The huge donjon was towering above any building in the city, becoming like a beacon of hope for Robert. A hope to get out from the damned place. No, the assaultive settlement wasn’t that bad. Even his way through it from the alchemical shop went rather peacefully, as by this point in time only suicidal idiots were staying outside the inner fortress. The army of the undead had already surrounded the place, cutting any way to get into safety. Not that anyone from the challenger would open the gate for those who were late, even though skeletons and zombies were currently just watching from afar as if waiting for a command to attack.
Standing motionlessly, they were eyeing the keep as if it were the tastiest cake in the world. Radiating an eternal hunger for living beings’ warmth through the glowing empty eye sockets, they created real pressure on the figure on the high walls. The latter were helplessly watching as the number of the undead showed a steady increase when new groups emerged from the surrounding streets only to follow the example of others. Still, despite the nervous situation, the challengers conversed with their resources, waiting for the countdown until the portal was ready. Having a goal of escaping and not killing the Archi-Lich’s horde, they had to endure the sight of the constantly growing enemy’s force.
The “players” obviously knew about the unavoidability of the battle but had no voice in this question. Therefore, looking at the army of skeletons, zombies, and ghouls, they were waiting for the real threat to come – liches. The undead mages were the ones who made a devastating effect on the defensive line, apart from the “Corpse Explosion” from the leader himself. And while the keep had much higher and thicker walls, its tight space made it quite vulnerable to any poisonous clouds that were already used by the undead.
Therefore, when Robert reached the empty square that surrounded the castle, this silent confrontation was in full swing. However, while one side was represented by mindless creatures, who weren’t affected in the slightest, the other consisted of humans with all their strengths, weaknesses, and emotions. The latter had the biggest impact on their morale as just the situation of waiting for the death through quite a lot of defenders into real turmoil and panic. Some of them were barely holding their composure after experiencing the fall of the outer wall and seeing no way out.
Rob heard unintelligible screams and loud arguments. He caught a glimpse of metal clashes, but the conflict was stopped almost immediately. And there was a barely audible mumbling as if multiple unknowns were repeating the same words together… almost like praying. Maybe they did, Rob couldn’t see through the walls. Moreover, he was here to save his own life, not willing to bet on generosity or forgiveness from the System if he failed the mission. Therefore, any regret he had disappeared in a fraction of a second after he reminded himself what was at stake.
Looking around and noticing no movements inside the ranks of the undead, Robert turned his attention to the keep. He wasn’t sure how his plan could work out from the distance, so he had to reach the walls. However, the experience of being a main target of multiple targets was quite awful to willingly repeat it again. Moreover, this time there would be no distraction in the form of the undead, while the nervous situation might provoke the challengers to stupid deeds. Stupid enough to threaten his, Rob’s, life.
So, how do I proceed? Hm… wait. What players will think when a named mob with a unique appearance leaves the enemy’s ranks and approaches the castle’s gates while being completely unarmed and alone? That he is a messenger. No one kills the messenger… at least at once, without hearing what he wants to say. Sounds reasonable, yet risky… But what choice do I have? Fucking System!
Conjuring his set of armor again and noting the increase in weight, Robert sighed. The increased protection was good, but it was in exchange for his mobility. No matter how strong he was, any addition of dozens of kilograms would slow him down, albeit not much. That might be still crucial for his escape. On the other hand, the defensive gear could save his life… and add to his image of the Archi-Lich’s messenger.
Pausing on that thought, Rob turned to the nearest skeleton. In the next moment, his round helmet had changed visor from the cage one to the skull mask with small holes around his eyes. Taking into account the need for constant contact, his mask was tight-fitting and almost repeated his own face. A similar engraving with bones appeared on his cuirass in an attempt to point his belonging to the ranks of the undead.
Okay, let’s go. I hope it will work out. I feel I don’t have time to test the thing.
Stretching his arms to the side as if he was trying to hug someone, Robert started to slowly walk towards the keep. His movement immediately turned the attention to him. He almost physically felt tens, if not hundreds, gazes that landed on his body. And he had to admit that to be at the center of attention in such a situation was quite unpleasant. Still, Rob kept his steady walk, controlling each step so as not to show how nervous he was. The System-created enemy couldn’t be scared.
Even when around a dozen rangers with bows and crossbows aimed their weapons at him. Even when that number was increased by a crowd of mages, sorcerers, and wizards, who clearly started to prepare their spells. A random thought about the disproportional quantity of magic wielders against ordinary archers was shoved away as an inapt. Especially after more and more faces were appearing above the wall or in the gaps of loopholes.
It seems that just about everyone wants to see what is happening.
Keeping his steady speed was getting harder and harder. He wasn’t sure in his steel to block a possible number of attacks from all those challenges above him. Moreover, Rob’s imagination was already in full swing, creating a picture of a dark general who might go ahead of his own army to destroy the obstacle on his own just to showcase his extraordinary power and might. It was almost a basic introduction to the foe in the games or movies. The problem was that in the challenger’s eyes, Robert himself might be such an enemy, and knowing it, they could simply attack him at once, not giving him a chance to do anything. That left him with a dry throat and sweating back, which was hidden underneath an armor, decorated with skulls and bones.
However, the funniest thing in this situation was that Rob was going to do precisely what such a cliche demanded from him – to destroy the keep by himself. Or at least he would try to do it as it was his only idea of how to get the System’s mission done. He wasn’t sure in his untested instrument to do it, but Robert felt like the time was slipping through his fingers. Soon the Arch-Lich or his mages would definitely come to finish the job, leaving him no option, but to proceed further, ignoring the gazes from the challengers.
At the halfway point he started to hear more and more arguments about what to do with him. At least Rob came to such a conclusion, catching the words “kill” and “listen” in an emotional altercation. But the closer he got to the gates, the louder the voices about the former were, while the latter turned into “listen just for stalling the time” before continuing with the first option.
The whole ordeal might have looked to last an eternity, but Robert’s walk took less than thirty seconds in fact. It was his mind that played a trick, stretching the time until it was barely crawling. Moreover, his ability to perceive more, despite the drop in effectiveness after his body changes, was still present as always. It made the experience even more stressful. However, it also helped to react in a fraction of a moment, when Rob noticed how the patience of several challengers had run out and decided to act.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
The glowing signs of the casted spells only started to appear, but Robert was already sprinting at full speed. The last part of the distance was covered in mere seconds. Rob even didn’t bother to stop himself, crashing into the closed gates a full speed. The thick wooden surface, reinforced by a metal frame, made him bounce backward from the impact, but he was already catching his balance. Pausing for a moment, Robert glanced around to check if any holes from the sides or above him could be used by defenders to attack him. Luckily, the System didn’t bother to make the keep truthfully protected as it was just a decoration with an already written fate to fall in no time. That gave him the ability to focus on his self-invented abomination.
Dispersing all steel that covered his body, Robert mentally prepared his mind before quickly starting to act. The first to appear was a headband with the “Meditation” rune. Activating the effect, he instantly dropped into an immobilized state. The haze surrounded the whole world, hiding the keep, challengers, and army of the undead while leaving him on one with his own doubled flow of mana. Gripping the control over the latter, Robert proceeded with the next actions.
Squeezing every single portion of his energy, he started to conjure the steel. Pushing it in front of him in formless something, Rob simply blocked the gate with an enormous amount of dark green metal. Already reinforced by his newly acquired combination, it additionally gained more weight. Therefore, the mental command to increase it even further created a really insurmountable wall. Of course, blinded by his own state, Robert could only rely on his mana sensation to “see” it, but until he was done, he wouldn’t waste time observing the half-finished product of his efforts.
There was a tiny pause before he continued with a chain of mental commands. “Shockwave” led to a sudden decrease in weight in the massive steel blob, turning fueling mana into an unfocused energy blast. “Energy Catcher” followed, gripping the cone and turning into a concentrated shot of devastation. “Amplifier” was the last one to act, intensifying the effect of his hand-made spell.
Then the whole world trembled, almost throwing Rob out of this meditative state. The earth itself quacked as if trying to stop him. However, Robert’s resolve was firm. Not even trying to see the results, he simply decided to proceed further. Pausing for a fraction of a moment to stabilize his construct, he repeated the attack again, while turning his aim slightly to the side. This time the shaking was even stronger, but it had no influence on the decision to continue.
Rob knew that there were hundreds of challenges nearby, while he was stuck in an immobilized state without any protection. He had to strike fast, hard, and without stops just not to die from a possible retaliation. Fortunately for him, Robert had no need to wait for the cooldown of the abilities. There was no usage of ammunition or energy, thus no pauses for reloading or restoring the reserves. His body and mind had barely felt tiredness. Altogether, it turned him into an almost eternal energy canon. Obviously, the System didn’t like it.
By the moment when Rob made the twentieth shot, even the haze was barely hiding the damage in the surroundings. The rumble, screams, and yells turned into a real cacophony of sound. However, he was stopped by not the damage he had done, but by the huge notification in front of him. The attempt to dismiss the wall of text had failed. Moreover, the earlier working combination of runes refused to obey, as if they became simply inaccessible. Then Robert dropped from the mediative state only to see the odd, but familiar picture around himself.
Looking through the transparent screen in front of him and ignoring large letters, he saw the frozen world amid destruction. The flying debris was stuck mid-air, followed by the traces of fragments. Such a picture was everywhere, showing just flying remnants of what earlier was the keep. Some had signs of melting, while others were ground into powder under the effect of the devastating energy. Rob saw no humans, but in such a picture where the whole castle seemed to explode, he could bet there were not many.
He wasn’t sure how his focused energy led to such a terrifying effect. Robert might easily target the portal itself, causing such a situation. Or he crushed the foundation of the bastion. Or he indeed was underestimating the effect of his attack. Rob didn’t know and might never know as the System made its move quite quickly.
Attention! System warning - the scenario was broken by the uncalculated influence of the Transcendent being.
All survivors would be immediately sent to the next floor as if they were sucked by a portal at the last moment.
Congratulations on finishing the floor!
Your contribution is enough to proceed to the next stage…
The transfer is temporarily on standby…
Looking at these messages, Robert sighed with relief only to swear inwardly a few seconds later when he started to read the next notifications.
Attention! To keep the power balance in check, your class will be reassigned, while the skills will be combined into new ones. Most of the experience points are used to support the change. The details are unfolding…
Transcendent – a unique non-upgradable class that reflects the System’s inability to gauge the strength of a Transcendent being correctly. Forbids learning of new skills, runes, spells, usage of magic items, etc. Triples the visualization of Combat Power, when challengers try to identify the class-owner. Instead, decreases the cost of all attribute upgrades by 5%, except Magic, where the cost is lowered by 99,99%.
Energy Burst [Rank 1 MAX] – a unique combination of “Instinctive Runes”, “Rune engraving”, “Master of Steel” and runes “Meditation”, “Energy Catcher”, “Shockwave”, “Amplifier”, available due to a creative approach of Transcendent in using “Runes Alteration”. The effect was reworked to keep the balance. Now through the disintegration of the conjured steel, the wielder can create a short-ranged energy blast. The power of the skill depends on the volume and weight of the steel used to produce the attack. Can be used by voicing a command "Energy Blast".
Fucking bitch! You do hate me! Inability to gauge the strength… Yeah, right, that didn’t stop you from choosing Magic to lower the cost… Okay, show me my Status then, cheating machine.
Robert Flop (Unassigned)
Combat Power: 123
Experience: 1000
Mana: -/- [+5 mana per second]
Title: The Transcendent Tower’s Guardian
Class: Transcendent
Might - 33 [STR 57, SPD 43, END -]
Agility - 25 [CRD 24, FLXB 6, RCT 45]
Body - 16 [VIT -, TOU 32]
Mind - 21 [PRC 19, INT 32, WIS 12]
Magic - 0 [PWR -, SPRT -]
Personality - 8 [CHA 7, CUNN 9]
Skills (2/2):
1. Master of Steel [Rank 1 MAX]
2. Energy Burst [Rank 1 MAX]
All his runes had disappeared, taking half of his skills with them. His CP dropped by 30 points. Moreover, Rob was left with a measly thousand experience points, which was a complete joke as he had much more even before ruining the keep. And he could bet that the effectiveness of the new skill would be incomparable to what he managed to do. However, he had no say against the System. The latter was constantly trying to cheat him and only his inability to leave the realm was keeping him under its influence. Aether was still refusing to transfer him elsewhere. Unfortunately, the System, on the other hand, was already shoving him into a new place.
Proceeding to the next stage…
This floor is designed as a local hell, filled with demonical creatures. It’s a place where the demons can grow stronger by devouring each other in an attempt to get enough power to break through into the world of humans. Your role is to become such a demon in the land of constant fighting for your own life. Reach 250 CP to progress further! Good luck!
So, that’s why you lowered my CP… Not even surprised. Okay, let’s do it. I’ve spent like ten minutes in a real demonic realm and survived, so no chance the fake one will be harder! Bring it on!
Attention! The land is filled with hellish energy. You need energy to support your life in such harsh conditions. The corrosive air drains 1 experience point per 1 minute. The absence of EP will lead to death.
Oh, go fuck yourself!
Attention! The land is devoid of any plants and water sources. You need energy to support your nutrition through the life blessing that drains 1 experience point per 1 minute. The absence of EP will lead to death.
Yeah, yeah, you already know what to do, System. Anything else?