Crumbling Honor

The Overlord’s fourth tower segment had started with a bang, dropping him in the center of a planet completely overtaken by nature. Filled with the aged ruins of a previous civilization, only the devolved descendents of the world’s previous rulers were left to lord over buildings they could not hope to understand. With brutality came strength however, and the planet was a death-trap, filled with potent E Rank monstrosities. Those beasts lorded over their lesser brethren, creating empires of mindless brutality crisscrossing the surface of the planet. There was no sapient presence to speak of.

He had been forced to battle his way to safety, harangued by legions of peak F Rank horrors, shambling beasts of gibbering insanity and warped flesh. An inscription on a ruin had told him the fall of the great Ix’thyac Empire, which had once held sway over the entire solar system. After their enemies grew too numerous to defeat, they had resorted to fell magics and twisted Daos to combat their encroaching defeat. They had succeeded in their goal of driving away their foes, but only because the planet was now so dangerous that nobody sane wished to live there. It was an ironic tale, and one that left Jacob curious about the history of the planet, although he knew he would never find out everything. He was there for a challenge, and not as a historian.

Over the last few days, the Overlord had cleared the first floor of the tower segment, which required him to create a safe place for him to rest. Even though he had no need for such a thing, the System mandated it. As a result, he had wasted time constructing a small lean-to out of the strongest materials that he could find. Rock from one of the ruins, and a tarpaulin stretched from the hide of an E Rank beast. With that done, he had transitioned to the next floor, where he could finally begin fighting in earnest.

His next objective was to liberate one of the ruins from the depredations of the corrupted descendents of their original creators. Doing so would let him enter the ruin, and claim some sort of valuable artifact. He had no idea what his end goal was, yet, but he had a suspicion that it would be one commensurate with his power, as promised by the System.

With the relative ease that he had in defeating the local monsters, he had plenty of time to contemplate his life choices so far. Sam Atlas was a man who was an enigma to Jacob. He should have been the most arrogant man in existence, but instead, he was kind, forgiving, and a force for good. Sam had even given him the benefit of the doubt, after all of the mutual strife they had caused. Now, they were allies, father and son once more. Only, Jacob couldn’t find any reasons behind his behavior in regards to Sam. There was a blank hole in his memory that his mind stubbornly refused to admit as something serious. Even worse, there were times in conversations when he would simply space out, unable to understand what was going on.

As he sat in his hovel, cultivating his Dao, he opened his stats, wanting to give a little boost to his cultivation. More importantly, he wished to distract himself from his thoughts.

Jacob Atlas

Human: E Rank

Enlightened Tier

E Rank

Class: Ego’s Chosen

Level 157

(103 stat points unspent)

Strength

3564

2.14x

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Constitution

2704

2.05x

Resilience

2654

2.05x

Dexterity

2890

2.13x

Intelligence

1754

1.75x

Wisdom

1689

1.78x

* Health:60840/60840

* Mana:39465/39465

* Stamina:82215/82215

* Road to Zenith

Stage 2

* Dao

Dao Seed of Confidence(Second Step)

* Bloodline

Solar Wolf: 6% Mastery

* Skills

3x Rare, 1x Epic, 5x Legendary, 3x Mythical, 2x Ancient, 1x Primal

* Titles

2x Epic, 5x Legendary, 2x Mythical, 2x Ancient, 1x Celestial

* Dao Heritage

Dao Incarnation of Supremacy(Second Step)

* Temporary Titles

1x Epic, 2x Legendary, 1x Mythical

* Party

None

* Skill Branches

Lightning Neurons (Level 3)

Iron Body(Level 3)

Iron Bones (Level 3)

Muscle Density Enhancement(Level 2)

Basic Weapon Knowledge: Blunt(Level 2)

Dao Resonance(Level 1)

* Weapon Style

Vanguard of Dominion

* Weapon Mastery: Brotherhood 3

* Elemental Affinities

None

* Quests

Engines of the End Times: SS

* Professions

Alchemist: Apprentice 6

Something that most wouldn’t know about Jacob Atlas was that he had no elemental mastery to speak of. Almost every cultivator possessed some sort of connection to the twelve elements that underpinned reality, but not him. In fact, it actually served to make his Dao stronger. The more handicapped he gave himself in terms of cultivation, the stronger his Dao would become. It was why he fought with his fists.

With his Perfect Ascension, he was so physically strong that it hardly mattered if his foes used weapons, as long as they were of a similar strength to him. More importantly, he could boost his physical stats in battle with his Dao, propelling his strength to a new realm of might.

With his stats seen too, he cultivated for six hours, drifting closer to a breakthrough with his Dao. Every other minute of that cultivation was plagued with doubts, which he was forced to conquer through sheer strength of will. Any lesser man in his position would have gone insane, as most Dao Incarnations did. Jacob Atlas was of a different caliber though, the same caliber as his son, a man who could easily be called the most talented cultivator in existence.