, while he had to keep it a secret for now, he stemmed any feelings of guilt by convincing himself that he’d use his soon-to-be-acquired powers to assist his grandpa in fighting off the monsters. Then, after Lucas got to know his grandpa more, he would eventually know for certain whether or not telling the older man would be so bad.
Arthur looked at the boy who seemed to be pondering something and said to him, “I’m proud of you.”
The words shocked Lucas’s attention back to focusing on his grandfather. He had never heard those words from anyone before, and they felt… incredible to hear for the first time. The feeling was, in Lucas's mind, almost comparable to the feeling of elation he had experienced after he had killed the zombie. Lucas’s whole body turned rosy at the praise.
Arthur continued, seeing the boy was a bit embarrassed by the praise caused his smile to grow as he spoke, “You managed to take on a monster by yourself without the system which is very impressive in my book.”
Lucas turned his head away to hide his cute reaction. Arthur noticed that the boy seemed far more with it emotionally speaking than he had been during the prior few hours, and he could only conclude that the fight with the zombie may have allowed the boy to vent out his frustrations with the whole new reality they found themselves in.
Arthur then realised he may have been too arrogant in their conversation earlier.
No. Maybe arrogant wasn’t the word.
He had been too presumptuous. He had assumed that he would always be able to directly defend the boy because up till that point he had been able to. Yet now he realised that there were going to be monsters he’d need to face in the future that would require the boy to get as far away from it as possible while Arthur fought it, just like had happened just now.
And, if instead of a zombie the boy had encountered another, more powerful, creature/monster then Arthur’s worst fears would have come to pass. He recalled the moment he had reached the top of the hill and the gut-wrenching feeling he had felt upon seeing the limp, seemingly lifeless, body of Lucas lying there. How the deadly cocktail of fear, dread, and despair had nearly drowned his mind in that single moment.
He never wanted to see that fear realised. Otherwise, he just didn’t know how he would ever live with himself. Therefore, Arthur would need to swallow his pride for the sake of Lucas and rectify his prior mistake.
The older man’s face turned serious as he looked the boy in the eye, and his voice came out apologetic, “While I cannot say that I want you to fight, the scenario we just lived through has taught me that your words from earlier had good reason to them. I won’t always be able to protect you, even though I will always try my best to, and thus you will need to be able to protect yourself.”
The boy’s face shone with hope, and he asked, “So, I’ll be able to get a weapon then?”
Arthur sighed before nodding, “Yes. However, that is if we end up getting any kind of weapon from these chests, which isn’t itself guaranteed.”
Lucas almost let out a cheer of excitement. He was going to be able to get a cool weapon and help his grandpa in fighting off hordes of monsters. He would be just like the protagonists from all the video games he had played in the past, though his excitement was still hampered somewhat by the weakened, but still present, fear of fighting that seemed to sit at the centre of his psyche. However, he resolved himself to never allow himself to cry so much ever again.
He would be strong. That was what he wanted the most in all the world, and thus no piddling fear would keep him from achieving what he wanted.
Arthur quickly got Lucas up and onto his feet, marked the locations they needed to visit off on the map, and the two began their long journey towards the Imperial colony all the while doing a little bit of a treasure hunt. However, a lot less fun than the typical treasure hunt, as Arthur had an unbelievably thorough map that gave him incredible detail on where exactly each treasure was. So, there wasn’t much mystery.
However, what there was a lot of was time. Arthur predicted that it would take at least a month of walking as far as Lucas’ body would allow before they would reach the colony. Of course, there was always the option of carrying the boy in his arms as he ran to the colony, but Arthur also wanted to spend the time they walked together bonding further with the boy.
Though a month couldn’t possibly replace all the years that Arthur had been missing from the boy’s life, it could go a long way in establishing their future relationship and that was important to Arthur. So, with that in mind, the two bonded together as they walked the route that Arthur had set on his map.
A half day of travelling later, Arthur and Lucas were camping out in the middle of a field. Lucas had been exhausted by all the physical activity, and so the moment they had stopped to camp, he had fallen asleep next to Arthur. Arthur would probably have to wake the boy sooner or later to make sure he was fed, but that would be in a few hours, as he understood that the boy very much needed his rest. So, Arthur momentarily focused on himself.
As they had travelled, Arthur had killed some weaker monsters they had met on the road and had finally started utilising his User Inventory perk to store the bodies of the monsters. He had no idea why the Imperium wanted monster corpses, but he just hoped that the citizenship on offer would ensure him the ability to return to his old profession and thus provide for his remaining family.
As he thought about the potential future paths that he might have to travel, he received a new system prompt, and its contents made him smile.
You have reached the 2nd step of the [Qi Condensing] realm!
Reward: +1 Spiritual Point
He had already seen the importance of Cultivation in his battle against the bear monster, so he was happy to see that his progression was still ongoing.
Though, he could only shiver in fear upon imagining the depths of power that a cultivator in the higher realms would possess. As, if he was already awed by his power at the second step of the second major realm, what kind of power would someone at the second step of the [King] realm possess? Such power would truly defy description.
That thought made Arthur shift nervously as he imagined how helpless he’d be against such a cultivator should they come after him or Lucas. He needed to grow stronger, that was certain, but for now, he just had to focus on keeping his grandson safe from more regular threats and he could save worrying about galaxy-destroying ancestors later.
The next morning, Arthur ensured that Lucas and himself were well-fed before they broke camp and continued on their walk. Around mid-day, Arthur received another system prompt telling him that he’d reached the 3rd step of the Qi condensing realm.
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Arthur thus predicted that he was seemingly gaining a step in this second realm every 12 hours or so, which though far longer in duration than the intervals had been between an increase in step for the first realm, was still a relatively short amount of time. And, if his theory held, he’d be out of the second major realm after only a week of cultivating.
Arthur wondered whether his progression would be considered good or not but realised that he had no possible way of answering this question, so he let it be and focused his mind on trying to figure out things that he could work out.
Things such as the problem that was directly in front of him, and how he would climb this strange and ginormous black obelisk that had a huge chest hovering at its peak. The two had been walking towards this chest for the last day and by the size of the chest, it was sure to be worth it as its large size indicated it would give out quite an impressive reward. However, Arthur had never been one for climbing, and so was quite the amateur when it came to scaling near vertical surfaces. Not having even the slightest clue on where to start.
He pondered what to do until Lucas spoke up whilst pointing at the back end of the obelisk, “Grandpa I think there is a staircase.”
Arthur’s eyebrows raised and he too looked at where the boy was pointing and realised that he was right. There seemed to be a staircase leading up to the top of the huge obelisk.
Arthur, unsure about what he was about to do and the dangers that might come along with ascending the obelisk, instructed Lucas to stay where he was as he, the adult, ascended the staircase. Before Arthur could leave, however, Lucas warned him that typically, in video games, big loot chests like what hovered atop the obelisk were guarded by boss monsters so he should be careful.
Arthur had patted him on the head for that bit of advice and told him that he would try his best to be careful. However, as Arthur took his first step on the staircase, he suddenly felt a small pressure begin to build on his back, and a system prompt appeared in his vision.
OBELISK TRIAL STARTED:
Gravity Formation Obelisk – The further you climb, the more pressure you will feel pressing down against you. Can you ascend to the top and claim your prize?
Difficulty (relative to current world) – [S]
Reward: [A] Trial Completion Reward Chest & [Adept] rank Formations Mastery (Gravity) skill book.
Penalty for Failure: Unknown
Arthur panicked. He had been given no hint that this was some kind of trial that came with a penalty for failure, and the fact it was “unknown” only made the whole thing seem incredibly ominous.
He felt his heart start to pound in his chest, but he swiftly calmed himself down and refocused his mind. He had to succeed, not only for his own sake but for the sake of Lucas as well.
With Lucas at the forefront of his mind, Arthur took a step up to the next step. Then the next. Then the next.
He could feel the small pressure from earlier grow ever stronger as he took more steps up the staircase, but he zoned it out. He just kept on moving, not allowing himself to stop following the staircase up to the top of the imposingly tall obelisk.
At around the halfway point, he felt as though an elephant was standing on his back, but thanks to his healing ability as well as his other physical system perks, he could still stay standing and move to climb the staircase.
This changed at around the ¾ of the way mark, and Arthur was forced to the ground. As he smacked into the ground, his arms were crushed under his body weight, sending his knife flying out of his palm and off and over the edge of the staircase. However, because he was no longer standing, he had to crawl up each step, even though with the pressure being so tremendous he felt his ribs and the rest of his body being ground between an unstoppable force above and an immovable object below.
The pain was excruciating, it was as though every sensory nerve in his body was being lit on fire, the pain alone nullifying any attempt to zone out his mind, but he kept on going – at one point, the pain got so bad that he could have sworn that he heard his long dead wife call out his name and invite him to dwell with her in heaven.
Oh, how he had wanted to in that moment. However, he reigned in his mind and kept on going. This willpower he was demonstrating was something so foreign to his usual mode of existence, yet it felt so right to him as he ascended the obelisk’s black stone stairs. This was him how he had always dreamed of being, he was becoming a hero, if not to the world, then to Lucas, to himself.
He couldn’t give up. Nor could he allow himself to cede to pain or difficulty if he were going to do that, he may as well have died in the nursing home, for all that lies ahead of him is difficulty and pain. What kind of man would he be if he did not bear this pain, bear this difficulty, so that he could then help bear the pain and difficulty of his young grandson whose life he had so barely managed to save?
It was not with any glorious might that he finally clung to the final step and pulled himself onto the top of the obelisk, only sheer naked determination. Yet, once his final toe was over the line of the final step, the pressure completely subsided, and a loud ring blasted into his ears. And a huge flurry of system prompts appeared in his vision.
He let out a small laugh as he read through them all.
CONGRATULATIONS! GRAVITY FORMATIONS TRIAL COMPLETE!
Difficulty – [S] – PASSED – COMPLETION GRADE: [SS]
Reward: [A] Trial Completion Reward Chest, [Adept] rank Formations Mastery (Gravity) skill book, & 250,000 -> 500,000 EXP (Class Bonus Active)
You have reached the 3rd step of the [Qi Condensing] realm!
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You have reached the 9th step of the [Qi Condensing] realm!
Reward: +7 Spiritual Point
You have levelled up! ULTRA LEVELLING ACHIEVED X15!
Stat Points Awarded: 85
Skill Points Awarded: 75
Title Acquired: Lesser Monster Among Men – Grade: [C] – You have done the unthinkable and levelled more than or equal to 15 times at once. An absurd achievement. – Effects: +50% more rewards from levelling up.
New Level: 35
Progress to Next Level: 34,489/60,000
CONGRATULATIONS YOUR TIER HAS INCREASED TO [E]!
This increase has opened up more of the System Operated Coin Shop’s options for you.
Furthermore, the [F] tier cap on all of your perks’ level/stage/rank has now been lifted by one additional stage.
You now receive 50% less experience from killing [F] grade/Vermin tier creatures.
Progress to next tier: 35/100
The item: [Adept] Formations Mastery (Gravity) skill book, has been added to your inventory.
Arthur was now convinced he’d never run out of stat and skill points at this rate. It seemed that every time he got rid of them, more kept flooding towards him, but he was definitely reaching a level where heavy stat point dumps on him were probably going to be rarer and rarer.
As before each level up had set the threshold up an additional 1000 points exp to reach the subsequent level, it seemed after level 30, it had changed to increasing 5,000 exp points per new level.
So, while he could afford to celebrate, he couldn’t let himself start to be ungrateful or flippant about spending the points – he needed to ensure he was responsible with his points now that he had many so that when he had less, he would not be done in by his irresponsibility. Flashbacks to Arthur’s youth made him frown. Oh, How he had wished he had been more reasonable as a child. Alas, those were the thoughts of every old man.
Thoughts of youth thus made him think of Lucas and he began to feel fear rise in his chest. He had no idea how long he had been climbing the tower, whether it had been minutes or hours, and who knows what had happened at the bottom of the obelisk. Thoughts of Lucas' limp body once again rushed to his mind and he scrambled to his feet, his body now nearly fully recovered.
Before he could go down and check on him, however, he quickly tapped the large floating chest, which caused it to disappear, then he rushed down the stairs of the obelisk, feeling no immense pressure on the descent and not bothering to check the prompt he had received from opening the chest. His mind focused on the task of getting to the bottom of the obelisk as quickly as possible.
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Whilst his grandfather had been climbing up the obelisk, Lucas sat bored by the very bottom of the onyx staircase – contemplating his grandfather’s future plan for them both. They were going to leave Earth behind, to leave everything either had ever known behind, and head out into the multiverse whilst his grandfather looked for a job or something.
The thought of leaving Earth behind was a sad one for Lucas. Surely leaving Earth behind would also mean leaving his mother behind, if she was even still alive. A faint hope that he had fostered within his heart for the last day, but now couldn’t help but feel had been extinguished by the last few days of experiencing what the system really had to offer.
Only the strong, the adaptable, or the insane were probably surviving okay, and though his mother had always projected strength, Lucas was genuinely doubtful that she would have been able to fend off a monster horde half as well as grandfather had been able to. He just didn’t want to hope too much that she had lived, that he'd get to see her again, only to then be disappointed when he was confronted with her dead corpse. The world had already taken so much from him, now the only thing he could do was manage his expectations to reduce the inevitable pain that would come down the line.
That and kill monsters. After his battle with the zombie, he had felt such an incredible feeling of power and control that his entire body had slowly started to miss that feeling, it was as though that one exposure to power and control had him addicted. He wanted to feel powerful again, to fight with monsters again, to kill again. That last thought scared him only for a moment before fear turned into anger as he remembered the goblins that had taken everything from him.
Why shouldn’t he want to kill monsters? After all, they certainly seemed to want to kill him. He didn’t just want to kill monsters, he needed to kill monsters, goblins specifically, otherwise, he genuinely thought he might just explode. He resolved himself to a single aim. He would kill a goblin. He would kill every goblin he came across until there were none left.
As if the world were goading him, a group of 3 skeleton-looking undead appeared off in the distance.
Instead of cowering away out of some childish fear of death like a past version of him would have done, Lucas actively provoked the monsters so that they’d come towards him and attack him. All with the aim of doing one thing. Killing them all.
And, just at that moment, as if his plan were approved of by fate, a knife, his grandfather’s knife, fell from the sky and clattered against the ground.
Lucas giggled in a fit of eery amusement before taking the knife into his small hand and smiling as he ran his fingers up and down the blade before he ran towards the skeletons. A big smile on his face. A glint of murderous excitement in his eyes.
Unbeknownst to Lucas, his stomach was glowing a faint red, as his demon core began shifting and mutating, readying itself to consume the undead’s energy just as it had started consuming the boy’s fragile mind.