Sam yawned, and pointed his hand towards the otter. A beam of energy erupted outwards, searing into the monster. There was a sizzling noise, and then a dull boom as the creature was blasted apart into bloody chunks. It was quite disconcerting looking at E Ranked flesh, as it simply appeared to be meat, almost cartoonish in its uniformity. Pieces of red matter fell into the ocean, blood leaking out as they did so.

Sam put the mildly disturbing image out of his mind, and continued on his way, speeding away into the distance.

The concentration of monsters seemed to be random. Sometimes, there was only one. Other times, there were dozens. Still, the floor passed quickly enough, mainly because the monsters were predisposed to attack him rather than the raft.

Eventually, he slew the final group of otters, and ascended to the next floor. His essence stores were ticking up, and he knew that he would gain a level within the next few floors.

The seas stayed annoyingly uniform for the next day or so, each consecutive floor appearing almost entirely the same, save for the state of the raft. By the fifth floor, it had become more of a ship than a raft, made out of metal banded wood. Sam was forced to sail it by sending his Dao energy into a receptacle next to the ship’s wheel, which powered some mysterious engine deep in the bowels of the vessel.

His stats had surged recently, and his body was rapidly changing with them. Since entering the tower, he had grown by almost a third in strength, despite not gaining a single level. Although, that was soon to change. He stood on the cusp of level 151. All he really needed were a few more monster kills to cross the threshold.

The waters were becoming ever more sparse in terms of monster population, to the point where it took hours, even going at the ship’s top speed of about 2500 miles per hour, to find any.

Sam started to use his Dao energy like a beacon about halfway through the floor, and found that many of the monsters of the depths were drawn to the heat and light of his power.

Using that method, he finally was able to kill enough to level. As the last of the monsters, a tentacled monstrosity with entirely too many teeth, turned into a stain upon the waters below, he reached level 151.

A feeling somewhat like what he would imagine a volcano felt before eruption surged through him. Potency crackled, and he was lifted off the ground on spines of white light. Thunder boomed above, and a bolt of lightning struck, transfixing him. His body let out a nova of energy, sending waves rippling across the water. Then he fell to the deck, his body filled with newfound might.

You have leveled up!

The feeling was euphoric, but it rapidly faded, dropping him down to earth. For a moment, it had felt like he was touching a piece of God. Now though, he was back to his normal state. Well, as normal as an E Ranker could be. With a grin, he opened his sheet.

Sam Atlas

Human: E Rank

Enlightened Tier

E Rank

Class: Lesser Dao Paragon

Level 151

(171 stat points unspent)

Strength

2414

1.99x

Constitution

2070

1.94x

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Resilience

2089

1.94x

Dexterity

2007

1.99x

Intelligence

2101

1.94x

Wisdom

2151

1.94x

* Health 46575/46575

* Mana 47273/47273

* Stamina 54315/54315

* Karma: 54

* Road to Zenith

Stage 2

* Dao

Dao Echo of Inspiration

Dao Seed of the Avenger(Second Step)

* Skills

1x Rare, 2x Epic, 5x Legendary, 6x Mythical, 2x Ancient, 1x Primal, 1x Unique

* Titles

1x Legendary, 3x Mythical, 3x Ancient, 1x Transcendent

* Temporary Titles

1x Epic, 1x Legendary, 1x Mythical

* Dao Heritage

Dao Incarnation of Existence(Second Step)

* Party

None

* Skill Branches

* Lightning Neurons (Level 2)

Iron Body(Level 2)

Iron Bones (Level 2)

Muscle Density Enhancement(Level 1)

Basic Weapon Knowledge: Blunt(Level 1)

Dao Resonance(Level 1)

Karmic Cycle(Level 1)

Lucky(Level 1)

Increased Blood Flow (Level 1)

* Weapon Style

Flowing Water Style

* Weapon Mastery: Brotherhood Stage 6

* Elemental Affinities

Earth: 8% Mastery

* Quests

The Sacred Bond: Impossible

Engines of the End Times: S

* Professions

Smith: Novice Stage 5

Dao Smith: Novice Stage 1

As he read over it, he remembered something secreted away in his storage device that he had been saving for E Rank. The Heart of Gaea. Because he had known that he would achieve a high rank of Ascension anyway, he had decided to save it for after he reached E Rank, where it would empower his elemental mastery. He was glad for that decision. After all, there was nothing after Perfect. It would have simply been a waste to use the treasure for that.

Scanning the surrounding sea with his Dao sight, he made sure that there was nothing in the vicinity. This was as good a place as any to use his treasure, as there were few monsters nearby, and the floor was made to be massively expansive.

Sam pulled the small orb of radiant stone from his storage device, and held it out before him. It was tiny, but contained the spiritual weight of an entire planet, condensed down into a tiny sphere. It was light enough in physical weight, but that could have been due to his E Rank strength. By all metrics, he was incredibly strong. If he tried, he could probably lift a small building without using his various enhancements.

The orb sat there, obdurate and inscrutable. The description did not explain what he had to do with it. Looking at the size, he sighed.

“When in doubt…” Then he popped it into his mouth, and bit down. The orb started to dissolve, and a moment later, burning pain erupted in his mouth. What felt like an endless font of lava formed between his jaws, pouring molten rock down his throat. It was magically enhanced, as normal lava would have left him mostly unharmed.