Sam and the Overlord capitalized on the distractions, pummeling their opponents into the ground as they reeled. As Sam cocked his hammer back, ready to unleash a powerful blow, Jakoss spat blood into his eyes, distracting him for a moment. That was all it took for the E Ranker to grab onto his neck and teleport along the ground, dragging Sam through the dirt. His flesh began to tear as Jakoss sped up, using every ounce of his E Rank speed to skip across the ground. Sam screamed in agony as his bones began to fracture.
“You pathetic creature,” Jakoss crooned. “I was just toying with you.”
“If… that was true,” Sam choked out, “you wouldn’t be bleeding.”
Sam reached deep inside himself, and seized upon his Mantra. His Dao energy was dropping as he channeled it into his body, desperately trying to survive. He tried to teleport, but to his shock, he was unable to.
“I guess you never learned how to lock down space, worm,” Jakoss gloated. “You may mimic the might of an E Ranker, but you are far from one yourself.”
Sam desperately thrust his Dao senses deep into the warp and weft of local reality, trying to understand what was blocking him from teleportation. As soon as he did so, he recoiled. The air around him was utterly flooded with foreign Dao energy, without a scrap of anything else. He was unable to cut through space with his own Dao, as there was nothing to gain a purchase on. He tried to expel his own Dao into the air around him, but the technique Jakoss was using seemed to be one of primacy, where the one who used it first was in a far greater position than the victim.
Sam did not despair. He had gone through too much to die at the hands of a mediocre E Ranker who only was superior in terms of level. As his body broke apart, his mind remained as firm as diamond. His soul seized upon the rage that he felt towards his enemy, and how willing he was to utterly destroy those who threatened his planet. His Dao swelled, and with his intent charging behind it, it upgraded. Unlike when he had first reached the Seed stage, this time there was a Dao vision. Perhaps because a Seed level Dao was a level of conceptual power beyond the norm, forming one for the first time was considered to be inspiration enough. After all, it had been forged entirely from Sam’s own insight, without any help from the universe. Reality turned black, and then shifted.
He was now the powerhouse leader of a great sect, engaged in centuries of closed door cultivation. He sat within a cave bathed in utter darkness, surrounded by arrays made to channel as much ambient Dao energy as possible to him. Eventually, a ripple of power surged through his body, heralding his advancement to D Rank. The actual ranking up was occluded from his mind, deemed too dangerous for a mere F Ranker to know.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
When he awoke from his deep meditation, he suddenly felt a premonition ripple through him. Blood seeped under the door of his chamber, blood that he instantly recognized. It was the blood of his son.
With a howl of anger, he sent out a pulse of power that obliterated the room, turning the door to ash. He stepped out onto a lonely mountaintop, and watched as his world burned.
His city was in flames, its people butchered and left to rot in the streets. Up in the sky above, spacecraft squatted on the horizon, belching out streams of F Rank fighters. He opened his faction interface, and saw that every single one of his allies were dead. As he looked up, he saw the reason why.
A man stood in the air a few miles up, gazing down with a look of utter cruelty in his eyes. In one hand he held a head that Sam recognized as his son, and in the other, the head of his wife. Pure darkness enveloped his mind, and he lost himself, exploding with the full power of a newly ascended D Ranker.
When he came too, he was covered in blood, and the entire continent was gone. All that was left was the battered body of the man who had killed his family, and an ocean of lava below. As he clenched his fist, he felt his nemesis die between his fingers, his flesh atomized as pure energy scoured it from reality. Then he let out a sob of anguish, and flew off into the inky firmament.
Sam returned from his vision, and smiled through broken teeth. He had a chance now.
You have upgraded your Dao!
Dao Seed of the Avenger(Second Step)
You are the bulwark that stands between your people and the reaper. The shield, and the sword that prevents the hungry tide of evil from devouring them. Not only this, you are the one who reclaims their honor when all else fails. Such strength and conviction merits the accolade of the Avenger. Take your new power in hand, and hunt those who dare to attack you and yours. However, vengeance untrammeled is the surest path to one’s demise, and in your pursuit of righteousness, you must know when to stop in your path lest you become worse than those who you punish.
+300 to all physical stats
+200 to all mental stats
A sudden surge of power entered his body, propelling his stats upwards. Still, he was far behind his enemy. That was not what he was so excited about though.
His Dao energy exploded out of his body, rupturing the hold that Jakoss had on the world around him. With a superior Dao, Sam now held the upper hand. With a whoosh, he teleported away, alighting on the ground a few miles away. With his newly improved Dao, he felt his body humming with strength as his enhancement skills grew ever stronger.