When Sam came to his senses, he felt a bit better, but his body was still in terrible shape. Even leveling up had not healed it fully. Instead, Sam opened his stat sheet, as it was the only thing he could do in this situation.
Sam Atlas
Human:F Rank
Mortal Tier
F Rank
Class:Greater Dao Visionary
Level 58
(10 stat points unspent)
Strength
194
1.48x
Constitution
158
1.48x
Resilience
155
1.48x
Dexterity
150
1.48x
Intelligence
177
1.48x
Wisdom
213
1.48x
* Health 2370/2370
* Mana 2655/2655
* Stamina 2910/2910
* Road to Zenith
Stage 1
* Dao
Dao Fragment of Righteous Anger(Second Step)
Dao Mote of Resolve
* Skills
1x Uncommon, 1x Rare, 2x Epic, 4x Legendary, 2x Mythical
* Titles
1x Mythical, 1x Celestial
* Temporary Titles
1x Epic, 1x Legendary, 1x Mythical
* Dao Heritage
Dao Incarnation of Existence*
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* Party
None
* Skill Branches
Muscle Density Enhancement(Level 1)
Basic Weapon Knowledge:Blunt(Level 1)
* Weapon Style
Flowing Water Style
* Weapon Mastery:Implement Stage 5
* Elemental Affinities
Earth:5% Mastery
* Quests
The Sacred Bond:Impossible
Engines of the End Time:S
Rise of the Titans:S
* Professions
Dao Smith:Novice Stage 1
Smith:Novice Stage 0
There was a notification waiting next to his Dao Heritage, and Sam clicked on it, intensely curious. Perhaps that was the reason for his strange surge of power while fighting the Legion Commander.
You have initialized the first step of your Dao Heritage. There are 10 steps to the Dao Incarnation of Existence Heritage, each of which will give increasing boosts.
1st Step: +10 to all stats, Dao Juggernaut Skill unlocked
[Dao Juggernaut:Unique]
You follow the path of the greatest Dao possible, that of Existence itself. Even if your body and mind are not ready, you may channel the tiniest portion of that power into yourself. Drastically increase your power for the span of five seconds in objective time, while dealing immense damage to your own body. This skill can only be used once per day. Using it more often will guarantee death.
Sam stared at the skill for a moment, stunned. He had never heard of such a skill before. If he was not mistaken, the rarity of that skill meant that he was the only person to have it in all of existence. As if to answer his question, another notification appeared.
As the possessor of a Unique ranked skill, you are qualified for an explanation. Unique rarity skills exist outside of the normal classification system. One who possesses such a skill is the only person with that skill and is the only person who can ever be the wielder of that skill. Unique skills can only be gained through the rarest of circumstances, and cannot be created without due precedence. However, it is not an indication of the skill’s power. Unique skills vary wildly in power, from ones that are utterly useless to ones that break the very fabric of reality.
Sam closed the notification, his mind whirling as he took in what it meant. The pain that his body was in was forced to the back of his consciousness as he contemplated just what this meant for his prospects. He did not know how powerful his new skill was compared to ones that followed the classical rating system, but he knew that it was quite powerful indeed. It had enabled him to not only kill an opponent many levels higher than him in a single blow, but he had been able to do so while grievously injured. The only problem was the damage that it did to his own body, and the incredibly long cooldown period. This was a last resort skill if Sam had ever seen one. His ruined tissue and bones slowly started to knit back together, but it would be some time until he was back at peak operating capacity.
He cracked open his eyes, without much pain this time. Eduardo was carrying him through the streets of Paris, with Lao running beside them, Jane in his arms. Sam groaned as the light entered his eyes, and Eduardo looked down.
“You’re finally awake. I was afraid that you had died! Just what was that skill you used?”
“Not…. now. Later,” Sam mumbled, too tired to speak properly.
Eduardo nodded and continued running. Sam closed his eyes once more, drifting off into the blackness. He was jolted awake by an explosion nearby, shortly followed by Eduardo dropping him onto the ground. Sam grunted as his injuries were disturbed by the fall, and he slowly started to push himself up. A foot slammed down on his back and forced him into the ground. Mocking laughter rang out from behind him, and Sam slowly turned his head to see Hugo Mar standing behind him.
“You are one of the most deluded individuals that I have ever met if you believed that you could escape me. I let you run this far to prove a point,” he said. "Even if I had not intervened, you would never have made it out. I applaud your courage, but in the end you were too weak.” Sam tried to respond, but his mouth was too dry, causing the sound to turn into a dry rasp. “However, you all are quite impressive in power. I will give you a single chance to survive. Join me, and let me turn you into better versions of yourself.”
Mar extended his hand to Sam, the appendage glowing with light. Sam knew that if he touched it, there would be no going back. Hugo paused a few inches from Sam’s own hand. It seemed that for this to work, both parties had to be willing. Sam shook his head defiantly, prompting the general to stomp down hard. His broken bones grated together, and he bit back a scream. Hugo withdrew his foot and kept his hand out.
“Get up. I will not accept loyalty from a servant cowering in the dirt,” the man said as he realized that Sam still had enough strength to stand.
As Sam got to his feet, the entirety of his body a mess of agony, the inklings of a plan started to come together. Eduardo, Lao and Jane had been tossed hundreds of feet down the road, seemingly unimportant to Hugo Mar at the moment. Around Sam, the rest of the Swords stood, ringed by thousands of Legion soldiers and brutes. Sam stumbled forwards, as if to move towards the beckoning hand, but he was really buying time. When he was about to touch Hugo Mar’s hand, Sam whipped his hand down to his storage device, pulling out the special bomb. General Mar laughed, thinking it to be one of the grenades from earlier. This allowed Sam to throw the bomb and run.
A few moments later, everything faded away before a blast of fiery red. Sam barely had time to scream before he was picked up like a ragdoll and tossed thousands of feet into the air. As he fell, Sam smiled. He had done as much as he could.